Igunuko Festival In Ajegunle

It was fun as the people of Ajegunle came together to celebrate the Igunuko Festival, Igunuko Festival is a festival done once in a year in this city(Ajegunle), and people comes from places to watch this festival course its a must watch for everybody who don't want our culture to perish. This are just tips more are coming. WATCH OUT.

Yoruba History

The Yoruba are said to be prolific sculptors, famous for their magnificent terra cotta works throughout the 12th and 14th century; artists also earnests their capacity in making artwork out of bronze.^[2]

Esiẹ Museum is a museum in Esiẹ, Irepodun. The museum was the first to be established in Nigeria when it opened in 1945. The museum once housed over one thousand tombstone figures or images representing human beings. It is reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world.^[3] In modern times the Esie museum has been the center of religious activities and hosts a festival in the month of April every year.

Yoruba bronze head sculpture from the city of Ife, Nigeria c. 12th century A.D

Some common Yoruba foods are iyan (pounded yam), Amala (yam flour meal), eba, semo, fufu, Moin moin (bean cake) and akara. Soups include egusi, ewedu, okra, vegetables are also very common as part of diet. Items like rice and beans (locally called ewa). Some dishes are also prepared for festivities and ceremonies such as Jollof rice and fried rice. Other popular dishes are Ekuru, stews, corn, cassava and flours - e.g. maize, yam, plantain and bean, eggs, chicken, beef and assorted forms of meat and fish (pumo is made from cow skin). Some less well known meals and many miscellaneous staples are arrowroot gruel, sweetmeats, fritters and coconut concoctions; and some breads - yeast bread, rock buns, and palm wine bread to name a few. Yoruba cuisine is quite vast.[4]

Iyan (pounded yam) plate

Naming

Since it is generally believed that names are like spirits which would like to live out their meanings, parents do a thorough search before giving names to their babies. Naming ceremonies are performed with this in mind. The oldest family member is given the responsibility of performing the ceremony. Materials used are symbols of the hopes, expectations and prayers of the parents for the new baby. These include honey, kola, bitter kola, atare (alligator pepper), water, palm oil, sugar, sugar cane, salt, and liquor. Each of these has a special meaning in the world-view of the Yoruba. For instance, honey represents sweetness, and the prayer of the parents is that their baby's life will be as sweet as honey.^[5]

After the ritual, the child is named and other extended family members are given the honour to give their own names to the child. They do this with gifts of money and clothing. In many cases, they would want to call the child by the name they give him or her. Due to this, a new baby may end up with more than a dozen names.^[6]

This are what you see during a Yoruba Naming Ceremony. 

Oruko Amutorunwa (Preordained name)

• Amutorunwa (brought from heaven)
• Oruko - name, ( taiye, kehinde, ojo, ige, aina. 
• Yoruba believe that a baby may come with pre-destined names. For instance, twins (ibeji) are believed to have natural-birth names. Thus the first to be born of the two is calledTaiwo or "Taiye", shortened forms of Taiyewo, meaning the taster of the world. This is to identify the first twin as the one sent by the other one to first go and taste the world. If he/she stays there, it follows that it is not bad, and that would send a signal to the other one to start coming. Hence the second to arrive is named Kehinde (late arrival; it is now common for many Kehindes to be called by the familiar diminutive "Kenny". The child born to the same woman after the twins is called Idowu, and the one after this is called Alaba(female) or Idogbe (male). Ige is a child born with the legs coming out first instead of the head; and Ojo (male) or Aina ( female) is the one born with the umbilical cord around his or her neck. When a child is conceived with no prior menstruation, he or she is named Ilori. Dada is the child born with locked hair; and Ajayi (nicknamed Ogidi Olu) is the one born face-downwards.^[7]
  Other natural names include Abiodun (one born on a festival day or period), Bosede (one born on a holy day); Babatunde/Babatunji (meaning father has come back) is the son born to a family where a father has recently passed. This testifies to the belief in reincarnation. Iyabode, Yeside, Yewande, Yetunde, (mother has come back) is the female counterpart.

  Oruko Abiso (Name given at birth)

  • Oruko - name
  • Abi - birthed
  • So - named
  These are names that are not natural with the child at birth but are given on either the eight day of birth (for females) and ninth day of birth (for males). They are given in accordance with significant events at time of birth or with reference to the family tradition as has been mentioned above.
  Examples of names given with reference to the family tradition include Ogundiran (Ogun has become a living tradition in the family); Ayanlowo ( Ayan drumming tradition is honorable); Oyetoso (Chieftaincy is ornament); Olanrewaju (Honor is advancing forward); Olusegun (God has conquered the enemy).

