By Jimoh Babatunde

THEearly morningdownpour of Saturday could not prevent Lagosians from turning out in large numbers to be part of the “Adamu Orisa festival ’ popularly called Eyo staged as part of the Lagos state 50  celebration as they chant ed Moyo fun e , Moyo fun ran mi ( I rejoice with you, I rejoice with myself).

Some Eyo displaying during its Festival as part of activities marking the Lagos @50 celebrations at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos Island, on Saturday, May 20, 2017

But this year’s Eyo festival was a double one as it was also staged to commemorate the life and times of the late Oba Yekini Adeniyi Elegushi Kunsela11, of Ikate Kingdom.

For those who turned up at the Tafawa Balewa Square for the final parade of the various Eyo groups that represented chieftaincy houses , called Igas, and the five major eyo masquerades, they did so because they don’t know when the next festival will be staged.

Five major eyo masquerades

As Eyo  is not a yearly festival. It is held in commemoration of the passing of an Oba, or of well respected and admired Lagosians who contributed to the progress and development of the state.

So the celebrations that cumulated at the TBS on Saturday began Friday night in the heart of Eko as Lagos Island  with the building of a raffia and mat enclosed tent erected for the performance of some rites by the Eyo Laba, at Enu Owa in Central Lagos.

Many other Eyo groups also inspected the tent called ‘Para’ which was meant to declare the festival open as other Lagosians in party mood gathered at the Oba’s palace entrance for the rites to cleanse out evil and usher in peace and prosperity.

It was gathered that the big masquerade, the Adamu Orisa left the Para midnight to pay homage to Oba Akiolu amongst others to signal the opening of the festival.

Most of the residents were awake  all night partying waiting for the drumming of Gbedu and Koranda, which are beaten only during the Eyo festival in the early hours of Saturday.

As the Eyo groups began their procession first to Para and then to the Oba’s palace, the sky opened up and they had to go round Lagos Island, through Tinubu Square and Idumota and ended up at the TBS in the rain.  The masquerades in their immaculate white regalia (Agbada, Aropale, ) and accompanying palm frond (Opambata) and caps (Aga) to match danced round Lagos Island in the downpour that had them drenched and stained them with red mud.

At the TBS,  Governor Akinwumi Ambode, Oba Ridwan Akinolu, former Governor Bola Tinubu, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, and other dignitaries as well as people  waited for the procession .

The residents, who did not open shops, described the rainfall as a sign that the gods of the land were pleased with the celebrations and with the present administration of Lagos state led by Gov. Akinwumi Ambode.

The crowd was entertained all through the procession with local music by Ola Oni as the various families, Eyo Igas, like that of Bajulaye, Ermelo Kati and Assure, and the five major Eyo Orishas came out in their beautiful regalia in different colours.

The Eyo groups can be identified with the colours of their caps (Aga) as the Eyo Adimu Aga was white with black stripes or black with white stripes; Eyo Laba was red with white emblem; Eyo Oniko had yellow and black hat with their insignia in same colours; Eyo Ologede had banana as its emblem and its colours were yellow and green and Eyo Agere had purple hat.

As the five major Eyo Orishas, Adimu, Laba, Oniko, Ologede and Alagere, appeared on stage, there was stern warning that nobody should use their camera or phone to capture their procession.

At the end of the day, most of those who turned out went back home with that fulfilment of having being part of yet another Eyo festival.

Mr Jacob Kehinde, an indigene of “Eko’ the Yoruba name for Lagos city, said that the array of white regalia and costumes was a true replica of the culture and traditions of the indigenes of Lagos Island.

According to him, the festival was a theatrical display and pageantry that highlighted and showcased the rich indigenous history of the people and Lagos city.

“Every thing done in this festival is showcasing what we have as a people and what our culture entails.

“Lagos is a tourist attraction centre and we must use this medium to showcase sites while we celebrate Lagos as a state,” he said. Also, Mr Taofeek Adebisi, a freelance journalist, advised Africans and the general public to seek knowledge rather than attributing Eyo festival to a fetish practice.

“I was born and breed as a Muslim on the mainland of Lagos and over the years I have been made to believe that Eyo masquerade dance is diabolical.

“On the contrary, it is not true because I have been going around the town with the guys dancing since 10p.m. on Friday night and I have not seen anyone pouring libations to any deity. “Eyo is all about fun and nothing else, but, pure fun,” he said.