By Emmanuel Nduka
Traditional rulers in Ogun State, Nigeria, have been warned by the State House of Assembly that it would not allow the use of human beings for rituals during the installation or burial of a monarch.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, said this on Wednesday while declaring open, a public hearing on the traditional council law of Ogun State 2021 at the Assembly Complex, Oke- Mosan, Abeokuta.
This was even as the representatives of the traditional worshipers’ group, Fagbemi Ifakorede from Ota and the State Secretary of Ifa worshippers, Faniyi Awoyemi, noted that the traditional belief remained essential in the running of traditional institution, stating that monarchs were to be buried in line with the traditions and customs of their people.
Oluomo stated that the lawmakers are not against traditional rites for installation and burial of Obas in the state, saying, however, that the use of humans for the purpose is barbaric and no longer allowed.
“Nobody is saying they should not do traditional rites for installation and burial of Obas, but we are not going to support the usage of human being for rituals, as the world has moved away from that barbaric practice, which is even against the right to life and human dignity as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the speaker declared.
The speaker clarified that the bill does not set out to specifically tinker with the burial rites as being speculated.
Thus, Oluomo explained that the legislation was initiated to correct many existing anomalies in the traditional institution, especially the conduct of installation without following due process including absence of declaration for some traditional stools, which, he said, has been creating difficulty on how to determine those entitled to the throne.
The speaker submitted that such “unethical practice” had made it easy for unqualified persons and strangers to lay unmerited claims to the stool, thereby creating distortions in historical records in recent times.
Oluomo mentioned that the Assembly would pass a bill that would put a stop to the attendance of political rallies by monarchs, thereby returning the institution to its pride of place and honour.
“We have equally seen where a town or village is in existence (as orile) and the Baale is there, but in their developed area, where plots of land were sold to strangers to erect residential structure, such strangers were later allotted a traditional stool illegally, instead of promoting the existing Baale to the status of a coronet Oba. It has been the new norm of short-changing the original inhabitants of the area in the selection of monarchs to the advantage of strangers which must stop.
“These are part of the things we are trying to correct and if you look at the number of petitions before the House and litigations going on in the various courts of law in the State, over 70% of such court cases are based on Obaship issues because of the lacuna and errors of application of the existing traditional council laws,” the speaker stated.
