From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Traditional worshippers have protested against open display of the corpse of the 45th Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, on Saturday during the Muslim prayer session.
They contended that such open display was against the tenets of traditional respect for a dead king in Yorubaland.
The condemnation came as Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, and the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, paid condolence visit to the bereaved royal family at Oke-Afin in Oyo town on Sunday. Each ot them paid glowing tributes to the memory of the late monarch.
The traditional worshippers, however, urged all Yoruba monarchs to emulate the late king in promoting traditional religion, which is the basis of their crowns.
Chairman, Traditional Religion Worshippers’ Association of Nigeria, Oyo State Branch, Adefabi Fadiran and the Secretary, Fakayode Fatunde, made this known in a press statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Sunday.
Fadiran and Fatunde also appreciated Sango devotees in Oyo town for tolerating the Muslims and Christians for the initial prayers before taking over the last traditional rites.
According to the traditionalists, the late Oba Adeyemi III, never minced words in condemning open display of any Yoruba king’s remains for any purpose, “while he was alive and even went against attempt by the Ogun State House of Assembly to alter the state’s burial rites procedure, to weaken the power of traditional religion and practitioners in taking the needed roles at the burial rites of any deceased king.”
That traditionalists that sent their condolences to the children, widows, Oyo indigenes, the Yorubaland in general and the Sango devotees worldwide, noted that the maturity showed by the Sango worshippers would go into history as worthy of emulation, asking all traditional worshippers to start different appeasements to smoothen the late Alaafin’s transition to the great beyond.
“We send condolences to the children, widows, the oyo indigenes, Yorùbá land in general and most especially, the Ṣàngó devotees worldwide who have just lost one of them. In fact, Oba Adeyemi was a true devotee of Ṣango and that was why he joined the ancestors on Sango Worship day.
“It is rather disappointing to have seen the corpse of our revered Alaafin being displayed all over the internet. It is saddening and we want this to be on record that we as a body are protesting this act. We do not want our children and grandchildren to question us in the future that we did not act or talk.
“The same disparaging act was witnessed during the burial of late Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, and we made our minds known as well. This is a trend that must stop or we will all be contributing towards the total annihilation of our tradition and culture. Our Yoruba monarchs and kingmakers should please make efforts at remedying this malady.
“However, we extol the Ṣàngó devotees for being tolerant to allow the Muslims and Christians to do the initial prayers before the final rites commenced, it is a good sign of religious tolerance that we have been advocating.”
