New Alaafin will inherit Oba Adeyemi’s wives –Archbishop Ladigbolu

In Yoruba tradition, a new king is expected to inherit the wives of his predecessor. The myth surrounding the widows of a late king is that no man can make love to them after the death of their husband.

Since the late Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Alaafin of oyo joined his ancestors last week, the focus in some circles have been on his array of beautiful young wives. What becomes of them? Being young and beautiful, can they move on with their lives and remarry?

But a notable Oyo prince, Archbishop Emeritus of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Most Reverend Ayo Ladigbolu, who is from the Agunloye Ruling House of Oyo Kingdom, in an interview with The Punch on Saturday, the highly revered Most Reverend Ladigbolu maintained that the next king will inherit the wives, according to tradition.

He said: “The new king will inherit them and that is the tradition, but you know things are changing now. Once a woman is married to the Alaafin they are married forever to the Alaafin. You know circumstances of life are changing and we have to adjust to the changing trends.

“They are married to Alaafin and Alaafin is not a person but an institution. The new Alaafin will be responsible for their welfare because they are married to the institution and not just a person.””

On if any of the wives decide to move on, he said: “I don’t have to elaborate on that; all I can say is that they are married to Alaafin and Alaafin is not a person but an institution. That is why the question of who they belong to after the death of the Kabiyesi who married them did not arise. They belong to the Alaafin. But in the light of the prevailing circumstances we will have to adjust. That is my response.”

On conflict between religion and tradition: “I have said this for the umpteenth time that my culture is me and that is what made me available to the church; my upbringing in the palace during the reign of Oba Siyanbola Onikepe Ladigbolu and Oba Bello Gbadegsin Ladigbolu II, and of course, my closeness to Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who just passed away.
“You will see that most of my life has been lived within the palace or within the precinct of the palace. That is what enriched my ministry and what made me Ayo Ladigbolu. I cannot separate myself from the holistic embrace of my culture. But that doesn’t mean that I will tolerate paganism or anything that is not the way of God, like idol worshiping and so on. But my culture is me.”

On public display of Alaafin’s corpse: “What I can say is that the person who said that has not read Kabiyesi’s personal opinion on the burial of kings. I think it was late last year when the Ogun State House of Assembly was debating the issue of the burial of traditional rulers that Kabiyesi dabbled in that matter and clearly queried what the government’s business was in the mode or manner of the burial rites of traditional rulers. He said traditional rulers should be allowed to be buried according to their religious convictions and nobody will deny the fact that Kabiyesi Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, was a Muslim – a staunch Muslim who never hid his devotion to Islam. He was an Amir Hajj, the leader of all the pilgrims from this great land to the holy land of Mecca and Medina. Were people’s eyes closed when these were happening? So, how can they now be surprised or shocked by the reality that he deserved to be buried in the way of his own personal religion?

“Of course, the king is the king of all religions in our culture and the palace is a confluence of all religions and this king was tolerant of all religions, but that does not take away from him the right to believe in whatever religion he chose. If anybody is quarrelling over that and threatening hell and brimstone, I wish them good luck. I know the God who the Muslims believe and worship and to whom the imam said his prayers to commit the soul of the departed monarch is there. If whoever made that comment wants to call on another god to deal with the people, then it is left to him.”

As chairman of the installation committee of the Aare Ona Kakanfo: “The installation of the Aare Ona Kakanfo was the largest ceremonial event in the Oyo Empire up to date. We did it well to the glory of God and we promoted our culture. Everything we did that time had nothing to do with ritual or anything which is against God’s laws. Indeed, I may reveal to the world today that when I said I was taking the Aare Ona Kakanfo into seclusion, what I did was to organise a retreat for him, but people did not know that.

“The retreat was about how to run life. I invited experts and leaders in different areas to talk to him about his position and title, and I helped him up there for three days in a secluded place, but a lot of people said different things; they said Ladigbolu had gone to pour oil on Aare Ona Kakanfo’s head, he had gone to put incisions on his head and all that. I know what I did. I respect my culture and love my God and I seek to obey the word of God.”

CREDIT: THE PUNCH