Prominent Yoruba group, the Yoruba Global Alliance, has described the demise of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Atanda Adeyemi III, as saddening news which hit the group like ‘high voltage thunderbolt’.
The group, in a release by its Chairman of Council, High Chief Tola Adeniyi, the Ajala Iji and Jagun Oodua Adimula ll, stated that the passage of the traditional ruler was totally unexpected and unanticipated.
It described the late traditional ruler as a fallen big Iroko tree and a repertoire of culture whose exit would be missed by the entire Yoruba Nation.
YGA, in the release, said: “The Alaafin, Oba Adeyemi lll, was a veritable inspirer and an inspiration to Yoruba self-consciousness. He was a towering pillar of support and great defender of our spiritual faith.
“He believed in the avowed rightness of the Yoruba Self-Determination agenda the same way he believed in the freedom of all peoples the world over to determine and choose the way they want to be governed.
“Oba Adeyemi was a phenomenal monarch and an embodiment of the quintessential Yoruba mores, traditions and culture and a huge encyclopaedia of Yoruba history.
“An intellectual with a gargantuan library in his crowned head, Oba Adeyemi was a great teacher, debater, discussant and orator.
“The likes of Oba Adeyemi appear on earth once in a millennium. Incomparable and irreplaceable, the uniqueness of Oba Adeyemi’s persona and charm stood him out as an Alaafin whose shoes may be difficult to inherit.
“The transition of Oba Adeyemi is a painful loss to the Yoruba nation, to the African race and to global humanity in general,” the group stated in the release.
“The Yoruba Global Alliance and its millions of our accredited members worldwide, mourns the passage of the monarch and a dependable and reliable royal father. Iku Baba Yeye, o di gbere, o d’arinako,” the release added.
