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| High Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon |
Chief IfaYemi Osundagbonu Elebuibon, the Araba Awo of Osogbo needs no
introduction as he is a well known Ifa priest who takes much pride in the practice
of his religion and race. The Osun based cultural icon and university lecturer spoke
to the duo of Jimoh Bashir and Rowland Olonishuwa on the sidelines of the recently concluded Osun Osogbo festival. Excerpts:
You are a renowned Ifa priest both locally and internationally. How would
you describe your person?
How else do I describe myself than
all you know? I am Ifayemi Osundagbonu Elebuibon. I was born and bred in Osogbo
in Oluode Aturuku compound. We are of the lineage of Olutimehin with whom
Osogbo was founded. In fact, it was Olutimehin’s action that provoked the
reaction of Osun spirit that eventually made him and Larooye to reply ‘Oso Igbo
e pele o’ (Forest wizard, we are sorry). Osogbo derived its name from that
incident.
Your middle name ‘Osundagbonu’ directly links you with Osun, the river
goddess? Does it mean you are also an Osun faithful aside the Ifa which you are
arguably synonymous with?
The name has to do with the
circumstances surrounding my birth. It was revealed to my father that my
mother, who had suffered abiku would have a male child; and that the child
would take after him in Ifa divination. When my mother was searching for the
fruit of the womb as it used to be said among women, she was warned against
taking any herb. She was rather told to go to Osun River every week to fetch
water which she must drink. She had a pot in the room where she poured the
water. So, my mother got pregnant and later had me. The name can be roughly
translated to mean, ‘Osun poured herbs away’ or ‘Osun rejected herbs’ that is
the connection. Details of this are contained in my autobiography.
What would you also say about your other name, Elebuibon?
Elebiubon is my surname. My father’s
name was Akinrinde Akanbi Elebuibon. He was a great herbalist, hunter and
farmer. Ebu means depot. That means where my father used to keep his guns. Whenever
it’s time for Ogun festival then, all the hunters come together at the instance
of any of them that calls the hunters together, to go for hunting. They do that
in turn, and the hunter whose turn it is will have all the games during a
particular hunting. There was a particular hunting they went to, and the other
hunters were not successful with their guns, except my father, and that
surprised the other hunters, who did not know that my father tied a special
preparation to his own gun. That was how he got the name Elebuibon.
As a major player in Osun, what are you doing to ensure Osun Osogbo
retains its appeal, aside tourism?
All the tradition about Osun Osogbo
festival are well protected, and that’s why we are here. The funfair and
tourism aspect of it does not disturb the real essence of the festival.
Would you say you have lived a fulfilled life at 71?
Yes. I am fulfilled and still doing
my best to achieve more. I told you earlier that my birth had been foretold as
heir apparent of my father’s Ifa divination. Can you now see where we are
today? I am the Araba Awo of Osogboland and a renowned name in the society.
What else can I ask for? Because of my tight schedule, I don’t even feel that I
am over 71, except that everybody calls me Baba Araba. It has been a journey to
be remembered.
It is on record that you did not attend any formal school, yet you speak
English and write books. How did you achieve this unusual feat?
It is true I never saw the four walls
of any classroom but I am happy that through determination I broke that
obstacle. When I was undergoing apprenticeship under my master, I was stealing
knowledge from my age mates who were attending schools. But my master must not
see me near them. It was a taboo which attracted severe punishment seeing me
with a book or biro. That was why I said I stole knowledge from my mates. I
needed to hide to listen to what their home teacher was teaching them. That was
how it began until exposure came. I later became a visiting lecturer in the
United States (US) I write and deliver my papers.
You took after your father, but is any of your children also taking after
you?
I am happy for that. My father never
saw me doing it but the story has changed now. My children are very proud of
Ifa as you can see them around me. That is the beauty of it. It is also an
assurance that we are doing it right
Yoruba movie industry now lacks the inclusion of culture and tradition like we had then. What are you doing as one of the custodians of culture?
Why it’s so is, playwrights and story
writers have their different ways. Some of them promote the deep culture and
tradition of Yoruba. Most of the ones we have now don’t do enough on research.
They are always in a hurry to produce films. Some don’t even have scripts of
what they really want before heading to locations. It’s when they get to
location that they most times improvise.
Those who are fully prepared would
have a complete script of what they want and what they want each and every
actor to say, even with proverbs. And that’s why we have bad production now.
If you watch the works of Adebayo Faleti,
Akinwumi Ishola and others, they did a lot of research and employ the beauty of
culture in their works. Before them, we have others like Duro Ladipo, Ogunmola,
Hubert Ogunde ….but now; we have those that mix things up. They don’t even understand
the Yoruba language. That’s why their productions are not all that good.
For me, I am trying to do things the
way it should be done, even thought it normally take time. But at the end, it
will be a worthwhile venture.
I just produced a film, ‘Eko eleko ni egba elegba’. I did a lot
of research before the production.
2019 general election is approaching, and Prophets and Pastors have
started making predictions on who will win certain elections. As a
traditionalist, what would you say about this?
We the traditionalists don’t make
such prophecies, except for those who come to us for it. If you don’t come to
ifa to seek for consultation, it’s not the tradition for us to say I did consultation
and this is what will happen this time or this period. No. We don’t do that.
But if we are asked to do it for Nigeria, of course we will do it, but it not
our traditional to just do it on our own and announce it.
And if you observe, all those who predict,
either by Christian or Muslim clerics, they normally don’t command respect from
people because they always end up with issues.
Professor Moyo Okedeji announced recently that Iwori Meji is the
revelation ahead of the 2019 Presidential election. What’s your take?
He said Buhari will win, and that it will spell doom for Nigeria.
If he says so, then let’s wait for
that to happen, since that was what he saw.
As a traditionalist, what are you doing to unite your people to forge a
common front?
All religions are imported, and we
the traditionalists are the head, because they met us on ground. Osun state government
has done well by giving us holiday for traditionalist, which is every 20th
August of every year. I will want to use
this opportunity to call on other states, especially states in the South West,
Lagos, Oyo, Kwara, Ondo, Ogun and Ekiti to support the traditionalists by also declaring
holiday for the celebration of Isese.
We now have one association that
brings all of us together, Association of Traditional Religion of Nigeria. That
is the umbrella which houses all of us.
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| High Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon |
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