10-year-old carries Osun-Osogbo Festival calabash

Ten-year-old Arugba of the Osun-Osogbo Festival, Princess Alimot Moredeke Ajoke Osunbunmi, has carried the sacred calabash for the first time during the annual procession to the Osun Sacred Grove in Osogbo, Osun State.

 

Alimot’s participation in Friday’s procession marks a significant moment in her tenure as the Arugba, after she was unable to carry the sacred calabash during the 2025 festival because of her young age.

 

She was selected through traditional Ifa divination in March 2025 to serve as the new Arugba, succeeding Osuntomi Ewatomi, who held the revered position for about 12 years before her marriage brought her tenure to an end.

 

Ahead of Friday’s procession, cultural content creator Wàá Ṣeré announced on X that Alimot had completed the traditional Ifa rites required before undertaking her duties.

 

“The Arugba has been fortified! Ìdáfá Arugba is now done and dusted. Arugba takes the required sacrifice to Èṣù on behalf of the whole of the land of Òṣogbo,” Wàá Ṣeré wrote.

 

The development is particularly significant because Alimot did not carry the calabash during her first Osun-Osogbo Festival as Arugba in 2025.

 

Instead, a male chief priest, identified as Baba Osun, Adesina, carried the sacred object while Alimot led the procession to the grove.

 

Traditionalists had explained that her young age and the physical demands of carrying the calabash influenced the arrangement.

 

This year, however, Alimot assumed the traditional responsibility, leading the sacred procession with the calabash from the palace towards the Osun Sacred Grove.

 

The Arugba is one of the most important figures in the Osun-Osogbo Festival and is traditionally selected from the royal lineage through Ifa divination.

 

According to Yoruba tradition, the young maiden serves as a symbolic link between the people and Ọ̀ṣun, the Yoruba river goddess.

 

She traditionally carries a sacred calabash containing ritual offerings during the procession to the grove. Devotees attach deep spiritual significance to the journey, regarding the Arugba as the bearer of the community’s prayers, hopes and sacrifices to Ọ̀ṣun.

 

Alimot is a member of the royal family of the Ataoja of Osogbo.

 

Her emergence as Arugba has attracted attention because of her young age, making her one of the youngest girls to occupy the revered position in recent years.

 

The Osun-Osogbo Festival is an annual Yoruba cultural and religious festival centred on the Osun Sacred Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

The centuries-old festival attracts traditional worshippers, tourists, researchers and cultural enthusiasts from Nigeria and beyond.

 

The 2026 edition is being held from August 7 to 19, with traditional rites, cultural performances, drumming, dancing and other activities forming part of the celebration.

 

The festival culminates in the sacred procession to the grove, one of its most significant and widely followed rituals.