Obatala Festival: Traditional rulers, adherents, others underscore need for peace

For the adherents of Obatala in Nigeria and diaspora, the critical need to embrace peace, among all the members of different religions in Nigeria and ethnic nationalities has become expedient as they converged on the ancient city of Ile-Ife generally adjudged the historical root of the Yoruba ethnic stock to celebrate the 2018 edition of Obatala Festival.

During the festival, held at Obatala Temple, in Ife, which attracted adherents, including dignitaries from within and outside the country, they maintained that for the nation to witness steady growth in all the strata of the society, Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers, irrespective of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds should strive to place the collective interests of the nation as a corporate entity above personal interests and aggrandizements.

They also called on the Federal Government to take pre-emptive measures aimed at nipping in the bud any act capable of threatening the peace and tranquility across the country.

Speaking during the festival titled “Obatala, The Yoruba Arch-Deity in Africa and The Diaspora” against the backdrop of recent mass killings perpetrated by herdsmen in Benue State and Boko Haram insurgency, most especially in the north eastern states such Borno, the leader of Obatala deity worldwide, High Chief Olaolu Okanlawon Dada urged President Muhammadu Buhari to step up actions aimed at ending needless deaths of innocent Nigerians.

He maintained that it was incumbent on the part of the “Federal Government under the leadership of President Buhari to rise up to the responsibilities of protecting the Nigerian citizens, irrespective of their ethnic, religious and socio-cultural backgrounds.

In his welcome address, the Director of the Institute of African Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Dr F. Ayoh’ Omidire said “there is no gainsaying the fact that Obatala Festival is a feast that is central to all,” adding that “as the creator deity , we are all, as human beings, mortal units fabricated by his creative genius.”

He stated further that “the centrality of Obatala feast can be attested to by the fact that it is the very first festival that opens our contemporaries’ calendar year. In fact, as many of us here present are probably aware, as amply demonstrated by this present festival the seere denomination given to the first month of January within the Yoruba transposition and appropriation of the Gregorian calendar is a direct tribute to, and affirmation of Obatala’s pre-eminence as the Oosa-nla Oseeremagbo.

“Again at this point and on this propitious occasion, one must not fail to register the fact that the same centrality and primordial essence of Obatala has actually been recognised and acknowledged, albeit unconsciously and unwittingly by the most discerning adepts of other religions operating within the Yoruba landscape, and this, one daresay, despite the occasional show of religious intolerance by some of their firebrand latecomers towards Yoruba traditional religions and cultural practices.”

Addressing the people at the festival, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II averred that all the people in Yorubaland and indeed Africa should ensure that the culture and tradition of the black continent were not eroded by Western civilisation, adding that “it is important to protect our socio-cultural identities and also be the leading light for the rest of the world.”

The event was attended by the representatives of the Osun State government, Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi, Olufon of Orolu Kingdom, Oba Al-Maroof Adekunle Magbagbeola, Ogiyan of Ejigbo, Oba Omowoluola Oyesosin, the Olowu of Kuta, Oba Hammed Adekunle Oyelude Makama, Mr Willys Omowale Andrade among many others.