Egungun Aje

Ijero  in Ekiti state is not only noted for mineral resources but also a tourist centre .

Taiwo Abiodun who visited the ancient town reports
Some call it a mystery town while others refer to the
 town as a town gifted with huge mineral resources .But the king’s palace which is worth visiting has been the cynosure of all eyes  despite the high level of education of the townsmen for  they still used stones to count the numbers of their monarchs who had passed on.

Not only this , the town , Ijero is the only town in Yoruba land that has the Masquerade called ‘ Aje'( Witch/Wizard) which comes out annually .
On how Egungun Aje came to be , the monarch explained ‘in the days of old when children were falling sick and some were dying our forefathers brought Egungun Aje out to come and rescue the town and since it cured people and released  them from their  bondage it has since being worshipped , so whoever fell sick was healed while progress came to the town  and it waded off calamity from the land.That is why we have been celebrating and worshipping Egungun Aje , we also called it Ako Egungun( husband of all the Egunguns ).
 The arrival and mere seeing  Egungun Aje charged everywhere as there was huge cries of happiness immediately he was sighted on his arrival from ‘heaven’  while many ran to him to be whipped with his cane. Many begged him to cane him. A young man , Yemi Olutayo said he offered himself to be caned to receive his ( Aje Egungun) blessing .” I am glad for having the opportunity to cane me , it is a physical and spiritual blessing .I know he has answered my prayers  and my life cannot be the same again as things will improve for me next year”.
Joshua Oyewande  Olukolade ,an educationist boasted that the palace will soon be a tourist centre where people would come from all walks of life to visit in the nearest future .He argued that despite their high level of education their system or method of traditional keeping of dates and numbers cannot be erased as one could see  how they keep numbers of the monarchs that had passed on with its fantastic architectural design can  boast of having museum as the monarch and some social eminent in   the town are pleading to the state and federal government to come and see what their forefathers had done in the days of yore,