Use of ORO to threaten protesters an assault on our traditional institution – Rhodes-Vivor

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State in the 2023 general elections, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, on Thursday, condemned the campaign by APC propaganda handles to use ORO – a sacred ritual in Yoruba land – to threaten protesters in Lagos State, declaring: it “is an assault on our traditional institution.”

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivor, in a statement in Lagos on Thursday @GRVlagos emphasized: “The campaign by APC propaganda handles to use ORO – a sacred ritual in Yoruba land – to threaten protesters is an assault on our traditional institution. Casualizing centuries of a hallowed ritual with such juvenile intent debases our culture and corrupts our revered institution.

“The Yoruba are obsessed with Justice and fairness, not only as a guiding principle but also as a defining feature. It explains why, although the subjects recognize their king as an authority second only to the gods, the community does not tolerate high-handedness on the part of the king. Whenever they perceive such, there is bound to be a protest.”

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He highlighted that the subordinates of Àare ̣ Kúrunmí of Ìjàyè rebelled openly against his leadership because he had not consulted with them before declaring war against Oyo and Ibadan. They insisted on their right to voluntarily consent (or refuse to consent) to fight the battle that Kúrunmí had declared without consulting them.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivor narrated that in 1916, peasants in Iseyin-Okeho resisted colonial imposition and sought freedom for themselves and their children. As the brilliant Yoruba Intellectual, Prof. Segun Gbadegesin puts it, “A people who disdain unfairness by deities cannot be expected to countenance the same by their king, who is subservient to the deities. The mindset that challenges the deity to avoid worsening their condition if they are incapable of improving it (òrìṣà bóò leè gbè mí, fi mí sílẹ̀ bóo ti bá mí) will, by the same token, resist any attempt by their earthly kings to aggravate their social life.”

He further argued that perceptions of violating this basic principle of social life are at the centre of the various civil unrest in pre-colonial Yorùbáland.

“Historically, our people have resisted oppression and injustice. That is why not only did the Yoruba begin and lead the intellectual resistance against the colonialists, but Lagos was also the centre of that resistance.

“Consequently, loud and uncouth political operatives masquerading as Yoruba Conservatives must never be allowed to bastardize our tradition or trade our rich heritage for a morsel of bread.

“The same dubious tactic was used to attempt to rattle Olufunmilayo Ransome Kuti when she led a struggle on behalf of women.

“I urge patience and restraint from our youth but defend their right to peaceful assembly.

“More importantly, I call on our respected traditional leaders to condemn our tradition’s desecration and guard our revered institutions jealously,” Rhodes-Vivor declared.