Traditional worshippers have frowned at the open display of the body of the revered monarch, late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, during the Muslim prayer session, which they said, was against the tenets of traditional respect for a deceased king.
In a statement on sunday made available to journalists in Ibadan, Chairman, Traditional Religion Worshippers’ Association of Nigeria, Oyo State Branch, Adefabi Dasola Fadiran and Secretary, Dr. Fakayode Fayemi Fatunde, while appreciating the Sango devotees in Oyo town for tolerating the Muslim and Christian worshippers for the initial prayers before the traditional rites, condemned the practise of displaying the monarch’s body for public view and sharing on the internet.
The chairman said: “The same disparaging act was witnessed during the burial of late Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji and we made our minds known as well, this is a trend that must stop or we will all be contributing towards the total annihilation of our tradition and culture, our Yoruba monarchs and kingmakers should please make efforts at remedying this malady.
“However, we extol the Ṣàngó devotees for being tolerant to allow the Muslims and Christians to do the initial prayers before the final rites commenced, it is a good sign of religious tolerance that we have been advocating”, he added.
They condoled the children, widows, Oyo indigenes, the Yorubaland in general and the Sango devotees worldwide, who just lost one of their members.
He noted that the maturity shown by the Sango worshippers would go into history as worthy of emulation, asking all traditional worshippers to start different appeasements to smoothen the late Alaafin’s transition to the great beyond.
“In fact, Oba Adeyemi was a true devotee of Ṣango and that was why he joined the ancestors on Sango Worship day.
“It is rather disappointing to have seen the corpse of our revered Alaafin being displayed all over the internet, it is saddening and we want this to be on record that we as a body are protesting this act, we do not want our children and grandchildren to question us in the future that we did not act or talk,” he said.
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