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| Olowo of Owo reading the Holy Bible |
Olowo of Owo
Interview with the
Olowo of Owo
‘ my Father had many wives, grandfather 300 and left five virgins behind ‘
The Olowo of Owo
Oba David Victor Folagbade Olateru Olagbegi[CFR] in this
interview speaks about his life as a
staunch Christian .He speaks with Taiwo Abiodun
How do you
combine your traditional roles with your Christian faith
They are of two
different things : your religion is your
religion and your Custom is your Custom. And when it comes to
Traditional Religion or traditional oaths
the out way out there is that you have in the town a Chief Priest , it is
not the Traditional ruler that is in charge. The Traditional ruler has his own
functions and the chief priest has his own functions too.
Now, one must be mindful of the fact
now that Nigeria is a secular
state and everyone is entitled to
practise his own religion. And in a town or city you have all sorts of people
; you have the Christians , you have the Moslems, you have the Animists, you have
the traditional Religious people , so on and so forth. And what the law says is
that everyone can practise his own
faith , and I should too. I think the whole town knows that I am a
Christian and a practising Christian ,
and as such I practise my own religion, and I cannot stop people who are
practising it , and as long as I
practise my own religion., and I cannot stop people who are not Christians to
be practising Christianity by force , No!. Even our own Lord Jesus Christ did
not force anybody to become Christian by force but we pray to the Lord to touch
their hearts, to draw them closer
to Himself so that they can have a change of heart .I know that it is
only God that is worth worshipping and I think
that is an important thing for
everyone.
Well, if some people still believe that they still need to do some
worship , alright I cannot stop them but
they know what I believe. I believe in God . The Lord is enough for us
to wash off our sins , and I think that is superior
Lord now. I wish the Christians can put their faith in Him so that at all
times they can know that they must have faith and see that they practise it and have tremendous faith .
Though you are a staunch
Christian but don’t you think that you do partake in rituals by way of giving them
money to do it
Well, em... ideally ,
I don’t think . ... If one can avoid it I
don’t even think one should even
give money for people to go and
worship anything , you are the one who is also
directing that they should worship . So in organizations that we have today , we
have Local Council, State Council, and Federal
government. In most of the
organised local government areas I think they know what festival s are and they ought to reasonably
to support
their festivals and if they
support it and bring out money then the chief Priest can get money directly
from them in pursuit of his calling , that can be avoided. Its only if
there is no money coming from such areas at all and you are the
father of all, then you have no choice but
to give money for it and if that is a sin
then we pray that God should forgive us our sins .
There is this rumour
making the rounds that you don’t want the popular town’s festival the Igogo
festival again and you are trying
to abolish it since you have become a staunch Christian
No, I cannot stop it because it is the way of life
for many years and each one has his own belief.And I am sure my own people know my own belief but as I said, I cannot force them .
I can only show them the way by example , they know what I do ,for example I don’t
miss my Holy Ghost service and my church here, all things being equal I have to
practise it.
You plaited your hair
during the Igogo festival and left your head
open , and when you go to church you also leave it open while some
believe that should not be as a royal father
Yes, but during the Igogo festival you don’t wear cap. Did you see anyone
wearing cap during the Igogo
festival?, That is our tradition
and belief. You are not supposed to wear cap. For church too , No ,you are not supposed to wear your cap in the church .I don’t wear cap in
the church
But other obas do wear
cap to the church and don’t remove them during service
Well, that is the other Obas .I know my own God
does not allow it , so I don’t do
it.
How do you manage
your kingdom as so many people with
different opinion and ideas
Yes, that is why you pray to God all the time to give us
wisdom to be able to interact and do what is right in the sight of God all the
time. It is a good prayer everyday ,
morning to start because you meet sorts of things everyday , its only God that can direct you
How do you react to
rumour as people
talk about you when you were not in the town
I don’t react. May be I travelled by then, may be I went
abroad and it could be for a purpose. I also
have my calendar and know when the date
of Igogo festival.
I remember it was when
I was ill and was hospitalised .Yes, I thank God .When I came out my people also came
to see me when I was outside the town and
when I came back too they also
came to see me .I was then well and was
able .
Why did they give you
names like Solon, Socrates or Solomon
[Prolonged laughter]I thank you for that, it is God and the
Lord’s doing .It is true that I am a lawyer , a royal father and a devout
Christian . I think one should get closer to the almighty , if you are close to
God He will lead you and give you all what you want in life. My names are David
Victor Folagbade Olateru Olagbegi , I cherished the name and I thank God for
that .Calling me Solon, Socrates and Solomon , may be it is the way I
administer the town ,But believe it that
God is the wisest , the Omnipresent , Omnipotent and Omniscience. He is all in
all.
What does the sword attached on your skirt mean and the feathers
on your head
[Prolonged laughter]That was how I met it , we call it Uda
Omalore. Olowo uses it when he comes
out .It is a symbol of authority .
The feather on my head ? that is Urere Okin.
Olowo is the only person who has the
authority to use it .These days many wear it and it is
exclusively meant for Olowo. But things have changed
now from the olden days and this is different from the olden days ,and
people can do all sorts of things .If you have your money now you can do what you like , you can
buy all sorts of things.
