The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams has faulted the use of human parts for money rituals, saying such is alien to Yoruba culture and traditions.
He stated this on Monday, while delivering a speech at the 2022 edition of Wealth Festival (Odun Aje), which held at the Powerline Praying Ground in Orile Agege area of Lagos.
Stating that he had in recent times, monitored the various stories of ritual abuse and money-making across Southwest, Adams explained that there was urgent need to speak up against the barbaric act, especially, among the youths.
According to,him,in Yorubaland and in every part of the world, killing a person for ritual is an abomination, sacrilegious, and against the norms of the Yoruba race.
He maintained that using human parts for money making is against Yoruba practices and at variance with the ethos of Omoluabi and therefore, everyone should rise against it.
He added:”It is sad though that our society has lost its core values. What we see today is a complete departure from the original practice and ethos of Yoruba race.As the Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, it is time for me to speak up and express my displeasure at the ugly narratives that have literally turned Yorubaland into an abattoir, where human parts usually littered the entire communities.
“Things cannot continue like this. We are at the centre of all these and we must speak against this ugly trend. All our royal fathers in Yoruba land should speak up.”
Speaking on the need to educate the Nigerian youth on staying away from this ugly trend, Adams said, “We will need to educate the youths of these days about the core values of hard work and reward. We will need to educate them that it is inhuman to kill human beings for ritual purposes.
“We will need to educate them about the dignity of labour and the essence of preserving their names and that of their parents. We will need to educate them about the sanctity of our culture and traditions. We will need to teach them about how to respect the elderly. We must teach them about morality and the need to stay away from acts that could render them useless in the future.
“The society has lost the battle to instill morality in the minds of the youths. And as I have said earlier, it is quite unfortunate that the social media has done a lot in killing all the values and teachings that could enhance societal values and behaviours.
On the reason for celebrating the Wealth Festival, Adams said:”it is to appreciate the deity in charge of wealth creation. It is also to explore the natural joy and abundant fortunes that wealth symbolises.For instance, in the spiritual realm, wealth is one of the most powerful deities. It is in control of everything that is good or bad. This is one of the reasons for celebrating Wealth Festival (Odun Aje).
