To Become Alaafin, you have to swallow 200 bullets...!

[UncleTisha]

I dug graves to make ends meet after my father was sent into exile – Alaafin
By Vincent Akanmode and Adeola Balogun

Published: Saturday, 20 Sep 2008

Source ====>

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?t...00809201215881

In a few days from now, the drums will be rolled out in celebration of the 70th birthday of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi. In this interview with VINCENT AKANMODE and ADEOLA BALOGUN, the royal father recounts his tortuous journey through life.



In a few days from now, you will mark your 70th birthday. How would you describe life in the past 70 years?

Well, life has been very eventful and one has gone through very many travails and challenges. But because of one’s philosophy, one has been able to face life with courage, hope and the fear of God.
What are the challenges?

There is a mythology surrounding the stool of the Alaafin. The Alaafin inherits the attributes of divinity, which the Yoruba believe means death. As the Alaafin-elect, before you are crowned, you are taken through several propitiations and sacrifices. You are taken to the hollow grounds of Yoruba ancestors. You are made to swear an oath and make a covenant with the forebears that you will defend, project and enhance the traditions, customs and values of the Yoruba people.

This is mandatory for you to become the Alaafin. Also, you are inducted to the myths of Sango and other gods. You are taken before the Ifa corpus as a way of studying some philosophies guiding the institution. Once you pass through these, you eliminate fear completely in your life and imbibe the philosophy of service to humanity. You no longer have a private life of your own; the totality of your life must be spent in service to people and humanity.

When you are taken through all this, you become the embodiment of Yoruba customs and tradition. You radiate it and project it in your day-to-day appearances. Before you are crowned, they take 200 bullets, put them in the fire and melt them together, after which you are made to swallow it with concoctions. Then you become the beneficiary of death, ailment, predicament and controversy. You are then expected to defend and, if possible, die for the cause of the Yoruba. That is the reason why the mythology surrounding the Alaafin is a living one.


How old were you when you ascended the throne?

Well, I have spent 38 years now. You can add up the rest. Let me give you an explanation to help you: I was selected by the Oyo kingmakers on November 18, 1968, after the demise of my great predecessor, Oba Bello Gbadegesin Ladigbolu, who died in February that year.

In March, there was a meeting of the Oyomesi, six voted for me, one abstained. For political reasons, the then government of the old Western Region rejected the outcome, ordering a fresh selection. But because of some eminent Nigerians who are forthright; people like Chief Emmanuel Akanmu, people like Chief Olopoeniyan, people like Dr Omololu Olunloyo, Omodehin Taiwo, they asked the Oyomesi to sit again and after sitting again, they elected me.

Eventually, the exercise was suspended for political reasons and it began again in 1970. In 1970, November 18, among other 10 contestants, I was selected. This time, the government did not have any choice. They published a gazette on 19 December ratifying my selection. By the 20th December, I moved into the palace and began the rites. I was officially presented the staff of office on 14 January 1971, at an impressive ceremony witnessed by thousands of people and covered by the world press.

In 1968, before the exercise began, I made a prediction that I was going to be the next Alaafin. A week later, the Daily Times carried the story that the young prince who predicted a week ago that he would be the next Alaafin had been selected by the majority of the kingmakers as the Alaafin of Oyo. Maybe that was what infuriated the powers that be at that time.


That means that you were just about 32 years then. At that age, were you not afraid of the rites you had to pass through, especially swallowing the bullets and all that?

Three elements helped. I took into boxing primarily as a means of developing my character. I had a very good background. Let me tell you something, I think many people don’t know: I am a practising Muslim but I was brought up in strict Christian homes under the tutelage of very devout Christians. Firstly, I stayed in Iseyin where I studied the Quran.

After completing the Quranic education, I came back to Oyo, but my father would not allow me to stay in the palace. He believed that the influences in the palace would not be good for a proper Western education, so he sent me out again to live with a headmaster, Mr. Olatoregun, at the Demonstration Practising School. Still, he was not satisfied. He then took me to Abeokuta to stay with Sir Oladapo Ademola, the Alake of Egbaland.

But my stay there was short-lived because during the women agitation against taxation, led by that irrepressible and indefatiguable woman leader, Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the Alake was asked to abdicate the throne and go on exile, and I had to accompany him. So my education stopped. My father believed that during adversity, a man should not desert his friend, so he asked me to remain with him. But the Alake insisted that I should leave so that my education would not suffer.

