Even today, seeing a masked figure, a masquerade, can provoke feelings of awe and wonder as well as fear. Often the appearances suggest a presence from a different realm – from heaven, the wild forest or some other mythical place. The most commonly performed masquerade in western Nigeria is known as Egungun, the figures of returning ancestral spirits. Egungun are widespread, performed in many Yoruba towns, but other masks exist. The large wooden masks known as Epa, with carved images of warriors, women and healers above the mask, alert the towns of the eastern regions that the founding ancestor, the Imọlẹ, is visiting the town. In the western region, Gelede arrives bringing honour to the spirits of powerful women. What is less known is the role of masks in controlling epidemics. 

One of the origin stories of masquerade in the Ekiti Yoruba region goes like this …

A man developed leprosy, and was banished to the farm. As a way of making sure that he was not hungry he took to wearing palm leaves, and on market day he would jump out from the bush and pursue the market women, scaring them so that they would drop their loads. In this way he was able to live. However, the market women became fed up with this, but none of them were brave enough to confront it. There was one woman though who decided that the thing must be confronted, and so she went into the bush to find it. However, although she was a brave woman, she was not strong enough to cut down the bush, and so she had to return to the village and get the help of men. Two men went with her into the bush, but the woman could not follow. When they found the masquerade they decided that they liked it, and instead of showing it to the women they kept it and brought it to the town. This is how Owi came to be in the town, and this is why it is called the oldest masquerade.