One of the most important occasions of the Ogun Olojo Festival is the opening ceremonies when the Yoruba King, the Ooni makes an appearance.
The Ogun Olojo Festival is a culture festival in the calendar of the Ile-Ife, Osun State which is located in the Southwestern part of Nigeria. It is the celebration of the remembrance of Ogun, god of Iron, who is believed to be the first son of Oduduwa, progenitor of the Yoruba people. The festival is held annually in October.
On this day, the Ooni (king of Ife) appears after several days of seclusion and denial, communing with the ancestors, and praying for his people. This is to make him pure and ensure the efficacy of his prayers. Before the Ooni emerges, women from his maternal and paternal families sweep the Palace, symbolically ridding the Palace of evil.
The Ooni later appears in public with the Are crown (King’s Crown), which is believed to be the original crown used by Oduduwa to lead a procession of traditional Chiefs and Priests to perform at the Shrine of Ogun. The next stage of the ceremony is to lead the crowd to Okemogun’s shrine. Here he performs duties including the renewal of oath, divination for the Ooni at the foot of Oketage hill by Araba (Chief Priest), as well as visiting places of historical importance.
The new king Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi enthroned in 2015 is now one of the most influential among the Yoruba people, Nigeria's second biggest ethnic group, of about 35 million in West Africa.
