EPE News

Oba Aderibigbe Welcomes Grand-Princess 90 Days After Birth

Published

2 years ago

Jun 16, 2022.

Joy Udoh

Oba Aderibigbe had entered the sacred shrine to pray for the newborn baby, the mother, those present at the event, the entire community and for the peace and prosperity of the nation…
The priests paid obeisance and performed necessary rites to formally welcome the royal baby to the Ayandelu royal court and announce her name to the general public

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Odo-Ayandelu Kingdom in the Epe Division of Lagos was bustling with excitement on Sunday, 12th of June as they witnessed the Alayandelu and Paramount Ruler of Odo-Ayandelu kingdom, Jamade 1, HRM Oba Asumo Ganiu Aderibigbe welcome his newborn granddaughter and her mother Princess Mariam Asumo Adekunle to the palace in the company of her husband, family and friends.

Alayandelu of Odo-Ayandelu, Oba Aderibigbe carrying his grandchild

The Alayandelu and his chiefs could not hide the joy of performing the ceremonial rites of receiving a royal newborn which tradition forbids the King from seeing until 90 days after birth.

According to the culture and tradition of the Yoruba kingdom, every King must not set eyes on a newborn until 90 days after the baby’s birth.

To welcome the Grand-Princess and the Princess to the palace with Oba Aderibigbe as they performed the ceremonial rites was HRM, Oni-Lekki of Lekki, Oba Abdul-Hazeem Olumuyiwa Ogunbekun. Also accompanying them to the sacred shrine at the palace courtyard where the rites were observed were the community chiefs and priests.

Often, when a reigning King is to receive his newborn child into the palace, 21 days rites are always observed in accordance with the full culture and tradition of the Yoruba Kingdom.

Before the arrival of the newborn and the Princess to the palace, the Oba had entered the sacred shrine to pray for the newborn baby, the mother, those present at the event, the entire community and for the peace and prosperity of the nation, after which he danced three times to the sound of the Ancient ‘Gbedu’ drum at the palace entrance before settling on his throne.

On arrival, Princess Mariam Asumo Adekunle and her baby were ushered into the palace by the Oni-male Ajerishe of Odo-Ayandelu and received by the community elders, led by the Alashe, Aro, the Iya-Lode, including the Iya-Oloja of Odo-Ayandelu, along with the monarch’s immediate family members with friends and associates.

The Princess and the baby’s faces were veiled as they danced three times to the sound of the Ancient ‘Gbedu’ drum, and were made to step on a cold ground according to the tradition before allowing her to dance into the palace with a lamb which was used for prayers and cleansing after the king received the mother and child.

The priests paid obeisance and performed necessary rites to formally welcome the royal baby to the Ayandelu royal court and announce her name to the general public.

Custodians of various deities, offered prayers in the traditional way with cola nuts, water, the blood of the slaughtered lamb, Dry Gin, and salt as required by tradition.

After the prayers and sacrifices, the Alayandelu consulted the Ifa oracle through the priest, before making the baby’s name public as Princess Hadizah Adekunle.

In an interview with EKO HOT BLOG, before the arrival of the Princess and the newborn baby, the Alayandelu, who was jubilant over the birth of his Grand-Princess, explained the significance of the event in the Yoruba culture and tradition of the Kings and the royal families.

The Oba being a custodian of the Yoruba culture and tradition stressed that it wasn’t good for Faith-Based Yoruba Obas to be enthroned by the community. He asserted that the Yoruba culture in its entirety must be showcased, developed and preserved through the rich cultural and traditional festivals, activities, norms and rites as at when due.

He said, “What is happening today is a traditional rite performed for a Prince or Princess that just gave birth. A traditional rite must be performed because the customs do not permit a King to see a baby until after three months. My family and in-laws will accompany my daughter to the palace with her baby. They will dance from outside the palace with an “Agutan” (a lamb).

“They will cover the mother and baby’s faces. When they get here, they will sound the ‘Gbedu’ drum and dance three times before entering the palace. They will present the baby to me. I will bless her and her mother and everyone present. Then, I will kill the lamb. Part of the blood will be used as cleansing.

“If you read the Bible God told Moses to kill a lamb and put the blood at the entrance of the house so when the angel of destruction come, he will be able to identify the houses of the Israelites so that no evil will befall anyone. That is what we are going to do today.

“Also, in Benin when the father ascends the throne, his child cannot see him till he dies.

“Every community has their tradition.

“Whenever we go to the hospital, we tell the doctors that any child below three months should be kept out of reach because it is not good for any King to come across them. Otherwise, the child’s blessing could be taken away. That is why Obas always cover their heads with the cap because the flies that touches our head is not allowed to touch any other person’s head. That’s tradition.

“There is no time one cannot acquire more knowledge but the problem is that some don’t know and are not ready to learn. And the Quaran says, ‘it is a fool that doesn’t know and refuses to acquire more knowledge.

“So, if you don’t know, you should ask people who can teach you. That is why some of these things affect their children because they failed to perform the tradition and it is not good to mix religion and tradition. They are different.

“I am a Muslim; I have been to Hajj three times and Jerusalem. It doesn’t affect anything. But now because of western education, you want to change traditions.

“That is why they don’t like me. Before becoming an Oba you are aware of the traditions you must perform, but when you fail to perform them after you have been crowned then you are stealing. And you feel no one can talk to you, what about the deities?

“Look at what happened at Owo – may their departed soul Rest in Peace. The women came together with some iron and oil and appeased their gods. Within a few days they were caught and that is tradition.

“I will implore all Obas who don’t know much about our tradition to liaise with the elders so that they can put them through.

“From my mother’s side I am from a royal home and I belong to 4 ruling houses at Imota and I have been trained by my grandfather in the ways of our custom and tradition. I appreciate some of the Obas in my area because they come to me for consultations.”

The Alayandelu afterwards said prayers for his granddaughter. He asked for God’s blessings on the child and her parents and wished for the child to become a person of high repute in the nation.

“Well, I pray that God bless her, and increases her wisdom. God will lift her up. We know her beginning but we will not know her ending. God will bless her abundantly than us. I pray that God will provide for them to be able to train the child to become an important person in Nigeria,” he prayed.

Speaking with EKO HOT BLOG, the baby’s mother, Princess Mariam Asumo Adekunle, said she’s so excited to have witnessed a wonderful day like this, as she also thanked and prayed for those who took out time to celebrate the occasion with her.

“So, literally I brought my daughter here and according to tradition Kabiyesi’s don’t see their child till after three months so that is why we have brought her here to the palace to see my father (the King) for the first time since her birth.

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“I feel very excited. I left here as a newly wedded woman and today I came back with my daughter. I am very happy.

“I want to thank everyone for taking their time to celebrate with me and I pray that Insha Allah they will all get back to their various houses safely and we shall have reasons to all celebrate,” she said.

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