The Araba of Osogbo, Ifáyemí Elébuibón, has defended the tradition of selecting a young maiden as the Arugba of the Osun-Osogbo Festival, describing the role as a privilege rather than child abuse.

This is as a priestess and custodian of Osun Osogbo also defended the practice, saying the Arugba was selected through Ifa divination from the royal lineage.

Elébuibón spoke in a video interview posted on Sunday by Yoruba cultural content creator, Wàá Ṣeré, amid discussions surrounding the age and responsibilities of the 10-year-old Arugba, Princess Alimot Osunbunmi.

Arugba is the young maiden chosen to carry the sacred calabash during the annual Osun-Osogbo Festival procession to the Osun Sacred Grove.

Alimot, a member of the royal family of the Ataoja of Osogbo, was selected through traditional Ifa divination in March 2025.

She carried the sacred calabash for the first time during this year’s procession to the Osun Sacred Grove on Friday, after she was unable to do so during the 2025 festival because of her young age.

Explaining the role and its benefit, Elébuibón said the Arugba served as a spiritual intermediary between the Osun deity and the people.

He added that the responsibility was not determined by biological age.

“You see those people saying all that? They lack understanding. They don’t know. Whoever says the Arugba is too young—this one is ten years old, but some started at five!

“The role the Arugba plays is a role of spiritual maturity, not about physical age. What the Arugba does for the town and the community is what the white man calls a ‘medium’—an intermediary between the Orisa and the people,” he said.

Elébuibón said the young maiden could communicate the wishes of the deity to the people because of the spiritual significance attached to the position.

“As young as she is, provided she remains pure and undefiled by any man, she can wake up one morning and say, ‘Mother Osun said this and that, do this, do that, don’t do this.’”

He added that the Arugba’s spiritual development was not necessarily tied to her physical age.

“Very soon, she will mature spiritually far beyond her biological age because the Orisa themselves nourish and care for them. Her role is not about age; what she does is not about age.”

A female priestess and culture custodian, in another video posted by culture content creator Olamide Oseyifunmii, also defended the practice, saying the Arugba was selected through Ifa divination from the royal lineage.

According to her, the chosen maiden must be a virgin and is expected to observe certain taboos associated with the role.

“Whomever Ifa chooses becomes the Arugba. The Arugba must be a girl who remains untouched, pure, and a virgin. That is strictly what the Arugba must be,” she said.

She rejected the description of the practice as child abuse, saying the young girls selected for the role were traditionally protected and treated with care.

“Being selected as the Arugba carries taboos and honours; it is not what Westerners label as ‘child abuse’.”

The priestess said the Arugba was not expected to carry heavy loads apart from the sacred calabash during the annual procession.

She also explained the spiritual significance attached to the young maiden, saying devotees who bow before the Arugba were not worshipping the child but honouring the Osun deity believed to be represented through her.

“They were bowing to the divine spirit of Osun Ewuji inside her and upon her head,” she said.

The 2026 Osun-Osogbo Festival, which began on August 7, is being held at the Osun Sacred Grove in Osogbo, Osun State, and will run until August 19.

The annual festival, centred on the Osun deity, is one of Nigeria’s major traditional and cultural festivals and attracts worshippers, tourists and cultural enthusiasts from Nigeria and beyond. (PUNCH)

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