How we used potent words to demobilise soldiers and their amoured tanks —Pa Olalere Ayalu, surviving leader of Agbekoya

Ayalu (invasion) is not a common name in Yorubaland. It sounds more of an alias, but that is the name of the current head of Agbekoya a Yoruba resistant movement that fought the state in the late 1960’s. His full name is Pa Olalere Ayalu, an Ibadan indigene whose exploits during two clashes between the farmers and government forces were phenomenal. He is the only surviving member of the three-man team that started the dreaded group. In this interview by TUNDE BUSARI, the old man goes down memory lane on the circumstances that resulted in the formation of the farmers’ group against the defunct Western Region government.

 

Your name sounds more of a stage name than reality. It also elicits fear. Can you share with us how you came about that name?

Why are you interested in the origin of the name? Are you not a Yoruba? Are you hearing it for the first time?

 

It is good our readers hear from the horse’s mouth. Because it is not a common name, people would be curious about it.

If you insist, I think I should use this opportunity to take you back to my days as a young man. I was not too young when I was given the name.

 

Who gave you the name?

You will be surprised if I tell you that a policeman gave me the name. The policeman was then working at Iyaganku.

 

Interesting, why did he give you such name?

It is a long story.

 

There is enough time to listen to your story. You must be a tough man then to have earned that name.

I was not really a tough man and not a weak man either. I was in-between. But if other people say I am tough, then they know what they see to say so.

 

How did the policeman give you Ayalu?

It happened in the 60s when a group of men attacked me on the farmland. They were 31 in number. They challenged me to a fight but met what they did not expect.

 

What did you do to them? Did you kill them?

I could not have killed them because I am not a murderer. I only made a little effort to defend myself and my little efforts helped me to escape their aggression.

 

Have you not disclosed the bone of contention leading to the attack?

I was farming on a portion of land at Kukumada Village near the present Egbeda. The land was leased to me by the head (Mogaji) of the owning family. Then suddenly few members of the gang, one day, came to me and asked me about who gave me the permission to plant on the land. I told them it was the head of the family. They left. I also went to report the matter to the family head who told me to ignore those people. That was it. The next thing they did was to go back to the farm, six days later. I was not around. I was at home and they sent one of them to me, asking I should come and meet them on the farm. On getting there, they were about 31 people. I could not believe what I saw.

What followed, after few questions were thrown at me, was a slap from behind. Before I looked at that direction, another slap landed on the other side of my cheek. That was how I started to speak (incantation). One after the other, they fell till the last person. I then quickly left the scene for Iyaganku Divisional Police Station where I reported the matter to the police. The officers, led by one Mr Akinsanya, did not believe until they followed me to the farm. We met all of them on the ground. Then the police returned to Ibadan to take a lorry with which they carried all of them to the station. It was at the station they all regained consciousness. That was how the police said to me that se iwo nikan ni o ya lu won  (you alone invaded them) and now gave me the name.

 

Can we now link this feat to your membership of Agbekoya?

We had not formed Agbekoya then. I was just a farmer.

 

When and how did you form Agbekoya?

Agbekoya was formed with the blessings of our fathers. When I say blessings of our fathers, I mean their full support with all they used to protect themselves when faced with challenges.

 

Can you be explicit on what you meant by challenges?

I mean when they faced problems like attacks. Naturally when one is attacked, one needs to defend himself, if one cannot do a counter-attack. Our fathers were deep in this area. They did not need to carry physical guns before they hit their opponents hard. What they used were words of mouth, powerful words that commanded things to happen. These are those things they bequeathed to us and these are what I mean by their support.

 

What actually triggered the clash between Agbekoya and the government?

We, farmers, were contented with our status as farmers. We did not leave our farmland until during festivals. Our life was on the farm and we were okay. But suddenly, tax collectors came and started to harass us. Later they said women, our wives, would also be levied. Then, we knew the fight was coming. At the same time, those they called town planners would also come around and demolish (mud) houses under construction. They would say there was no approval before the structure was being put up. And we knew what it took to build a house. We knew how difficult it was. These reasons forced us to come together and talked about what to do to resist further marching on our rights. Our leader was Tafa Balogun. He was followed by Sadiku Bogunbe. I was next to Bogunbe in the hierarchy.

 

Your group was feared. What was the secret?

There was no secret. And those who feared us knew why they must be afraid. They knew we were for a just cause. How could you ask women to pay tax when these women were only doing auxiliary works for their husbands on the farm? Where would they want them to make the money to be levied? We felt it was better to die than to allow the oppression.

 

Can you recall you major engagements with the government?

Yes. That was the fight we had at Akanran in 1968. It was a tough battle for both of us. It was evident that the government underrated us and many policemen drafted to the field lost their lives. It was not a straight fight. It was more like what they call guerrilla warfare because we were prepared to end the tax regime. But in the end, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was the leader of Yoruba, intervened. Awolowo timely intervened and arranged a meeting between us and the government officials at Mapo Hall. The late General Adeyinka Adebayo was then the governor of the Western Region. The Mapo Peace meeting settled the matter. I can also recall another fight at Akufo.

 

Was the Akufo fight also tough?

It was tough to the extent that the government had to draft soldiers to the field. We used words to demobilise their vehicles. If you go to Akufo now, you will see relics of the vehicles. But in that war, our young members betrayed us.

 

There is Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) now, which to some extent could be called a modern version of Agbekoya. Is there any relationship between you and OPC?

I think the circumstance that brought up OPC was also protesting. It was a protest against the injustice done on a Yoruba son who won an election which was generally believed to be free and fair. There is a good relationship between us, but we don’t condone indiscipline and excessive use of force. We don’t react unless we feel our continued silence would not be good for the interest of the masses.

 

Specifically, do you have a relationship with the Aare Ona Kakanfo, Gani Adams, who rose to public space through OPC?

Aare Ona Kakanfo is not an ordinary title. Whoever holds the title is our person. We hold Aare in high esteem because he is holding a higher military position in Yorubaland.

 

How do you think he can use the position to influence politics?

He is above politics now, but everybody is a political animal at the same time. In fact, there is not going to be elections in 2019 in Yorubaland if our leaders don’t address the issue of restructuring and place the Yoruba people where they should be. We are the pacesetter for the rest of the country. But the spirit of leading others is no longer there because of the existing political structure. All Awolowo had predicted during his lifetime are coming to pass now. We should not fold our arm.

 

This statement sounds like a threat. Is your group planning another fight with the government?

We are not threatening and we are not also planning any fight. What we are saying is that enough is enough for Fulani herdsmen who find joy in destroying our farmland and go away with it. They are behaving as if they own all of us. It is the responsibility of our leaders to voice out our feelings that we will no more take the injustice. We know what we go through to plant and grow crops. Then some cows would now come and invade the farm and destroy everything. The news we read on the attacks those people carried out in other places is not good at all. How can they carry AK-47 about in the bush? It means they are on the different mission, only using cows to cover their intention.

Don’t you see an end to your power when the youths, I observe, are not groomed to succeed you?

It is not difficult to teach the youths all those things, but the fear is that the current generation lacks the patience and wisdom to use the power. For example, the so-called One Million Boys are turning to a thorn in the flesh of the people of Ibadan, disturbing the peace. They are nothing but instruments of politicians. When you have a group of young men threatening the security and the politicians are watching, you should know that they have something in common. Yoruba leaders must come together to talk about the best way to move us forward.