Oba Ogunwusi, who moved into Iledi House on Sunday would remain incommunicado for seven days as parts of prerequisite rites that must be observed for the annual festival.
This was contained in a press statement signed by the Ooni’s director of media and public affairs, Comrade Moses Olafare, which was forwarded to TribuneOnline in Osogbo on Monday.
According to the statement, Ooni Ogunwusi is expected to end the 7-day seclusion on Saturday, when he would appear in the public with the Oduduwa’s sacred Aare Crown traditionally adorned once in a year by the Ooni.
The traditional ruler before entering Iledi House for the seclusion rites assured that the 7-day period would be used to commune with the Almighty God, offering prayers for the Kingdom of Ile-Ife, Osun State and the entire Nigeria for a new dawn of socio-economic advancement.
The statement reads thus, “Ooni who is co-chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers Nigeria congratulated the government and people of Osun for conducting themselves maturely before, during and after last Saturday’s governorship election.”
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“While he praised the government both at the state and Federal level for creating a level playing ground for the people to exercise their franchise, the Spiritual father of Yoruba race worldwide also lauded the electorate for standing firmly on their principles while casting their votes and specially commended the youths for being agents of peaceful coexistence rather than being agents of political violence during the gubernatorial election.”
“He commended politicians of all the political parties for their decorum and the security agents for their unbias display of professionalism and appreciated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting the Osun gubernatorial election in a free, fair and credible manner.”
“We all have now observed through this election that power belongs to the people, by the grace of God, very soon the best candidate will emerge as the state governor of Osun State. Osun now sets the pace of peaceful political conduct in Nigeria because what presently happens here in our state has never happened in the history of Nigeria for the election has become successful without any blood shed even though it is not yet concluded.”
“The African foremost monarch urged Nigerians to use Osun election as a template and believe that election can run successfully without using war ammunitions, opined that something good can come out of the nation,” saying, “all politicians must be people’s sensitive, adding that nobody can be taken for granted and people are always ready to fight for their rights.”
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