So, when I was through attending to my business, I decided to ride one of the two functional lifts of the building to the 24th floor. The only problem was the buttons stopped at the 23. There's a lift attendant in each of the lifts and I told him where I was headed. He told me I would get off at the 23rd floor and the museum is the penthouse of the building.
I get off at the 23rd floor and there's a friendly female guard who takes me to a little corner of the floor that has the wooden doors that open up to the reception of the museum. The doors have carvings on them and if the sign on the plaque is not enough, that should tell whoever it is that they have reached the Odu'a Heritage Museum. I walk in and immediately notice the graphical art on the wall and the hand sculptures holding the lights in the reception. There's a short flight of double stairs that leads to a desk with another attendant. Right over the desk is a sign which reads "RECEPTION".
So remember how I mentioned I'll be sure to take lots of photos on my subsequent outings; well, in the museum, photos are not allowed. I think that also adds to its charm so curious minds would venture in to discover the secrets it holds.
The reception (so no rules were broken 😉)
I pay the required sum of 200naira as the entrance fee to the museum and am let in. My first impression is that it is a beautiful space. I will try to paint a really good verbal picture. Lining the walls of the museum were tye and dye cloths...adire mainly. The corridor goes in both directions. The right goes to the museum and the left to the hall of fame. I choose to start with the museum. Sculptures, beads, old calabashes and the most impressive in the room is a model of a masquerade dressed in its full regalia which included little square mirrors attached to its cloth. There was also a sculpture of a woman sitting on a stool stirring something in a pot over a firewood stove. There was an old oba's hat too.
The hand sculpted light holders
I noticed a door that leads to two other rooms in the museum. The firt I entered had traditional Yoruba attires: a kembe, a sooro and a model of an Oba in a full regalia. Also aso-oke was fully represented and lots of outfits you'd see in traditional Yoruba movies.
The next room had old school household items including an ilarun (a cutting comb), the kitchen school, a gramophone and a lot more. Get there to discover the other items.
I returned back to the main room i.e. the masquerade room and decided to take my time reading some of the notes I skipped. Did I mention the museum is fully airconditioned and I was the only one there on tis visit. (Well it is and I was). The museum door was slightly ajar and some chill air seeped in from another room. That didn't sit well with me in a room with a masquerade so I decided my time there was up. I left to the Hall of Fame.
This had images of prominent Yoruba individuals including Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Obafemi A wolow, a politician and education advocate and the man who gave the naira its name, he's also the gentleman on the 100naira note. There were also some works by these individuals and some other mementos of the individuals. Rashidi Yekini was featured (he scored the first goal for Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup) and Mrs. Anike Agbaje Williams (the first female face on African television), Chief Folake Solanke, Wole Soyinka among others.
I was itching to go out on the terrace but it had begun to rain so I settled for going to the viewing room where I saw a video of the launching of the Western Nigeria Television Station, WNTV and then I asked myself where we went wrong in Nigeria, There are lots of other clips and you can request that which you are interested in. The floor in the mini theatre seemed like a mud floor with patterns on it.
I finally went out to the terrace which is an empty space that used to have a fountain and now I have ideas for the space.
The view from the penthouse spotting Kokodome pool.
LOCATION: Penthouse, Cocoa House Building, Dugbe, Ibadan.
Opening Hours:
As usual, let me know how your visit was when you get round to it.
