Moriamo Onabanjo

At the heart of the ancient town of Ile-Ife, in a grotto, is an ancient relic. Its origin is said to date back to the town's inception. Worshiped as a god, the artifact was buried centuries ago on the grounds of the Ooni’s (King’s) palace. The current Ooni (King), via his oracle, instructs that the relic be exhumed and then he dies. Surprisingly the sculpture disappears. A hunt for the missing artifact begins and it’s a race against time, for without it the new Ooni cannot be crowned. Similarly in the Obafemi Awolowo University the town’s only college and Africa’s most beautiful campus, a famous manuscript on Yoruba History, missing for a century suddenly appears in its library. What links both events? Renowned archivist Professor Folashade Benson has the onerous task of connecting both events before the ancient town for the first time in its history goes without an Ooni (King).