Coronation ceremonies within the royal court in Yoruba land are
well cherished traditional activities to celebrate acceptability of an individual to the throne of traditional rulership
of a community of people.
The kings popularly referred to
in the Yoruba kingdom as “oba alaye” or “kabiyesi” are
the custodian of the people’s authority and custom.
In Yoruba land, a new monarch spends up to three months at a sacred room, known as Ipebi; where he undergoes special orientation and other traditional rituals before he finally sits on the throne of his ancestors.
Traditions vary from town to town, regarding the methods and procedures forenthroning the Oba.
The first step is the invitation of religious leaders by the kingmakers to prescribe and perform necessary religious rites, rituals, ceremony, formality, observance, practiceand traditions, associated with enthronement.
All these are addressed to the ancestral spirits, past heroes, heroines and rulers of the community in order to ask them to transfer authority to the next Oba and to support and guide him in all his political administration.These rituals could be performed a week before the formal installation of the Oba.
On the day of installation proper, certain rituals also will be performed, some secretly and some openly in the presence of the teeming populace who as a matter of tradition troop out to witness the ceremony.
This is not only to demonstrate their approval of the appointment but also to show their happiness and loyalty towards the enthronement of the new Oba.
Before the teeming populace, the kingmakers instruct the Oba-elect to prostrate three times to woo the approval of ancestral spirits and that of every male andfemale member of the society. As he rises from the third prostration, the whole crowd will echo “Ka-bi-ye-si”, which means, “no one dares to query his authority”. This is asign of approval of his candidacy.
The kingmakers will now pronounce that the Oba will no longer in his lifetime prostrate before anybody. This is followed by sticking to his capa certain leaf (ewe – akoko) – a symbol of authority – on the part of the Oba.
After this rite, the Oba will be taken to the palace for further rituals. Tradition says that he will be offered the tongue and the heart of the last Oba, which was preserved for him. This consumption finalizes the transfer of power and authority from the pastOba to the new Oba.
In many Yoruba towns, the installation of traditional rulers (Oba) involves blood rituals and ‘other’ ritual practices. Apparently, there is a huge secrecy in the way these rituals are performed, with regards to the installation of Oba and some traditional chieftaincy titles. Certain rituals are often performed openly and some secretly.
Traditionalists always look out for male children for the sacrifice.
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings, usually as an offering to a deity, as part of a ritual. Most time it is done to appease the gods or deities or to fulfil a promise made.
Human sacrifice is done as part of traditional rite of a king who ascends the throne of his forebears.
All these religious rituals among others make the Oba a sacred personality and ahallowed person.
This is because the rituals performed will allow him to acquire a sense of communion with mystical forces, directing him out of himself into the world of an ancestral spirits. The Oba is now regarded as the representative of the ancestral spirits. The Yoruba regards the Oba as Oba alase ekeji orisa – the king, the commander and wielder of authority next to the orisa (supernatural object of worship). He is regarded with a level of respect approaching veneration.
