After denials by the Oba’s palace on the reported death of the Ooni of Ife days back, officials of the palace has finally come out to admit thetruth that Oba Okunade Sijuwade is dead – some of us already knew this all along. officials of the palace appealed to residents to heed the restriction order from the palace.
“The proclamation of the demise of Ooni will be made public during the Oro festival, being the final rites on the demise of Ooni of Ife.
“The residents of the ancient town are therefore urged to keep away from the streets between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4p.m. during which the Oro deity will be out.
“With the announcement, people are advised to stay indoors for the period when the Oro will be out,” Adereti said.
This development has thrown up questions about the activities that will take place during the rites period.
It is common knowledge in the Yoruba tradition that a monarch ‘cannot embark on the journey to the great beyond’ unaccompanied. So, who accompanies him? Not goats or cows. The Daily Times had reported on Monday the ‘fears of the residents that an important ingredient for the burial rites was missing, a phrase they interpreted to mean the Aboba ku, one who dies with a monarch. During the lifetime of the monarch, a person is named for the role and is said to enjoy immense benefits with the monarch.
‘At the demise of the traditional ruler, the Abo ba ku meekly surrenders to death.’
The palpable fear is that lives will have to be sacrificed with the Oba’s death. When asking of my take of the veracity that the Oba had died, someone stated that the reason for delaying the announcement of the Ooni’s death was not to jolt people into taking cover since ‘heads were needed to bury the monarch.’
Whilst in the past only females were barred from movements during the Oro acts, and timing was restricted to the dark periods of the nights, men are equally barred and the timing will span 9 am – 4 pm, a period when businesses, students, market women, travelers and the likes are expected to be active.
What are the far reaching implications of confining people to their homes on this occasion? Let me make it clear that I don’t believe that all traditions should be discarded in the name of civility – I don’t frown at palm wine being used in traditional marriages. At the same time, I don’t believe I’d endorse my son marrying a man just because we are in the 21st century, although I won’t murder him if he so chooses. But when tradition is in conflict with the rights of a people and humanity, then it should be revisited. This situation raises both constitutional and moral issues, besides religious.
Constitutionally, some parts of Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution states “Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure permitted by law,” while part of section 41 of the 1999 Constitution states: “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom.”
On the premise of the above, on March 16, 2015, Justice Mohammed ruled as unconstitutional the act of barring citizens from movements on the last Saturday of the month due to environment sanitation.
It should be known that the Ife town, unlike ancient and medieval times, is metropolitan in nature and also a transit place for many travelers from and to other parts of the country. What basis would a palace have to override the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?
On a moral plane, some, including some very ‘educated people,’ have argued that ‘this is tradition and should be respected.’ But come to think of it, would that not amount to hypocrisy if same people condemn the traditions of female genital mutilation; forced child marriage; tribal marks and other obviously outdated traditions? Times are changing and it is certainly frenetic to endorse this tradition that is mostly clandestine in nature, even for a day.
The Customary Tribal Mark Is Now Outdated
It was a tradition to kill twins back in the days. But when Mary Slessor embarked on her missionary tour among the people of Okoyong and Efik in Nigeria, it was soon learnt that this tradition no longer had a place in their society. Twins are now safe to live as the voice of reason was heard in Slessor.
I shudder to think what will happen if a life threatening emergency arises at Ife on this day of curfew imposition that requires transporting a person to the hospital. What will become of such a life in a town where hospital ambulances aren’t as effective as should be, with people resorting to taxis to transport their sick? How about travelers who might drives through this town without getting wind of this curfew?
The ‘Oro’ festival and others like it across the country have given real concerns to citizens, some of whom have seen headless bodies that are said to be that of victims who have not heeded or known of imposed curfews like this. In the event that a person wanders into the Oro festival in Ife, would the palace officials arrest and hand the person over to the police for prosecution? You and I have a fair idea of what becomes of such a person.
This tradition involves the faith of a people, and when a religion denies others their rights to safety, then such should not hold, especially in a secular country like Nigeria.
It is indeed antediluvian, for people to fear for their lives when a traditional ruler dies in this era, when the rest of the world is now thinking of how to place a man on Mars.
Share if you condemn festivals that endanger people’s safety and lives. on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 the announcement will be made.
The Obawara of Iwara-Ife, Oba Layi Adereti, on Monday said the official proclamation of the death would be done between 9 a.m. and 4p.m. on Wednesday, during which time, movement within the Nigerian University town, where the Obafemi Awolowo University is situated, will be restricted.
Adereti, who is also the head of the dreaded Ife Oro cult, said all residents of the ancient town whether male or female must remain indoors during the rites.
He said after the Oro rites and proclamation, subsequent rites would follow
