THE IJO IFA DANCE OF OYO PEOPLE AS A MEANS OF WORSHIP AND CELEBRATION TO ORUNMILA

ABSTRACT

In Africa ( Nigeria) dance serves an important purpose in the human life , especially in the recognition of significant gods , dance is believed to have other purposes other than entertainment alone . The purpose of this research is to educate us about the IJO IFA dance of the erinni people of Ibadan OYO state and the role it serves in worshiping and celebrating Orunmila the god of wisdom. This work also talked about the culture the Yoruba people and their intimate relationship with their gods. They believe solely that their life depends on the gods who is the author and finisher of their fate and one of the supreme gods in Yoruba land is Orunmila. The ODUN IFA festival is done every year to give reference to orunmila and that is when the IJO IFA dance is done to worship Orunmila and celebrate him for his good works. The research method used in sourcing for this information is: the primary research method which involves personal interviews with the indigenes and worshippers of IFA in Erinni OYO state and interview of principal actors and dancers in IJO IFA dance, the secondary research method which involves sourcing related books, journals and literary books. As a result of my research, the IJO IFA dance serves as a means of communicating with Orunmila during the festival, it binds the people together and makes them more United.