It looked like denialism, culturally endorsed and encouraged. Media reports that said Oba Okunade Sijuade, the Ooni of Ife since 1980 and a pre-eminent Yoruba monarch, was dead sounded like nonsense to the community’s circle of chiefs. High Chief Joseph Ijadola, the Lowa of Ife, presented the sense of the palace: “We were all shocked when we heard the rumour. If at all such an incident had happened, the traditional council would be the first to know and to break the news to the entire public. Sixteen of us are his chiefs and when he was travelling out, he didn’t look like he was going to die and should that have happened to him, we would have been informed even before anyone would hear about it.” It is noteworthy that Ijadola didn’t say that kings never die, or that Oba Sijuade could not die.
With the question of the king’s mortality settled, Oba Sijuade cannot be dead and alive at the same time. It is interesting that Yoruba cultural thinking accommodates the conceptual possibility of life after death just as it accepts the reality of death after life. In other words: If he is not dead, he will die; and if he is dead, he will not die. The essence of this belief is that there is an enduring partnership between life and death. In this context, the eternal lesson of the drama of colliding and conflicting claims about Oba Sijuade’s existence and exit is the marriage of mortality and immortality.
In the global village of the communication age, news travels fast and far. This reality poses a powerful challenge to the conservative information management that is culturally prescribed in the event of a Yoruba king’s death. There are complications because Oba Sijuade reportedly died in a foreign land, on July 28 at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London. If the reported death had happened in the Oba’s domain, it would have been perfect for the enforcement of traditional secrecy. The London dimension instantaneously internationalised the news, and it is unsurprising that traditionalists are wrestling with modernity and modernised media.
In addition, in an increasingly open world, the space of mystification is shrinking, which is a potent challenge to the romantic mystique associated with certain ancient cultural practices. To allow a reign of silence for a specific period before announcing a king’s death, as reportedly dictated by Yoruba tradition, is out of sync with the information philosophy of the 21st century, which is speed-oriented.
The beginning of a seven-day Oro festival believed to be related to the reported death deepened the drama, though traditionalists observed that important and clearly defined rituals expected to publicise the death of an Ooni have not been performed, meaning that Oba Sijuade may not be dead as reported.
Interestingly, the source of confusion is not Oba Sijuade’s first obituary. According to the Secretary, Royal Traditional Council of Ife, the Ladin of Ife, High Chief Adetoye Odewole, ”They did it in 1984, also in 2004 and now, these people are coming up with another rumour. Oba Sijuade remains in sound state of health.”
Critical obituarists focused on Oba Sijuade’s alleged unprogressive tendencies in the country’s political sphere without considering the difficulties of a monarchy in a democracy. Oba Sijuade’s cultural radiance and relevance, distinct from his alleged political incorrectness, cannot be disregarded.
An illustrative narrative: It was July 2013. The 10th Orisa World Congress was holding at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State. Ile-Ife, regarded as “The Source” and a culturally significant Yoruba town, was an appropriate setting for discussions on the challenges of the Orisa way of life, especially in the context of a diverse globe, and contending faiths, some of which have the advantage of apparent numerical dominance. The variegated gathering, which included participants from the United States of America (USA), Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico, demonstrated the appeal of the Yoruba religion beyond its local provenance, and brought instructive international perspectives. An all-male family of four from Cuba, a Chinese couple who lived in Venezuela and a densely bearded white American were among the alluring sights.
It is worth noting that in 2005 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added the Ifa Divination system to its list of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” A multitude of gods or orisa makes up the Yoruba pantheon, with Ifa as the oracular mouthpiece of Olodumare, the Almighty in Yoruba religion.
Oba Sijuade, the community’s revered traditional ruler and the Grand Patron of the Orisa tradition and religion, took advantage of the forum to name July and August as “Yoruba cultural months” starting from 2014. ”I implore all descendants of Oduduwa to return home every year during these months to celebrate our culture and religion,” he said, at the opening ceremony at Oduduwa Hall, OAU. Oduduwa, regarded as the progenitor of the Yoruba people, is artistically represented by an imposing wooden sculpture carved by Lamidi Olonade Fakeye, which was unveiled at the front of the university theatre in 1987 by Oba Sijuade himself.
Oba Sijuade also said: “Celebrate the values, virtues and treasures of our towns and cities. Hold public events, conventions and activities that showcase the invaluable riches of Yoruba culture and religion. These are the treasures that have made Yoruba culture and religion a global heritage of humanity.”
On the last day, it was time to visit Oba Sijuade’s palace. In a large decorated hall with shimmering lights, the Royal Court Band played danceable melodies, and the visitors socialised in a setting that reflected monarchical grandeur. Oba Sijuade, 83 at the time, was resplendent in a white flowing robe which he wore over purple attire. He wore purple shoes and a glittering white cap. It was momentous that three devotees were installed as Cultural Ambassadors at the party. They were: Suriname-Dutch American Tony Van Der Meer, Chinese Chiu Ming Ho, and Michelle Abimbola, a white American. There was a mystic dimension to their installation, or perhaps more precisely, their initiation; one by one, they went briefly into an enclosure formed by powerful traditional chiefs who created a human screen that prevented any view of their encounter with the Oba in the sacred space.
The 10th edition of Orisa World Congress in Ile-Ife, with the theme “Culture and Global Peace,” was the fourth in the ancient town, and six others have been held in Brazil, USA, Trinidad and Tobago, and Cuba. Founded by Prof Wande Abimbola in 1981, Orisaworld is “an organisation of practitioners and scholars ofOrisa tradition, religion and culture”; the group’s overriding aim is “to revitalise and rejuvenate the Orisa culture and all its traditions.”
It is memorable that Oba Sijuade spoke of a religion that would never die: “I hereby make the following proclamation: the religion of Yoruba land; the religion of Oduduwa who descended from Heaven on a chain of iron; the religion of Oranfe who lives in a house of perpetual fire in Heaven; the religion of Ifa, witness of destiny; the religion of Sango, the great warrior and giant, child of Oranmiyan; the religion of Oya nicknamed oriirii, eater of she-goats, the female warrior who wears a sword as part of her outfit; the religion of Osun nicknamed ewuji the greatest mother of all; the religion of Obatala, owner of ancient Iranje; will never perish.”