Ekiti State is land that derived its name from a natural ecological attribute. It is a land situated within a rocky terrain whether by design or by accident. It is a land of people circumscribed by a unique set of principles, values and moral culture.
Ekiti State has been described as the culturally richest State within the Southwest Nigeria. This description is plausibly as a result of the rich history of Ekiti State as rooted in the Yoruba mythology.
These are some of the assertions made by the global President of the International Council for Ifa Religion, Dr. Solagbade Popoola on Saturday during an interview with journalists in Ado-Ekiti.
The erudite scholar and foremost advocate for the global recognition of Ifa as a permanent panacea for all world challenges spoke extensively on economic prospects of Ekiti if the State leverages on its abundant potentials in tourism.
According to him, Orunmila, who is regarded as the original source of the Yoruba spirituality and philosophy spent the longest number of his years on earth in Ado-Ekiti and other parts of Ekiti State. According to him, the direct progenitors of Orunmila founded notable communities in Ekiti. These include Alara, Ajero, Oloye, Onitaji, Elejelu just like the Orangun in Ila-Orangun, Osun State and Olowo in Ondo State.
The cultural significance of Ekiti State also stems from the land being the historic birthplace or perhaps final resting place of most of the highly venerated Yoruba gods such as Ogun, Osun, Obalufon, Osanyin, Esu Laaroye etc.
Dr. Solagbade Popoola explained that Ekiti State today remains one major place where traditional religious tourism is most vibrant in Nigeria.
He affirmed that the International Council for Ifa Religion (ICIR) has facilitated the visit of no less than 20,000 people to Ekiti State through the 5 editions of the annual World Ifa Festival and Pilgrimage so far organized by the Council.
According to him, if Ekiti State is determined to tap into several economic advantages of religious tourism, the State has no reason to rely majorly on monthly allocations from the federation account and no reason whatsoever to be among the economically poor States in Nigeria.
” I was one of those who started the Oke-itase festival in ile-Ife. But at a time some of us became more inquisitive and needed to know exactly where Oke-Igeti was situated because according to the Ifa corpus, Orunmila is referred to as 𝖮𝗄𝗎𝗇𝗋𝗂𝗇 𝗄𝗎𝗄𝗎𝗋𝗎 𝖮𝗄𝖾-𝗂𝗀𝖾𝗍𝗂 meaning a stocky man from the Igeti Hill.” He narrated.
” Out of either genuine ignorance or outright mischief, some places in Ife were shown and pointed to us as Oke-igeti. However, all the specious claims were faulted because none of those places had what could show as evidences that someone as great as Orunmila had ever lived there. Some of the places were actually sloppy terrains not a hill or a mountain. We all know, a hill is a hill and a slope, a slope in Yorubaland.” Dr Solagbade added.
The ICIR leader further revealed that in 2012, Ifa led them to discover that the present location of Ekiti Government House is the Oke-Igeti they have always sought to locate. He explained that on getting to Oke-Igeti, otherwise called Oke-ayoba, every evidential relics that could authenticate and confirm that the place had housed Orunmila was found.
” We wrote to the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism under one Alhaji Ayo Jinadu who directed that the Director of Tourism Development then, one Prince Adebanji Adelusi and a cameraman should go with us on a confirmation visit to the Oke-Igeti. Prince Adelusi is back as the Director of Tourism now, he can testify to what I am saying that we found amazing relics and other evidences.
That was in 2012. We saw the rocky throne of Orunmila and other rocky seats, we saw the ɪʏᴇʀᴏꜱᴜɴ ᴛʀᴇᴇ, we saw a small pound and many other instruments and tools suggestive of prior habitation of the site by a spiritual being such as Orunmila. We are aware that all these things are still very much there” he narrated.
When asked how Oke-Igeti might translate to economic fortune for Ekiti State, Dr Solagbade explained that Ifa Religion has continued to spread globally. He said 6,000 people out of the 30,000 population in Venezuela are Ifa adherents. He mentioned Mexico, Brazil and Cuba where Yoruba language and Ifa have gained much ground officially. He said just as the muslims would aim towards doing Hajj and Christians aim towards making holy pilgrimage to Jerusalem, all Ifa devotees,across the globe, dream of coming to climb the Oke-Igeti and sit on the Holy Throne of Orunmila to receive the blessings of Ifa.
According to him, if 10,000 Ifa adherents visit Ekiti once or twice in a year and pay 50 Dollars each to climb Oke-Igeti, 20 Dollars to visit and fetch the Osun sacred water in Igede, 10 Dollars each to enter the Esu Grove in Ijelu-Ekiti, 10 Dollars each to pray at the Ogun Grove in Ire-Ekiti, 10 Dollars each to fetch the Osanyin sacred water in Isaba and so on, that would surely impact on the economy of Ekiti State in no small measure.
Dr Solagbade Popoola affirmed the readiness of the International Council for Ifa Religion (ICIR) to partner with Ekiti State Government towards developing some of the important sites being visited annually during the World Ifa Festival and Pilgrimage.
He said aside the development of those sites what government is expected to do is to create annual access to that portion of Oke-Igeti where the Throne of Orunmila is located. According to him, the area is still more than 250 metres far from the Government House and poses no single security threat.
If Ekiti State Government could do this and provide security to other locations during the period of the festival cum pilgrimage, ICIR is sure of facilitating between 10,000 and 12,000 tourist visitors in multiple visits on pilgrimage in 2023.
Dr. Popoola described culture and tourism as a low hanging fruit which Ekiti State can leverage upon as an economic catalyst to transform the State. He therefore commended the Governor Biodun Oyebamji for making Arts, Culture and Tourism one of his pillars of development. He pledged the support of the Council and promised to come with a proposal that could assist in enhancing cultural tourism. He said cultural festivals with which Ekiti is richly blessed can be synced into the inbound tours of the State during the 2023 international event to create more value and global tourism attraction to Ekiti State
” While many nations and States artificially create some of their festivals and carnivals towards stimulating tourism, Ekiti State has, in abundance, many beautiful and exciting cultural festivals that could be escalated and packaged to fall within the period of the World Ifa/ Orisa Festival and Pilgrimage. ” He concluded.
