The leadership of the Traditional Religion Worshippers Association in Osun State has warned candidates contesting the August 15 governorship election in the state against turning the poll into a do-or-die affair.

The association, while addressing journalists in Osogbo on Tuesday, said the warning was part of the messages it received after Ifa divination for a peaceful governorship election and to forestall kidnapping and other violent crimes in the state.

Relaying details of the Ifa message during the press briefing, the TRWASO President, Dr Oluseyi Atanda, who said the divination was witnessed by many eminent Ifa priests, including Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, said the next governor of Osun State must be ready to tolerate insults and accommodate opposing views.

Dr Atanda, who also said the oracle demanded that prayers should be offered for a peaceful poll, added that the propitiations suggested by Ifa had been carried out to guarantee a hitch-free election.

“Ifa says Osun state shall be great, Osun shall rise and prosper in the hands of the incoming Governor, but who will emerge is that one who is large-hearted to accommodate insults and embarrassments.

“Ifa reassures that with trust, belief, and obedience in the words of God, the upcoming election will not spill blood out of proportion. Ifa says it is true that all are wary and concerned with the spate of violence.

“Ifa asks all stakeholders, politicians and indigenes of Osun not to sit on the fence. We should all get involved and play our roles for a successful conduct of a free and fair election in Osun State,” Atanda said.

On the rising cases of violence relating to the forthcoming poll in the state, the TRWASO President said, “Ifa warns all governorship candidates against making this election a do-or-die affair.

“This act may set Osun State ablaze. Ifa enjoins all citizens of all faiths to pray that such politicians should mellow down, and it is only God that appoints.”

He also said Ifa chastised traditional rulers who had openly declared support for candidates contesting the Osun governorship election, saying that, as custodians of culture and tradition, they should play a fatherly role to all political interests.

Regarding the incursion into the state by perpetrators of violent crimes, Atanda said Ifa urged traditional rulers to unite and invoke the ancestors of the land to counter the invasion and protect the state.

“Ifa says the words of Ifa are golden and carved in marble. Sooner or later, they all come to pass. Therefore, it warns all individuals and governments, especially those in the agricultural sector, to prepare for famine in the land. There is a need to focus on irrigation/flooding and fertilisers to improve farm yield.

“The EBO prescribed by Ifa and every Orisa veneration to achieve all the above information has been undertaken by TRWASO on behalf of all and sundry,” he further said.

PUNCH Online reports that Osun has experienced a rise in violent crime, and the forthcoming governorship election has been identified as the reason behind the spike.

In separate incidents, residents were killed in Ikire, Ilobu, Esa Oke and Osogbo by suspected political hoodlums and cultists allegedly operating under political protection in the state. (The PUNCH)

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