There has been a raging controversy over a move by theOgun State House of Assembly to stop the traditional rites for theinstallation and burial of Obas (kings) in the state.
The Assembly has been hearing the State Traditional Rulers(Installation and Burial Rites) Bill 2020, sponsored by the Chairman,House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, AkeemBalogun, which seeks “a law to provide for the Preservation,Protection and Exercise by Traditional Rulers of their fundamentalrights to be installed and buried according to their religions orbeliefs and for other related matters.”
The Assembly had passed the bill into second reading on March 3,2020, with further hearing stalled by government’sorder banning congregationfollowingthe coronavirus pandemic.
The bill has been evoking arguments on the place of traditionand culture in an era of increasing religious immersion in theSouthwest states of Nigeria, with the traditionalists kicking against it.
The general belief in the region for eons has been that the death andinstallation of new kings are laced with tradition and culture, withmany secret rites performed by traditionalists.
“This has been the tradition over the years and I don’t thinkanything can change it. Religion should be a personal thing. We cannotsay because of religion, we should jettison the practices of ourprogenitors,” said a Lagos chief, who didn’t want to be named.
The increasing spread of Islam and Christianity among the people ofthe Southwest, including kings, has, however, been encroaching eveninto monarchy in the region as some kings have publicly professedtheir faiths in support of either of the two religions. Many Yorubakings, for example, are regular faces at the Redeemed ChristianChurch of God’s (RCCG) Holy Ghost Congress, which holds annually.
“If I die, I want to be buried in line with my religious belief. Idon’t want to be buried mutilated,” a first-class monarch in Abeokuta,the Ogun State capital, well known to be a strong member of the RCCGand a regular attendee of the Holy Ghost programme, said recently at aforum.
This king’s declaration of “mutilation” must have arisen from abelief, still unconfirmed though, that when a king dies in theSouthwest, his corpse is subjected to various rites.
Shortly before the bill scaled the second reading, Balogun justifiedits necessity when he led a debate during plenary that it was“important to review the Traditional Rulers’ Law in tandem with modernday reality.”
He submitted that traditional rulers should be installed and buriedaccording to their religious beliefs. According to him, the review ofthe law would make the traditional stool attractive to people of highpedigrees, who could contribute to the development of their subjects.
The lawmaker representing Odeda constituency, Oludaisi Elemide, supported the bill but quickly added, “I support the bill as much asour cultural heritage will not be erased and the identity associatedwith traditional rulers are not eradicated.”
Also, a Christian cleric, Apostle Bolaji Akinyemi, opined that nobodycan deny the traditionalists the right to practise their traditionalbeliefs. Akinyemi said any Christian or Muslim who cannot fulfil thetraditional requirements of kingship should stay away from it.
He said, “I am a pastor, and beyond that, I am a nation builder. Butsome of the errors of the Nigerian nation is our failure to recognizethe practice of the traditional religion.
“The rules of cultures and traditions are well defined. If you wantto keep your faith, stay with your Christianity, stay with your Islam,don’t become their king. If you insist on becoming their king, therule is clear, you must accept their rules.”
Traditionalists kick
Since the bill passed the second reading, traditionalists in the statehave been vehemently kicking against the development, which theyargued was meant to desecrate the Yoruba culture and tradition.
Traditional worshippers under the auspices of the Osugbo Remo-in-Council described the bill as “a deliberate act to tamper withthe norms and beliefs of the Yoruba cultural heritage.”
The Osugbo Remo-in-Council in Sagamu issued a communiqué jointlysigned by its Chairman, High Chief Taiwo Sule; the Vice Chairman, Ifasola Opeodu; the Chairman, Committee on Special Duty, Michael Sorinola and the Secretary, Johnson Adeokun.
Adeokun, on behalf of the Council, maintained that the bill was aninfringement on the right of traditional worshippers.
He said, “Anybody who voluntarily gives himself out or permits orvolunteers himself to be crowned and installed as a king under theYoruba culture will immediately attain the position of Alase Ekeji Orisa, having agreed, accepted and concurred to fall in line and abideby the rules, regulations, doctrines and practices of such traditions.
