His appearance and character were frightening: He is a six-footer, his eyes were blood shot, the cowrie shells attached on his regalia were dangling and making noise as he ran about, a leather band ...

His weapon of choice, according to oral accounts, was the formidable double-bladed axe (ose Sango) and was said to have braided his hair in a style called suku, a look that has since become symbolic ...

Henry and Margaret Drewal Photographs, EEPA 1992-028, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.

In this feature, VICTOR AYENI captures the colourful ceremonies of the annual Sango festival in Oyo Town, Oyo State, to show how ancient Yoruba traditions still live on and continue to influence lives ...