The remains of the late 45th Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, who reigned for 52 years, have been committed to mother earth on Saturday night at Bara, a 5-minute drive from the palace.
A source disclosed that the culture of burying Aláàfins at Bara started in Oyo Igboho, where four Alaafins reigned.
The remains of the Alaafin, who died at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, on Friday, at 83 years, were moved to Oyo Town very early on Saturday and was received at Idi-Igba by his first son, Prince Babatunde, a lawyer, and his siblings.
It was gathered that the interment took place shortly after the traditional rites were carried out on the remains by traditionalists.
Although, Islamic clerics, led by the Chief Imam of Oyo land, Sheikh Mos’ud Ajokidero, and members of the Muslim community had offered Islamic prayers on the corpse in the afternoon, the remains of the monarch were returned and kept in the inner chamber of the palace till around 9PM when the traditionalists took charge of the proceedings.
The remains were later brought to a hall by the traditionalists, apparently to assure the people that the remains had not been interred earlier.
It was observed that earlier, the Islamic clerics and those from the Sarumi family had moved bathing materials into the Aganju forecourt where the body underwent Islamic ritual bath in the presence of Alaafin’s first son, Prince Babatunde, and some of his siblings.
Although, it was rumoured that the late Alaafin would be interred at 4pm, despite the Islamic cleric offering the Janazat prayer around noon, traditionalists, particularly Sango adherents were seen assuring the people that the usual traditional rites would take its course, owing to the sacredness of the deceased monarch.
One of the children of the late monarch and member of the House of Representatives (Oyo Federal Constituency), Prince Akeem Adeyemi, who spoke with journalists at the palace, described his father as an irreplaceable monarch who lived and died for the peace, harmony and development of Oyo Town.
He said: “Alaafin lived his life as a core traditionalist. He is a principled man; he is brave. The core of the tradition of Yorubaland is paramount to him. He lived and died for Yoruba culture, tradition and religion. He is a man of peace.
“He is a man who has given Oyo its true name. He is a man who has truly represented the culture and tradition of Yorubaland. He is a man who is a symbol of Yoruba tradition. A man who is full of wisdom; a man who is truly a monarch in the Yoruba system; a man who is an epitome of wisdom. He is gone,” Prince Adeyemi mourned.
The lawmaker disclosed that the legacy the Alaafin left behind is to defend the Yoruba race everywhere, tell the truth at all times no matter whose ox is gored and be principled with service to humanity, noting that as a king, the monarch loved his people and would not explore any economic issue that would adversely affect his subjects.
Also, a former Chairman of the Oyo West Local Government Area and ‘son’ to the Alaafin, Hon. Soji Ojoawo, described the demise of the Alaafin as a personal loss to him because he lived the past thirty years with the monarch and is privileged to be one of those who saw him last.
Ojoawo stated: “I was with him at Ado Ekiti where he went for check up. We took him there alive but brought him back dead. I am the saddest person because he died while a lot of promises were yet to be fulfilled. But I believe that with his demise, we will still move on; we will try to keep his legacies, his passion and what he believed in.”
“He was like the last person out of the old brigade of his generation. We are members of the new brigade and so we cannot compare our own time and style with his. We are a new brigade and we cannot have someone like him again. He is an end of an era; an end of a race,” he said.
A family source noted that the details of the final burial would be communicated later as the children of the late monarch and all relevant stakeholders would begin series of meetings on the next step to take.
