Ijakadi: Offa's big wrestling festival

Date: 2018-01-07

Ijakadi festival of Offa in Kwara state is an annual celebration which all Offa indigenes whether at home or abroad are always eager to witness .

The festival is a week long programme with various activities starting with a press conference, Jumaat service, commissioning of projects, presentation of awards, church service, traditional dances, parade by districts, wrestling bouts, horse racing. Among others to further bring together the people of the ancient town.

The word Ijakadi means wrestling which has a significant role in the history of Offa. That is why a line of the epigrammatic panegyrics of Offa ( Oriki Offa) reads thus: 'ijakadi looro offa' meaning wrestling is Offa's custom.

Ijakadi according to some elders of the town was a duel of equity between the two illustrious sons of Offa who engaged each other in fierce wrestling over a tuber of yam in the farmyard ,where nobody was around to separate them ,and led to equal cutting of yam ,a significant moment in the history of Offa. The celebration usually witnesses a mock wrestling bout (Ìjàkadì) between the Oloffa of Offa and his second in command (Chief Essa), while the whole town cheers them on and take sides.

It is usually the Oloffa that wins, while other people will also take part in the wrestling to determine the winners. In this colourful and historical drama; traditional drums, various singing/dancing groups, masquerades and a display by the hunters add to the pomp and pageantry.

Oloffa usually wins the duel, and the lesson from his victory is to remind the people that Oloffa remains the indisputable authority of the town. However, unrepentant Eesa would always find an excuse for his defeat saying suku lo y? mi meaning 'it was the corn chaff that made me fall, not the Oloffa". This victory always attracts a thunderous ovation from the crowd, with the slogan Kabiyesi ooo praising the Oloffa.

This is therefore followed by the yam cutting exercise during the Ijakadi festival, where the Oloffa will be blindfolded and he expected to cut a tuber of yam into two equal parts.

It's really a meeting point for indigenes and their friends. The Oloffa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Muhammed-Gbadamosi, who came to the throne few years ago revived the festival in 2012 which has been abandoned for 30 years, and it has helped in bringing the people of the town together for peace and development of the ancient town.

In his speech to the people, the monarch said "the mammoth crowd and the beehive of activities in and around Offa land is a testimony to the success recorded in his effort to re-establish a festival that predates many of us today. Even though, many of our people could not make it home because of the prevalent fuel scarcity in the country,it is our hope that in next years Ijakadi festival, there shall be no let or hindrance in sha Allah. According to him, "the Ijakadi Festival is an annual event which all sons and daughters of Offa land both at home and in diaspora gather every year to celebrate. The festival presents the opportunity for Offa people to showcase our cultural heritage and it's tourism potentials.

The festival emanated from our cultural history of two brothers who wrestled at the bank of a river, on account of one piece of lost yam on their way back home from the farm. The scenario resulted in a scuffle and argument as to who shall bear the pain of the lost yam. The king had to adjudicate on the matter and resolve the matter equitably. The king shared the yams in equal proportion of two and a half yams each. The cognomen of Laare! Buure!! Ikan ogbodo jukan nile Olalomi!!! rent the air, and from that moment onwards this slogan became a reference point for Offa people.

"The historical antecedent and moral lesson of the event was "Justice and Equity" embedded in the spirit of sharing. Today, the lesson of the festival is to spur our people, particularly our teeming youths to expand their horizon to face the challenges of our society, compete and excel with the spirit of equity, fairness, and justice.

Oloffa added that the wrestling competition captures the very essence of the festival, the promotion of the ancient cultural bundles, and the redefinition processes that will attend the legislative appeal of the National Assembly ,and for the inclusion of the Festival on the National Tourism Development Map by the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism.

"As we celebrate this festival, we should not forget to remember the legendary Moremi who hails from Offa, but was married to the Ooni of Ife. She exhibited her heroic nature by allowing herself to be captured by the Ugbo warriors who incessantly raided the Yoruba of Ife so as to covertly study their war secrets and prowess. This she did most brilliantly, and the Ife people were able to redeem themselves from the insurgency of the Ugbos. This singular achievement led to her recognition and remembrance as a heroine across many Yoruba communities.

"As Custodian of our Culture and Tradition, the traditional Institution in the country should be given a space, and be empowered to contribute substantially to national issues and governance,"he said.

Meanwhile, the 2017 Ijakadi festival took a new dimension as the federal government promised to include it in the national festival calendar.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who was the special guest at last year's festival ,said the local wrestling contest in Offa, Kwara State, will now be included in the National Festival Calendar. The Minister, said the people in charge of the festival will also be trained under a (training) programme for festival managers, being jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the British Council.

"It is my pleasure to say that my ministry is going to put this particular festival on our own calendar. We have an MoU with the British Council through which, every year, we train festival managers all over the country. I want to assure you that in 2018, they (Ijakadi festival managers) will benefit from this training," he said.

