Drama At Ooni Of Ife Palace As Wives And Children Are Denied Access To Burial.

The final burial rites of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba
Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, was performed on
Friday, but his wives, children and family
members were unable to pay their last respects
as they were barred from the programme.
Some other people who had expected to see the
body of the monarch lie in state were also
disappointed as his remains were neither brought
out for people to see nor was any casket
displayed during the burial service.
A source at the palace told Punch that no
member of the royal family was allowed to see
the remains of the monarch since he was brought
back to the palace.
He said,
“As we are holding this
interdenominational service here,
those concerned are performing their
own rites inside the palace where
the body is kept.
“You can see that the gates of the
palace are locked and nobody is
allowed to go inside. Nobody can
see him again except those who will
bury him.
“The wives and children were not
even supposed to see his corpse at
all but tradition was broken this time
around because he (Sijuwade) died
in London. But no family member
can see him again. Those
performing the rites are there now
and they will complete it today
(Friday). He will be buried in the
middle of the night, but nobody will
be there apart from those who will
lower him into the grave.”
The source said those who saw the bodies of the
previous Oonis were attacked by smallpox and
did not survive the ailment.
A monarch in Osun State, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, said,
“Nobody can see the Ooni, not even
the US President, Barrack Obama.
We are with him. It’s only the
initiates who can see him. His wives
and children cannot see him.”
But as the interdenominational service was about
to take off, there was a mild drama as
worshippers of Oro cult in Ife, also called Isoro,
stormed the venue and attempted to stop the
service. The worshippers claimed that it was a
sacrilege to hold an interdenominational service
for the departed king. And as the service went on
outside the palace, the traditional worshippers
sang and danced inside the palace.
The worshippers of Oro cult in Ife, also called
‘Isoro’, clashed with residents who were erecting
tents for the interdenominational burial service at
the frontage of Enuwa Palace.
A prominent chief in Ife, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, said the ‘Isoro’
descended on the people who erected the tents
because they (initiates) wanted to observe a
seven-day burial rites for the departed king.
The chief said,
“The ‘Isoro’ saw the erection of tents
for an interdenominational burial
service as a sacrilege against
custom and tradition.
“They descended on the people
erecting the tents and flogged them
heavily. They destroyed the tents
and swore never to allow anybody
do any interdenominational service
at the palace.”It took the intervention
of officials of the state government,
who appealed to the ‘Isoro’ to allow
the people to hold the
interdenominational service before
the issue was resolved. If not for the
intervention of the state government,
the interdenominational service
would not have been allowed.”
Meanwhile, it was learnt that Sijuwade’s family
members flew to see his body immediately after
he transited in a highbrow hospital in England.

It was also learnt that the family members flew
down to England to pay their last respect to the
departed monarch. The Araba of Osogbo land,
Chief Yemi Elebuibon, who spoke with Punch on
Friday, disclosed that the corpse of the Ooni
belonged to Ile-Ife and not his family.
He said,

“The traditional burial rites of the
kings of Ile-Ife and Oyo are strictly
complied with and they are
comprehensive.When the Ooni dies,
the body becomes that of the town.
The ‘Isoro’ cult group will take over.
The ‘Isoro’ initiates are the ones
who worship the ‘Oro’ deity.
“It is the ‘Isoro’ people that would
inform the various deities, who were
worshipped and appeased when the
Ooni was crowned, that he (the
monarch) is no more.
“It’s a rite. Nothing must stop it.”
The Araba dispelled the belief that the heart of the
late king would be fed to the next Ooni He said.

“The eating of the heart of a
departed King by an incoming one
belonged to the past. It no longer
exists. People still make this
insinuation because many are barred
from witnessing the burial of a
king.What the incoming king will eat
is the heart of an animal and not
that of a human. Nobody would be
buried with the Ooni. Nobody would
be killed for any form of sacrifice.”
Elebuibon explained that animals are now used
for the burial rites of Yoruba Obas because of
modernisation, noting that Christianity and Islam
also stopped the use of humans for sacrifice
when God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his
son, Isaac.
Meanwhile, a cleric, Evangelist Toluwase
Akeredolu, had disputed insinuations that
Sijuwade, as a prominent monarch, was in the
cult. Akeredolu had said that Oba Sijuwade died
as a born-again Christian. Akeredolu said this on
July 29 after the transition of the monarch was
announced by the media.
The cleric, an evangelist with the Christ Apostolic
Church, said the monarch had few weeks before
his transition, confessed all his sins to God after
he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to him.
Akeredolu said he was privileged to have
ministered to the monarch few weeks before his
death.
He said.

Royal Council Speaks With Osun State
Government.
“Oba Sijuwade told the congregation
at the last crusade we organised in
Ile-Ife that he had forsaken sins and
accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord
and personal saviour. He confessed
publicly that he would live the rest
of his life to serve the Almighty God.
“During the revival, Oba Sijuwade
said he had committed the rest of
his lifetime to Christ, the saviour of
all and had sung the popular song
‘All to Jesus, I surrender.’”
It will be recalled that the late monarch dropped
the title of ‘Oluaye’ (owner of the universe) in
2010 in deference to the Almighty God.”

     PUNCH