2014 WORLD SANGO FESTIVAL

On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the festival featured Oyo State and Oya Day, Aje Oloja Day, Sango Oyo Day, Osun State Day and Iyemonja Day, Esin Elejo Day as well as Kwara State Day respectively. At the grand finale, held on Saturday, August 30, Elegun Sango from  Oyo, Ekiti, Ede, Ibadan, Ajagba and Koso entertained the participants with brilliant display of magical powers. The appearance of each of the Elegun Sango frightened a lot of people at the festival. They plaited their hairs and their eyes were bloodshot as they menacingly brandished their typical axes called “Ose.” All their followers also plaited their hairs and wore red attires. Oyo, Ekiti, Ede, Ibadan, Ajagba and Koso. One of the Elegun Sango showed a small calabash containing lightly wet sand to the participants and covered it with red clothes. By the time he opened it, maize had grown from the calabash. Another one brought a small gourd, placed it on the ground and invited a volunteer from the audience to break it. The volunteer force­fully marched the gourd with his right leg and candies were found in it. The candies were distributed to some of the partici­pants.

Also, each of the Elegun Sango engaged in dangerous display such as stabbing themselves with knives in the stomach, cutting their necks with razors, inserting nails in their nostrils and so on. There was no blood or any scar when they removed the knives and the dangerous, sharp objects. The Elegun Sango Koso Alaafin, Chief Sangodele Ibuowo, was the last to appear on the stage at the grand finale. He had gone round Oyo township, praying for people, before coming to the palace. He greeted the people and went to Iya Ilekoto before leaving the palace.The Cultural Ambassador to Alaafin, Dr. Paula Gomes, a Portuguese who has been living in Aafin Oyo for the past five years, told Daily Sun that Sango festival has been in existence for almost 1,000 years. The 10-day festival, she said, has to do with the crown of Alaafin: “For Alaafin to become a king, he has to wear the crown of Sango in Koso. So, without Sango, there is no Alaafin and without Alaafin, there is no Oyo. Before you can choose Alaafin and crown him, he must wear the crown of Sango. This will be done at the main shrine of Sango in Koso. “The crown of Sango gives Alaafin the authority to rule from the old Oyo Empire to the present Oyo. It is a heritage. We want to preserve the heritage and give it colour. Then, people will know that the culture exists. It is not a carnival. It is not a theatre. It is really a heritage.”But why is it a taboo for the Elegun Sango of Koso and Alaafin to see each other face-to-face? Gomes answered: “It is a taboo for Alaafin to see him because he represents the energy of Sango and Sango is father for Alaafin. Alaafin represents Sango as well. So, Sango cannot bow for Alaafin and Alaafin cannot bow for Sango. It is like they are one. So, once in a year when the traditional rites are being done for the crown of Alaafin, the Elegun Sango of Koso must come out on the last day. He would go round the town to bless people.

IKOGOSI TOURIST CENTER EKITI-STATE

      Nature's Gift to Mankind

In the heart of Ikogosi a small, quiet town with rich, local customs, in the Western part of Ekiti State (Ekiti Tourism Corridor), lies a warm spring which has now catapulted Ikogosi-Ekiti to national and international limelight. What is mysterious about the Ikogosi Warm Spring is the fact that, flowing side by side the warm spring, is another spring, a cold one. According to experts, it is a geological wonder to have such occurrence out of the same rock formation and this Ekiti flagship tourist destination is said to be the only one of its kind discovered anywhere in the world. The warm and cold springs of Ikogosi originate from a close proximity, come to a meeting point, and flow onward together with each spring retaining its thermal identity. It represents uniqueness and is the first of such occurrence in the world. The warm spring has a temperature of up to 70oC at the source and 37oC after meeting the cold spring. The meeting point of the warm and cold springs is a unique attraction to tourists.

The springs sprout out and flow with a constant temperature and volume up to 150 litres/seconds from morning till night, at all seasons, all-year round. The whole environment of the spring has been deliberately left untampered with, for eco-tourism appeal while the source of the warm spring has been provided with a viewing structure for easy spotting by tourists. Strangely also, there is a tree and a palm growing from the same source at the meeting point area of the warm and cold springs. A wonderful work of Mother Nature!

Another unique quality of the Ikogosi Warm Spring is its acclaimed curative power. It is widely-believed to have some kind of therapeutic effect which relieves body aches and all sorts of ailments. A lot of tourists visiting the place take advantage of the large warm water swimming pool provided for this purpose and other recreational needs. It is also the home of the 5-star Gossy Brand Spring Water bottled by UAC of Nigeria.

The Pregnant Man

PHOENIX (AP) — A transgender man in Arizona who was accused of stalking his estranged wife last year pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct Tuesday. Thomas Trace Beatie had a change of plea hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court and now is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16 on the misdemeanor. He pleaded not guilty last December to one count of stalking, and the case was getting close to going to trial. Phoenix police said after Beatie was arrested that the victim found a GPS tracking device under her car in September 2014 and reported it to authorities. Charging documents identified the victim as Beatie's spouse. Police investigators said Beatie admitted to installing the tracking device in 2012 and monitoring it though an online account. Beatie said Tuesday that "the car in question was joint marital property" and he "might have placed a GPS device on my own car" to protect the welfare of his children from "a woman who threatened to leave the state with my kids." 

Beatie, 41, was born female, but he began testing to determine his psychological gender in 1997. He underwent the first of his gender-reassignment surgeries in 2001. Under Hawaiian law, he was able to have his birth certificate amended and be legally recognized as male. He subsequently married. Beatie's wife was unable to conceive children and because he still had female reproductive organs, he was artificially inseminated and became pregnant. He then hit the talk-show and tabloid circuit as the "The Pregnant Man." He gave birth to his first child in 2008 and had two more by 2011 when he and his wife had already moved to Arizona.

HEALTH POETRY

I choose my heath

I stay healthy, to keep my wealth
I fight germs and silence their threat
I choose my health above all pleasure
That’s why I wash with Dettol
 
I clean my teeth with Dabur
Till my mouth is rid of odor
I wash under-wears with Jik
And kill germs and their ilk
 
And when dusty winds
Bring a billion bacteria
And slithering flood
Carry potty illnesses
 
I boil rain water;
Wash muddy fruits
Clean my rotten room
 I rake my yard like a drake
And sweep it clean with a broom
I wash with soap after handshakes
And dab my hands no mater what it takes
 
I hate the noisome nosy Anopheles
That pecks me with her malaria-bug
That knocks hard at doors like a thug
Holding infants in her deadly grip
Till they lie down on floors
And stare at open doors
 
So I beat down malaria
With my mosquito net
Not minding her bet
Of death-carry pet
I spray my home
With insecticide
Till they die
In wherever
They hide
 
The heady day is full
Of grotesque questions
Nervous uneasiness hot
In baffling reactions
Men throwing away
Impregnable time
 
To the gusty wind
Of sickly illnesses
They bowed to busy
Motorways; markets
As ready hearts dread
The day’s putty outage
Of potty hurts, ripe pains
Flushed in boisterous drains