₦airaland Forum

Explains Why Elders Are Chosen As Choir Members
FAVOUR PERCY-IDUBOR/ BENIN CITY

In the heart of the ancient city of Benin, Edo State capital, along Akpakpava Street, precisely, is situated a church, Holy Arousa , that is unique in its doctrine as it is in respect of its doxology; it is a shrine (holy place of worship) where the Omo N’ Oba Ne’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba of Benin, worships.

It is indeed, a unique church, where Christians, Muslims and traditional worshipers come together to worship, with Har­rison Okao, the Ohen- Osa interpreted literally as the priest of god) as the presiding priest.

Holy Aruosa is a combination of English and Bini word. Holy, as it implies, means to be pure, while Aruosa is a place or site of worshipping God.

It was founded in 1506 by Oba Esigie (Son of Queen Idia) . Originally, its service was conducted on Eke market days (which was considered a sacred day to almost all indigenous black African societies) but following the inconveniences being experienced by the working class, members, the service was later changed to Sunday which is work-free for public officers and many others.

Its activities are centered on Bini language. Over the years, the prominence, growth and expansion of Holy Aruosa, whose geographical spread once cut across Edo State, Cross Rivers, Western parts of Nigeria and indeed parts of Dahomey (pres­ent day Republic of Benin), has been adversely affected by western civilization and the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970.

Besides, the gross impact of British expedition of 1897 (which prompted the eventual expulsion of Oba Ovorawmen N’Ogbasi to Calabar, the present day Cross River State capi­tal)also had multiple ripple negative effects on Holy Aruosa. However, it was subsequently rebuilt by Oba Akenzua when he ascended the throne in 1933.

The Oba of Benin is the head of the church, the crown prince (heir apparent)is number two, while the Ohen Osa (the priest) is the number three in hierarchical order of prominence. These are the only permanent positions in the church.

The selection of the priest is done by God (it’s spiritual) and the Oba must approve of the person before he can take office. Aruosa is a place where the Oba and his palace chiefs and their family members worship.

The Church, said to be the oldest in Africa, was established by the Portuguese before they started the Roman Catholic and other churches. Today, it is common to see tourists from America and Europe visiting the church, partly out of curiosity. Their visits no doubt, is usually to see the first church in Nigeria, which, according to them, is unique in many ways and has been expanding over the years.

According to Harrison Okao, the Ohen- Osa, or Chief Priest of the church, who has been in the church since 1991 as a member and since 2005 as the presiding priest, the church was founded as a place to worship God directly without pass­ing through any intermediary.

In his words, “We don’t pray through Jesus Christ not because we are against Jesus; we don’t pray through Moham­med not because we are against Mohammed and we don’t also pray through the deities like Olokun, Ogun, Sango and all others, not because we are against them but because we believe that God existed before their existence. Therefore, if you want anything from your father, you ask him directly, rather than going through an intermediary.”

He explained that Holy Aruosa is a place where anybody can come to worship, irrespective of tribe or religion. his words, “If you are a Christian, you can come here and worship; if you are a Muslim, you can come here to worship and if you are a traditional worshipper, you are also free to worship at the church. The only difference is that most of the religions pray through an intermediary but in Holy Aruosa we pray directly to God.”

On how the church conducts its worship, the priest said, “We start the day’s service with purification, opening song otherwise known as “Ohenosa muegbugie. After that, we say the opening prayers before we pray for the Oba of Benin; pray for the heir apparent to the throne, which is the Omo N’ Oba’s first son; we pray for the other Oba’s children both at home and abroad, pray for the palace, the chiefs, the government of the day, starting from the president, the governors, local government chairmen, councillors and others in the positions of authority.”

Okao added that they also pray for good things to happen in the Benin Kingdom and the state, while concentrating on members present and ‘individually ask God for whatever we want from Him’.

Another wonderful feature about the Holy Aruosa is the choir which is made of elderly people otherwise known as the Edion Ni kao nomadode meaning the elders that will never go astray.

The difference between Holy Aruosa and the Orthodox Church is the mode of worship and belief. Okao explained that: “If you are talking about the fear of God, the Holy Aruosa members have the fear of God and we have it in our Creed that if you sin against mankind, you must go and beg that man and if you don’t go and beg that person, you will receive punishment on earth and after death, you will receive the punishment. That is why we don’t commit sin.