Mohammed assured the organizers that the government will leverage the power of Information and technology to promote the festival, with a view to attracting domestic and international tourists, thus improving the economy of the state. He congratulated the organizers of the festival for reviving it in 2012, after over three decades, and said the decision to raise its visibility could not have been better timed, considering the determination of the Buhari Administration to make the Creative Industry a pillar of the economy, under its economic diversification policy.

"What we have come here to celebrate is a history that goes back to the 14th century, and I want to seize this opportunity to congratulate Kabiyesi, the Oloffa of Offa, that after almost a hiatus of 30 years, when there was no festival, the festival was reborn in 2012 and every year it's getting bigger and bigger," the Minister said.

He said the festival was significant because it is not just about the history of the people of Offa, but a celebration of their virtues of "equity, justice and wisdom", as well as strength and determination.

Source

 


Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Muhammadu Gobir     Sunday Fagbemi     Rafiu Ibrahim     Ayekale     Surajudeen Akanbi     Taofik Abiodun Ahmed     Olohungbebe     Toyin Saraki     Bashir Badawi     Ifelodun     Mahe Abdulkadir     Senate Presidency     Mahmud Ayinla Giwa     Chief Imam Of Offa     Nagode     Babajide Ajayi     Sulyman Buhari     Abdul-Rasheed Na\'Allah     Tunji Moronfoye     PPS     Imodoye Writer’s Enclave     Ilesha-Baruba     Sobi Hill     Tosin Saraki     Computer Based Test     Tunde Kazeem     Idofin     AGM Professional Services     Aisha Gobir     Dele Momodu     Kayode Alabi     Asiwaju Bola Tinubu     Shoprite     Salihu S. Yaru     Abdulwasiu Bolaji Adeyi     Eghe Igbinehi     Bola Shagaya     Sabitiyu Grillo     Hauwa Nuru     Fareedah Dankaka     Sheikh Alimi     Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone     Abdulmumini AbdulRazaq     Suleiman Ajadi     Babata     Aremu Bose Deborah     Kwara State Governor     Akorede     Umar Bayo Abdulwahab     Olayinka Jelili Yusuf     Monthly Sanitation     Tunde Akanbi     Idris Amosa Oladipo Saidu     Mahfouz Adedimeji     Titus Ashaolu     Mary Kemi Adeosun     Sheikh Ridhwanullah     Code Of Conduct     Hassan Saliu     Clement Yomi Adeboye     Abiodun Jacob Ajiboye     BECE     Onilorin     Twitter     Funmi Salau     Mohammed Lawal Bagega     Saduki Lafiagi     Ella Supreme Tissue Paper     Oluronke Adeyemi     Labaeka     Salami Adekunle     Otuka     Kayode Oyin Zubair     Gwanara     Pakata Patriots     Lola Olabayo     Rapheal Ashaolu    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Babajide Ajayi     Aremu Bose Deborah     Oyedepo     Peter Amogbonjaye     Senate Presidency     All Confederation Of Principals Of Secondary Schools     IYA YUSUF     Muslim Media Watch Group Of Nigeria     Neuropsychiatric Hospital     Abdulrazaq Akorede     Modupe Oluwole     Kunle Akogun     Saliu Mustapha     Summit University     A.E. Afolabi     Kamaldeen Kehinde     Wahab Egbewole     Emmanuel Bello     Kwara United     Naira Redesign     Isiaka Abdulrazak     Ojo Fadumila     Taofeek Sanusi     Wahab Isa     Yusuf Ibitokun Sherifat     Olomu     Gbemisola Saraki     Erubu Oba Zubair     UITH     Abraham Ojo     Razaq Atunwa     Garment Factory     Awwal Jawondo     NIRSAL     Adesoye College     SUBEB     Mohammed Danjuma     Code Of Conduct Bureau     Abdulganiyu AbdulAzeez     Saka Adeyemo     Mohammed Alabi Lawal     Sadiq Umar     Hydro-electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission     Moses Adekanye     Abdulfatai Ahmed     Saliu Alamoyo     Yusuf Amuda Abubakar     Oko Erin     CLAY POT     Ilorin International Airport     Alabe     Abdulquawiy Olododo     Elesie Of Esie     Omoniyi M. Ayinla     Saadu Yusuf     Olaitan Buraimoh     KWSIEC     Mary Arinde     A.G.F Abdulrasaq     Gobirawa     Oloyede     Magaji Erubu     Okin Malt     Taibat Ayinke Ahmed     Bayer Nigeria Limited     Abdulmumini AbdulRazaq     Aasiyat Bello Oyedepo     Christian Association Of Nigeria     Ayodele Olaosebikan     Dankaka     Public Holiday     Jawondo     Twitter     United Nigeria Congress Party     JAMB     Garba Ado Sanni     Onilu