Traditional religion can solve Africa’s peace challenge – Ooni
The Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi, during the Osoosi festival in Ile-Ife proffered Yoruba traditional religion as a tool in solving the challenges of peace and love in Nigeria and Africa.
The festival, which held Tuesday evening, was attended by dignitaries from different countries and continents in the world especially America and the Caribbean countries.
He lamented that the neglect of tradition in the Africa continent contributed to Nigeria’s challenges.
For the challenge to be resolved, he said that people must develop positive attitudes towards the Yoruba and Africa traditions.
He said, “This is a landmark festival for us. Mankind started from tropical Africa and it is the most populous. This one of the historical landmark to prove that everything started from the continent of Africa and Nigeria, which is the most populous nation that belongs to the black race.
“We are here at the Osoosi and Obatala temples to celebrate. Osoosi’s temple is where the gathering (religious) started from. Religion should be used to preach peace and unity. We must do what we preach and the foundation must be solid. The entire black race should see this as their culture and tradition. We have to propel it well.
“We are not hiding anything. We are preaching peace, unity and peaceful co-existence which is the problem of many societies in Africa. Believing in the positivity of our ancestral religion will help to solve all these problems.”
He narrated that most of the world’s religion have ancestral linkages, saying that religion must be a tool to defend the oppressed.
The Imperial Majesty explained that one of those things that made Osoosi’s temple unique was the succour that people get when they visit it.
He said, “The guardian that Osoosi used was called ‘Ka to ka ki ki ki, ka fi enu re so le’ in which catholic and catholism came from. It is the congregation that led to Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam; any other religion started from here. It is the house of God. What they do here is to take care of the less privileged people, the downtrodden, the oppressed, and people that are low in spirit and that has been happening up till date.
“But when westernisation came, all the cultures and traditions were bastardised. People were made to believe that they are not good things. What we do basically is nature driven and we want to showcase to the world that indeed everything started from here.
“Osoosi came to this world thousands of years before Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) came. It is one of the early creations of God. We need to showcase our culture, nobody can do that for us. We need to let the whole world know.”
He also likened the Osoosi’s feature of not bearing children to the Catholic pope’s restriction from marrying.
“Just as Osoosi destined not to giving birth to children, so also is the popes at Roman catholic. There are many good things from the black man religion and those in Rome can argue it,” he added.
On his part, the Obalesun Obatala Agbaye, Priest Okanlawon Daada, asked Nigerians to value their traditional and cultural heritage.
He described the traditional religion as the most genuine and non-deceptive.
A queen from the Democratic Republic of Congo, lamented that people of African origin were not appreciating their culture.
She said, “I am here to rejoice with my brothers and sisters to show that all Africans are the same. It is important to support our ancestral culture, to revive it and to show that we have to teach our children to believe in their culture, because it is in the ancestral that we can find the solution that Africa is having here today.”
Former MD of Daily Times and the Jaagun Oodua of Ile-Ife, Chief Tola Adeniyi said celebration of African religion is remarkable and capable of preserving our heritage.
An archaeologist, Dr. Adisa Ogunfolakan, warned that westernisationation must not be allowed to erode away the rich African culture saying that there are historical evidences that attested that Africa culture if practised would aid development.
Iyalode Yeyefini Ebunbolade from the United States said that she was proud to associate with African culture, saying her tribal marks were enough signal to state her origin.
She added, “I am here to show the heritage and culture of the Afican culture. The origin of man is here. It is a honour of nature. Obatala is the diety that I hail from and I have also brought a group of prince.”
