The Olubara of Ibara Kingdom, Abeokuta in Ogun State, Oba Jacob Olufemi Omolade, has shed light on an otherwise hidden and controversial topic – the specific conditions under which kings are buried.

The monarch, who recently clocked 90, spoke in an interview with Vanguard, while reacting to the law regulating the appointment, installation and burial of traditional rulers in Ogun State recently signed by Governor Dapo Abiodun.

“It is a good development for traditional institution in the state. In the past, when an Oba died, they would cut his hands, legs and head.

“There are strategic locations in the town that these parts would be buried. They will bury one leg at road that enters the town and the other one in the other end and possible the head will be buried in the palace.

“With the new law, the government is saying ‘no’ to this barbaric way of life. The new law says whenever an Oba dies, he should be buried in accordance to his religious belief. When installing also, an Oba should be installed in accordance to his religious belief. Look at how the late Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, was buried. He was brought out and the Imam prayed on the body and was buried. Now, things are changing.

“I have told my chiefs that anytime I join my ancestors, nobody should touch my body. I even told them that anybody who touches my body when I am gone and wants to play ‘foul game’ on it will follow me.

“They know that I am serious about it. When I die, I want to be buried in the public cemetery. I have prepared where I will be buried when I die; I have told my wife too, they will take me to the church and pray for me.

“Whether my prayers are answered or not is not anybody’s concern because I know that if I do well on this earth, it will be well with me. God will give me what I deserve,” the monarch said.

Oba Omolade, who was installed in 1992, recounted how his Christian convictions led him to reject induction into a secret cult that his position mandated him to join.

“I had problems when I was installed as the Olubara. Immediately after my installation, some of the chiefs came to me and said, “Kabiyesi, we are half way done with the rites of Obaship and that the remaining aspect is induction into secret cult”. I said “no, I do not want to do that” because my father was a devoted Christian. I said if I must be initiated into the occult, I was ready to vacate the stool. They kept on pressurizing me, and my wife and I concluded to leave the palace secretly and returned to Lagos, but, unfortunately, one of the chiefs came and noticed the baggage that we had gathered. He asked my wife why we packed the bags and my wife told him that bedbugs were disturbing us and we wanted to fumigate the house, but the chief was smart enough to discover that she was lying. He then went out and called other chiefs and told them what he saw and warned that if care was not taken, the Oba will run away. They came and invited me for a meeting. They asked me why I packed my baggage to leave.

“Initially, I did not answer them, and at a time I told them that I could not surrender my God for anything and “if you insist on initiating me into cultism, I will leave you with your beliefs”. The meeting ended in the dead of the night, and they said, “Okay we will leave you to do whatever pleases you, because we have seen signs of goodwill from you to the people of Ibara and we are thinking you will do well to forget about this induction to cultism”. Before they left, they said my predecessor spent only three years on the throne and that I would not last two years. When I heard the statement, I began fasting and prayer.

“During the crisis, they had a language among themselves “mafilanu” (we will eat him up), but I was not threatened at all because I know who I serve. I started to be a man of myself and I fought the battle and God was with me. I have a gentleman in my Church, Rev. Maku; in the evening time, he will come to the palace, pray with me and we will break fast together. I thank God that I succeeded.

“I have spent 30 years on this throne and I am still going; my life is not in the hands of anybody. God created me and He will withdraw me when the time comes. So, if I want to talk about the crown now, I will pray to Almighty God to give us people who are strong to separate people who are good from bad and highly educated people, not just anybody but someone who has passed through the phoenix of life,” the monarch said.

Oba Omolade, who was born on May 20, 1933, expressed gratitude to God for his longevity.

He said only seven of his schoolmates, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, are still alive.

“God has been faithful to me and I am sincerely grateful to Him. Some of my former classmates in school have gone. Out of 60 of us that were admitted that time, only seven of us are alive now, and just about last month, Segun (former President Olusegun Obasanjo) and I went around to see our former classmates. They are very old and they were surprised that Segun and I could undertake that journey because we walked around. We started in the morning and came back at night,” the monarch said.

(Herald.ng)

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