A foremost traditionalist, Dr. Oluseyi Atanda has said that Yoruba traditional rulers not observing and performing the spiritual responsibilities of their respective positions are impostors.
He noted that for a person to fully qualify as a monarch that is reverred and respected, such traditional rulers must not jettison any of the standard practices, which the position such king occupies holds.
Dr. Atanda, who is the President, Traditional Religion Worshippers Association (TRAWSO), in Osun State, stated this while featuring on ‘FrankTalk,’ a private radio station programme monitored by OSUN DEFENDER in Osogbo, on Thursday.
He said henceforth, traditional worshippers and stakeholders in TRAWSO will begin to address monarchs who jettison culture and tradition for other religions as ‘Misters,’ as well as not accord them due respect.
The medical practitioner also noted that kings who drop tradition for religion are not qualified to be monarchs, and should be regarded as ‘impostors.’
Atanda stated that: “Normally, Obas should be the head but nowadays, Obas are now politicians who would say I am for party A, I’m not for party B and then, when party B wins an election, what happens in that particular town, there will be problem. You will find Obas who would say I am for this religion, I am not for this religion. That is the problem. That is not what Obas used to be.
“As far as we are concerned, Obas who desecrate tradition for religion are not Obas. They are Misters. That’s part of what we will do with this year’s Isese festival’s theme. If you are installed to be Chief Imam of a place and you accept to be Chief Imam, can you decide that as a Chief Imam, I have a religion of my own and I still choose to be a Christian. Does it go together? Obaship is a cultural role.
“We have men today who want the glamour of being a king but do not want the duty and responsibility that comes with it. Whether we like it or not, Oba has to do with our culture, has to do with our tradition. The staff of the office is not from Christianity. It is not from Islam. That crown you have on your head has a story and a heritage from your ancestors. So, you can not put that crown on your head and still do otherwise.
“Let me tell you a secret, you will discover that those Kings that misbehave, you won’t find them put on that ancestral crown. They know they are impostors in the palace. 90% of them didn’t go through the whole seclusion, the traditional rites, they dare not put on the crown, they know that two wrongs can never make a right.
“We are not saying an Oba cannot have a religion. They are still Obas who have their religions, but you must still participate in the tradition. It is like your official duties as an Oba. Part of what we are doing this year is to educate them that you may have your religion, but you need to perform your official duties.”
The consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist who berated the continued desecration of royalty called for the separation of government intervention from the selection and installation of traditional rulers to make monarchs function optimally.
The chief said: “When an Oba is installed, he should naturally attract respect. That candour, that aura should be around him. You have had Obas who have been kidnapped. We have had Obas who had been beaten up, embarrassed, and all. We have had Obas who do not know that you don’t shake hands with them because the Obas directly represents an exalted office.
“There is so much similarity between an Oba in Yorubaland and the King in England or the King in Saudi Arabia too. That was what our Obas stood for. What we are only trying to do is to do like a reawakening, a call to order for government, to balance the society for progress, for peace, for harmony. Let us allow the process of Obaship to remain as it was in the days of old.
“The selection process must go back to what it used to be without government intervention. Let the Afobajes – Kingmakers do their work, let Ifa divination take place, let the selected Oba go through the seclusion process. What you see nowadays is the government going through a process to announce an Oba and give him the staff of office the next day, without going through the process,” the TRAWSO President observed.
