Yoruba crowns for lunch

The employment of the synecdoche, Crown, to convey the magnitude of what is happening to the Yoruba Race is deliberate. As the saying goes:”nothing evil must proceed from the mouth of the chief priest”. There are certain things two ears (another synecdoche) must not hear. One of such things is the abomination of the kidnapping of a traditional ruler. But more than a million ears have heard about it. In fact, the entire world has read about it. That is a monumental embarrassment to the Yoruba Race. Before going further, I will tell you two short stories to underscore the magnitude of the evil that has befallen the land. One of the stories I witnessed as a secondary school student in Form Four. The other one, I heard from my father. When a child says “this is what my father told me”, you don’t argue with him. Sometime in 1985, a ravaging hyena invaded my hometown. Having operated successfully in some neighbouring towns, the hyena decided to visit Odo-Oro Ekiti (then Araromi Ekiti). Within days, the community lost hundreds of livestock to the carnivorous being. It operated by taking out the intestines of the victims. We knew it was ‘alupayida”-a metaphysical ritual that would turn the slain animals to live ones, to be sold at distant markets. You don’t believe that? Too bad for you!  We cried to the reigning Onise of Odo -Oro Ekiti, Oba Ojo Amupitan Oluyeye, Ojeyebugiotewo. The last of his name, Ojoyebugiotewo means “He who ascends the throne and uproots the tree of conspiracy”. He assured us that all would be well. Then one fine morning, we all woke up to see the carcass of the hyena; killed by Oba Oluyeye himself. He was reputed to be a great hunter before ascending the throne. The hyena was burnt to ashes at the palace and the entire ashes packed and packaged by Oba Oluyeye. That was when Obas were Obas! No “fear gripped” him because of a rampaging hyena. The second story was a clash of superiority between two Obas in the same Ekiti where, traditional rulers are now seeking the help of the military to help to chase away mere kidnappers. According to the story, a lesser king, who believed he was well armed with charms, had chosen to sit on the seat meant for the then Ewi of Ado, Oba Ajimudaoro Aladesanmi I, during one of their Pelupelus. Pelupelu is the monthly meeting of traditional rulers in Yoruba. Oba Ajimudaoro Aladesanmi I reigned as Ewi between 1886 and 1910. He was the father of Oba Daniel Aladesanmi II, who reigned from 1937 to 1983. Ajimudaoro means “he who wakes up to hold the sword of the deity. He asked the junior Oba to stand up from his seat and the junior one refused. Oba Aladesanmi I had no time for such silly jokes. He simply dropped one arm of his agbada and a partridge (aparo) flew out. The partridge had a mission; it used its wings to slap the recalcitrant Oba in the face and he became blind instantly. Solution to blindness? He got up from Oba Aladesanmi’s seat and the revered monarch folded back his agbada. The partridge reappeared and slapped the junior Oba back in the face. He regained his sight. End of story! Yoruba Obas are not called deputies to the deities for fun. But modernity has changed all that. Little wonder we are where we are now.

The headline for the Cover of the April 17, 2021 edition of the Saturday Tribune says it all in a scary way. The headline is as repugnant as the content. It epitomises the shame of an ancient institution, desecrated by modernism. The kicker screams: “Fear grips Obas as kidnappers invade palace”. The rider adds insult to the injury thus: “Abductors scale fence, whisk away Ekiti oba”. Abomination! What follows nails it all. It reads: “We want soldiers to flush out kidnappers -Obas”. What! The magazine  story was about the last Thursday invasion of the palace of Obadu of Ilemeso-Ekiti, Oba David Oyewumi, by bandits, who abducted the traditional ruler. The gunmen, said to be six in number, gained access to the palace by scaling the fence and shot their ways into the inner recess of the palace. “In the process of shooting, they gained entrance into the bungalow where the traditional ruler and members of his family were and started beating them”. The invaders asked for the Oba and “Immediately they sighted him, they dragged him and took him out of the palace to an unknown destination”. Reading the report, and as I was writing this piece, my mind kept running to the Ilemeso palace and figures, images and scenes of His Royal Highness being beaten by mere bandits, kept flooding my mental space. What were the “irunmoles” (400 deities) on guard duty doing when Alayeluwa was being flogged? Questions, questions and questions! To say that I am saddened about the incident, is to say the least. It is not just a shame to the people of Ilemeso-Ekiti that this happened, it is a shame to the entire Yoruba Race, that a sitting Oba could have his palace invaded, flogged and whisked away by hoodlums. The incident happened on Thursday last week. I did this piece late Sunday night/Monday morning. There was no news about the whereabouts of Kabiyesi, Obadu of Ilemeso-Ekiti. Yet we say “Ori ade ki sun igbo”-the head that wears the crown does not sleep in the bush! This one has spent five days and four nights in the bush. The world is DEAD! In that same report, we were reminded that on April 9, some seven days before Obadu’s abduction, the Elewu of Ewu-Ekiti, Oba Adetutu Ajayi, narrowly escaped death. He was shot by bandits who attempted to kidnap him. “He sustained severe gunshot injuries and is now hospitalised in one of the medical facilities in the state”, the report added. I recall that when this column debuted on December 1, 2020, the first piece, titled, “The Killing Of Olufon”,  was on the November 26, 2020 dastardly killing of the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adelusi, by suspected herdsmen. I did say in that piece that the killing of the Olufon was a big embarrassment to us as a people. Nothing has changed since then. The situation has rather gone worse. Yoruba need to address these aberrations. The show of shame must stop and stop now!

