Oranyan

Who is Oranyan?

Oranyan Omoluabi, King of the Yoruba, also known as Oranmiyan, was a Yoruba king from the kingdom of Ile-Ife and heir to Oduduwa. According to Yoruba history, he founded Oyo as its first Alaafin at around the year 1170, and one of his children, Eweka I, went on to become the first Oba of the Benin Empire. Following the Oba Oranyan's death, his family is fabled to have erected the commemorative stele known as the Staff of Oranmiyan - Opa Oranmiyan in the Yoruba language - at the place where their father died. Radiocarbon tests have however shown that this royal marker was erected centuries before the start of the Oduduwa dynasty, during what is known as the "classical" Ife period.

The first ever Oranyan Festival of Arts, Culture and Tourism was initiated in 2012 by his descendant and reigning successor, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III of Oyo, who mandated that subsequenttly the festival was to be celebrated annually between the 8th and 15th days of the month of September in Oyo, Nigeria.