Yet my father would not allow me to stay in the palace; he took me to live with Sir Adekunle Abayomi, a medical doctor at Tinubu, Lagos. I became a member of the Methodist church at Obalende. That prepared me to face life without fear. I developed my mental ability and retentive memory while at that place. And because I stayed in Obalende, a miniature Nigeria, in order to make a headway, one had to be tough. That was why I took to boxing, which helped me later in life.

I remember that one question I was asked by the Oyomesi was that since I wanted to become the Alaafin, what did I know about the Alaafin of Oyo? I told them that the Alaafin was the greatest traditional institution ever founded by any African potentate, and that the Oyo palace was the largest and one of the most enduring empires, lasting for more than 600 uniterrupted years.

And for me to become the Alaafin, I must be prepared to face the challenges. I think they were impressed. They said okay, but that I was very young. I said it was not a matter of age, and I gave them instances of young men who assumed positions of authorities in their lifetimes, like the Mansa Kankan Musa of the old Mali Empire and Peter the Great who westernised Russia. I told them that if they gave me the opportunity, I would be able to face it and learn along the way with the youthful energy in me.


You said you had both Islamic and Christian backgrounds. How easily were you able to reconcile these with the traditional institution of the Alaafin and the rituals you had to perform?


They are not in conflict at all. Let me tell you something: there are people who do not believe there was Jesus or Muhammed, but they are free. Faith is what matters. God listens to you on the basis of your faith in Him. The Yoruba were the first to believe in one supreme being called Eledumare; nobody taught them. The Yoruba believed in sanma meje and ile meje (seven heavens and seven grounds). Before Aristotle and Socrates came out with their theory of metaphysics, the Yoruba had their own.

The best people who know the Bible and the Quran are the Yoruba. Don’t forget Bishop Ajayi Crowder who translated the Bible into seven languages. The first practising lawyer in Nigeria, Sapara Williams, was a Yoruba man. He graduated from Fourabay College at the age of 19 in 1878. The first woman doctor was Yoruba, Mrs Abimbola nee Akerele. The first woman to drive a car was Mrs Ransome-Kuti. So, there is something in Yoruba that Alaafin must bring out. They excel not because they are Christians or Muslims, but because we are born and nurtured in a certain culture, which is the responsibility of the Alaafin to showcase.


Coming into the palace this afternoon, we saw you doing some physical exercises, including boxing. At 70, you are still in love with boxing. How did you develop the interest?

During our days, we had the good fortune to be trained by experts. I told you that I took to boxing primarily as a means of developing my character. Where I stayed, unless you were able to hold your own, you would be trampled upon. To be able to excel, you must engage in one sporting activity or the other. Right from when I was in Tinubu Methodist School, I was nicknamed Local Stanley Matthew in reference to the Stanley Matthew who was the first professional footballer to be knighted. I took to boxing in order to discipline myself and be like other boxing heroes of the time. And my education at St Gregory’s College also gave me an insight into the fact that human struggle is for life. In order to have a healthy body, you must have a sound mind.


Maybe you would have pursued a career in boxing if you had not become the Alaafin?

Well, I don’t know. But I tried to do what I was supposed to do and I had over 52 bouts. I lost only two, which were disputed.


As a prince, what was your father’s reaction to your involvement in boxing?

I was not living with my father. I didn’t stay long with my father, like I told you earlier. Because of the problem my father had later, I was pushed out and I had to find a way of ekeing out a living. I had to stay with the Osadebey family in Obalende. I was sleeping in the passage and I had to take a job as a casual labourer registered with the Lagos City Council. I dug graves to make ends meet, because as at that time, my father had been forced into exile. This was where I developed the strong will to survive.


How did you feel when your father was sent on exile?

Well, because of the Islamic background that my father had, he believed that he was wrongly treated. One of the things he said was that maybe that was how God wanted it. But he believed that by proxy, he would still come back. There was an enquiry that was set up by the Western Region, headed by a Queen’s counsel, Mr. Lyord, who was a British lawyer. They brought up 11 charges against him. But at the end of the day, the panel exonerated my father of all the charges. The government never published the report.


Why do you think he was witch-hunted?

So many reasons. Most of them political. There have been realignments of forces, so I don’t want to go to into that. Otherwise, so many people will be offended, including those who are now my friends.

[UncleTisha]

How would you describe your relationship with other prominent obas in Yorubaland?

