On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, the Oduduwa Hall, the architectural showpiece of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, which had played host to major socio-academic events by the authorities, groups and students, was filled by traditional rulers, traditional religion practitioners, culture enthusiasts, scholars, theatre practitioners, the media and others.
They all converged on the facility standing firmy few metres to the equally imposing Senate Building and the Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, on the invite of the Institute of Cultural Studies for a lecture in honour of the revered Araba Awo of Osogbo, Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon.
Tagged the Ifayemi Elebuibon Annual Lecture and themed “Osundagbonu Ifayemi Elebuibon: The Man, The Myth and the Messanger of Ifa”, the occasion further attested to the moto of the university–Learning and Culture–which points out and asserts the existing harmonous relationship between understanding and root.
At the basement of the hall, eagerly awaiting were drummers and dancers who spontaneously rushed forward and welcomed dignitaries with songs and sound as their vehicles pulled over.
The day was celebration of Yoruba cultural heritage daily preserved and fervently preached by Elebuibon at home and across the Atlantic where he is nursing an appreciable number of godsons, especially in the US, which is arguably his second country.
Organisers, headed by Director of the institute, Professor Olusegun Oladosu, put up an event which made traditional practice much more appealing, in terms of arrangement and time management which ensured a prompt conclusion despite the cluster of activities, including cultural performances by students of SS Peters & Paul, Ajigboyin, Ile-Ife, Oluorogbo High School, Ile-Ife and Anago Alawo dudu.
While welcoming the guests, the director of the institute disclosed that Elebuibon’s worth as a quintessential promoter of African/Yoruba culture inspired the annual lecture carved in his name as a reward to his age-old consistency, development of indigenous knowledge system and what he called his multiple legacies.
Oladosu stressed the precedence of tradition, religiously upheld by Elebuibon and his disciples, over modernity, thus applauding the Araba Awo for his unrelenting efforts in sustaining the heritage passed down to him by his father.
“We celebrate the life of Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon not only for what he knows, but for what he has refused to let die. He has proven that culture is not a relic of the past, but a living guide for the present and future,” he noted.
Guest Speaker, Professor Adebiyi Ademakinwa, a creative arts lecturer formerly at the University of Lagos and currently the Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba literaly tied guests to their seats while his lecture lasted. His depth, his presence, his style of delivery matched the stuff expected from a scholar of his class.
The 1995 award-winning thespian dug into Elebuibon’s body of literatures he had published over the years and dissected Elebuibon as a surgeon would do in the theatre, bringing out layers of his trajectory from birth through childhood, adulthood to becoming a sought-after Ifa priest respected beyond the shores of his father’s land.
Brilliantly and most poignantly, the lecturer made a comparative submission between Elebuibon and the iconic master of drama, Williams Shakespeare, none of whom, he revealed, ever attended higher institution but both attained greater height in knowledge and knowledge dispensation to the world.
“For instance, Shakespeare attended a grammar school, and he did not belong to the group called ‘University Wit’ as his contemporaries such as Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, and Ben Johnson among others, but Shakespeare was able to master the classical canon through keen observation and apprenticeship in the theatre.
“Similarly, Chief Elebuibon did not pursue a vigorous Western education in his youth. He rather went through years of rigorous Ifa apprenticeship, an oral ‘University System’ that placed a high premium on memorisation of hundreds and thousands of Ifa verses (the odu), including medicinal formulas and historical precedents,” he affirmed in a tone of admiration.
After the Professor’s lecture, interlude and a short cultural performance, presentation of awards took the centre stage with Chairman of the occasion, the Olowu of Kuta, Oba Adekunle Oyelude Makama emerging on top of the list of five recipients of Culture Ambassadors. Others included the Oonirisa, the Olufon of Ifon Osun, Oba Peter Oluwole Ipadeola Ilufemiloye, the Olojudo of Ido Osun, Oba Olayinka Isola Jokotola and the Agbongbon Awo of Osogbo, Chief Ifakayode Faniyi.
In his response to a question, Elebuibon acknowledged obstacles on his path, particularly remembering an episode of a woman who made frantic efforts to discourage his mother from supporting his line of arts as a young Ifa apprentice.
He recalled that the same woman would later run into him in the early 80s, when he had hit fame and owned a Datsun car. “She saw people chorusing my name, she came out, saw me and confessed that she put pressure on my mother to stop me from following the elderly Ifa priests,” he recounted.
To a question posed by an Archeology who said his team were working to expand archeology coverage to Ifa knowledge system, Elebuibon gladly assured him of his cooperation and support when the researchers knock on his door.
Representative of the Vice-chancellor, was Professor Akinyemi who was supported by Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Gbenga Fasiku and other officers of the university, including Chief Deji Awelewa who made a vote of thanks, thereby drawing the curtain on the historic lecture.
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