Osun Osogbo Festival

“I was asked to relocate from Lagos to Osogbo so that my life can have a meaning. I beg you, goddess of Osun, I must not come back here in vain,” these were the words of a desperate woman inside the sacred Osun grove where the annual Osun/ Osogbo festival berths yearly.

Dmatrixnews gathers that apart from the fertility which the Osun goddess is sure to guarantee barren women, it is believed that anything one asks from the river will be granted as long as the requests are backed up with promises (which MUST be fulfilled).

During the 2016 edition of the festival, the crowd pouring into the grove, according to locals, was unprecedented as the people kept thronging the shrine to make their demands from the goddess. And although there was a heavy downpour on Thursday preceding the grand finale, the people remain unperturbed.

Foreign newsmen, tourists and expatriates were also at the scene, but unlike the locals, they were only at the site to enjoy the beauty of African tradition firsthand.

A source spoke with a few attendees, especially those who are not domiciled in the state and they had nothing but great words for the goddess and the priests for ensuring the consistent organisation of proceedings.

“This is one festival that I have never missed and do not hope to miss until I pass away from this world. I am a Muslim, but this is where I was born and I can say that even Christians who were born from this community should never forget their roots,” the man who identified as Ismail Muhammadu Quasim, told our correspondent.



“We all know that our traditional way of worship is not something we can wish away easily, that’s the more reason we have to keep worshiping God. Whether you are a pastor, alfa or a traditionalist, you cannot make enemies with water and that is what the Osun Osogbo festival is basically about,” he added.



One elderly woman who was very vocal when the Arugba (the young virgin lady who carries Yeye Osun’s authority) thronged the sacred grove, prayed endlessly for her family, her children; home and abroad, as well as NAIJ.com correspondents.

She said: “I thank you, my mother for counting me worthy to see this year’s festival, may my children not suffer, may I not become paralysed.

“Please grant me the grace to witness the coming ones in good health. And to you my children who have come here, may this not be your last festival.”

Such is the efficacy of the Yeye Osun’s powers that one man was asked to pull off his clothes as he approached one of the priestesses to pray for him so that he would become rich.

Some powdery stuff were poured on his face and he was asked to ‘settle’ the women who were offering the sacrifices on his behalf.

“What my mother is doing for you is beyond this meagre amount that you are offering,” said one of the priestesses. There were other side attractions inside the sacred grove as the event reached its climax.

A regular attendee, Otunba Gani Adams, leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) was also at the river bank to offer some prayers as people kept shouting Oodua while security remained water tight.

Dignitaries also filled the arcade set up for prominent sons and daughters of the kingdom to enjoy the ambience which the scenery provided inside the sacred grove.

As at the time of compiling this report, there was a heavy rainfall in Osogbo, the state capital, which NAIJ.com gathered, is a sign that the people’s requests have been granted by the Osun river goddess.

But generally, the celebration did not stop in every community around the state capital as people kept playing different music to thank their deities for the successful completion of another Osun Osogbo Festival.

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