Very very cordial.


But there have been some controversies concerning supremacy?

You see, the issue of who is supreme among the obas is a 20th Century phenomenon. No oba can say he is greater than the Alaafin. Up till now, there is no oba who has come out to make such claims; they only use surrogates. If any oba wants to attack the Alaafin, he uses a baale or another inconsequential element to do that, whereas the Alaafin has come out openly to say he is the head of the Yoruba obas and nobody has controverted that.

If you go to Sir Lugard?s political memoranda in 1917, he detailed the hierarchy of all the traditional rulers in the north and the south. My father or my grandfather was not there to influence Lord Lugard to write it. If you say Johnson had bias for Oyo, go and see C. R. Neeving, who stated unequivocally and authoritatively that the Alaafin is the supreme oba in Yorubaland. Go to Johnson, see the treaty signed by the Alaafin in 1881,1888, stating, ‘I, Adeyemi I, Alaafin of Oyo, King of Yorubaland.’

In his letter to the British in 1881, 1888, during the internecine wars, he wrote, “I, king of the Yoruba…” There is no dispute over that. I have challenged them to a debate, at least for 10 minutes, but they have run away because the facts are there. Somebody wrote recently that the first settlement was ruled by the first Alake. Do you believe that the first settlement of Yoruba was established by Alake who was established in 1830?

Do you believe the history of Yoruba started in 1830? The first Alake in Abeokuta, Okukenu, was a Sagbua, a chief of the Alaafin. Go to the book, Egba and her neighbours, written by an eminent professor of history, Professor Sabiru Biobaku, page 15. He wrote that the Egba forest lay within the remotest part of the Alaafin empire. And how the Alaafin superimposed his authority over the Alake and all other Egba traditional chiefs is acknowledged.

Go to the salary scale of all the obas in 1938, the record of the payslips is in the palace here. Oyo province was constituted on January 14 1914 and Ife and Ijesa were all under Oyo Province. For purposes of effective administration, Oyo Province was broken down into three, namely Oyo Division of Oyo Province; Ibadan Division of Oyo Province and Ife/Ijesa Division of Oyo Province. And principal obas in these areas were designated district heads.

In Ibadan, the Olubadan was the district head of Ibadan, Ooni was the district head of Ife, Orangun was the district head of Ila and Owa was the district head of Igbomina. The Alaafin was the paramount head of the whole province, and in ranking, the Aremo, who was the crown prince of the Alaafin, was the district head of Oyo Province. Twenty district courts were opened for the 20 districts in the province, and the Alaafin never sat in any of the district courts, but at the court of appeal over the 20 district courts.

When there was a problem between Ife and Ijesa, Sir John Macpherson asked the Alaafin to intervene. The Alaafin sent Are Ilugbohun and Alapini and a number of Oyomesi to go and adjudicate. The boundary fixed by the Alaafin at Enuowa still subsists till today. Ditto the dispute between Ife and Ede, Alaafin’s ruling still subsists till today. When Ibadan and Egba quarrelled over Bakasari, the Alaafin settled it and said Bakasari belonged to Ibadan, and he made all the parties to sign an undertaking.


To be specific, there were insinuations that the old Oyo State had to be split into two, Oyo and Osun, because of the supremacy fight between you and the Ooni of Ife.

I would not know the inner workings of government. But I want to tell you this: politics brought out the Ooni. There are so many things we cannot cover in the course of this interview. Like I told you, the question of whether the Alaafin is supreme is a 20th Century phenomenon, when Awolowo emerged the premier of the old Western Region. That was when the government propped up the Ooni. And the only way they could do it successfully then was to get rid of the Alaafin, which they did by deposing the Alaafin, and Ooni Adesoji Aderemi on August 8, 1960 was appointed the governor of the Western Region. The governorship thing was to give leverage to a man who never founded any empire.

When they organised the traditional rulers’ forum in Abuja, Yoruba obas were ridiculed. They put all the emirs on the first row and put Yoruba obas, including the Ooni on the second row. When I came in, I asked for my seat and they wanted me to go and sit at the back. I just removed one of the tags and sat beside the Sultan of Sokoto.

Under the Clifford Constitution in 1922, two obas represented the whole of Nigeria at the legislative council – the Sultan of Sokoto and the Alaafin of Oyo. The Alaafin represented the entire south in Lagos. I left the place and went home, wrote a strongly worded letter to General Jeremiah Useni and copied the late General Abacha. Abacha invited me and I told him that government is a continuum. He reasoned with me and corrected that. The Alake and the Awujale never fought their own cause but I fought mine.

