THE JOURNEY FOR AFRICAN MASQUERADES, page 1 of chapter 4

by World Schoolface on October 16, 2025

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Page 1 of chapter 4

Chapter Four: The Day of the White Spirit
The long-awaited day had arrived.
The Eyo Masquerade Festival—the grand spectacle that had stirred whispers in every corridor of Lagos—was at last unfolding. The entire venue had metamorphosed into a kaleidoscope of movement and sound. The air thrummed with vitality. Jubilant dancers moved with ecstatic abandon, while others lingered at the periphery, wide-eyed and spellbound, eager to witness tradition made manifest.
Traditionalists filled the sacred grounds, their presence amplifying the already pulsating atmosphere. Market women, adorned in resplendent aso-òkè ensembles—flowing bùbá, elegant ìró, and towering gèlé headwraps—swayed rhythmically to the cadence of drums and the bright rattle of the shèkèrè, entirely absorbed in the sacred revelry.
The men, no less resplendent, moved with quiet dignity. Clad in immaculate white ìró, barefoot and adorned with coral beads at neck and wrist, they swayed in unison to the ancestral beat—a synchrony so measured it felt like an invocation of those long departed. Their movements did not merely entertain—they spoke in the language of legacy.
Then a solemn chant rose into the humid air—low and melodic, reverent in its repetition:
“Olómo kílò f’ómo rè,
Òní a rò,
Olómo kílò f’ómo rè,
Òní a rò.”
Translation:
Warn the children—this is not a place for them.
Today is sacred. Today, we dance with the spirits.
Drawn into the magnetic pull of the scene, Janet inched closer, camera in hand, her lens following the undulating tide of dancers and drummers. She snapped stills, recorded snippets—each frame a window into living tradition.
Her documentation was quickly interrupted.
A tall figure—graceful in movement, commanding in presence—turned to address her.
Ifày?mí: “Why are you filming? Are you one of the registered videographers?”
Janet: “No, I haven’t registered yet.”
Ifày?mí: “Then you’ll need a permit. Without it, your equipment could be confiscated.”
Janet: “Is that compulsory for close-range footage?”
Ifày?mí: “Absolutely. It’s either a permit or you shoot from the sidelines, like the general crowd.”