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Much Ado about Eyo from Iperu
For more than two centuries, Eyo festival is known to be synonymous to Lagos but for some obvious reasons many will not allow the people of Eko to "drink water drop cup" by telling us how Eyo was imported from Iperu, Igbogbo or Ibefun.
Let us quickly lay bear the claims of Igbogbo and Ibefun . The founder of Igbogbo was called Eyo , with the eulogy ( oriki ) of people of Igbogbo ending as....omo eleyo ,which is in remembrance of their progenitor, having nothing to do with Eyo Masquerade in Lagos .
The closest link of Eyo to Ibefun was through Ogunmade, whose father was the then Oba Leke of Ibefun . His mother was a direct daughter of Ejilu - Malaki . After the demise of Oba Leke in Ibefun , with the permission of Elders of Adamu orisha , he staged Eyo festival in Ibefun to honor his late father .
The people of Iperu are coming very aggressive since last year to re'- write history, laying claim that Eyo originated from Iperu. Unfortunately, because of the the strong envy many have for indigenes of Lagos , they bother less to verify their claims .
The whiole of Iperu was agog yesterday in the celebration of their newly re-ignited Eyo festival, which they claimed originated from Iperu . They did everything to convince the public that indeed Eyo is traditionally theirs and was imported to the people of Eko, centuries ago. Unfortunately, they struggled to create identity for the festival, different from that of Lagos.
The interesting part is their historical claim of ownership of Eyo and how they took it to the people of Lagos, told by Prince Taiwo Gbenga Owokalade Esq, the chairman of Eyo Iperu carnival, published in the ThisDay newspaper, on the 20th of April 2026.
Below is the excerpt from the Newspaper:
“According to oral traditional and spirituality that anchors the Eyo heritage firmly in Iperu-Remo. Eyo also known as Lenifeyo- Ta ni ko fe Ayo. The story begins with Ajagbe, a hunter from Ile- ife , whose journey to Iperu was guided by Ifa divination. His descendants, Lugoke, a revered blacksmith and ifa priest encountered a mythical woman at the Yemogun river. Their union produced Lenifeyo, whose destiny according to ifa was greatness, - condition on his perpetual adornment in white garment l. Lanifeyo's life took a defining turn when his mother returned to her mythical abode, entrusting him with sacred staff known as Opambata before disappearing. This marked the beginning of his journey, eventually leading to Lagos during the reign of Oba Ado in the 17th century. His influence grew rapidly due to his mastery of ifa divination, distinct white attire and poetic incarnation.
His performance captivated not only the local population but also foreign visitors including Portuguese traders, one of them gifted him a hat- later evolving into iconic “Akete AGA” associated with eyo masquerade today.
Lenifeyo’s performance extended into the royal court where he served as a spiritual confidant to Oba Akinsemoyin. His legacy, however remained deeply tight to iperu where he eventually returned and lived out his final years”
The above is the official historical position of the people of iperu being the original owner of Eyo festival and how it was brought to Eko .
Unfortunately, this is different from the popular claim that Eyo was brought from Iperu to celebrate the marriage ties between an iIperu princess and Oba Ado.
Rebuttals to the historical position of the peope of Iperu.
Ponit one :
Iperu is over five hundred kilometers from Lagos , not even linked by any river . Yet , the fist place Lenifeyo came was Lagos to start his Ifa divination.
Point two :
Even from the above account, Lagos was the only place Lenifeyo’s performance that depicts eyo was staged . There is no record of him staging it when he returned to iperu
To be continued
Dr. Agboola Kotu
English
