*Reflections Without Mirror- Niyi Aborisade*
*The Masquerades- Oloolu v Ajagbemokeferi. Religious violence.*
I am writing this piece by popular demand and this is in continuity of my last Article published on 19.03.2022.
I acknowledge my friend, Tunde Morakinyo who supplied me with invaluable Information and asked me to clarify some issues bordering on the Masquerades and their categories .
The Masquerades ( Egungun) of Ibadan can be divided into Four categories.
1 Egungun Oba (the King’s Masquerades) (2) Egungun Ode (the Hunter’s Masquerades) (3) Egungun Alare and Tombolo , (Entertainment Masquerades) (4) Oloolu, a unique Masquerade .
The King’s Masquerades are the most respected amongst the Masquerades, Iponriku, Oyi, Abidielege, Alapansanpa etc belonged to this group . They had too much traditional power, there was a saying, ” *Iponriku loun ko se Oogun ika mo o so ile Ana re di ahoro”.* In a loose translation it means Iponriku said that he has stopped doing evil medicine yet he annihilate the house of his in law.
Abidielege was another powerful ones , he always carry pot of bees and he has power to sting his enemy with bees whilst he and his followers would remain inviolated and not affected at all.
Agbo ogede and Co belonged to Hunter’s Masquerades, he was another fearful and highly respected Masquerade.
Category 3 are the most colourful ones for entertainment, they always have many women, dancers and praise singers with them. They are to entertain with songs, talking drums beautiful dance with acrobatic display , magic and people gives them money. Aiyelabola and Ajangila were of these group.
Oloolu is the final one , he is a masquerade of Masquerades,he is the big Masquerade that remains last at the groove. It is forbidden of women to see Oloolu, any time he comes out , women must remain in close doors , he was both feared and respected. Apart from the unverified story that the First Oloolu slayed his own wife who dear came out and watch him when he was on duty. I have never seen him killing any women but his followers were beyond his control and very dangerous, Oloolu was never responsible for many atrocities performed during his outings but his uncontrollable followers. He never put on shoes he must walk barefoot throughout his lifetime. For years , Oloolu was a mysterious Masquerade that cannot be faced by anyone . The place where he stays is known as Ode Aje Ololu, it was behind my school, C & S Oje Olokun, Oke Ofa Atipe Ibadan. I was very close to some of his family members then.
There was one controversial Islamic Cleric in Ibadan in the 70s, He was known as Alhaji Abdul Azeez Ajagbemokeferi He was a native of Ilesha but settled in Ibadan where he practised his trade. He had cult like followership and he used to organised an Islamic evangelism. He was well versed in the Quran and the Bible . His mouth was seasoned with salt despite his lack of education.
He was controversial because he possessed some powers outside the Islamic teachings . For example, those that consulted him for different issues came to tell us that he would not normally collect money from them by hand but he would give them envelope to take home to put money and put it under their pillow. They confirmed that by the time they wake up in the morning the envelope would be no where to be found. They did not need to tell him their problems they would just write it down and seal it inside an envelope and he Ajagbe would tell them exactly what was written inside the paper. People accused him of using Demons for divination and sent Demons on errand. He was such a powerful man but he always look for trouble.
There was a time someone asked him a question in the TV , a form of allegation that he did not only rely on Quran but mixes other things like juju or diabolic powers . He directed people to the bible where Jesus healed a blind man by moulding a clay and spat to it. He said Jesus mixed something with something to perform healing and so if he mixes things together and used it for the people, there was a precedent from Jesus.
The meaning of his name Ajamogbekeferi means someone that shouts on gentile. It could be translated as someone that terrorises the gentiles. He was a man given to violence and never shirked from violence.
So one day Oloolu came out as usual and so Ajagbemokeferi had promised from previous year that his women would watch Oloolu live and nothing will happen.
Oloolu also had his own cult followers and a fiery masquerade indeed that never put on mask to cover his face . He had a skull of human being that always hang around his shoulders ——‐ *To be continued*
Niyi Aborisade is a lawyer, a Human Rights Activist and an Historian. He is the author of Balogun Oderinlo
