The final burial rites of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, was performed on Friday, but his wives, children and family members were, according to the dictates of tradition, unable to pay their last respects as they were barred from the burial proper.
A source at the palace told www.infinitylive.com.ng that “no member of the royal family was allowed to see the remains of the monarch since he was brought back to the palace. Traditionally, when an Ooni joins his ancestors, the family cannot interact nor have access to his body again. He has become the property of Ife people and the deities. It is only the initiates who are with him and as this service is ongoing, those concerned are performing their own rites inside the Obatala shrine or ‘Ile Ase’ where the body is kept preparatory for his final journey. It was from Ile Ase that he was endowed with the authority to rule over Oodua’s kingdom as his Arole and the authority must be taken back from him before committing his body to earth. At the Obatala shrine, the ‘Isoro’ people would inform the various deities, who were worshipped and appeased when the Ooni was crowned, that he (the monarch) has joined his ancestors.
To corroborate the source, all the gates that led to the palace were locked and nobody was allowed to go inside. “It is only the initiates (Awo) who will bury him that can see him and he will be buried in the middle of the night, but nobody will be there except the few traditional wise men that will conduct the burial and was usually shrouded in secrecy. Others are some occultic chiefs, selected symbols of sacred societies, custodians of traditions and other chieftains of secret societies.
The source said those who saw the bodies of the previous Oonis were attacked by smallpox and did not survive the ailment. Since then, every Ooni’s contact with his immediate family ends the very moment he dies.”
Ooni Okunade Sijuade’s death broke an age long tradition, he was the first Ooni to die outside his domain members of his immediate family capitalized on that to see his body and pay their last respect before he was moved back to Nigeria. The children, led by his eldest son, Prince Adetokunbo flew to England to join his three other wives before the body was flown back to Nigeria.
On Friday, the day of his final burial, earlier, traditional rulers present in Ile Oodua Palace of the Ooni were at various shrines, including the Obalufon shrine in Ife to perform some rites for the late Ooni Sijuade and they later converged at the Ooni’s palace shortly before an interdenominational burial service for the king commenced on the palace premises.
Ooni’s Wives, children barred from his burial