  Abiku Names

  • Abi - birthed, or Bi - born
  • Iku - death, or Ku - die / dead
  The Yoruba believe that some children are born to die. This derives from the phenomenon of the tragic incidents of high rate of infant mortality sometimes afflicting the same family for a long time. When this occurs, the family devises all kinds of method to forestall a recurrence, including giving special names at a new birth.^[8] Such names reflect the frustration of the poor parents:
  • Malomo (do not go again)
  • Kosoko (there is no hoe anymore). This refers to the hoe that is used to dig the grave.
  • Kashimawo (let's wait and see). This suggests a somewhat cynical attitude in the parent(s).
  • Banjoko (sit with me)
  • Orukotan (all names have been exhausted)
  • Yemiitan (stop deceiving me)
  • Kokumo (this will not die)
    

  Pet names

  The Yoruba also have pet names or oriki. These are praise names, and they are used to suggest what the child's family background is or to express one's hope for the child:Akanbi- (one who is deliberately born); Ayinde (one who is praised on arrival); Akande (one who comes or arrives in full determination); Atanda (one who is deliberately created after thorough search). For females, Aduke (one who everyone likes to bless), Ayoke (one who people are happy to bless), Arike (one who is blessed on sight), Atinuke or Abike (one that is born to be pampered),"Anike" which come from a longer name meaning we have a crown and it is as delicate as an egg. 

  Law

  Yoruba law is the legal system of Yorubaland. It is quite intricate, each group and subgroup having a system that varies, but in general, government begins within the immediate family. The next level is the clan, or extended family, with its own head known as a Baálé. This chief will be subject to town chiefs, and these chiefs are usually themselves subject to their Oba, who may or may not be subject to another Oba himself.^[9]
  Most of what survived of this legal code has been assimilated into the customary laws of the sovereign nations that the Yoruba inhabit.

• Wedding

  The child that is named will grow to adulthood. The Yoruba culture provides for the upbringing of the child by the extended family. In traditional society, the child is placed with a master of whatever craft the gods specify for him or her. Or he may take to the profession of the father, in the case of a boy, or the mother, in the case of a girl. The parents have the responsibility for his/her socialization into the norms of the larger society, in addition to giving him a means of livelihood. His or her wedding is also the responsibility of the parents.
  The wedding ceremony is the climax of a process that starts with courtship. The young man identifies a young woman that he loves. He and his friends seek her out through various means, including playing pranks. The young man sends messages of interest to the young woman until such a time that they are close enough to avoid a go-between (alarina). Then once they both express mutual love, they let their parents know about their feelings for each other. The man's parents arrange to pay a visit to the prospective bride's parents. Once their consent is secured, the wedding day may be set. Prior to the wedding day, the payment of bride price is arranged. This secures the final consent of the bride's parents, and the wedding day is fixed. Once the day has been fixed through either consultation of the Orishas by a babalawo (in the case of followers of the Yoruba religion) or the decision of a man of God (in the case of the Christians or Muslims), the bride and bridegroom are warned to avoid travelling out of town, including to the farm. This is to prevent any mishap. The wedding day is a day of celebration, eating, drinking and dancing for parents, relations, the new husband and wife and their friends and, often, even foes. Marriage is not considered to be only a union of the husband and wife, it is also seen among the Yoruba as the union of the families on both sides. But before the bride goes to her husbands house, she is escorted by different people i.e. family and friends to the door step of her new home. There she is prayed for and her legs are washed. It is believed that she is washing every bad-luck that she might have brought into her husband's house away. Before she is finally ushered into her house, if she is an adherent of the Yoruba faith, she is given a calabash (igba) and is then asked to break it. When it breaks, the amount of pieces it is broken into is believed to be the number of children she will give birth to. On the wedding night she and her husband have their first meeting and he is ordinarily expected to find her to be a virgin. If he doesn't, she and her parents are disgraced and may be banished from the village where they live.
  While this is the only marital ceremony that is practiced by the more traditional members of the tribe, Christian and Muslim members generally blend it with a church wedding andregistry wedding (in the case of Christians) or a nikkah and registry wedding (in the case of Muslims). In their communities, the Yoruba ceremony described above is commonly seen as more of an engagement party than a proper wedding rite.
  
  
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