Awujale opted for Muslim burial to avoid r!tual k!llings – Chief Imam
In this interview with BANKOLE TAIWO, the Chief Imam of Ijebu Land and Chairman, League of Alfas and Imams, Ijebu Land, Alhaji Miftaudeen Ayanbadejo, speaks on the controversy trailing the burial of the late Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebu Land, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, according to Islamic rites
How long have you been the Chief Imam of Ijebu Land?
I have been on the seat as the Chief Imam of Ijebu Land for about seven years. I am 78 years old
How does it feel to have Muslims burying the Awujale of Ijebu Land for the very first time?
To many people, it was a strange occurrence, but for those of us in Ijebu Land, it’s not strange. About 20 years ago, the late Awujale, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, called a meeting of all the religious bodies—Muslims, Christians, and traditionalists. The subject of discourse was basically on allowing traditional rulers to be buried according to their religious beliefs, either as a Christian, Muslim, or traditionalist. All of us contributed at the meeting held in his palace.
The Awujale, while speaking on that day, said, ‘If any royal father dies, heads must roll. You, as traditionalists, will want to perform rituals; you will want to kill people for rituals. But can any of you who are traditionalists allow your children to be killed for ritual purposes because Awujale or one monarch died?’
All of them strongly objected, saying they couldn’t allow such. The Awujale then asked, ‘Why then will you continue to say that such practices should still hold sway or be encouraged?’ The late monarch then said that henceforth, monarchs who die should be buried according to their religious disposition.
‘If the monarch is a Christian, let him be buried in the Christian way; if he is a Muslim, let him be buried according to Islamic injunction; and if he is a traditionalist, let him be buried as one.’ And that has been happening in Ijebuland for a long time.
Are you saying this is not the first time an Awujale would be buried by Muslims instead of traditionalists?
Of course, yes, this is not the first time. For instance, the Ebumawe of Ago Iwoye, before the current one, was buried by the Muslims. We also buried the immediate past Dagburewe of Idowa, Oba Y.K. Adekoya; even Governor Dapo Abiodun was there.
It was the same for the Esure and the Bejeroku of Oke Agbo, Ijebu Igbo; we did the same for them. The traditionalists were present but never disturbed us, so it’s nothing new. Perhaps the noise surrounding the Awujale’s burial is simply because he is a paramount ruler, the head of all other traditional rulers in Ijebu Land.
But people are quick to say that Obas in Yoruba Land are installed by tradition, and so their burial must be according to tradition…
Let me tell you, the late Awujale did not get to the throne by any act of Ifa or divinity; he came to the throne by the choice of Allah, and this is why he had to be buried according to Islamic rites. As of 1958, the late Awujale was working in the audit department of the Western Region; it was from there that he went to London to study Accountancy.
However, in 1959, the then Awujale, Oba Daniel Adesanya, Gbelegbuwa II, died, and it was the turn of the Adetona family to produce the next king. The tradition of Ijebu Ode is that anyone who will become Awujale must be ‘Abidagba,’ that is, children born when their fathers were on the throne. So, male children born before the father of such children ascends the throne cannot become Awujale.
At the time they wanted to select the successor to Oba Adesanya, the Ijebu people were very enlightened, so they wanted someone who was young and educated, but Pa Rufai Adetona, the father of Oba Sikiru Adetona, who should have been the next Awujale, was already old and not educated.
What happened then?
Before the young Oba Sikiru Adetona traveled to London, he had a friend working with a cocoa merchant, Pa Owoduni, at Maamu. It was gathered that Oba Adetona would always check on his friend whenever he was coming from Ibadan, where he was working. So, when the young Adetona eventually got to London, he wrote Pa Owoduni to tell him that he had traveled safely and was already settling down for what he went there to do.
When people were saying that Pa Rufai Adetona was already old and not educated, and thus not fit to be Awujale, Pa Owoduni asked, ‘What about his son, Sikiru, studying in London?’ So, Owoduni got the letter that Awujale wrote to him when he got to London, checked for the address in the UK, and there was this one man, Pa Shonibare, who used to travel to London at that time as if he was traveling from Ijebu Ode to Ibadan. He knew many places in the UK, so locating Awujale might not be too difficult. Pa Shonibare was asked to go check on Awujale in London and to also study him to know how intelligent he was. Pa Shonibare came back home to say that the person he had gone to see might be young, but he was very intelligent.
As they were making up their minds to pick the young Sikiru Adetona as the next Awujale, they also remembered that the law stated that only a male child born on the throne could be Awujale, but here they had someone not born on the throne.
So, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Premier of the Western Region, then said the law could be amended. The law was, therefore, amended, and Pa Shonibare and others were sent to London to bring the young Adetona, who was subsequently installed as the new Awujale in April 1960.
In all of this narration, where does Ifa or ‘Opele’ Oracle come in? The Awujale was chosen by Almighty Allah. Even the seclusion, ‘ipebi,’ which they talk about, there is nothing there; they are only keeping it secret because they don’t want many people there.
So, from the beginning, Kabiyesi did not believe in all these deities, the Oro, and the likes. In fact, Kabiyesi was always quick to say, ‘Imam, the Quran is the only supreme and everlasting constitution; whatever you see in it, don’t bend it because of me, tell me when I am wrong.’
The stance that monarchs should be buried according to their religious beliefs did not just begin with the burial of Awujale; it has been there for about two decades.
Even before the passage of the 2021 Obas and Chiefs Law of Ogun State?
Yes, only that Kabiyesi had been talking to the government to help make it a law, and that was done in 2021 when Governor Dapo Abiodun signed the bill into law.
The traditionalists barred from Oba Adetona’s burial are pointing accusing fingers at the Muslims. How do you react to this?
What for? Why come around to say you want to bury the traditional ruler? Was he a traditionalist? Why are they not ready to change their ways? If such were to be allowed, as it was in those days, by 6 pm, Ijebu Ode would have become a ghost town because people would be hiding in their houses, as these people would be looking for individuals to kill for ritual purposes.
Must such practices be allowed to continue? Why are they forbidding tradition from responding to emerging developments? Why will you say that you must do everything in secret? When Christians are celebrating any of their festivals, it is in the open; likewise, for Muslims. But the traditionalists’ activities are always shrouded in secrecy. What is hidden there? Open it for all to see; those who will embrace you will do so, and those who will not will stay away.
It is also being said by the traditionalists that there are consequences for not allowing the Awujale to be laid to rest by the traditionalists. Do you share in that belief?
What consequences? If anything happens, it’s the traditionalists that cause it, not because of any deity. If anything happens to anyone, the traditionalists should be held accountable. Look at Prophet Ibrahim in the Quran; he was thrown into fire by the idol worshippers, but God saved him. It was the people who threw him into the fire, not any idol.
So, if anything happens, the traditionalists must have orchestrated it, and they should be held responsible. In any case, the Awujale, while he was alive, always told them that he was not part of them, that he was a Muslim. He was born a Muslim, he lived his life as a Muslim, he got to the throne in 1960, and by 1962, he had been to Mecca. He died a Muslim and was buried as one.
Are you not concerned that this could bring about religious disharmony in Ijebu?
Nothing like that. I just told you that this isn’t the first or second burial done according to Islamic injunction. It’s just that there’s a lot of noise because it’s the Awujale, who is the head of all the Ijebus. We’ve never had problems with the traditionalists in the past; they’ll stay on their own, and we’ll do ours. So, I still don’t foresee any problem at all.
What fond memories do you have of the late Awujale?
He was a man of integrity. If he disagreed with you, he’d more often than not be on the right side. He loved sincerity to a fault. In fact, Awujale could die because of you if you were truthful and honest. He detested dishonesty. His reign was also peaceful and fruitful. The development of Ijebu Land under his watch was quite rapid. Yes, there was a time they wanted to dethrone him because of politics, but Almighty Allah saved him.
If the traditionalists’ stiff opposition continues, is it likely that Muslims will go to court over this matter?
That does not arise because a law saying that Obas can be installed and buried according to their religious beliefs had been signed by Governor Dapo Abiodun about three years ago. So, whoever wants to go to court will square it up with the government and not us
When the governor signed every August 28th as the Isese Day, did anyone raise an eyebrow? So why should there, therefore, be any problem… because an Oba dies, you have to close all the markets, people must be careful of going out, and we shall keep doing all of that in this age and time?
Times are changing, and so our traditionalists must change their ways too. The truth is that Ijebu Ode is a 90 per cent Muslim-predominant town; the remaining 10 per cent are Christians and others. The few Christians even had a Muslim foundation but got converted to Christianity over time.
What’s your message to people of Ijebu Land and Nigeria as a whole?
My message to the people of Ijebu Land and Nigeria as a whole is that we must be ready to live with the current reality. We should accept what has happened and see it as progress, with no need to fight one another.
We have all been living together as one, and that unity should continue. We must not allow the burial of the Awujale to divide us. Let everyone embrace development and progress. We have simply aligned ourselves with the position of the law and the wishes of Kabiyesi, Oba Adetona.
