Uplift culture, tradition of our forebears, Olowu charges Yoruba monarchs

The Olowu of Kuta, HRM Oba Dr. Hammed Adekunle Makama Oyelude, CON, Tegbosun III, has urged traditional rulers in Yorubaland to respect the oath of their office.

The monarch, on Friday in Kuta, also charged Yoruba Obas to uplift the culture and traditions of our forebears.

Oba Makama gave while reacting to the statement credited to Justice Phillips Akinside of the Ogun State High Court that traditional rulers must accept the burial rites and customs of the institutions they voluntarily joined, arguing that once a person becomes an Oba through cultural processes, they relinquish the right to reject those traditions—even after death.

Oba Makama eulogised the judge for his boldness and validation of what he has always emphasised that the primary focus of a Yoruba Oba should be according to the dictates of the instrument of his office.

He stated that according to the letter of their installation, Obas “would be custodians of culture and tradition” and not the other way round, as some Obas have jettisoned their primary duty for religion.

Oba Makama said those Obas who are not ready to abide by the dictates of their offices should either withdraw from Obaship and stop causing chaos through unguarded utterances capable of rubbishing the Obaship stool they represent.

He, however, explained that Obas in Yorubaland are not crowned in mosques or churches but according to the dictates of the tradition and culture, which they swore to uphold after their installation and coronation.

Oba Makama said, “There’s a dictum in law, which says ‘Violenti non fit injuria’, which simply translates to the fact that you cannot complain once the details of what you’re subscribing to have been spelt to you beforehand.”

Earlier, Justice Akinside, who was the keynote speaker at the fifth Chief Kehinde Sofola Memorial Bar Lecture, organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (SAN), Sagamu branch, on Wednesday, said, “The Obas have no right or legal right to change the tradition they have voluntarily come into.”

He explained that the same customs that guide the selection, nomination, and installation of an Oba should equally apply to their burial.

According to him, “One cannot become a traditional ruler in accordance with the customs of the land and later reject those same customs. Religious freedom exists under the 1999 Constitution, but once an individual chooses to enter a traditional institution, they cannot claim an infringement of that freedom when the rites of that institution apply.”

The judge argued that accepting the role of an Oba is a voluntary act, and by doing so, the individual implicitly agrees to uphold and be governed by the associated traditions, including burial rituals.

 He likened rejecting those customs later to attempting to “change the goalpost in the middle of the match.”

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