When they asked us for a meeting in Abuja, they asked us to bring our aides for hotel accommodation. The emirs would bring about eight and they put them in suits while they reserved two rooms for me. I just packed to one of the presidential suits. They said but it was not reserved for me, and I said they didn’t have to do that, I did it myself. You see, as the Alaafin, you cannot fear anything.


Was it this supremacy thing you were trying to prove when you recently appointed Mrs Alaba Lawson the Iyalode of Yorubaland?

Nobody is disputing anything. No oba in Yorubaland can say anything to the contrary. It is only the Alaafin that can do it. Are you talking about Dr Fasehun who had gone to celebrate with the Abacha family; somebody who is not consistent?


How is your family life?

I have a very robust family life. I inherited a lot of women in the palace, some of whom are old enough to be my mother, but they take delight in being called Ayaba. Apart from the spiritual aspect of it, one other thing I learnt from them is that they are also the trainers of the Alaafin, because they are custodians of the palace tradition. They are mothers to various sections of the community. They teach me everything about the palace. The palace administration of Oyo is one of the best and the most unique the world over. Many of them head so many compounds and sections. They wear the crown for the Alaafin.


How many of them did you inherit?

That is one of the mysteries we cannot tell anybody.


But you also took many wives.

You must have many wives, not for just conjugal reason, but to take over from the old generation and sustain the institution. For example, the women propitiate the crown that the Alaafin wears; I don’t keep it. Unless there is a very important occasion, I don’t wear the crown. If I want to wear it, it is only a woman who has reached her menopause that can wear it for me, and she has to do it from the back. No oba can wear the Alaafin of Oyo’s crown for one hour. The longest time I have won it so far was for 40 minutes.


Because of the weight?

It is not because of the weight but because of the mythology. That is why you don’t see the Alaafin wearing the crown always like some obas do. Some even put theirs in car boots take them all over the place.


How much of education did you have?

Like I told you, my education was disrupted a lot of time because of the various places I lived. I attended St. Gregory’s College, Lagos and did other courses. I was going to study Law when my father died in February 1960. All that I had was as a result of self-development.


What is your take on the agitation for Ibadan State?

Anybody can ask for any state; that is not a problem. I am not opposed to anything like that.


This issue of the chairmanship of Oyo State traditional council?

There is no issue; there is a law. And when there is a law, you either follow it or you go to court. There is no controversy over the law which says that Alaafin shall be the permanent chairman of the council.


We read it in the paper recently that you were so excited by the the election tribunal ruling that you said you, the traditional rulers, would have sunk with the governor if the outcome was otherwise?

I don’t want to take issues with any newspaper or anybody. I was quoted out of context. What I actually reacted to was the statement by Ibadan people who said they were the only people who could be governor. Ibadan people should not have allowed a non-Ibadan indigene to become the deputy governor since they knew that the mantle of leadership would automatically fall on the deputy whenever the governor is not available.

For one reason or the other, Ladoja was fighting battles on various fronts; he was fighting with Adedibu, Adeojo, the party hierarchy in Abuja and the president. While he was doing that, he allowed the house of assembly to slip off his hands. In other states, the leadership of the party is given to the governor, but curiously, in Oyo State, it was given to Adedibu. I went to him and advised him against the futility of such action but he didn’t listen.

So I made the statement in reaction to what Ibadan said that it was their birthright to be governors of the state. By the time he was reinstated after he had been impeached, the deputy had consolidated. I said all of us would have been in trouble since Ibadan people said the governorship was their birthright. The essence of belonging to the same party is to share ideas. But when everything is reduced to a birthright, it is a dangerous political statement, because in future elections, people would think twice before they give their vote.


A turbulent time in your reign was the assassination of your former Asipa?

There was no turbulence. It was the making of the press to hit the Alaafin. The man offended me, I reported him and he was dismissed. But the government of Bola Ige begged me and I forgave him and recalled him. I gave him conditions which he must fulfilled but he went back to complain to the governor. But the governor reasoned with me by telling him that I appointed him my chief and that he should go back to me and sort himself out. He was told that out of 17 candidates, the Alaafin appointed him. He was told that he was not the official candidate of his family which presented 17 people before the Alaafin appointed him. Because of the circumstances of the case, I would only tell you any other thing off record.

