Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, on Tuesday, charged all Yoruba Obas, sons and daughters to go back to their roots, saying Yoruba ancestors and deities were punishing the race with bad leaders because they abandoned their tradition.
Iba Adams gave this counsel while speaking at the 2022 edition of the Ifa Festival in Akute, Ogun State, stating further that introduction of the two prominent religions in Yoruba land had really made Yoruba abandon their tradition and culture, leading them to poverty, retrogression and lost.
Besides, the Yoruba generalissimo, who admitted that the Yoruba had the potential and wherewithal to be the leading race in the world, said the race needed to address the problems that had to do with their culture, tradition and heritage.
“In the past years, we had the best in leadership. We had the best economy. Those that led us focused more on our well-being and what could impact positively on society. We had good leaders who loved us. Leaders who feared God and believed that service to humanity was service to God.
“But things changed in the early 70s when the two prominent religions took the centre stage and we lost touch with the divine intermediary.
“Since then, we have lost the essence of our being. The spiritual lapses and missing links have, in all ways, affected our present lives,” he said
He continued: “For instance, Lagos State was once the home of the big men. It was our pride in the South-West.
“Many of the treasures in Nigeria are situated in Lagos. Big houses in prime areas across the state are owned by the Yoruba. People of old lived in peace, without fear or frustrations. Crime and criminal tendencies were not in common because the deities and our ancestors were in control of our thoughts and feelings.
“Today, we suffer from leadership failures. There is disunity, poverty, lack of cohesion enmity in the land.
“We have abandoned our tradition and heritage and things are no longer the same with us. Cases of kidnapping, ritual killings, and robberies are prevalent in our society because nobody is really interested in going back to our roots and traditional ways of doing things.
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And sadly, our ancestors and the deities are punishing us for ignoring them. Today, they give us bad leaders in exchange for the good ones we had in the past. None of our leaders today are in the same mould as those that led us during the times of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Our leaders no longer care about our well-being.
“They don’t care whether we live or not. They steal, rob us in the open and embezzle our commonwealth and later leave us to die in penury.”
Speaking further, Iba Adams said the Yoruba lived on past glory, noting that there was now a huge gap “and missing link between us and our deities.”
According to him, Ifa is the foremost deity that revolves around everything in life, saying it is at the centre of Yoruba divination and consultation.
“Ifa is a religion on its own and it spreads across Africa, the Yoruba communities, including the African diaspora in the Americans and the Caribbeans,” he said.
Other prominent dignitaries present at the event include the Alakute of Akute Kingdom, Oba Idowu Akindele; Olojodu of Ojodu, Olusegun Benson; Parakoyi Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land, Prof Kolawole Raheem; OPU Director of social event, Chief Mark Oyetunde, and members of the NEC and NCC, among others.
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Yoruba ancestors punishing us with bad leaders for ignoring our tradition ― Gani Adams
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