Ile Ife is the cultural center of Nigeria's Yoruba people. Our guide is the leader of the Yoruba king's personal band.
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00:00 Hello, my name is Queen Sheba, coming to you all the way from southwest Nigeria.
00:05 You are watching DW77% and I'm here to take you on a tour of my city, Ile-Ife, Ekabo-si-Ile-Ife.
00:12 Ile-Ife is a place of dispassion and is a home for all the Yorubas.
00:24 Ile-Ife and the Yoruba people can be described in three words, Iwa, Ise, Atiyasha, and that
00:31 is culture, tradition and behavior.
00:34 Here we are at one of the shrines. This place is called Moremi Ajasoro Shrine.
00:41 That is Moremi up there. She's a strong woman. She's a warrior, the only female warrior in Ile-Ife.
00:48 She came around when she heard that they are fighting at Ile-Ife. So she came to rescue them and won the battle for them.
00:56 From the past to the present, Queen Sheba leads us to the court of today's Yoruba king.
01:01 Right now I'm in the palace of his imperial majesty, Ogungusi, or Jaja II.
01:10 And this is where I do my Riyaza once in two weeks with my team. Follow me.
01:16 [Drumming]
01:20 [Singing]
01:26 Music is very, very important. It's part of our culture. And we use it to praise our warriors.
01:33 We use it to praise the king, the chiefs, and our gods.
01:38 It carries a lot of messages and a lot of inspiration.
01:42 And I'm so proud to be a traditional music artist because that is the only way to keep our heritage alive.
01:50 Not far from the palace is the local branch of the National Museum.
01:54 In there we have so many objects done by our forefathers in the past.
01:59 We have stone sculptures. We have terracotta objects.
02:06 Another type of treasure from Ile-Ife, delicious food and produce.
02:11 Classic Yoruba delicacies like Iba and Egusi are always hot and ready.
02:16 The growing state capital is an agricultural powerhouse.
02:20 Ile-Ife people love farming. And we have our men working on the farmland,
02:24 while our women we come to the market to sell our farm produces.
02:29 [Music]
02:32 Aside from farming, Ile-Ife is also famous for its arts.
02:36 Ile-Ife has begun to develop a major artistic center.
02:44 Ile-Ife is the heartland of Nigeria's Yoruba people, and a city that follows its own beat.
02:51 Anytime I look at Ile-Ife, I see hope, I see a bright future, I see culture, tradition.
03:00 And I am very proud to be a Yoruba and from Ile-Ife.
03:07 [Music]