[WaleAkin]

you have to swallow 200 bullets...!

Kalashnicov or Dane gun bullets?

[VOR]

An interesting interview!

When they organised the traditional rulers’ forum in Abuja, Yoruba obas were ridiculed. They put all the emirs on the first row and put Yoruba obas, including the Ooni on the second row. When I came in, I asked for my seat and they wanted me to go and sit at the back. I just removed one of the tags and sat beside the Sultan of Sokoto.

Under the Clifford Constitution in 1922, two obas represented the whole of Nigeria at the legislative council – the Sultan of Sokoto and the Alaafin of Oyo. The Alaafin represented the entire south in Lagos. I left the place and went home, wrote a strongly worded letter to General Jeremiah Useni and copied the late General Abacha. Abacha invited me and I told him that government is a continuum. He reasoned with me and corrected that. The Alake and the Awujale never fought their own cause but I fought mine.

When they asked us for a meeting in Abuja, they asked us to bring our aides for hotel accommodation. The emirs would bring about eight and they put them in suits while they reserved two rooms for me. I just packed to one of the presidential suits. They said but it was not reserved for me, and I said they didn’t have to do that, I did it myself. You see, as the Alaafin, you cannot fear anything.

Their own cause is not biting the finger that was feeding them ke!

[emj]

Uncle T...hmmm, your Alafin sabi chance people sha...gad dem....and it's to be expected, afterall ogbe ota mii...swallowed bullets..chei

[chanchaga]

I have eaten bullets too. I had 60 before I woke up.

[Soul Sista]

Whatever you say about their politics, I really like the Alaafin and the Oba of Benin.

[Ewuro]

What is the role of traditional rulers in the current system? Do they contribute to progress or are they impostors dragging people backward? How much do we spend maintaining them? Is this money well spent? I understand every local government in kano contributes 2 million Naira to the Emir every month making a total of 86 million Naira a month for one person. How much is contributed to the Alafin and other traditional rulers?

Do they contribute to culture in any meaningful way? Or Are we just looking backward? In some other countries, monarchy was abolished. Is that a good thing that Nigeria could copy? Contributions are welcome.

Are the traditional rulers equal? Should they be equal? How would you feel if your Oba/Obi/Emir is rated lower than another one? The Olubadan and Soun of Ogbomosho insists the chairmanship of Oyo state traditional rulers be rotated? How do you feel about this?

Should elected politicians take instructions from traditional rulers?

[blooming_i]

Wow! This is history 101. It is a great story. This Alafin is highly intelligent, going by all his analysis of historical events.

Kabiyesi ooo.

[Mikky jaga]

Originally Posted by blooming_i

Wow! This is history 101. It is a great story. This Alafin is highly intelligent, going by all his analysis of historical events.

Kabiyesi ooo.

History 101 according to the Alaafin. Wait till you hear the version according to the other side, you'll wonder if they are referring to the same Yoruba race.

[RAYNOSA]

To Become Alaafin...............Of Oyo,you have to swallow 200 bullets.Then to be Asiwaju of the whole Yoruba Land na em be say you go swallow 2000 bullets.....................:rolley es:


Ewuro...........I go answer dat your question later.

[VOR]

Originally Posted by Mikky jaga

History 101 according to the Alaafin. Wait till you hear the version according to the other side, you'll wonder if they are referring to the same Yoruba race.

Oga Mikky

Are you saying that this history lesson from the Alaafin is incorrect? Can the Ooni do better?

Just an enquiring mind o!

[blooming_i]

Originally Posted by Mikky jaga

History 101 according to the Alaafin. Wait till you hear the version according to the other side, you'll wonder if they are referring to the same Yoruba race.

Hmm, if there's a different version from the one under reference, with all the names and dates, then someone is not being truthful.

[Ewuro]

Originally Posted by blooming_i

Wow! This is history 101. It is a great story. This Alafin is highly intelligent, going by all his analysis of historical events.

Kabiyesi ooo.

The Ekitis, The Ijebus, Aworis, Egbados and majority of the Egbas were never part of the Oyo Kingdom or as some people may like to call it 'empire'. This puts the Alafin story in a different perspective.

In modern context anyway, I do not see the Alake of Egbaland, The Awujale of Ijebu Ode, The Ekiti Obas, The Ayangburin of Ikorodu, Oba of lagos accepting the superiority of any other Oba. They accept rotation of chairmanship under the principle of equality.