“The attempt by some Obas and the Ogun State House of Assembly todirect the Muslims or Christians to bury the corpses of traditionalrulers who are under the traditional institution will lead to chaos,pandemonium and state of anarchy,” Adeokun said.
A traditional chief in Lagos, Chief Najimdeen Aro, stated that already modernity had limited the ritual practices in installing andburying kings in Yorubaland, adding that, however, the rites ofpassage in both processes cannot be totally jettisoned because of thepreservation of the cultural heritage of the people.
“That kind of thing cannot happen in Lagos because here, we believeso much in tradition. It is a way of life. We don’t see any lawmakercoming up with that kind of bill, or else it would be an invitation tocrisis. These are practices that we inherited from our forefathers.Whether you are a Muslim or a Christian, once you become a king ortraditional chief, you tend to lose your religion,” Aro said.
Ogun Muslims back Assembly’s move
The president of the League of Imam and Alfas in Ogun State, Sheikh Sikirullahi Babalola, who spoke with our correspondent, said theMuslim community supported the legislature on the proposed bill,describing it as “a welcome development.”
Babalola, who spoke through the Secretary-General, Imam Tajudeen Adewunmi, said that the position of the traditional worshippersamounted to “superimposing themselves over other religions in thesociety.”
He said it was within the constitutional rights of a monarch to be buried in line with his religious belief.
“When you install an Oba, whether a Christian or Muslim, that personshould be buried according to his religion because he was a king overeverybody, be it Christians, Muslims or idol worshippers. So, for some people to insistthat a king will ascendthe throne through their rituals, and when he dies bury him,is not proper.
“An Oba, who is a member of the mosque, comes to the mosque everytime, we say prayers together and after he dies, a religion that hedid not belong to will take over his burialand the burial will be done in secrecy, we are against it,” Babalolasaid.
Director of Muslim Rights’ Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, stated, “Yoruba lawmakersmust rescue Yoruba kings and their subjects from the shackles ofreligious tyranny and the intolerance of traditionalists.
“Ogun State lawmakers have belled the cat and lawmakers in otherYoruba states have no other choice than to take the cue. Obas in Yorubaland are suffering in silence. The Christians among them preferChristian rites during their installation and burial after theirdeath. Ditto for the Muslim Obas.
“It is the height of religious intolerance to force traditionalreligion alone on Christian and Muslim Obas. It smirks of religiousextremism on the part of traditionalists to refuse to recognize thepersonal faith of whoever is made the Oba. This cannot be allowed tocontinue in a sane society. It stands in contradiction to theletters and spirit of democracy.”
‘It’s not Ogun Assembly’s business’
A kingmaker in Abeokuta, Chief Alani Bankole, in a chat with DailyTrust on Sunday, described the legislators’ approach as “wrong, unfairand undemocratic.”
Bankole, who is the father of a former House of RepresentativesSpeaker, Dimeji Bankole, and holds the Yoruba aristocratic titles of Oluwo of Iporo Ake and Seriki Jagunmolu of Egbaland, slammed thelawmakers, saying they had no business legislating over the burialrites of traditional rulers.
“My take is not whether it is right or not to allow people bury theirrulers the way they want. My take is: what is the business of theState Assembly on such an issue at this particular period of oureconomic and political development?
“It does not show that our House of Assembly in Ogun State isserious. I am disappointed in them that this is the bill they haveconsidered so important to pass. If they pass the bill, how do theyeffect it? Different communities have ways and traditions of how tochoose and bury their Obas. Who is going to change the tradition,assuming they pass the law?” He asked.
Public hearing suspended indefinitely
In June however, there were speculations that the legislature was planning to hold apublic hearing on the bill, with only some select stakeholders, thereby allegedly shutting out opponents of the bill.
But Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo was quick to reassure the state that allconcerned stakeholders would be invited to contribute to the processesleading to the passage of the bill.
He said contrary to insinuation in some quarters, theAssembly would not sideline any stakeholder in the legislative processthat would lead to the passage of the bill.
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