The drama surrounding the Ooni's death began when the rumor of the demise of the revered monarch in a London hospital filtered into Nigeria's social media space. The story was carried by virtually all the online news platforms and blogs. Virtually all the twitter users in Nigeria was talking about the Ooni and his death. Leaving the Ife traditional council sweating trying to refute the story. That is the first clash between tradition and the sophisticated 21st century media. How?
According to commentaries by Yoruba scholars, there are certain rites that must be performed before the death of the Ooni is made public. That will mean keeping his death under wraps until the rites is completed before announcing his demise. How do you keep the death of someone who allegedly died in far away London secret? A foreign land that has little or no regards for the Ife traditions. A land that must follow the due process of medically declaring a patient dead and recording the time of death. How can the Ife traditional council keep that secret? It would have been possible if the Ooni was receiving treatment in a Nigerian hospital or if the Ooni died in his palace. But the fact that he died in a London hospital robbed the Ife traditional council of the control of information as regards. And in a race between the Ife traditional council and the fast paced 21st century media, there's no way the Ife traditional council was ever going to win.
The Ife Traditional council issued statements after statements that the Ooni was hale and hearty but nobody believed them considering the fact that influential and knowledgeable people like Dele Momodu have started writing tributes . Virtually everyone was sure Ooni was dead and all they are waiting for is the official announcement by the Traditional Council. The traditional council eventually announced the death of the revered monarch on wednesday, the 12th of august, 2015. Almost 3 weeks after the rumor of the Ooni first filtered in.
The traditonal burial rites and the rituals therein took center stage when it was all but confirmed that the Ooni is dead. The Oro festival and the accompanying curfew was declared without much fanfare. Then another rumor hit the social media space. A rumor that a certain "Abobaku" who must be buried with the late King have absconded. The general reaction was that of surprise and disgust. People wondered if such traditions still take place in this present age. Though the "Abobaku" rumor have been refuted from several quarters and by several people as no longer in existence. The Social media is bubbling with jokes and comments about "Abobaku". In fact, "Abobaku" is trending on Twitter Nigeria.
The argument about the place of ancient tradition in our modern society has been brought to the center stage once again. We are blessed with beautiful culture and traditions handed down to us by our forefathers. Traditions that we ought to hand down to the next generation. But not without modifying parts of this culture which are outright barbaric or does not fit in with the modern society we find ourselves. The traditions we should hand down to the next generation must be compatible with the realities of the 21st century.