Photo credit: Business Day
Most of my childhood and relatively innocent days were spent at Itire. Itire of those days was a sleepy community in the backwaters of Musin and Lawanson. Musin was known for its market places and notorious for its aluta tradition. Lawanson on its own part was a pathway to civilisation as there were buses from there to Lagos Island and Yaba on the mainland.
Sallah at Itire was celebrated in a very big way. Prior to the festival, there was a monthlong fasting.
I never fasted. However, I enjoyed the ajiwere who went about singing to wake people up for the sari, the breakfast at dawn, which is an important part of the fasting. I was made to understand that eating at that odd period was part of the sacrifice.
Were is the forbearer of Fuji music. In fact, most Fuji musicians started from being great promising Were singers.
That is why at least three of the greatest Fuji musicians started from Itire.
In those days, they normally organised competitions. The competitions were keenly contested.
But, of course, there were various complaints. For instance, some contestants would complain that fellow contestants were using diabolical means to ‘steal’ their voices. If a musician was known to be good, one thing or the other would just not work out at the last minute.
The festival itself was blind to religion. As long as you made yourself present at the right time you had a meal. That was, of course, for the younger ones.
The elderly ones would have food taken to their homes in befitting ceramic bowls. We didn’t have the disposable containers of these days then.
To the children, it was usually a very interesting experience. It did not cost much then to feed others. But money was hard to come by.
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