 |
Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade |
Despite the rebuttal of the news of the
death of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, by the Royal Traditional
Council of Ife, a source close to the palace said the monarch has
joined his ancestors.
It was gathered that the Lowa of Ife,
who is the head of the kingmakers, Oba Olasoji Ijaodola, would soon make
an announcement of the passage of the monarch at a later date.
Traditionally, the passage of the Ooni,
who is referred to as the second-in-command to the deities, should not
be announced until the various levels of rites of passage had been
completed.
It was gathered that one of the rites of
passage includes an announcement by the Lowa, who would announce the
passage upon the sounding of a bell at the Enu-Owa square located in
front of the palace.
One of our correspondents learnt that
after the announcement, markets would be closed while all forms of
merrymaking such as drumming or partying would be suspended in the town
for a number of days.
According to him, the process of
breaking the news to the public would start from the eldest prince, who
would tell the traditional council and the Ife traditional council
would, in turn, inform the Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers.
The
Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers, he said would subsequently
inform the governor of the state officially after which the rites of
passage would commence.
The source, who was not willing to
divulge the details of what the rites of passage would entail, stated
that, drummers would come to the palace and beat special drums for some
days.
After this, he said, some elders and women would also gather at the palace and sing dirges for some days.
After the rites of passage have been
completed, the source, who is a traditional ruler, stated that the Lowa
of Ife would come to the main entrance where he would beat the gong and
announce the demise of the Ooni to the public.
The source added that the throne would
remain vacant for a period of mourning before the ruling houses would
present names of contestants to the stool.
Another source, who corroborated the
news of the death of the monarch, said the media was not supposed to be
the one to break the news of the death of the monarch.
He said it was wrong but stated that
such news could no longer be hidden because of the advancement in
technology, adding that the chiefs would still not abdicate their roles
for the media.
The four ruling houses in Ife include
Giesi, Ajagbun, Osikola, where the late Oba Adesoji Aderemi hailed from,
and Ogbooru, where Sijuwade hailed from.
The Oluomo of Ife, Chief Gbenga Owolabi, said that it was wrong to
say that the “Ooni is dead.” According to him, the Ooni is an
institution and a royal stool, and not a person.
Source: PUNCH
No comments:
Post a Comment