Oba Sijuwade, 85, was the 50th monarch of Ile-Ife believed to be cradle of Yoruba civilisation and the ancestral home of all Oduduwa's offspring. He passed away at Saint Mary’s Hospital in London where he was being treated for an illness after being hurried flown out of Nigeria when he took ill.
Since then, the Ooni has been flown back to Nigeria and preparations for his burial due very soon are in full swing. However, traditional chief have made it clear that human sacrifice will not be part of the programme, pointing out that seven big cows would be used for the rites instead of seven people.
Oba Sijuwade abolished human sacrifices when he was still on the throne and was said to have appealed to the gods to help put a stop to human sacrifice, describing the act as barbaric, callous and inhuman. Prominent Ifa priest, Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, confirmed the abolition of the practice, adding that what will happen instead is that the cows will be dressed up to make them look like humans.
Chief Elebuibon said: “Nobody uses human being as sacrifice again as such a thing has been abolished long time ago. There is no ritual like that as animals like rams, cows, chickens and goats are the things that are involved in the ritual.
"Whenever the seven cows will be used for sacrifice, they will be clad in human attire to let them look as human beings. It does not involve human beings but during the Oro, people will need to be indoors as the Oro usually comes out at night."
Burial rites for the late Ooni, who passed away on July 28, have already begun with a traditional embalmment in the Ilegbo area of the palace where he was crowned. Born on January 1, 1930, Oba Sijuwade inherited the Ooni stool in 1980 after a successful career as a local Nigerian businessman that included becoming a manager in Leventis, a Greek-Nigerian conglomerate at the age of 30 and being sales director of the state-owned Nigerian Technical Company in Lagos.
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