Oonirisa festival riddles: From Nri with love

Suddenly the door burst open, diverting the gaze of the audience that had been fixated on Oonirisa Ogunwusi, who had just returned a few minutes earlier from a seven day spiritual retreat, looking angelic in a white scarf with a single red feather.

The people had been looking expectantly towards Oonirisa Ogunwusi for messages and blessings from the beyond, when the tall warriorlike king dressed in Orunmila leopard skin with Oguns spear-like staff burst unto the scene beyond expectations.

People were awestruck as the majestic visitor stamped his spear like staff on the ground and proceeded towards the throne. This was a brother. The leopard is the totem of all Original African cultures.

In Yoruba, it is the symbol of Orunmila civilization, the beginning of human civilization and creator of the Original African Information Retrieval System called Ifa in Yoruba, Afa in Igbo and other names across South and Middlbelt of Nigeria.

He could have come from any of the over 2000 Niger Congo ethnolinguistic groups, extending from Gambia to South Africa, who shared the leopard totem, but his red capped entourage gave away their origin as Ndigboland. This was the Eze Uzu III of Awka, Obi Nwosu, from the heartland of ancient Nri Kingdom, the land of fabled blacksmiths, now the capital of Anambra state.

This was the start of the Olojo festival in Ile Ife, celebrating the dawn of humanity, commerating it with the Aare Crown first used by Ogun to inaugurate the festival.

Ife is the origin of humanity and the Olojo festival is used to celebrate the first day of creation and here we were with the monarchs of the two oldest kingdoms of the two largest Original African groups.

Many were focused on the prayers to Eledunmare, Almighty God, the creator of the first day and missed the cultural essence of the presence of the foremost Blacksmith king from the second largest Original African ethnolinguistic group at Oguns festival of humanity.

In the pantheon of Yoruba ancestral spirits, Ogun is the patron Saint of Blacksmiths that opened the migratory paths across the world. The Ijaws that spread across the Delta from ancient coastal Ife had his essence, just as the Igalas, Kwararafa and Middlebelt were Ogunda.

Nri kingdom was the foremost Igbo kingdom which produced metal and artworks. While some kingdoms were known for cavalry, fishing, imperialism, Nri was known as the land of blacksmiths, with Akwa with 33 villages at its heartland.

The oldest known Iron smelting spot dated to around 1900BC is Lejja in Nri kingdom, which is 500 to 1000yrs before many European and Asian civilizations changed to iron.

Across many knowledge systems, it is accepted that the Iron Age started from around 2000BC to 4BC also known as the Age of Aries, the Age of Ogun.

Biblically, this was the era of the first horseman in Revelation 6v1 “I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest”.

Ogun and the Aare crown!

And here we have Eze Uzu of Awka, the anglicized word of Oka. From the land of Blacksmith Ogun kings that spread Original African civilization to Sumner and beyond, here to celebrate humanity and the Olojo crown, dressed in Orunmila leopard regalia.

What a profound symbolic entrance.

The following day, the festival proper commenced with another royal cultural riddle, as Oonirisa donned the Obalufon attire with its prominent red beads.

This was another wow moment and this time the pictures went viral and tongues started wagging.

Some cultural novices queried whether it was a Bini adaptation, not knowing that overtime Yorubs had relegated heavy beaded attire and wraps for agbada. This was quintessential Obalufon, the philosopher king that laid the city planning of the current Ife and commissioned its most popular and lasting artworks, the Ife masks.

Obalufon lived in era after Ogun/Iron age, the Age of Olokun/Pisces that institutionalized art and religion. The Ife and Igbo Ukwu artworks were also commissioned.

The festival showcased all the Orishas and among a variety of ancient and modern performances.

To wrap it up, we had a regal display by the Yeyelua, the Queen, with a cultural dance troupe from Akure, Yorubas easternmost capital. The land of the oldest surviving palace in Black Africa. Akure meaning Akun RE, where the cultural beads broke is where the cultural linkages began to diverge and reconverges.

Oonirisa Ogunwusi, at the cusp of a new 2000 year Age, is not only reflecting the past but forging a new reality of uplifting and unifying Original African culture.