The problem with the traditional institutions in Yoruba land is not farfetched. Our Obas are being killed, fatally shot or being kidnapped in the precincts of their palaces because many have left the systems and processes that produced them. Once a man is crowned an Oba, he becomes second in command only  to God. He holds the power of life and death over his domain. He becomes Iku (death), Arun (Disease), Adanu (Loss) and Erujeje (The fearfully feared). He takes precedence over principalities and powers as “oko oso ati aje” (the husband of wizards and witches). The spirits of his forebears go before and with him. His palace is guarded by the’ irunmoles’-the 400 deities of the land. He becomes impregnable, untouchable and one that cannot be harmed. He, however, enjoys all the listed privileges on the grounds that he obeys all the traditions and customs of the land. But what do we have nowadays? Obas who are only interested in the appellation of ‘His Royal Highness’ but not ready to perform the traditional rites and rituals that make the throne what it is. Instead of pouring libations at the shrines of the deities, they go for monthly Holy Ghost Services of different churches. Rather than feed and bathe the shrines of Ogun, the god of iron, with the blood of rotund dogs, roast yam and hens, they go for anointing services. Little wonder that the ones to be feared are now “gripped by fear”! I am not against anybody being Born Again or becoming the Chief Imam. No. I am also Born Again and spirit filled by the grace and mercy of God. But I know the limitations of my calling as a Christian. I know that it is either I am a Christian all out or a traditionalist. You cannot be an Oba and at the same time be a pastor. Samuel did not anoint himself King over Israel. He looked for Saul and David. Saul, again, lost the kingdom because he attempted to perform the role of a priest. God is God of orderliness and there is no confusion in His presence. The deities in palaces do not speak in tongues. They only understand ‘ayajo’ (evocation), ‘ofo’ (invocation) and ‘ogede’ (incantation), ifoya (enchantment) and such esoteric proclamations. You don’t give them ‘iwo’ (abominable stuff) and expect them to function. How does a bullet enter an Oba when we have ‘ayeta’-bullet repellant? How will bandits not waylay an Oba who abandons ‘afeeri’-the disappearing charm- for rosary? An Oba who drops ‘owo’-respect charm- for anointing oil will not only be beaten by bandits, his households will partake in the flogging. A ‘Born Again’ Oba passed on some years ago and his corpse was  being taken to the mortuary by his children in order to evade the traditional rites of passage on his remains, before the community hijacked it. What an abomination!. That is the extent to which we have desecrated the throne. We need to put an end to this embarrassment. Whoever aspires to be an Oba should know what is in it  for him beyond the appurtenances of the colourful office. Jesus paid taxes to Caesar because He knew that was the tradition. How on earth would any bandit have attempted to kidnap Oba Ajimudaoro Aladesanmi I, when he had partridges in his pouch? Let us go back to our roots. All Born Again Christians should be encouraged to carry their Bibles and traditional rulers should hold the “Iru Agbas”-horsetail of the elders.  That was what our ancestors did to safeguard their stools, their jurisdictions and the customs that were bequeathed to them by the alales- owners of the land! That should, under no circumstances, be negotiable.

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