“For instance, if you leave anything here and you come back in three days, nobody will take it because we believe that if you take what does not belong to you, it means you have sinned already and you will not enter the kingdom of God. Sinners will not enter the kingdom of God.”.

“However, if we discov­er that any member goes against the rules and reg­ulations of worshipping God, such a person will be cautioned or punished. The degree of the punishment depends on the level of offence committed”, he said.

Another amazing feature about the church is that it has its own book of worship known as the Book of Holy Aruosa and was written by the “wise men with the dictate, teachings and sayings of the ancient Benin kingdom.” It is made up of the dos and don’ts that our fore fathers bequeathed to the present generation. Okao explained further that the book is just like “the Old Testament in the Bible and if we have anything or any area that we want to refer to in the Bible, we do so; we also refer to the Koran for things to move on properly.”

On the selection and ordination of the presiding priest, Okao noted that every activity carried out is a spiritual exercise, although, it is done in the church after the confirmation from the Omo N’ Oba, being the head of the church.

On how the church goes about their evangelism, the priest said “an experienced doctor does not need awareness to get pa­tients. If you are doing well in your field, people will automati­cally gravitate towards you. Membership is opento everyone.”

Speaking on who is to be blamed for the social vices expe­rienced in our society today, Holy Arosa’s priest said, “we are all liable for what is happening in our society. I’m blaming the parents, the clergy, the judiciary, the police and the public at large. If parents are playing their roles, we will not have cases of indecent dressing, increase in crime and more”. “On the case of the police, when people know that when an offence is committed, the police officer will not take money from them and grant them freedom, they will tread with caution. The same thing goes for the judiciary. When you know what no matter the amount of money you offer the judge, justice will not be perverted, you will run from crime”, he added.

The priest added, “The clergy are also not left out. As a re­ligious leader, you are supposed to preach the gospel the way it should be. Your message can ignite positively or negatively.”

He called on religious leaders to do the right thing at all times. “The idea of promoting prosperity ,instead of salvation, should be discouraged among our religious leaders. Also the Bible teaches that we should not share in God’s glory. But what we see with most religious leaders today is that they share in God’s glory. In the olden days, what we see in churches is the open Bible and the mark of the crucifix. But what is the order of the day, is religious leaders adorning the churches with their pictures and that of their wives.”

The priest, who charged everyone, irrespective of their religious affiliations to do the right things at all times and do everything possible to stand for the truth at all times irrespec­tive of who and what is involved. “Above all, we should love others as we love ourselves. This is because by so doing evil will be far from us”

engrsyer:
Are they praying with the name of JESUS or their is another name that they call?

I need to know more about this Church.

No. They pray directly to God.

milann:
What business does the heathen have with the church. Is the oba a christian? This is quite absurd

It not a Christian church, but rather a Benin traditional church. The Oba is the Bishop.

Watch out. All the war zones in the north will have the largest number.

Lagos draconian law in a country where many parents can't afford to feed their children because of Bad governance. At 18, your are an adult according to Nigerian laws.
How can you punish a parent at Agege for the action of an adult at Apapa.?

Everyone is bashing the girl without sa anything about the the other idiots and criminals that leaked the video.

arsenal444:
Is this man ok at all? Who defended you? Go sit down

helinues. This is one of the 30k warriors and one other that grills dead meat.

He is waiting for Easter when south-easterns and Christians will be in celebration mode.
He will announce another herds man to kill Easter joy.

ShootThemAll:
Good one, thumbs up for that but where is the
picture of Adeleke Kazeem Biola just the same way Onu Oluchukwu picture is placed boldly. They committed same crime.

Don't mind them.
Gutter journalism.

Prodigee:
Awa eastern brodas at it again! Una neva dey disappoint.

Adeleke my brother, Our job is skull mining, ritual killing and serving our masters the fulanis.
Why did you join Omo igbos business.

Minister of Agriculture.

Which monarch? Yoruba MONARCH?

