The ancient city of Ile-Ife was thrown into spiritual ecstasy and cultural euphoria as the 2025 edition of the World Ifa Festival reached its climax on Saturday June 7th, 2025 in Osun State.
Thousands of Ifa devotees, cultural enthusiasts, scholars and tourists trooped into the sacred city, regarded as the cradle of the Yoruba race, to celebrate the divinely-inspired tradition of Ifa.
The atmosphere of Ile-Ife especially around the Ooni of Ife’s palace, Oke Itase Temple and Enuwa Square, remained electrically-charged throughout the week as traditional drummers, colourfully-adorned devotees, high-ranking priests and curious visitors from across the globe converged to honour the sacred oracle of Ifa, believed to be the custodian of divine wisdom.
The week-long festival, under the spiritual and royal guidance of the Arole Oduduwa Olofin Adimula & Permanent Chairman of the South West Traditional Council of Nigeria, Ooni Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, CFR, Ojaja II, commenced on Sunday, June 1, and featured a mosaic of ancestral rites, sacred chants, botanical divinations, cultural processions, lectures and international spiritual collaborations.
One of the attendees of the Festival and an APC Chieftain and custodian of Ogun deity in Iboro community in Ogun State, Chief Olushina Oroshina Olaniyi, eulogized Ooni Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, CFR, for making the festival memorable for IFA worshippers within and outside Nigeria.
Chief Olushina Olaniyi expressed his appreciation to the Ooni for sustaining the legacy of Ifa through unwavering royal support.
“This Festival is not just a religious experience. It’s a living museum of African identity, a testament to resilience and pride. Every chant, every drumbeat speaks to our shared history”, Chief Olaniyi further stated.
The Ogun State APC Chieftain also berated people who shunned local traditions under the guise of Christianity.
“Traditional rituals such as female genital mutilation had been long in existence and would continue to remain so even after we will all have gone”, he said.
He frowned at parents who have continued to shield their daughters from performing the ritual, warning that “the consequences are always dire and that such children would be banished and cut off from the community.”
He described resisting parents and their daughters as myopic and insensitive, insisting that disobedience to the custom was fatal and unpardonable.
In the early hours of Sunday, a climactic Iwure Ifa (Ifa Prayer Session) and the final Dida Ifa Odun Àgbáyé (global divination ritual) were held, accompanied by drumming, dancing, and chants that continued until dawn.
Chief Olaniyi greeted the Ooni of Ife Ooni Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi for his support in sustaining the legacy of Ifa.
The APC Chieftain also saluted President Bola Tinubu whom he referred to as their grand Patron and Father of the Nation, in his resilience in moving Nigeris in the right direction.
The APC Chief also felicitated with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, as well as the Police Commissioner, Ondo State Command for his good work and support.
He also enjoined all her IFA members across Nigeria, diaspora and government positions across Nigeria to continue to be steadfast and remain good IFA ambassadors.
