The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, has kicked against Justice Phillips Akinside’s recent remarks on the burial rites of traditional leaders and the customs of traditional institutions.
Penpushing reports that Akinside stated in a keynote address at the fifth Chief Kehinde Sofola Memorial Bar Lecture, which was organised by the Nigerian Bar Association, Sagamu branch, on Wednesday that if a traditional ruler’s selection and appointment followed traditional norms, their installation and burial rites should also adhere to these customs.
The judge spoke on the theme: “Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State: Chieftaincy Disputes, their Effects on the Community and Legal Protection of Religious Freedom”,
“Obas have no legal right to change the tradition they have voluntarily come into. Under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, a person has the right to practice any religion of their choice. He can, being born a Christian, become a Muslim or vice versa’, he stated.
“If he chooses to become a traditionalist, he is at liberty to do so. Having done so, he cannot change the goal post in the middle of the match and complain that his right to religious freedom has been infringed. He is deemed to have waived such right’, the judge added.
Penpushing further reports that the traditional in reaction to the speech expressed displeasure arguing that the judge’s statement was not only sacrilegious but also a deliberate attempt to mislead the Yoruba, who have evolved beyond outdated mindsets.
The Alase Lori Orisha criticised the notion that traditional leaders should be subjected to practices such as ritual killings, pointing out that laws do not support such expectations, arguing that culture and religion are distinct, and that Yoruba monarchs are not religious leaders but rather custodians of their people’s traditions and heritage.
Penpushing also reports that Oluwo of Iwo explained that traditional rulers are free to choose their religious practices and that no religion should impose its practices on any of them, stressing that Akinside just passed his own opinion.
“I believe Justice Akinside is just passing his own opinion because there is no law supporting butchering and cutting dead kings into pieces. The criteria to become a king is to be a prince and not a deity worshipper or belonging to secret societies like Osugbos, Ogboni, etc. The judge must be dreaming. Every attempt to desecrate traditional rulers and the institution will continually be resisted by noble monarchs’, he said.
“The secret clubs are purposely designed to restrict the freedom and rights of traditional rulers. Traditional rulers must resist all coordinated attempts to limit their rights. Of what justification are these occult practices you are promoting to the destiny of our innocent children killed for rituals in Yorubaland?”
Penpushing reports that Akanbi commended the Ogun State Government and some traditional rulers for leading efforts to protect the rights and dignity of traditional leaders, particularly in death.
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