Thursday, March 28, 2024

Corruption’ll end when politicians, public officials swear with Ogun, other traditional gods – Elebuibon

The Araba Awo of Osogbo land, High Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, has said that public office holders and elected politicians should be made to take oath of office with the symbol of the various traditional deities and gods to reduce the incidence of corruption in government.
Elebuibon said once this had been adopted, the nation would be set free from the current shackles of corruption it had found itself for several decades now.
The popular Ifa priest said with the way corruption was ravaging the country, it had become imperative to start swearing in public office holders the traditional way, arguing that politicians, and people generally, feared deities like Ogun in Yorubaland and Ofo in Igboland, and would, therefore, refrain from siphoning public money or abuse their office once they took oath of office in the name of these gods.
Speaking in Osogbo, Elebuibon said people no longer had any fear taking oath with the Bible and Qur’an, currently being used to swear in public office holders, adding that the Christian and Muslim God was too merciful and would not punish any corrupt person instantly.

We cannot end corruption by still holding on to this present way of taking oath
of office

According to the tradition and culture icon, if public office holders would not agree to be sworn in in the name of the various deities because it is against their religious beliefs, they should rather swear with the “earth” known as “ile” in Yorubaland.
The Ifa high priest said, “We cannot end corruption by still holding on to this present way of taking oath of office. It is not helping the fight against corruption. Traditional religion should be given a chance in the governance of this country. We have lost our culture and this is not good. Our government must begin to adopt our culture in government, if we must succeed. Even in the fight against corruption, our (traditional) practices of oath-taking should be applied.
“I want to say that the role of traditional religion will save Nigeria from corruption. With the way things are going, it’s obvious our political leaders and public office holders, at large, don’t fear God. So, ask them to swear with their deity and see if they will steal public money or abuse their office. If they don’t want to take oath with the deity, they should be sworn-in using the soil or land since everyone believes in land.
“We have discovered that traditional religion worshippers, who have taken one political post or the other, have been just and spotless in the discharge of their duties. This is because they know the gods will not spear them should they siphon public money or abuse their office. With this, I can tell you that traditionalists will make heaven, contrary to what most people are made to believe.”
Meanwhile, the Araba Awo of Osogbo has expressed displeasure over what he described as the refusal of some traditional rulers in Yorubaland to carry out some necessary ritual rites before being enthroned.
He said the gods had become very angry with the worrisome development, saying Obas, who shunned important rituals and were crowned, were not real, because they did not experience some expected “transformation” upon enthronement.
He, therefore, warned Obas to desist from non-observance of necessary rites, adding that being a Christian or Muslim should not be an excuse for any traditional ruler not to observe the performance of rituals before and after being crowned king.
Elebuibon said, “It is dangerous to discover that some of our Obas now refuse to allow the traditional rituals before being crowned kings. We are advising them against it because it is wrong for anyone who wants to become an Oba to be enthroned without rituals. If you are an Oba and you did not allow them to do rituals for you, you are an ordinary Oba. You will not be transformed as an Oba.
“Even if you are a Muslim or Christian, you still need to do rituals. Our ancestors are angry because we are abolishing our culture. I fear that Yoruba may lack respect once their culture is eroded. We need to warn our Obas to desist from this act because they are the custodians of our culture.”

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