The Olubadan and Soun who were under Oyo Kingdoms have said categorically that the chairmanship in Oyo State need to be rotated as they are equal to the Alafin in prominence. The Olubadan even went further to say Ibadan, by virtue of being the biggest Yoruba city in size and population would not play second fiddle to Alafin or Oyo town.

Alafin Adeyemi's claims are therefore partly not accurrate in the context of the whole Yoruba. In the context of modern polity, those claims are simply not workable.

Much more, quite a number of Yoruba believe every Yoruba including the Oyos are from Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Oni. Hence Ile-Ife is regarded as the spiritual begining of the Yoruba.

Though, Awujale declared a while ago that the Ijebus came from wadai (wherever that is)

I am not a fan of any monarchical institution. It is not for me however to decree their abolition even if I could.

[Mikky jaga]

Originally Posted by VOR

Oga Mikky

Are you saying that this history lesson from the Alaafin is incorrect? Can the Ooni do better?

Just an enquiring mind o!

If you have been following the controversy, you will agree with me that there are as many versions of Yoruba history as there are obas in Yorubaland. You need to hear the Ooni version, the Oba of Lagos version, the Oba of Benin version among others and then you begin to wonder which of the versions is the accurate one.

To compound matters, there are historians with long academic degrees to back up each of these conflicting versions.

[UncleTisha]

"CIVILISATION STARTED FROM YORUBA KINGDOM" - ALAAFIN OF OYO

Friday, August 22, 2003

Source ====>


Alaafin of Oyo Kingdom, Alaiyeluwa Oba (Dr.) Abdul Hameed Olayiwola Adeyemi III
HE ALAAFIN OF OYO KINGDOM, Alaiyeluwa Oba (Dr.) Abdul Hameed Olayiwola Adeyemi III is a monarch with class. He is an enigma by every standard and a chance meeting with him is like an expository adventure through a school of history.

The very urbane monarch, who worked as an insurance officer before heeding the natural call of the gods, through the Oyomesi to ascend the throne of his fore-fathers as the Alaafin of the greatest kingdom in the history of the black race - The Oyo Kingdom - is a man at home with himself at all times, as he exudes confidence in all his dealings.

One enviable highpoint in the life of this great monarch is his deep knowledge and high sense of recounting historic events with facts and figures; and with an accuracy that'll beat the imagination of youthful intellectuals. The Alaafin, at his age still remembers events of over a hundred years old, and still writes his scripts unaided. He is a consummate reader and would pass any day, for a professor of ancient/modern history and archaeology.

He spoke to a team of Focus editorial staff recently in his expansive palace, on a wide range of issues, bordering more on the rich heritage of the famous Oyo kingdom. Welcome on a historic excursion!


Kabiyesi, we would like you to recount the history of the famous Oyo Kingdom for the benefits of your children in the Diaspora

The old Oyo Empire was one of the earliest and probably, the greatest independent race in West Africa, south of the equator. At the height of its existence, the old Oyo Empire dominated all Yoruba kingdoms namely Ife, Ijesha, Egba, Ijebu, Sabe and Owu. The area occupied by the Yoruba Kingdom in south-west Nigeria, is roughly enclosed by latitude 5 and 8 degree North of the equator and Longitude 5 and 21/2 degree East. There are two versions to the origin of the Yoruba race - Migration and Aboriginality. These two theories may not necessarily be contradictory in the sense that our oral tradition was handed down to us by purely non-natives.

But this is a universal phenomenon because if you realise that at one time in history, you have the whites in South Africa; the Eastern and Southern Rhodesia, all living together on the basis of long co-existence. The same experience is also recorded in the case of migration, as there are historical and empirical evidences documented in the famous Lugard lecture series, as well as, in the researches of Saburi Biobaku, (the world acclaimed historian) that the Yoruba race is so large and wide, that it stands today as the greatest and strongest empire ever, in the entire continent of Africa.

The reign of Oranmiyan marked a new phase in Yoruba history as it witnessed the executive transfer of political power from Ile-Ife to Oyo, and thereafter, Oyo become the political headquarter of the Yoruba race, and that is where the Alaafin presides from.

According to historical studies, the Oyo palace is estimated to be sitting on about 640 acres. We still have excavations of the old Oyo Empire, and centuries after, some of the walls of the old Oyo Empire, are still standing in its original form. That is a great testimony of the architectural ingenuity of the Yoruba race.