Only the deep can hear the deep and understand the riddles of Oonirisa, a wise philosopher king that operates at a higher level.

While some complained of not mentioning Ogun enough in the prayers, or too much Eledunmare leaning towards Abrahamic syncretism, Oonirisa surely got the right spiritual and cultural mix at the just concluded Olojo festival.

Kabiyesi paroko ni, this sense won’t kill us, but make us wiser!

Prince Justice Faloye
President, ASHE Foundation

Disunity among black race worries Ooni – Punch Newspapers

BOLA BAMIGBOLA

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has expressed concern over division among the black race.

He called for unity among conflicting interests to promote development.

Spokesperson for the Ooni, Moses Olafare, in a statement, said the royal father stated this in his palace in Ile-Ife, Osun State, when he received an Igbo monarch, Eze Chukwuemeka Eri, from Anambra State.

Oba Ogunwusi stated that the Igbo used to live in Ile-Ife, adding that they also had cultural affinity with the Yoruba.

The Ooni of Ife, who charged historians to deepen their research regarding African history to unearth many hidden facts, reiterated that cultural affinity existed between the Igbo and the Yoruba.

He added, “Africa must unite for peace and progress across board. I am sure that if the Igbo and their Yoruba brothers come together, Africa will unite.

“I am happy to receive you all and I must say that today is one of my happiest moments on the throne. I feel proud of you on your achievements within the last 42 years on the throne of your ancestors.

“I have been having sleepless nights because my ancestors have been visiting me that Black race must unite. This coincided with my mandate of peace and unity that I have preached around the globe. No race should be left behind.”

In his speech titled ‘Royal Handshake from Across The Niger’, Eze Eri commended the roles played by the Ooni in strengthening the relationship between the Yoruba and the Igbo.

He urged the Ooni not to relent until all conflicting interests in Africa were united.

The monarch said, “Thank you your imperial majesty, we have been projecting this historical dimension, though not using your platform and since you have echoed same from a different angle, there seems to be some kind of historical treasure hidden somewhere about the relationship between the Yoruba and Igbo.

“One of the best ways to unravel this mystery is to encourage inter-ethnic visits especially during cultural activities.”

He also used the occasion to invite Ooni to the forthcoming Eri festival slated for November in Aguleri, Anambra State.

Igbo-Yoruba affinity: Ifa oracle is the connectin… — Attah of Igala

Igbo-Yoruba affinity: Ifa oracle is the connecting link of original Nigerians — Attah of Igala ON MAY 19, 20195:09

By Chris Onuoha

Following the controversial statements and counter opinions emanating from some quarters as a result of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Oguwunsi’s statement that the Yoruba and Igbo have common affinity, the Attah Of Igala, Dr. Idakwo Ameh Oboni, says Nigerians “are the same people and Ifa oracle is the link”.

Attah Of Igala, Dr. Idakwo Ameh Oboni The monarch stated, “From the Igala man to the man with Kwararafa blood in him, to the original Nigerians, Ifa is cardinal.” This contradicts the claim made by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, that there were no linguistic, cultural and economic ties for several thousand years before the advent of the Europeans and formation of Nigeria.

African Socio-cultural Harmony and Enlightenment Foundation (ASHE) released extracts from an upcoming documentary of paramount traditional rulers in which the Attah and the Ooni explain the link between original Nigerians, known as the Niger Kongo ethno-linguistic family believed to be a continuum of dialects. Oboni compared Ifa to a powerful torchlight that shines into darkness. “Igalas have the same16 like the Yoruba, which guided us to our homeland. The pronunciation might be slightly different but Ifa is the same!”, the Igala monarch said.

Prince Justice Faloye, President of ASHE, said Ifa is not a religion but includes religion, adding that Ifa is not philosophy but contains philosophy, science and everything about humanity. Faloye went on: “It is the original African way of organizing and storing all information and activated with the electromagnetism that comes from the 256 pulses of the Odus”.

The Attah explained that Igala language is 60%-70% Yoruba mixed with Jukun Kwararafa influences. The monarch pointed out that the Yoruba spoken in Ife or Ilesa is different from that spoken in Kabba, closer to Igalaland, saying that is how language diverged throughout Africa.