Nobody is chasing the fulanis away. All we are saying is leave our forest and bushes. Move to the communities, rent houses as other tribes do in your states. Rent potion for your animals. Pay tax to the government. Contribute to the development of your host community, Pay electricity bill where available.
A tribe just choose to be parasites within a country. Soo bad

Difrent:
You can call your family and kinsmen whatever name as far as it does not remove the fact that you are nothing without the yorubas .
Need I remind you that GEJ was called so many unprintable name but that didn't stop 11 millions people from voting for him , no be by name calling . you people will never forget PMB in a hurry.....how can the highest position a whole developer tribe of africa get In his government be presidential photographer....and he even asked Lagos to make sure the highest position they got is chief gutter cleaner....HABA BUBU even after making the whole world realize anyone can become president without IBO votes because IBO votes are a useless 5%

A master have to settle his slaves with some reasonable responsibility to make sure that they will remain loyal to their slavery. That what the fulanis are doing to their slaves down southwest. Sunday Igboho said it all.

mccloud224:
@OP

I was born and brought up in the sw..my parents are from ss and I did my uni in the south east (esut precisely)... I have always been a "one Nigerianist" if there is such a word and I can tell u all you wrote is trash.

Fulani terrorists are steadily taking over odua land, asiwaju and gani Adams are voiceless, ESN is doing the same thing Igboho is doing but na ibos be your problem. Now I see how and why the fulanis easily subdued Kwara.

Tribalism and religious bigotry has diminished your capacity to reason. It is well. Your entire families decapitated/mutilated/raped decomposing bodies will be on nairaland one day and I will view as a guest.

Fulani SLAVES!!! (Yeah I said it...eat hate speech).

Their son Sunday has already said that the Yoruba politicians and political leaders are fulanis slaves including their Obas.
No be me talkam, na Sunday Igboho talkam.

Difrent:
Igbo Revisionism started in 2015 the moment GEJ lost,since then they have tried to rewrite every history ,even their own .

You people don't learn ,this won't be the first time you have tried to intimidate and force down your ideas on others and got burnt while at it.. in the immediate aftermath GEJ loss and renewed biafra agitation ,we yorubas on nairaland trashed your biafra agitators our if nairaland to the extent you floated the defunct biafla land.com which failed because even ibos refuse to visit the site......without yorubas, Ibos are nothing , absolutely nothing ....all your wealth was made from yorubaland and as a result of yoruba accommodating you ,but you have been paying us back with backstabbing but we don't care because you are nothing to us , we are ahead of you in anything and will always be....even this nuisance you are constituting on nairaland ,don't think we don't know what to do about it, we just want you to exhaust yourselves (anther strategy to show we are wiser than you)

We all know how you have moved from
Biafla or nothing to
Leflendum or nothing to
Atikulate
And now igbo presidency

Who takes people like you serious,you are nothing but sore losers who will the house burn down because their kinsman is not president.

No make me reason your matter to day end oooo

Slave, Continue worshipping your master.
Otolo gbagbue gị.

igboarenice:
During Endsars protest Yorubas edged on by IPOB almost put their Lagos on it knees.

Surprising same is happening now
Sebi awon agba lo ma n so pe oun to seni lalakoko ko gbodo seni lekeji.

Biafrans agitators know that they can't face all other Nigerians and win so they like put confusion in enemies camp the results is Fulani Yoruba clashes
They spin all sorts of conspiracy theory to incite violence amidst the two ethnic group that decide who get what in the country.
Check all threads about Fulani attacks they are there in hundreds grunting and barking like a baboon urging the Yoruba on
I'm not excusing Criminalities by some herders.
You have the right to deal with them using all legal means.
Let's flush criminals herders and also should not throw baby away with the water
and Igbos will be left with no choice than to continue shouting give us biafra

You mean the Igbo's asked the fulanis to to kidnapp your people, rape your mother's and daughters kill your parents, sons and daughters.
The Igbo's are too powerful. Twale.
God punishment upon your generation.

Nobody is chasing the fulanis away. All we are saying is leave our forest and bushes. Move to the communities, rent houses as other tribes do in your states. Rent potion for your animals. Pay tax to the government. Contribute to the development of your host community, Pay electricity bill where available.
A tribe just choose to be parasites within a country. Soo bad

SilverNorGold:
Sure.. El-rufai has spoken well...



Instead of them to arrest Sunday Igboho, they are openly supporting him...

Too bad, the Yorubas have legalized and institutionalized the "Criminal Tribes Act"... But they will become the biggest loser in the long run....