The old Yoruba Empire distinguished itself in the world; with three very distinctive and unique models. First, it evolved a wonderfully developed constitution, though unwritten. The average Yoruba man is governed by strong convention. Secondly, the Yorubas evolved a military system that allows them to develop weaponry. The Yorubas are the first to smith iron and thus, they built foundries from where they also produced agricultural implements to boost food production. Thirdly, the Yoruba race evolved a very practical method of administration, by adopting the cabinet system of governance. If you are a good student of the evolution of British Constitution, you'd know that the cabinet system came about in Britain only as a matter of temporal expedience; it was not by design. So, as far back as the 16th Century, the old Oyo Empire developed the cabinet system of government. And from the Prime Minister, to the Alaafin, and the various divisional heads, all tiers have their roles and responsibilities clearly spelt out and adhered to with separation of powers, and inputs for checks and balances.

The military command structure is so unique that the Aare Ona Kakanfo as the generalissimo of the military led the Oyo war lords successfully to many battles between the 13th and 16th century that preserved the territorial integrity, of the Yoruba race. And during this time, Oyo extended its territorial limits up to Nupe, Dahomey, Abome, Wema, and other parts of Togo land. And today, these people are offshoots of the great Yoruba Kingdom.


Can we then say that this extension was a sort of expansionist agenda?

I won't say it is. But you see, if you're surrounded by hostile neighbours, you have to be very vigilant. We trained our army first, to ward off all external aggression, as well as protect our territorial integrity so as to have peace and economic prosperity. And for Yorubas who are natural traders to go about their dealings without feeling insecure, wherever they are under the Alaafin's domain, there was need to extend our military might to protect our people, all over.

When Dahomey attacked the smaller state of Wema in 774, the royal heads there ran to Oyo for support and the Alaafin had to raise forces to recapture the town, and that was how Dahomey came under the control of the Alaafin at the time.

It couldn't be expansionist rather; it is as a result of the aggression by other forces threatening the existence of smaller states. If you read your history books very well, you'd discover that the mere mention of "Alaafin" or "Oyo" strikes fear into other adjoining towns. The old Oyo Empire is dreaded and admired for its wide powers and influence.

Because of the strong history culturally, politically, linguistically, and traditionally there are so many things that Oyo gave to the Yoruba nation. The language we speak is the authentic version of Yoruba dialect, the drums, the clothes we wear, the way we build our houses, our ingenious corridor systems, and our underground drainage system which was designed many centuries ago. One can therefore say that civilisation started from the Yoruba race! The Yorubas established a contact with the Portuguese as far back as the 17th century and the Alaafin had maintained an ambassador with the Court of Portugal, ever since.


Kabiyesi, you have said that civilisation started from here. Would it be right then to say that Yorubas were Oyo, and vice versa?

The Oyos were not called Yorubas originally. Other groups that made up the Yoruba race preferred at the time (centuries ago) to be called Egbas, Ijeshas and whatever name they desired. But by the 19th century there was need to forge a common ground and have a standard linguistic form hence, the Oyo dialect was embraced by all Yorubas. So Yorubas are Oyo's by origin.


Many Yoruba youths believe that a town like Ilorin ought to be under Oyo Kingdom. And recently some chiefs were up graded to First Class traditional heads. What is Kabiyesi's view on this?

You see, water will always find its level, and history is very potent, no matter how hard we try to submerge it. It's like blood and water; and you know too that blood is thicker than water. Ilorin has always been a Yoruba town. Afonja was sent there, as the generalissimo of the Yoruba soldiers to protect that flank of the Oyo kingdom from the invasion of the Fulani and the Nupes.

Somehow, he got too ambitious and invited the dissident groups to his camp; cutting himself away from the major ethnic groups. Having realized that he had betrayed them, the Yoruba stock organized a palace coup and overthrew him.

The history of Ilorin is well documented. There's nowhere in Africa that you'll see a Fulani man claiming possession of Ilorin. The language, culture, nomenclature, and even tradition of Ilorin are Yoruba; and Ilorins are Yorubas. There is no dispute about this empirical fact.


How do you run this expansive palace? Do you get funding from government and why has this palace not been developed as to the status of a tourist attraction?

Well, I have written so many memoranda to the government to declare the palace a national monument. First as a major tourist attraction and more for people, from far and wide to see the architectural ingenuity of our people, so that these things are not lost; for the benefit of today's generation and those to come in the future.