“Kwararafa cultural influences extend from South Kaduna to Cross River, including groups like Agatu, Chamba, Ekoi, Ham etc. It is the origin of the Benue-Congo ethno-linguistic subfamily that spreads to East and South Africa”, he said. “The Aku Uka of Wukari is the spiritual head of the confederate of original African groups that attacked and restrained the spread of Islamic Afro-asiatic imperialism. The coalition attacked Bornu, Kano, Zaria and Katsina before finally broken by Fulani Jihadists and colonized by the British.

“Igala is believed to be the second oldest group, followed by Igbo. Igalaland was essentially the dispersal point of human migration out of the Southern Rainforests called Igbo Irunmole, forests of the spirits”.

The Attah confirmed oral history that the Nupe left Idah Igalaland for Bida while Igbos passed through Igalaland to reach Aguleri, their ancestral home.

In the documentary, Ooni Ogunwusi said, “We are a piece of the same garment; all we need to do is to put them together. “Akinkugbe (1978) previously stated that Igala, Yoruba and others belong to the same lineage.

This linguistic group, that also include Igbos, Ewe, Urhobo, Idomas, Nupe and Gwaris, known as the Volta-Niger ethno-linguistic family, has recently been shown to be the oldest through genetic testing.

“The family’s convergence around the Niger-Benue Rivers over a period evolved a new people known as Apa (Jukun in Hausa) that spread out through Lake Chad and River Benue into present day Cameroun, where they followed the Chari and Sangha Rivers to the Ugbangi-Kongo River basin, as some went downstream towards the coast while others went upstream to the Great Lakes Rift Valley area, where they spread to fill out East and South Africa”

Attah Oboni, on his part, said, “If you look closely, you will see that Ifa is our culture, our history, our chemistry Blackman’s magic, our everything. “I have the greatest pity for those without cultural identity. Ifa is our language; if you say it is the devil’s language, then your culture, your history, your identity, everything is gone! “You will be neither here or there, you will be like a motor that the Whiteman or computer made. If they turn you here, you go. If they turn you there, you go!”

Ogunwusi stated that Igbo Irunmole was the same as the Abrahamic Garden of Eden and Osun was Eve. Despite qualifying the statement that physical and spiritual births are different, Ogunwusi agreed that, scientifically, Osun, meaning, ‘it breeds’, ‘Orisun’, is the closest to Eve and the true mother of physical humanity.

He clarified that Oduduwa, who appears at the beginning of humanity and also at the beginning of monarchy a thousand years ago, was a spiritual essence that kept repeating in different ramifications through history like all other spirits.

When asked how Ifa was at the beginning and still present, he answered, “Like with Oduduwa, Orunmila was the one that oversaw everything. Orunmila is Ifa, Igbos call it Afa, Binis call it Iha, Urhobo call it Efa. Ifa was there and saw it all, that’s why Ifa is called ‘eleri ipin’, the witness of the divergence of humanity. We are all saying the same story, same lineage!

“Yorubas are Ogbe (Oduduwa), Igbo are Ofun (Obatala), Igala are Ogunda (Ogun), Edo are Osa (Olokun), etc. Ifa recorded everything from the trees to animals, to humans, underwater. Ifa explains the universe! “Just as Oduduwa was there in the spiritual world, the superhuman world and now in our current world, so is Ifa at the beginning. “It was at the dispersal, it is still relevant since its 256 pulses derived from Ifa16 times16 Odu is the basis of the first computer. The 256bit Clifford motherboard, which advanced in multiples to 512 up to the present gigabytes. Ifa 256 is also compounded into infinity”

The Attah concluded, “If we look inside and connect the link dots of our civilization, not only Nigeria but the entire black race will rise!

“The Whiteman has taken our Ifa and turned it into a global success. Before they come for the rest, let us come together and pick the bits to uplift ourselves”.

Apart from the electromagnetism of Ifa turned into computer technology, Soponna philosophy, based on vaccination, was the foundations of modern western medicine transferred during the smallpox epidemic in 1720 Boston by Cotton Mather, founder of Yale University.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/05/igbo-yoruba-affinity-ifa-oracle-is-the-connecting-link-of-original-nigerians-attah-of-igala/