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Ile-Ife indigenes in Nigeria go spiritual, storm University with charms to force out new VC (Video)

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African traditional beliefs and spiritualism played out when some indigenes of Ile-Ife in Osun State, Nigeria, stormed the campus of one of the oldest universities in the country, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), with assorted charms, amulets and other fetish objects, to force out the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of the institution which is located in the town.

Their grouse?
The indigenes of the town were angry that the new VC was not one of them but someone from another town, despite the fact that there are eminently qualified natives who can take up the position.

The University’s Governing Council led by its Chairman, Chief Owelle Udoji, had on Thursday, March 17, announced Prof. Adebayo Simeon Bamire, a Professor of Agricultural Economics as the 12th substantive Vice-Chancellor of the university.

But the decision of the Council angered the indigenes and to show their grievances, they decided to go spiritual and storm the main campus of the school with their charms and paraphernalia of their spirituality.

The indigenes who are adherents of the traditional Yoruba religion, invaded the institution with charms and other fetish objects, and closed the two major gates of the institution, and prevented staff, students, and other stakeholders from coming into or leaving the campus.

The University’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Abiodun Olarewaju, who confirmed the incident in a statement, said the people “became very violent as they beat up workers, particularly the staff of the Security Unit, and vandalised their office at the main gate.”

“The protests by the Ife indigenes started on Thursday, March 17, 2022, shortly after the University Governing Council, led by its Chairman, Owelle Oscar Udoji, announced a Professor of Agricultural Economics, Prof. Adebayo Simeon Bamire, as the 12th substantive Vice-Chancellor.

“On Monday, March 21, 2022, things took more dangerous dimensions as the indigenes beat up some OAU students whom they met at the gate, blocked the two major gates as early as 6: 00 am, and came into the campus with charms, and other fetish items.

“They assembled at the motion ground of the University Secretariat, dressed in all-white spiritual traditional attire, chanting incantations while performing rituals.

Indigenes of Ile-Ife pride themselves as the true custodians of Yoruba culture and traditions and are known to settle their differences with the employment of their revered charms.

Watch Video here:

 

The Yorubas of Nigeria believe their civilization began in Ile-Ife where the gods descended to earth, thus the name, Ile-Ife, which literally means “place of dispersion.”

According to Yoruba tradition and mythology, Ife was founded by the deities Oduduwa and Obatala when they created the world. Obatala was said to have fashioned the first humans out of clay while Oduduwa became the first divine king of the Yoruba people.

The first traditional ruler, the Oòni of Ife, was said to be a direct descendant of Oduduwa, which was the 401st Orisha.

Ife is home to many traditional worshippers of deities and is where they are routinely celebrated through festivals.

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Culture

Kenyan govt to convert ‘evil cult’ forest into a memorial site

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The Kenyan government says it plans to convert the Shakahola Forest, where bodies of over 250 members of a Christian cult led by Pastor Paul Mackenzie were exhumed, into a national memorial.

The eastern African country was thrown into a frenzy in April when some followers of the pastor reportedly died after he instructed them to starve to death so they could meet with Jesus.

Kenya’s Interior Minister, Kithure Kindiki, who disclosed the intentions of the government at a press conference on Tuesday, said once the recovery of the bodies buried in the 800-acre forest was complete, the forest would be “turned into a place of remembrance so that people won’t forget what happened there.”

The minister added that the government had enough evidence to prosecute the leader of the cult and the main suspect, Pastor Mackenzie, on charges of genocide after he allegedly convinced his followers to fast to death in order to go to heaven.

“Most of the victims, including children, died of starvation but some were strangled, beaten, or suffocated,” Kindiki said, quoting autopsy reports.

Kindiki said investigations had shown that the cult’s activities extended beyond the Shakahola Forest, adding that investigations had extended to the larger 37,000-acre Chakama ranch in the area.

“Security roads are being constructed to provide access to the expansive area as search and rescue operations and investigations continues,” he said.

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Culture

Scientists discover world’s oldest burial site in South Africa

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Scientists in South Africa say they have discovered the oldest-known burial site in the world “containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behaviour,” world-renowned palaeoanthropologist, Lee Berger, who led the team of researchers, said on Monday.

The find was announced by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African National Research Foundation, and published in the journal, eLife.

It challenges the understanding of human evolution which is normally held that the development of bigger brains allowed for the performing of complex functions.

Berger said the research team uncovered evidence that “members of a mysterious archaic human species buried their dead and carved symbols on cave walls long before the earliest evidence of burials by modern humans.”

“The brains belonging to the extinct species, known as Homo naledi, were around one-third the size of a modern human brain,” he said in a statement while announcing the result of the discovery.

“These revelations could change the understanding of human evolution, because until now, such behaviors only have been associated with larger-brained Homo sapiens and Neanderthals,” he added.

According to the palaeoanthropologist, the team discovered several specimens of Homo naledi, a tree-climbing, Stone Age hominid, buried about 30 metres (100 feet) underground in a cave system within the Cradle of Humankind located in Johannesburg, which has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“These are the most ancient interments yet recorded in the hominin record, earlier than evidence of Homo sapiens interments by at least 100,000 years,” Berger wrote.

Before the discovery, the oldest burials previously unearthed were found in the Middle East which contained the remains of Homo sapiens and were around 100,000 years old.

But the South African find reportedly dates back to at least 200,000 BC.

“These discoveries show that mortuary practices were not limited to H. sapiens or other hominins with large brain sizes,” Berger said.

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