Chief Adebola Dosunmu, the Akinsiku of Lagos, has expressed disapproval over the portrayal of the Eyo masquerade in the Nigerian film, Gangs of Lagos.
In a video that has gone viral, the chief emphasized that Eyo is not meant for movies or parties and there is a specific process to it. He also revealed that Lagosians are unhappy with the movie and will not tolerate it.
He said, “Lagosians are not happy with that movie, and we’re not going to take it and it’s unacceptable for our tradition and for our heritage.”
According to the traditional chief, Eyo is only meant to be staged for deceased kings or chiefs, or individuals who have contributed significantly to Lagos.
He explained that there are three types of Eyo, namely Osan, Oru, and Gbogbogbo and that Eyo Gbogbogbo, which is the general type, takes about three months of preparation.
In his words, he said, “Eyo Gbogbogbo means the general one, at least that will take us like three months for the preparation. So somebody will just go and bring the fila (hat) and put everything on and say they’re doing Eyo, no, it’s a taboo. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, if anything happens, you carry your cross.”
Chief Dosunmu warned that it is taboo for anyone to just decide to bring out Eyo without proper preparation, as there would be consequences for such actions.
He shared the video on his Instagram page, called the process of Adamu Orisa, see the link below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq54UEruCaQ/
