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Iyalode Olufunke Gold Reveals The Story
A Popular society lady, Iyalode Owoyele Olufunke Gold is the leader of the most prominent female regberegbe group in Ikorodu Kingdom. Their group is called Egbe Tobalase Obinrin Ikorodu. The noble group is made up of top classy society women who are responsible and well respected in the society. Their presence always adds glamour to events. The group which has been in existence for the past 3 years has grown in lips and bounds with a huge membership of 37 members. Other female regberegbe groups in Ikorodu always look up to them in every aspect. Their presence at the 2023 Ikorodu Oga Festival, which was recently held at the palace premises of the Ayangburen of Ikorodu didn’t go unnoticed. They were indeed the icing of the event. They had the most glamorous parade and were admired greatly by all and sundry. Later in the evening of the event, Egbe Tobalase Obinrin Ikorodu held the mother of all reception party at the Ikorodu town hall. They brought in the biggest musician of the night, Alhaji Abass Akande Obesere. Many top Ikorodu socialites stormed the party to celebrate with members. They indeed had fun. City People Jamiu Abubakar and Photo Journalist, Femi Adeleke had a chat with the leader of the trailblazing Egbe Tobalase Obinrin Ikorodu. This is what she told us.
The uniqueness of your outfit at the just concluded Ikorodu Oga Festival is top notch, can you tell us how you all achieved this?
We paid for only the outfit. We contributed 100,000 naira for our outfit. you can see the shoes, the bag, the bead and as you can see, the head gear, the Ipele and the wrapper. So, we contributed 100,000 each which covered all that I mentioned.
How do you describe the lovely outfit your group wore today?
We are golden babes, we are pace setters. We set the pace while others follow. We just proved that we are truly golden babes. Our bags, our shoes and our buba are the same thing. The head gear, the Ipele and the wrapper have a combination of white and gold. That shows that we are peaceful and we are golden. We are indeed treasures.
Why did you form Egbe Tobalase Obinrin in Ikorodu?
I’m an Ijebu woman. When the Regberegbe age groups in Ijebu-Ode invite us to their programme, we do honour their invitation. My second in command, whom we bear the same name, Ashabi is the Yeye Ayora Tobalase Obinrin Akile Ijebu. My 3rd in command is the Yeye Bobadega Tobalase Obinrin Akile Ijebu. But I decided not to join them. Travelling from here to Ijebu Ode can be stressful and tiring even though I’m from Ijebu Ode. If I travel there, I will go to see my father to celebrate the festival with him. So, one day, I just woke up and decided to form the Egbe Tobalase Obinrin Tobalase of Ikorodu Kingdom.our msle counter, TOBALASE OKUNRIN Ikorodu Kingdom has been existing for the past 5 to 6 years. So we thought it wise of forming a social club among us to help develop the community.
What are the qualities your club showcased that made others start forming theirs?
People noticed that our club is well recognized and respected in Ikorodu. Ikorodu people really reckon with us. So, you know everybody wants to become a leader, so they went ahead to form their own group too.
Since your group was formed, what are the activities and programmes done to help members and outsiders?
We support ourselves; we empower ourselves directly or indirectly. This year, during our anniversary we reached out to people in the society. We went to the market to give cash incentives. Some market women were given 50 thousand naira each, 20,000 each. We gave them based on the scale of what their wares were. So that’s what we’ve done so far. And we are planning to do more. When we formed the club, I have listed the many projects and programmes we wish to embark on. The Egbe Tobalase will soon have a distinct secretariat. We have in plan the goal of building a market where goods would be sold and purchased at a subsidized rate. And we will name the market, Egbe Tobalase Obinrin Ikorodu Kingdom Market. It would be built on our own permanent site.
How many members do you have right now? Is the group open to all?
It’s open for people who are interested. We are 37 now. We were more than that but we had to screen some members out. Now we are 37 and we are still expecting more people to join us.
What qualities do you look for before you adopt new members?
You must have a good job. If you are not a civil servant, you must be a trader. You must have something to show that you are capable because we can’t be contributing money and you tell us you don’t have money. You tell us because if you don’t have work, you can’t have money.
What informs the choice of Alh. Abass Akande Obesere as your guest musician of the day?
Majority of us are fans of Alhaji Abbas Akande Obesere. And we have now made him our Akeweje. We just decided that having seen that he is very young, humble and down to earth. He is also very nice. So, we agreed to make him our Akeweje .
I also saw Iyaloja Ijora, Chief Mrs. Folake Okeowo grace your event. Is she also a member of the group?
No! She’s our Royal Adviser. She has been our mother, our confidant, everything. In fact, we don’t do anything behind her back. If you see us with Iyalaje, you will think that she is our Iya Egbe. We love her so much and she loves us too.
Can you tell us more about the club?
The Egbe Tobalase Obinrin Ikorodu is the first female Regberegbe Group in the Ikorodu kingdom. In fact, it is the first Regberegbe in Ikorodu founded by me, Iyalode Owoyele Olufunke Ashabi Gold. Since then all other regberegbes have been falling in line. To God be the glory, the group clocked 3 years last June, 30, 2023. This is our 3rd Ikorodu Oga Festival. Although the Ikorodu Oga Festival has been around for 32 years, this is our third 3rd of celebrating the occasion as a group and we’ve been doing well. During our 3rd year anniversary, we gave back to society. We empowered the less privileged, market women then we celebrated it big. The Ikorodu Oga Festival is a yearly thing. It comes up every November. It serves as our own Ojude Oba. Another festival Ikorodu people usually do and take pride in is called the Odun Osu. It’s usually done in March for princes and princesses. We also feature at that annual event too. But for the Ikorodu Oga Festival, we always come out in our most glamorous outfits. We dress in our full traditional regalia.
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