The Ayakoromo Olorogun Masquerade - Ekanpou

By: Enewaridideke Ekanpou

Masquerade seasons are many and everywhere.
The Gbaramatus mark masquerade seasons with panache every year, all eyes in the world annually imprisoned;
Yet the Gbaramatus are not the only celebrants of masquerade seasons.
Ayakoromites also mark masquerade seasons every year, telling the Olorogun story in colours and steps.

The markers of the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade are told in steps and colours.
The Ozibou priest solemnly announces the three-night ritual of wakefulness.
Men and women retire to bed at 12pm in the night.
Men and women wake up at 5pm in the night after the imposed retirement.
 
The Ozibou priest wears his white clothes and beats the mystic  drum at midnight, dignified paces here and there.
The drum and the dignified paces of Ozibou priest tell all the Olorogun  masquerade season is here.

The Ozibou priest solemnly walks the length and breadth of the village at night, banning nightly movement until it is dawn.
The Ozibou priest performs the cleansing and purification ritual at night in white clothes. 
They are all echoes of the Olorogun masquerade whose season has come full circle.

Drummers, singers and dancers are on a canoe...
In vivacious spirit they journey across the Ayakoromo River.
The Awalukpe masquerade dances gracefully on the teeth of the canoe carrying it on the river, 
Awalukpe sometimes threatens to jump into the river in colourful display. 
The season of Olorogun masquerade is here again!

When drummers, singers, dancers and Awalukpe are seen on a canoe in the Ayakoromo River, Olorogun has come again.
Whenever paddlers row happily to the rhythm of drummers, singers and dancers, the season for Olorogun has come.  The nimbly graceful dance steps of Awalukpe on a canoe tell you Olorogun has come again. 

Men and women dressed in red clothes joyously sing and dance across the village;
In  two processions, holding lit candles, they dance across the village.
All these are echoes of the Olorogun masquerade.

The Akasuwo priest slices plantain on the ground and predicts Olorogun's performance.
The Akasuwo priest chants Asan kia Asan kia, pacing up and down in the centre of the two processions.
The Akasuwo priest is possessed, pacing up and down in the centre of the two processions, buried in incantations... 
They are all echoes of the Olorogun masquerade season.

The echoes of the season of the Olorogun masquerade are like the colours of the chameleon in its magical mood.
Whenever you see the Beini Kamai and  Agborogben rituals of purification in the village,  know that another Olorogun masquerade season has come .

The Akasuwo priest fills a white breakable plate with biscuits and sugar, dipped and sunk into the river for the water spirits to claim ownership. 
Sprinkler-masquerade sprinkles dry gari mixed with palm oil on the ground across the village;
The ground-sweeping masquerade sweeps the length and  breadth of the village, using a long broom with a long  wooden handle.
They are all echoes of the Olorogun masquerade season in Ayakoromo.

The village stands blessed whenever the sprinkler-masquerade performs the sprinkling ritual;
Whenever the ground-sweeping masquerade sweeps the village, all waiting dangers and troubles are swept away.

The Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade dies without these rituals rooted in culture.
Rituals are reliable tellers of the Olorogun masquerade season in Ayakoromo.

A masquerade beautifully clothed in colours of red, white and black, carrying a beautifully carved headpiece, it is called the famous Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade.
Shouts of Asa kpiye asa  kpiye rend the air whenever Olorogun appears.

A beautifully clothed masquerade tintinnabulates with small bells and rattles;
A beautifully clothed masquerade
walks gracefully towards the riverbank;
The riverbank-bound walk is a response to the rhythm of the
  the water spirits.
That beautifully clothed masquerade with graceful footwork and dramatic display is called  the famous Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade in action.

Dr. Ekanpou writes from Akparemogbene, Delta State.