What's new?

I formally welcome all Nigerians to Earth 093450 of the Bengo alternate universe... The infamous "Criminal Tribes Act" of 12 October 1871 enacted in British India, of Earth Classic, has now resurfaced in Nigeria, of Earth 093450... No thanks to the Yorubas... Certain crimes now can only be and always committed by a particular tribe...

But let's see how it ends...

Nigeria go better...

Idiot. I repeat, idiot. Make mode do their shit.

RIP to the boy friend of our first Lady.
We love you, but Allah loves you more.
Je ije gi nke ọma.

SilverNorGold:
Continue persecuting innocent and harmless civilians. Well-meaning Nigerians are watching...

And Yorubas should continue supporting lawlessness... We dey Nigeria together... Let's see how the movie ends...

God knows I will never support injustice. God knows I will never support anyone or group persecuting minorities.

God knows I will never fold my hands and watch idiots destroy or divide Nigeria.

Before any idiots divide Nigeria, they must first kill me...
Before any idiots burn down Nigeria, they must first kill me.

I am ready to fight anyone who wages war against Nigeria. I am ready to sacrifice my life for Nigeria..

Long live Nigeria!
God bless Nigeria.

Just predicting your destruction by yourself.

Arewa1stSon:
stop deceiving yourself!!

Hausa know the people that have been killing and looting their Bussiness during the end sars protest.

Hausas knows about the killing of their brothers in Lagos, onitsha and Aba.

Hausas know the people who celebrate their pains!!

The only problem of an Hausa man is those criminals made up of both fulanis and Hausas kidnapping and killing innocent people...

An average Hausa man knows that we only have few fulanis criminals who are actively into crime!!

They also know that they also have Hausas who into similar crimes.

That's why no matter what will happen... You'll never see Hausas stereotyping or generalizing the fulanis!!

Hausas knows that the Fulanis are the back bone of Northern political structures!!

We bring development, institutions, appointment, Bussiness and power to the north.

Even the Hausas themselves know that the Diallos are blessing to northern Nigeria!!

Come to Kaduna...

A fulani man Elrufai is developing the north!!

Come to Kano a fulani man Ganduje is developing kano state!!

We bring wealth and development to northern Nigeria!!

I can't even imagine the north without the political capacity of the Diallos!!

God bless Arewa!!

You bring wealth and development to the north.
Your cow's, killers, kidnappers, rapist to the south.
We are sending them back.

post=98692140:
Reading

Continue.

MondayOsunbor:
people is the picture are students or lecturers


i am totally confused

Lectures exta extra

post=98691202:
What all these politicians are all about is nothing but elections , elections and more elections.

What are they doing about the situation in their various constituencies and Local Government?

There was a country!

Wonderful, common sense now actively functioning from unexpected quarters.

OK

SilverNorGold:
Nice... Nigerians should take advantage of this golden opportunity and register with the APC... Cos it won't be funny to die without the APC membership card... That card is proof that you meant well for Nigeria. So if you die without it, and you are a Nigerian, Angels will assume you are among the unpatriotic elements that sabotaged Nigeria; and you know what that means... Hell Fire!

But it's not too late to register...

May God help us all....

Nice job. You deserve cold beer and pepper soup.

checkmatez:
you are beyond redemption I know you can't be a paid 30k agent, you must be among the president media aide cos even 30k zombie can't support political parties to their grave because they are after their feeding due to the suffering they found themselves....
with time we will know who you are

Bro, read between the lines. Sarcasm.

The next Governor of Lagos state.

Cashcrowd1808:
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The person who introduced me made over Sixty thousand in three weeks.


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Nonsense

[Idiotic quote author=thebosstrevor1 post=98621452]

Pack of lies

Ordinary road and schools, your governor can't create. Simple park or sidewalk he can't create, or does he need the federal government to build parks and sidewalks

Your governor can as well just create state railways, state electricity just like what Lagos is doing.

Continue giving excuses to the thief sitting in the government house of your state[/quote]

thebosstrevor1:
How can they perform.

They all have state civil services which manage the state, they pay salaries from allocations given to them.

Ask yourself, what are they doing with all those allocations( money).

Common sense is not actually common. Your argument proves that.