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‘There shall be no war’ – Ooni declares
The Ooni of Ife,
Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has expressed optimism that peace will reign in the
country.
The monarch spoke
at the grand-finale of the World Ifa Festival held in his palace on Sunday, in
Ile-Ife.
According to him,
the Ifa Festival signalled the beginning of a new calendar year.
“I’m happy that our
culture is still thriving despite stiff opposition, the thought of many is
that, we do not believe in God.
“Ifa corpus is the
bedrock of life because no mortal can survive on this planet earth without
leaves and herbs.
“We are not in
contention with anybody simply because we know that God is Supreme and He will
not share His glory with anybody,” he said.
He said the message
of this year’s festival revolved around peace.
“The message is
simply that: In this year; we would witness peace all round. There shall be no
war,” the monarch said.
The other message,
he said, was that Nigeria should care for its women.
“I was highly
elated because God has visited our land to heal all the wounds and straighten
the rough edges.
“You can see
adherents from Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina and USA who are
here to celebrate the festival.
“With the Ifa
festival that ushers us into another year, it’s a new dawn. By August
/September, there will be new yam to be followed by Olojo Festival which is a
world festival.
“This is to tell us
that before the advent of the whites, we had our ways of doing things
meticulously,” he said.
Also speaking,
Chief Awodotun Aworeni, the Araba Awo Agbaye, expressed gratitude for the
success of the very first World festival he participated in since assuming this
position last year.
Aworeni
specifically thanked the Ooni for making the occasion colourful.
He implored
government to do the needful by providing necessary support.
Chief Sola Atanda,
President, Ancient Religion Society of African Descendants of International
Council (ASARDIC), applauded the Ooni for promoting traditional festivals.
Atanda, however,
lamented that government was paying lip service to Ifa religion, saying
“worshippers are not duly recognised as Christians and Muslims are recognised.”
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