As a Christian
you have been to Jerusalem
Oh yes, I have been
there . I also sent my wife there too .It’s important to see things for yourself . I saw these
things[ Biblical story evidences] and I
was convinced that they are real .Its not rumour. God is real .The Holy Bible is not a story book, it is real .I wish we all visit
the place and be more convinced . Jesus Christ is real .It is great to be there
and believe in God and Jesus Christ is the Lord.
You also sent many to
Mecca
Yes, I have done that too, I have also sent people to Jerusalem too because
at times I sometimes have some slots from the state for the local government and I make people go there to go and see things for themselves. I think
the most important thing is that we are all
children of God but we have our own different beliefs, the Christian belief is different
from Moslem belief but they still have their belief and faith
Are all your chiefs
have the right to observe the Igogo
festival
Yes, they can .All Olowo’s chiefs can perform Igogo festival but they
cannot force them to do it. If one is
faithful to his oath you will try to do what the Oba is doing in the town, If you are a chief you will try
to do what Oba is doing in the town .If you are a chief you are supposed to be
doing what Oba is doing in the town., the say when you are in Rome you behave like the Romans , if you are here
and performing the festival you have to obey all the rules , if the oba is doing festival you have to join too .
Last year people were
worried that the festival was held in October instead of September , why
The Olowo has the right to change it when the people who are
in charge fixed the date , then the Olowo has the right to say ok, the
date is not convenient for him , and you can deduct 17 days from it or you add 17days to the
date that they fixed and you have to do
it on time , the Olowo has the right .
What are the festivals we have here
We have several
festivals , we have the ulabi, yam
festival .Igogo is linked to yam
festival for example people have been eating yam but I did not , and I can only eat yam after the Igogo
festival. Igogo is celebration of
love. In Igogo , we pray and pray and pray. We pray for the Olowo, Owo town , state government ,federal government and for everyone who comes and lives here in
Owo. Igogo is celebration of love .
Last year you
celebrated your 70TH birthday, how is it to be 70?
We thank God for that. When you are 70, you are 70,[laughs].
When you look back and it is like yesterday, and when one is at that age you must continue to
pray to God. You should continue to do good to people because nobody
knows when the time comes. As a
Christian you can claim what age
you want in the Bible .In the Book of
Genesis look at Chapter six beginning from verses 1 to 3, especially verse
three, it says I am supposed to live for
120years but in the Book of Psalms which
many read most of the time that is Psalm
90 verse 10 which many people read all the time , it says
man will have three scores and ten, after that one might find it difficult .Yet
there is another passage in the Bible
that says it is a curse not to live
up to 100, so it depends on which
one you want .
Did you take after
your late father in playing table tennis and having many wives?
I play table tennis and lawn tennis but I have not played for about one year now. But I am quite optimistic
that I would soon start playing it now ,
I am just resting now . All my children play table tennis, it flows in the
family.
You know Obas in the
past had so many wives .Well, my father had so many, in fact my grand father had up to 300 wives, I was told that by the
time he passed on to join his ancestors
five of his wives were virgins , that showed probably that he had enough .
My grandfather didn’t come to the throne at my age even my father also came when he was 30 years .I came to the
throne when I was 58, I am now over 70 you can’t expect me to have many wives at this age, I will have to chose
which way I will like to go. My father has been very good in other aspects. He knew how to manage
his wives , he had the wisdom of being able to
interact with plenty of them . I don’t
think I can try it .I tried it at a younger age , it didn’t work[laughs]
Has your legal
background assisted you in governing the town
Yes, I think it has really helped me a lot , because once you are a lawyer you think like a lawyer .
And there are things other people do that you can not afford
to do it because you know it is wrong
and others will think as an Oba you can do it , but you know it is wrong .You
put yourself under checks and balances , I think it is good . The work of a lawyer is different from that
of a Traditional ruler.
They know you are humble
and generous but some could take it to
be weak
It is alright .They can think what they like . I don’t
think there is anything wrong for anyone to be humble. I don’t think
it is wrong for anyone to be patient . I
don’t think it is also
wrong for anyone to look before he
leaps , so these are cautions and all the things we have learnt in our own
religion that you should go that way and I tried to follow the commandments of what I
am supposed to do at all times I don’t
think there is any wrong in that.
You are a silent
philanthropist
I do it and I don’t have to make noise ,If God blesses you ,
you too should extend the blessings to
the needy .I believe one should be kind enough to help his fellowmen. God loves a cheerful giver, and as the father ,
traditional ruler and a practising Christian , I think it is part of my duty to
assist the needy and must not go on pages of newspapers
announcing it , God does not like that .I am a quiet man and I don’t like
announcing something like this. I am praying to
God to give me strength to be able to do more .
How do you react to
your detractors as you don’t take a pound of flesh
No, one is not supposed to. One should just continue to do
good. My favourite passage in the Bible is the Book of Job Chapter 28 verse 28
that says you try to depart from evil
and fear God, and depart from evil ,anything that is evil depart from it.
How is your best day
looks like
I think the best day is to try and be grateful to God
everyday .Take life as it come and is
for you to thread slowly and wisely and you will not regret. I pray to God always , He is God, kind and loving , that is
how my best day looks like everyday
What is the secret behind your looking young
Well if one is living well and you are not abusing your body
., do exercise then always pray to the
Almighty always , you will look young of course .
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