Yam Festival 2019: Embrace Peace To Boost Productivity - Iloko Regent Advises

By Awoyemi Olayinka Rafael

_...urges farmers/herders to focus on peace for development_

August, September and October are three special months in the Iloko Ijesa cultural calendar. Each year, thousands of Iloko sons and daughters troop out enmasse to celebrate the annual New Yam Festival. This age long festival, which is as old as the Iloko Ijesa culture itself, is usually held between August and October with the date determined by community leaders.

The aim of the New Yam Festival is to officially present the newly harvested yams to God and the ancestors of the land. The festival is also an avenue to thank God for sustaining the life of the farmers, the indigenes of the land and the farm product (yam) through a successful planting season.

The festival, also referred to as ‘ Odun Ije Su or ‘Odun Iyan is a unifying factor within various communities in Ijesa land. It begins with the breaking of kolanuts by the traditional ruler of the community and later the slicing and consumption of roasted yam tubers with palm oil. The condiments usually used to cook the tubers of yam for a New Yam Festival are usually Fresh Palm Oil, Salt, Pepper, Onions and Crayfish, among others. Two special delicacies usually prepared on that ceremonial day include: Boiled White Yam (with its tubers) coupled with its red oily sauce; and Yam Porridge.

The New Yam Festival is indeed a colourful event which is fast becoming a major tourist attraction. Visitors from far and wide have been thronging these community to partake in the celebrations and also enjoy the rich cultural heritage of the Iloko Ijesa people.

Speaking with Nationnewslead (NNL) on the significance of the event, the community Regent, High Chief Shola Ogunsanya submitted that the festival is a highly regarded traditional event in Iloko Ijesa, but more importantly were its spiritual connotations.

According to him, “the mystical nature of yam is that you sow the head in the ground but God will take that; it will die, and another will sprout and produce a yam in the size that only God determines.”

An ambassador from the United States of America who graced the occasion enthused, “I am very honoured to be at this celebration to mark a successful planting season. I have never really taken part in a festival like this, and I can say that it’s a very impressive and robust event.”

“You don’t get this sort of festival displays in any other part of the world”, he added.

The Ambassador was also quick to point out that although this was not his first visit to Nigeria, he found the people of Iloko Ijesa peaceful.

“They and indeed the people of Nigeria are peace-loving; and that is one message I will take home.”

Thomas Ogungbangbe, popularly known as Perry, represented by his personal assistant is one of the various Nigerian that graced this year Iloko Ijesa New Yam Festival. Ogungbangbe in his keynote address noted that though this was not the first time he was coming to the community, the festival is indeed one of the most traditional and the most grounded cultural export obtainable in Ijesa land.

According to him, “anybody who wants to have a first-hand information on the foundation of the Ijesa culture must recognize the Odun Ije Su or New Yam festival in Ijesaland.”

Mr Fagbohun Ojo, who is the Chairman, 2019 Planning Committee in an interview with Nationnewslead, said this year's celebration was unique.

The head of Iloko Ijesa sons & daughters Chief Kehinde Odeyemi urged all natives of Iloko ijesa both home and abroad to endeavor to participate in the celebration so that together, “we can enhance the development of Iloko ijesa."

Iloko Ijesa regent, High Chief Shola Ogunsanya while addressing the multitude at Owaloko Palace told his audience which included farmers, traders and priests across the land that peaceful coexistence is the secret to economic prosperity.

He lamented that the country has suffered economically from the clashes between farmers and herders, he therefore charged the two groups to embrace peace as a tool to enhance productivity.

"Both farmers and herders are two critical stakeholders in food production, I want to advise them to use peace to boost productivity.

“The government has been trying and has even promised to step up the fight against insecurity in the country. So I call on all stakeholders in food production especially the farmers to be patience with the government’s approach towards stabilizing peaceful coexistence across the country”, he concluded.

He also prayed for economic progress and agricultural productivity while he symbolically sliced a tuber of yam which is a declaration that farm produce can now be consumed across Yorubaland, afterwhich tubers of yam and other farm produce were shared among the excited participants.