Ooni announces commencement of Olojo Festival… reveals ancestral significance
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has announced commencement of the the 2024 edition of the annual Olojo Festival.
The grand finale of the event which has a line up of activities is scheduled for between September 26 and September 30.
The highly revered monarch who disclosed this on Friday also revealed the significance of the ancestral and spiritual event.
The Ooni spoke at his palace during a news conference on the Festival with the theme: “Evolving Transformational Domestic Tourism With Community Festivals.”
According to him, the celebration of the rich cultural event was usually held annually in the ancient city of Ile-Ife to celebrate the day of the first dawn.
He also revealed that the Festival was in remembrance of “Ogun,” the god of iron, who is believed to be the first son of Oduduwa and the progenitor of the Yoruba race.
The Ooni also revealed that the Festival marked the birth of the “Aare Crown.”
The monarch said that the festival was significant because of its rich spiritual exercises that characterised it as well as the testimonies it attracted.
The Ooni expressed delight that several prayers rendered to Olodumare through the iconic “Aare crown” during the Olojo festival had been answered with so many testimonies.
“Olojo is the festival of dawn and the birth of the crown, “Ade Aare” the crown of all crowns. The crown that gave birth to all crowns all over the world with all the colours of the rainbow. It is called the spectrum of rainbow crowns,” the monarch said.
“The crown does everything humans do. It is a very spiritual crown, very sacred. I am a living example and witness. I have actually charged the crown. I have prayed with it that I want this done, this particular time,” he added.
“This is my ninth year on the throne, going to my tenth year by the grace of God. I have seen a lot of testimonies.
“I will pray with the crown worn on my head. I pray to the Almighty God, Olodumare, through the crown. I have never seen any failure in it. It is our strong heritage, our strong culture and tradition and we will continue to uphold it forever,” the Ooni stressed.
Oba Ogunwusi added that they were not idol worshipers, but custodians of their ancestors’ legacy, which they continued to benefit from.
