By: HighCelebritySquard
All roads led to the beautiful Yoruba town of Oyotunji in Beaufort County, South Carolina in the United States of America when sultry and hardworking lady of glam, Chief Mrs. Alice Eniola Owolabi who is a resourceful and extremely loyal Coordinator of the Oodua Progressive Union (OPU), USA branch was installed the Iyalaje of Oyotunji by the Oloyotunji of Oyotunji Town USA, HRM Oba Adejuyigbe Adefunmi II.
The event witnessed the attendance of the crème de la crème of the American society, most especially Nigerians who came to felicitate with the ebullient, easy going and ever smiling Chief Mrs. Alice Owolabi.
Dignitaries that attended the event said juicy words and narrated their about the beautiful lady substance opining that she is a lovely woman who takes humanity very vital and tremendously, she has been able to touch the lives of the people who come across her.
Her indelible humanitarian gestures and philantrophy endeared her into the hearts of the monarch and citizens of Oyotunji Village, USA who all approved her choice as the Iyalaje of the sprawling town.
For many Nigerians, most especially Yorubas back home in Nigeria that are not in tune with Oyotunji Town, it could be termed as a small nation in the USA. According to archives, during the slave trade era, many Africans were taken as slaves abroad. While going, some left with their culture and tradition which they continued with in the strange land where they found themselves. They continued with the culture and tradition of their fore fathers so as to maintain their identity.
The Yorubas in slavery are among the Africans that maintained their culture in the strange land and it was handed down to their children from generation to generation. Many of their children, after the abolition of the slave trade, have married children of their former masters thus having children of mixed blood. That notwithstanding, they still carry on with their African culture in the foreign land since most of them cannot trace their roots back to Africa. The Yoruba culture has been one of the prominent and most celebrated cultures throughout the world till date.
Oyotunji Town is located near Sheldon, Beaufort County, South Carolina and is regarded as North America’s oldest authentic African Village. It was founded in 1970 and is the first intentional community in North America, based on the culture of the Yoruba and Dahomey tribes of West Africa. It has survived 48 years of sustaining the Yoruba traditional sociology and values in the diaspora. The village is named after the Oyo Empire, and the name literally means “Oyo returns” or “Oyo rises again” or “Oyo resurrects”. The village occupies 27 acres of land.
Historically, Oyotunji was founded by His Royal Highness Oba (King) Waja, Ofuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I, was born Walter Eugene King on October 5, 1928, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. A graduate from Cass Technical High School, Oba Waja’s exposure to African religion began when he became associated with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe at the age of 20. He later travelled to Haiti where he discovered more about the Yoruba culture. Armed with a new understanding of the African culture, he found the order of DamballahHwedo, Ancestor Priests in Harlem NY.
On August 26, 1959, Oba Waja became the first African born in America to become fully initiated into the Orisa-Vodun African priesthood by African Cubans in Matanzas, Cuba. This marked the beginning of the spread of Yoruba religion and culture among African Americans. He later found the Sango Temple in New York and incorporated the African Theological Arch Ministry in 1960. The Sango Temple was relocated and renamed the Yoruba Temple. In 1970, Oba Waja founded the Yoruba Village of Oyotunji in Beaufort County, South Carolina, and began the careful re-organization of the Orisa-Vodun Priesthood along traditional Nigerian lines. To further his knowledge of Yoruba culture, he travelled to Abeokuta in Nigeria in 1972 where he was initiated into the Ifa priesthood by the Oluwa of Ijeun at Abeokuta, Ogun state, in August of 1972. He was later proclaimed Alase (Oba-King) of the Yoruba of North America at Oyotunji Village in 1972.
He passed away on Thursday, February 10th 2005 at Oyotunji African Village in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
And Since Adefunmi’s death in 2005, the village has been led by his son, His Royal Majesty Oba Adejuyigbe Adefunmi II, the Oloyotunji of Oyotunji town who is still sitting on the throne of his ancestors.
The installation of Chief Mrs. Alice Eniola Owolabi as the Iyalaje of Oyotunji Town will definitely attract more economic and spiritual development to the town thereby making it one of the most attractive ‘mini nations’ in the United States of America.
