"The western world has messed up our psyche" - Monarch

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November 1, 2016 3:24 PM

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has said that we as Africans need to stop seeing our gods as idols.

Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi

The king made these remarks when speaking at the celebration of oranfe, the god of fire in Ile Ife, Osun State on Wednesday, October 26, 2016.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has also warned against the misrepresentation of the importance of African gods.

ALSO READ: Ooni of Ife says Yoruba people need a common anthem

The king said: “Those who keep sensitizing people against us that we are worshipping idols are not kind to history. I am proud to be associated with nature. Ife has 201 out the 401 deities and they are all relevant.‎ These deities are divine messengers of God sent for different purposes."

"One of them is Oranfe, the god of fire being celebrated here today. It is a pity that all powers in the possession of black men are being used for battles and power tussles. It is from these unique powers that the west sourced technology and development from, and they are now using it against us. Some of these deities also show the mysteries of God, God wouldn’t have made mistake in the creation of the deities, they are representatives of sciences being taught in schools."

"It is very sad that the western world has messed up our psyche and inflicted slavish mentality on us making us to believe we are idol worshippers as our pitiable neglect of our own culture and traditions. This is a major factor responsible for the poverty in the land."

"We left the positive sides and allow the west to implant the negative side in our brain. Our people really need to be enlightened, a lot of these festivals have been misconstrued, misrepresented and demonised as if we are idol worshippers. We are not idol worshippers. We are rather believers in nature."

"I am not saying the commandments of God should not be adhered to, but we must know that all these deities are messengers of God. They represent nature. Nothing can be done without nature regardless of our religion be it Islam or Christianity or even traditional."

"We only honour nature because we are all integral part of it and do not worship idols. Some of the deities we worship have roots in the holy books."

Since his ascension to the throne, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwunsi has been an advocate for peace and restoration of Yoruba cultural values.

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