Brief History Of Eyo Festival, Do’s And Don’ts

The Adamu Orisha Play, also known as the Eyo Festival, is a Yoruba festival held in Lagos, Nigeria. It is now presented by the people of Lagos as a tourist attraction, and it is historically performed on Lagos Island due to its heritage.

Background

Lagos is a well-known city that almost everyone has heard of. The “Centre of Excellence” is the name given to Nigeria’s former capital city, which is now the country’s commercial capital. Lagos is a city in Lagos State, Nigeria’s south west. The state capital is Ikeja.

A lagoon divides or separates Lagos city. As a result, it is divided into two sections: Lagos Island and Lagos Mainland. Lagos residents are largely concentrated on Lagos Island, also known as Isale Eko.

The Eyo festival, a cultural and traditional masquerade exhibition that emerges from the Iga (palace) of the Oba or any of his cabinet members, is celebrated by these indigenes.

The Eyo Festival

The Eyo is a masquerade that takes place exclusively on Lagos Island. It is thought to reflect the ancestors’ spirits.

The Eyo festival may be held in honour of a chief or an elder of a ruling family or an Oba, who had died.

It can also take place when a new Iga (palace) head or Oba is mounted. With the advent of westernization and modernization, a governor or political leader might even suggest that the festival be arranged for a fee in order to add color to an occasion. On a Saturday, Eyo is normally held.

Each Eyo comes out of an Iga (palace) of a ruling family in the morning and heads for the shrine (Agodo).

It is robed from head to toe in white flowing cloth. The white flowing costume consists of an ‘agbada’ (the top robe), and the ‘aropale’ (the bottom wrap around). No part of the person carrying the Eyo is expected to be seen.

The Eyo also wears an ‘Akete’ a hat that bears the colors and shield of the Iga from which he comes. An Eyo may tie ribbons in his Iga’s colors to the Opambata (palm branch) that he carries.

An Iga’s Eyo may have up to 50 to 100 or more members. Each person carrying a robe as Eyo must pay a fee for the privilege. This fee is paid to the Iga – ruling house, whose colors and Akete the Eyo wears.

Only adult males may robe as Eyo; but sometimes, there may be a child Eyo in a group. The sons and daughters and wives, as well as friends and neighbours of the Iga follow the Eyo on a parade from one end of Lagos Island to the other.

The route of each Eyo goes from the Iga, where the Iga’s Eyo leave en masse, and then on to the Agodo – the shrine of the Orisa Eyo.

After this, the Eyo may go anywhere on Lagos Island their feet can carry them, all the way from Ebute Ero to Obalende, via Oke Popo, Campus, Lafiaji, and all neighborhoods Eyo’s whims may carry him. In fact, an Eyo may easily cover 20 to 30 kilometers on that day. The crowd of supporters following the Eyo does not wear white robes

Imagine the spectacle of thousands of white robed figures in colourful hats, flowing ribbons, men women and children milling about the streets singing and dancing. The Lagos Eyo gives good meaning to the words, festival and spectacle.

The only Eyo that is not part of a group is the most senior Eyo-Adimu Orisa. This Eyo’s nose is forever running, hence, the name Adimu. Only a very old and spiritually advanced male can robe as the Adimu. It is the last Eyo to leave the “agodo.”

The Eyo, when it encounters people, greets them with the phrase, “E sunrunkunrun, we ma jagbon die!” meaning, “Don’t fear anything, have a taste of the palm tree,” and taps the individual on the shoulders with the “opambata.”

When he is given money, he will pray for the person and recite the praise song of his Iga. The phrase, “e sunrunkunrun, we ma jagbon die!” is in the Ijebu dialect of Yoruba. It was rendered as a wedding present when the Oba of Lagos married an Ijebu princess.

It is however, a taboo to either wear the Eyo costume overnight or cross any body of water, such as the Lagoon, Rivers, and so on.

Significance

The Eyo festival is organized under the auspices of the Yoruba tradition, as well as social organizations or clubs.

It is an outlet used to showcase the culture of the Isale Eko people, since it can be organized for special occasions apart from the death of prominent chiefs, elders, or installation of a new Oba. It can be used to entertain at special state functions or occasions.

Groups

· The Adimu, (Orisa baba Nla Mila)

· Okanlaba Ekun (Alakete pupa), the Olopa Eyo

· Eyo Orisa Oniko (Abara yewu, egun onigemo)

· Eyo Orisa Ologede (Olugbani)

· Eyo Orisa Angere (Agere Mo Lokun)

Taboo

Here is a list of prohibited items at the festival

· Okada motorcycle taxis

· Bicycles

· Sandals

· Suku – hairstyle that is popular among the Yorubas, one that has the hair converge at the middle, then shoot upward, before tipping downward.

· Smoking

· Female with head tie or head gear or any covering of the head

· male with cap of any kind

The masquerades are known to beat people who use any of the prohibited items at sight with their staff.

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