The dense ancient forest is one of Africa’s richest fauna and flora. A last primate high forest in Southern Nigeria, the Osun grove is home to four hundred and sixty five (465) plants, diverse animal species across seventy two (72) families including seven (7) Primates and over sixty (60) Bird species.
The grove houses forty (40) shrines of pristine historical values, over one hundred (100) communal heritage marks with kindred artistic impressions, nine (9) deeps running as arteries to the main river, a suspended bridge of tourist attraction and different sculptures of ancient and contemporary history.
Osun grove is where the beauty and essence of nature found a common ground.
The historical value of Osun grove is tied to its discovery by two princes of Ipole-Omu: Laroye Gbadewolu and Olutimehin in a period that has spanned more than six hundred (600) years.
Olutimehin, famous for his hunting skills, had in the course of his wandering for games stumbled on a ceaseless river flow close to his ancestral home of Ipole-Omu. He traced the river to the grove which supported a thriving human community.
The migration of Ipoles to the Grove not only opened a new page in the history of the people but also established a kingdom which evolved from a spiritual partnership between Larooye and a goddess (Mermaid) of the river. Osun, Osogbo and Atewogbeja (Ataoja) all are testaments of filial relationship that birthed the name of a kingdom, the title of its monarch and the year of its foundation.
From a religious worship centre dedicated to the Yoruba goddess of fertility, the Groove has metamorphosed into a major tourism hub, carried the badge of a World heritage Site through the instrumentality of the United Nations Economic Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and in the process, attracts global attention of tourists, artists, heritage Researchers and eco scientists from different nations.
Every month of august, the Grove is a bee-hive of visitors across climes, thronging the Heritage site for varied purposes inclusive of supplications to overcome spiritual and physical challenges.
In the midst of the pomp and pageantry that usually accompany the annual celebration of the global cultural fiesta however lies hanging questions on the survival of the sacred Grove, reported to have confronted multiple activities of human predators for sometimes.
The seventy five (75) hectares primary forest is now exposed to contamination vide: illegal mining from Osu and Iperindo, both adjoining towns along the Osun River Course. The led-flow from gold mining is a threat to aquatic life of the Grove including its flora and fauna.
Overlapping modern pressures from rapid urbanization around the Grove fuelled by land speculators have laid bare, the once secluded habitat and exposed its protected wildlife to poaching and bushfire. This development is a taboo to the age-long edict against fishing and hunting within and adjoining areas of the Grove.
These ceaseless incursions by predators are worrisome to the Guardians of the sacred grove. Artists and tourists who visit the natural habitat are equally apprehensive of the health implications that contamination of the River and its tributaries can have on worshippers.
Investigation reveals that rapacious degrading activities of real estate/property developers and land grabbers among other human predators have forced UNESCO to place the Grove on danger list. What may follow is de-classification of the Grove from the global tourism index and ultimate withdrawal of funding grants.
Osun Grove is also the butt of vandals and religious fanatics who seek to impose extraneous ideological doctrines that distort and undermine native beliefs which determine the survival of the Grove. The porosity of the Grove without effective monitoring and restrictions by government has amplified unauthorized entries by foreign religious groups who deface, mock or engage in aggressive counter-rituals on the historical shrines preserved over the years by the renowned Austrian-born archivist, Susanne Wenger at different parts of the grove.
Rapid deterioration of the Osun Grove is provoking unanswered pertinent questions that must be urgently addressed. How does one place the construction of a bisecting public road in the Grove which directly splits its forest eco-system, erodes its buffer zone, disrupts natural movement of its fauna, fragments the habitat and destroys its primordial flora that makes the grove a resipository of medicinal herbs and unexplored native pharmacy?
What happens if the Osun sacred Grove goes into extinction? Such is better imagined than experienced. The consequences can be overwhelming. Are we talking of possible loss of over five (5) century civilization and heritage history, and erazure of Native identity which placed an ancient Yoruba Kingdom on the global tourism map?
Rather than watch a significant part of Yoruba history and civilization disappear, relevant government agencies should take pro-active measures to keep the Osun Grove alive.
Making the Grove more secured, building guest chalets for Artists and Tourists, correcting infrastructural deficit of the Grove, constructing a train hanger for panoramic view of the Grove, building a herbal factory to exploit the Grove’s natural resources for treatment of various diseases, putting in place an archival library to preserve heritage collections/objects within the Grove, establishing an effective mechanism for revenue generation in form of Artists charges for movie production and cultural exhibition, as well as marketing the tourism potentials of the Grove through world standard television documentaries will make Osun –Osogbo festival and its ancient Grove, a net revenue earlier for government and a stimulus for economic activities of people and residents of Osun State.
This writer will not de-emphasize the age long ritual importance of the Grove but cannot ignore obvious threats to its survival. Governments’ intervention is urgent. Let us note that beyond the pomp at every month of August lies a primordial Grove in the heart of Osogbo, struggling for survival.
Olusola Ajiboye is a veteran Journalist and Media Consultant based in Osogbo, South West, Nigeria.
