Yoruba Elders: Self Interest Under Their Cloak -By Kareem Itunu Azeez

The good old days generally, among all tribes in Nigeria, seems to be falling daily, to various unacceptable vices, politically,morally, and socially. This article is focused on the Yoruba premise, the once great Yoruba coast, who has been tagged as arguably the most educated and most important in the Nigeria race.

However it is unfortunate that the sceptre seems to have fallen into wrong hands in current times. It is now a usual norm for this men usually in white garments, as I have seen the so called yoruba elders dress in their regalia, at events, building launching, aspirant nominations, and political party loyalty manifesto. They however have picked sides politically, how therefore would truth come out of such mouths that has losed its integrity for the survival of the moment.

I heard in the news recently that, the Yoruba elders are trying to revive the children of the Yoruba race who have been impoverished by the current waves of political brouhaha in the country, by endorsing Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, for the upcoming election, then my questions are, who are the so called Yoruba elders? who have impoverished the Yoruba children? , who have sold them for little stipends?, who have deceived them for their personal gains?, is it the elder from other tribes or the selfish Yoruba leaders? Thats a rhetorical question for those who understand.

Kareem Itunu Azeez

Respect to tradition, honor to the kings, and who am I to judge, but in the world we live in today, it would be very sad of me to bury my grieve and continue to die in silence, in a world where there is freedom of speech, I must admit the Yoruba kings have also disappoint us, ceaselessly,I do not understand where kings now delve full time into political orientation having anointed candidates wether trusted or not, wether tried or not, they just anoint, this is done for nothing but selfish interest also, and daily they lose their power over those who believe in them, and they nolonger serves as intermediaries between God and man, this can be witnessed as they have taken sides even in religion practices……they are supposed to be traditional number one men, will come back to that.

The death of Frederick Fasehun founder of the OPC, came at the wrong time, but who are we to question the maker, and as a foremost Yoruba group, who have raised its value in time past, have proven how losed the practices are today, the Afenifere on the other hand, dont even have any direction or whatsoever, and its members are like politicians, they collect money they cant even account for, they nominate candidates of a party who dances to the tune they want, who promises them some political post along the line, and the core values they are created for, they neglect.

In view of this, here is my point, as a bona fide Yoruba individual, I don’t have regards for any groups, in whatever name they stand upon, and definitely they are not the voice of the Yoruba community, they are just a group with their interest at heart, judging by what they stands for today, because what doesn’t benefit you, it therefore should not speak for you, their values have been abuse a long time ago.

The Aare Ona kakanfo, a warlord often regarded as a post for the warrior or those born in the ruling class of the fighters, Gani Adams, who occupy this position, has once again proven how upside down the decision our elders are making seems to be affecting us negatively, till today I still question his impact on the race since his office appointment, the late Fredrick Fasehun, (1935-2018) of blessed memory, inspite of his wealth still went ahead to contribute definitely to the race of the Yoruba folks, was jailed for many months, ranging to years, got his freedom afterwards and still went ahead to champion his cause, that might have gave birth to the OODUA PEOPLES CONGRESS, the current Aare Ona Kakanfo was also part of this struggles then, but chose a political ambitions afterwards, which has led to my disapproval of his appointment as the Kakanfo of the Yoruba race, an justifiably with current happening, I seems right. But it changes nothing in today’s world.

The traditional rulers, are people who must have passed through some spiritual process as the Yoruba norms permit, different versions histories has it that th kings would have been through various processes, like even eating the heart of a previous dead king, which isn’t even found in any of the religions this kings practice today, we now have a king who prays and worship in the mosque or church, religions imported into our community, burying our culture and building on it, a senseless cathedral of doom, they know too well how patience the foreign gods are, but how KIAKIA our own gods are, so they worship elsewhere and judge our lands with our own traditions, I call them the modern-day kings.

Lastly, the elders who have picked themselves up and arranged Abubakar Atiku, as the Yoruba candidate for the upcoming presidential election would have done the right thing by subjecting their decision as their collective opinion, and not generally the Yoruba race, because the Yoruba race is bigger than the few if them, present, and other influential Yoruba leaders, whose names I won’t call seems unaware of such prejudice, under this premise, such gathering is just for the self interest of themselves, for they are not the collective speaker of our language. This therefore only put more mud in our tribes, which is why I ascertain that men like this do more harm than good to the narratives of the tribe.

Ikareemazeez@yahoo.com
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