Osun Grove Road: Schoolchildren Pose as Okada Flashes By

This photo is of a group of school children from the neighbouring Koranic school posing in front of a decorated staircase under construction leading from the road to the Obatala (Deity of Creation) Shrine Complex above.
Many children pass by through the Groves on their way to school. People of all backgrounds and faiths pass by and come into the Sacred Osun Grove, a rare oasis of calm and greenery in an otherwise hectic, dusty city.
An “okada”, the Nigerian name for a motor cycle taxi zooms into the frame on the left. Okada* is the name given to “commercial motorcycle taxis” in Nigeria.
The Sacred Groves are divided into two by a road. When the Osun Osogbo Grove were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, one of the terms of the designation was that this road would be closed down. The road is controversial.
In the 1965 when the Osun Osogbo Grove was declared a Nigerian National Heritage Site, this was a sleepy without little traffic. Over time the population of Osogbo expanded exponentially and the city, now the capital of Osun State, grew around the Osun Osogbo Grove. This once sleepy road now links farming communities to the city centre. The cost to the Osun State government to divert the traffic around the Groves is costly and would make the route much longer for the farmers and others using this road.
*The name “okada” was derived from the Okada Air, once a Nigeria local airline which is no longer in operation.