-as the Ife Imperial Majesty received Nigerian travel journalists on a courtesy visit
Renn Offor
The land of Rehoboth in biblical times was the place where strive ended in the life of Isaac and it means the land of expansion. And down through the centuries, the name ‘Rehoboth’ has remained significant as people from all walks of life and in many countries through its use as names of places and people and even as business entities.
Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II as he received Nigerian travel journalists who paid him a courtesy visit in his palatial palace, in an enthusiastic manner, revealed that Ile-Ife means the place of expansion like the biblical Rehoboth.
While receiving the Nigerian travel journalists, the Oba in excitement said that, ‘I cannot be everywhere! And I’ve been wondering ‘where are my people. I am glad to all of you…travel journalists. We are doing the Ife Tourism Day on Saturday 26th February’.
The Kabiyesi, reiterating his passion to situate Ile-Ife as a tourism destination expressed his passion for tourism. ‘The Ile-Ife tourism day is strategically targeted as an effort to rebrand and repackage and showcase to the world all the hidden mysteries about the civilization and culture of the Yoruba people’, the Ojaja II explained. 50 countries trace their source back to Yorubaland.
‘I am passionate about rebranding Ile-Ife as a tourism destination to attract the world’-Ooni of Ife. So, we are rebranding our rich history and cultural arts so that it will become a tourist attraction to Ile-Ife. Ile-Ife is the cradle of the culture and civilization of the Yoruba race, whose same culture and traditions have spread to over fifty countries and have gained global recognition’.
he Ooni went on to reveal that contrary to the belief historians and archeologists have held over the centuries about the Tower of Babel being located in the Middle East, that the Tower actually existed in Ile-Ife, in a stretch of over a thousand kilometers of hilly upland with every feature that correlates it with the biblical Tower of Babel.
Kabiyesi also spoke of his ‘living wife in the palace, the Yeye Molu. She does not like to be disturbed. If people covered her face, before the morning she breaks it open’.
And according to one of the Oba’s aides who conducted the travel writers around the face of the Yeye Molu, he explained that ‘all the families in Ile-Ife has a mysterious passage that connects to the Yeye Molu, so that if any one mistakenly falls inside her face, which is an open well that has never been covered from the time of Oduduwa until now, the person would mysteriously find himself or herself reappear in his family compound or house in Ile-Ife’.
He explained that the ‘Yeye Molu was actually the first wife of Oduduwa, but that she was barren. And as old age approached, realizing she did not bare children for Oduduwa, she went on and convinced her husband to take another wife. The children of the younger wife she treated as her own. When the time of her death approached, she looked up and transformed into a living well inside the compound of the Oduduwa, her beloved husband’.
The travel journalists, led by Elder Emeka Anokwuru, expressed delight at the reception and audience accorded them by His Imperial Majesty, pledged their allegiance and support to him and went on to remind the Kabiyesi to remain true to his avowed passion for tourism and to still drive the replicating of Enagbe Resorts in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria as he promised before he ascended the throne of his forefathers, in which he also mentioned Ile-Ife as one of the them.
Oba Adeyeye in his reaction said, ‘I am glad that you remembered that. Ile-Ife in English means the Land of expansion. The Tower of Babel in the Bible, it is in this land. The second one is the ark of Noah in the bible, it is here! It is a mystery.
‘So, we want everybody all over the world to come and see the mystery of this ancient city. And by so doing, we transform the economies of this domain’.
During the unveiling of Ife-Ife as a Tourism Zone on Saturday, the National Troupe of Nigeria will also be performing at the event.
The travel journalists who visited the Ooni of Ife are Elder Emeka Anokwuru of The Sun newspaper, Wale Olapade of Tribune, Obinna Emelike of BusinessDay, Demola Ojo of ThisDay, John Omololu Olumuyiwa of Travelscope, Franklin Ihejirika of The Pilot and Renn Offor of Atqnews.
