By Ibrahim A. Jagaba
Preparations for the annual celebration of centuries old Owu day festival by Owu descendants across the globe has now hit top gear as the supreme traditional symbol of the Owus across the universe, HRM Oba Prof. Saka Adelola Ayokanmi Matemilola. Oluyalo Otileta VII, who interestingly is marking his first Owu day festival after ascending the stool of his ancestors, earmarks the last week in October as the date and period for the 2023 Odun Omo Olowu fiesta; as a tradition, each year's is christened with a unique theme and the 2023 fiesta is themed, "A New Dawn", to usher in the new reign.
Odun Omo Olowu as celebrated by the Owu clan of Abeokuta and their kiths and kin across the world, has existed for centuries, metamorphosing from a private event to a more elaborate and public spectacle; it primarily denotes a form of thanksgiving and appreciation of the lord's bountiful favors and plentiful farm harvests by the Owus; Olowu as the Owu paramount ruler is addressed leads in the rites and processes, which includes the splitting of a freshly harvested tuber of yam into six portions for distribution and consumption in a public assembly of Owu sons and daughters and their guests.
It is such a classy event as chains of rites and cultural recipe including first, the announcement of the ripening of the new yam to the Oba in council by the imogbos and a subsequent first taste by HRM, the Oba, followed by the Balogun, his Oba's war chief, after an interval of five days and a climax with the final day's event where sons, daughters of Owu, guests and the general public share and rejoice in the culturally formal appreciations of eledumare's bountiful provisions cum declaration of the new yam for consumption for a period of three months before a new farming season set in.
Prominent Owu families, home and from the diaspora, amongst whom is the very large, late ekerin of egba land, chief Aminu Atanda Egbeyemi's, will again be on parade to proudly identify with their clan's unique culture of appreciating God for infinite favors and plentiful farm harvests for the year 2023.
Over the years, the late ekerin's, chief Aminu egbeyemi dynasty have succeeded in becoming one of the strong reference points for the Owu day celebration as they continue to uniquely brand and add their bit of color and glamour to the annual showpiece, year in- year out to the overall good and advancement of the significant cultural masterpiece, which is to come up between the 23rd through to the 29th of October 2023, as reliably gathered by this medium.
To say that, the late ekerin and Balogun Owu family, chief Aminu Atanda egbeyemi of blessed memory are set to contribute their all important quota to the 2023 Odun Omo Olowu festival, thus, mesmerizing and entertaining visitors is to say the least as we look forward to the historic event.
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