- Unveils tallest Drum in the world
In line with the mandate of the UNESCO endorsed culture facility, this event is presented in a Yoruba cultural style. The Centre organises traditional and cultural rites, Egungun Mandela, for the man whose deeds and feats knew no cultural or racial boundary.
The Yoruba’s belief that the departed soul of the ancestors are not lost but at rest and can be invoked at the time of need, is shared by Mandela’s Xhosa ethnic group. Among the Xhosa, when a man dies, especially a chief like Madiba, cultural rituals are observed before and during the burial. Specifically, when a man dies away from home, rituals of a symbolic return of soul to the ancestral home are performed. This is to the effect of uniting the departed soul with the ancestors and to save the soul from wandering about.
In Yorubaland, the Egungun is celebrated to honour the dead and to assure them a space among the living. It is the period of re-enactment of moral and ethical codes of the past generation among the living. The Egungun ritual is also meant to cleanse the land and bless the living. Beyond the annual celebration, Egungun is invoked in Yorubaland during the funeral ritual.
CBCIU is an institution that promotes the collective memory and cultures of the black race without national boundaries. Hence, the Centre’s philosophy is in tandem with Mandela’s principle. Nelson Mandela was a man with no ethnic, racial or colour boundary. He was the ‘Sun’ that radiated light, freedom and peace to different parts of the world. His connection to Nigeria dates back to the era of the apartheid in South Africa.
The support received from Nigerian government and citizens by the people of South Africa in general and Mandela in particular was deeply appreciated by the Madiba, thereby creating shared memory and glory. Even in death, Mandela will continue to be celebrated by Nigerian people in general and the Yoruba group in particular. No amount of honour is too great for Madiba.
In recognition of Mandela’s place in African history and culture, the CBCIU, under its new Board Chairman, the iconic Professor Wole Soyinka, with the support of the government of the State of Osun, creates the Egungun Mandela in commemoration of this great African liberator, now an ancestor.
But the rites of passage outing will feature other activities such as the unveiling and beating of the newly acquired Tallest Drum in the World by notable Agere groups. There are also the Art and Batik exhibitions under the aegis of renowned artists- Chief Muraina Oyelami and Chief Mrs Nike Okundaye. Thus, the occasion features various cultural exhibitions along with the parade of Egungun Mandela, a lasting homage to the departed soul of this greatest African son Madiba.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php/art/arts/143498-egungun-mandela-unesco-centre-in-osogbo-celebrates-mandela-s-exit-in-style
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