Selling Sungbo Eredo the place foreigners pay homage to African deities

By Taiye Olayemi

The historical Sungbo Eredo monument is tucked away within the lush greenery of the Ijebu-Ode forest in Ogun by way of to Ilara-Epe, the traditional kingdom located in Eredo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.

This sacred web site is the most important monument in Africa spanning 160 kilometres and has been dwelling to some African deities.

The web site has been a spot of pilgrimage for hundreds of years, attracting majorly, worldwide vacationers, who come to pay homage to the African deities.

But it’s worrisome to look at that the majority of vacationers who go to the traditional magnificence are majorly worldwide vacationers who often discover the non secular advantages the positioning has to supply.

The Sungbo Eredo Grove, which dates again to the tenth century, is among the oldest and most revered websites in Nigeria because it holds important cultural and historic significance.

This mystical grove is a testomony to the wealthy heritage and traditions of the Yoruba folks.

According to historical past, the grove was constructed between 800 and 1000 AD, which was as soon as the residence of the highly effective Queen Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo, who was stated to own extraordinary religious powers.

It served a defensive goal when it was in-built a interval of political confrontation and consolidation within the southern Nigerian rainforest.

Today, the Sungbo-Eredo Grove serves as an emblem of the nation’s wealthy cultural heritage.

It is a system of defensive partitions and ditches with unusually clean partitions and a financial institution on the interior aspect of the ditches.

The location is on Nigeria’s tentative listing of potential UNESCO World Heritage websites.

The web site is able to attracting guests with its historical bushes, shrines, and artefacts that dot the panorama.

The grove can be a spot of religious significance, the place guests can join with the ancestors and search steering.

Expressing issues, Alhaji Olaonipekun Adewale, the Balé of Eredo village the place the positioning is positioned says: “It is a matter of concern to me and my group, what number of Nigerians will jettison this historic heritage and we welcome large variety of worldwide vacationers yearly.

“Tourists from America, Europe, and a few Asian nations normally come right here of their numbers to pay homage to the deities we have now right here. They come haven realised how richly blessed they get upon visiting.

“Aside the great thing about the tall defensive partitions and ditches, there are extra causes to go to the positioning.

“This web site is dwelling to deities that we name Aje, the god of wealth and prosperity; Agere and Oba Oluaiye’’.

“International vacationers go to Sungbo Eredo groove to pay homage to those gods in addition to appease the gods. They include their requests to the gods, they usually get solutions.

“In reality, they arrive to appease Aje, the god of prosperity often, they usually normally testify of answered prayers’’.

Adewale describes Sungbo Eredo as a residing, respiration cultural panorama that continues to play an necessary position within the Eredo group.

“The grove is dwelling to a number of shrines and sacred websites, the place we honour our ancestors and the gods of our forefathers.

Speaking about some mysteries in Sungbo Eredo and particularly a mysterious aged pot, referred to as Ojushi, Adewale says this enigmatic vessel defies logic by by no means working dry of water, which has left many perplexed. The extra water is fetched from Ojushi, the extra it’s miraculously replenished.

According to him, the water is utilized by most vacationers for therapeutic functions.

He says that almost all typically time, illnesses that defile medical intervention have been efficiently cured by mere consuming of the water or utilizing it on the sufferer’s physique.

He explains that one of many deities within the Sungbo Eredo monument often known as “Oba Oluaiye’’ normally comes out of the groove yearly to supply prayers for the land, normally carried out within the afternoon.

He says this annual train by the deity has caused peaceable coexistence within the Eredo group.

“There is a spot alongside the groove that’s normally extremely popular past human endurance. It is believed that there’s a deity there as effectively.

“This place was dwelling to Queen Bilikisu who’s likened to the biblical Queen Sheba, Bilikisu was buried in Oke-Eri in Ijebu-Ode and other people marvel once they go to her tomb which is surrounded by bushes and no leaf falls on the tomb.

“This is among the indicators to know that she was not an unusual individual,’’ he says.

Adewale appeals to the Lagos State Government on the rising must protect the sacred web site for future generations.

He says efforts ought to be made to guard the positioning from erosion, deforestation, and human encroachment to advertise sustainable tourism practices that respect the positioning’s cultural and religious significance.

“Sungbo Eredo is a really distinctive and interesting vacation spot that gives guests a glimpse into Africa’s wealthy cultural heritage.

“Regardless of being a religious seeker, a historical past buff, or just somebody seeking to join with nature and tradition, Sungbo Eredo is a must-visit vacation spot that’s certain to depart a long-lasting impression.

Also, Mr Dayo Adedayo, an impartial documentary photographer and cultural anthropologist, who derives pleasure in documenting Nigeria’s wealthy heritage websites by way of images, says the Sungbo Eredo grove is among the most lovely heritage websites in Nigeria he has seen and photographed.

Recognising tourism as the best employer of labour, Adedayo says the Federal Government or Lagos State Government should look within the route of Sungbo Eredo grove to correctly develop and preserve it to woo vacationers.

He says the heritage web site ought to be developed as a non secular tourism house, explaining that Ogun State ought to be thought of the non secular hub of the nation, the place non secular tourism may very well be developed for wealth creation.

Adedayo says that church buildings and Islamic gatherings that accommodate the most important members have been all positioned in Ogun.

He says authorities must look on this route of growing non secular tourism in Nigeria, which generally is a cash spinner for the nation.

He explains: “Ogun State ought to be the Jerusalem and Mecca of Nigeria. All the most important church buildings in Nigeria are domiciled in Ogun; the Redeemed Christian Church of God that draws at the very least a million guests each month is there.

“The largest Islamic gathering can be in Ogun State, the Living Faith Church, with their massive congregation; the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), which was once the most important church on the planet, can be in Ogun.

“The founding father of this church was additionally buried in Imeko, Ogun, the place adherents go to yearly, the biblical Queen Sheba was additionally buried in Oke-Eiri, Ijebu space of in identical Ogun. The identical Ijebu-Ode hosts an annual carnival Ojude-Oba.

“These are iconic constructions and delightful potentialities to develop non secular tourism in Nigeria; Saudi Arabia generates a minimal of 20 billion {dollars} from non secular tourism yearly.

“Jerusalem and Israel are additionally making some huge cash from non secular tourism, Nigeria must look on this route’’.