When Professor Armstrong (An American) who was the Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, read the memorandum, he came here. I conducted him round the palace, and through the underground buildings which allows the Alaafin to go round the palace without coming under the direct ray of sunlight or rainfall. He marvelled, and subsequently put up a paper to the National Museum but because of the political situation in the country at the time, nothing came out of that process.

Up till now, successive governments have not yet made up their minds on what to do in preserving this rich heritage of the Yoruba race. Whether to make it a national monument or a site for tourists does not seem to be their priority, for now.

As for your other question, the running and upkeep of the palace has been the responsibility of the working class men and women of the divisions that make up the Oyo Kingdom. And the state pays the Alaafin's salaries while the palace is also maintained from the state's purse. The Alaafin have no need to spend his money to run the palace if he so desires.

But as you can see for yourself, the palace is now a shadow of its old self as things are no longer the way they used to be in the colonial era.


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Continued in the next post.....

[UncleTisha]

What is the ascendancy process to the throne of the Alaafin?

There are two main ruling houses recognised by statute to produce the Alaafin. At the demise of one Alaafin, the crown is given to the other ruling house. The first Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Atiba convened a constitutional conference of the Yorubas before he died, to discuss the succession process so that when he dies, the question of who becomes the next Alaafin does not tear the Yoruba race apart. The conference agreed that an Aremo (the crown prince) who normally would die with his father should no longer be made to die with the king. And if he's found worthy and capable by the Oyomesi (the kingmakers) to be appointed the Alaafin, he would be crowned. Otherwise, other aspirants who are eligible and are seen by the Oyomesi to be qualified to carry the heavy responsibilities of the Alaafin would be appointed to the throne.

When Atiba died, Kurunmi the Aare Ona Kakanfo at the time (15th century) reneged on the agreements. But other Yoruba nations disagreed with him, on the basis that the decision of the confab be upheld; this led to the Ijaiye war, which claimed the lives of Kurunmi and all his five children. So the succession to the throne rotates round the two major ruling houses of Ladigbolu and Adeyemi.

What does Kabiyesi think we need do to make the traditional institution more relevant to our nation politically?
The traditional institution has contributed to the political discourse of this nation. Some of us went through travails, especially during the Abacha era, for being very bold and outspoken. Though the office of the Oba does not play partisan politics, we make ourselves relevant in the political reality of the country by offering very constructive advice to our leaders.

We have channels through which we reach the authorities. We use both diplomatic and sometimes person-to-person contact to make our suggestions to them, for the betterment of the nation. It is up to them to accept and act by these advices.

Drawing from the rich reservoir of knowledge and wisdom of our forefathers, I believe we are strategically placed to offer advice to those in political authority to guide them to take good decisions. This is because, yesterday, today and tomorrow are cyclically related. Today is yesterday's future, by tomorrow, today will be the past, so in order for us to be relevant, we look substantially to what happened in the past and draw from it to offer our advice.

We are not in competition with our sons and daughters who hold political power today, but in a democracy, the usefulness of the pragmatic solutions to problems as may be proffered by the traditional institution cannot be over-emphasized. The traditional institution is very relevant in the scheme of things because it is closer to the people at the grassroots, which is where the power of the masses lies. Traditional rulers are revered and held in high esteem thus, they tend to have more grip and control on the populace.

So as traditional fathers of the nation we'd not cease to give concrete advice and suggestions to those in authority for the benefit of our people. It is left for them to listen to us, or act otherwise.


What were you doing before ascending the throne of your forefathers?

I was an insurance officer before becoming the Alaafin of Oyo. The contest to my emerging as the Alaafin actually started in 1968. I was invited along with ten others from my ruling house that contested for the vacant stool. Our candidature passed through the channels that it should go, (through the Babayaji, who is the official head of the princes). He took us to the Oyomesi for screening and we went through series of processes.

There are three parameters with which we were judged. First is eligibility, which is one's nearness to the throne. Secondly, one's popularity was considered and thirdly the ability to be able to carry the huge responsibilities of the office of the Alaafin of Oyo. We were put through rigorous screening and questioning at the end of which I emerged successful.

However, the government at the time refused to endorse my appointment, saying the procedure was not right; but we knew their action was more political, because of the travails of my late father when he was the Alaafin.

The process was started all over again yet, the Oyomesi picked me, and for the second time I was refused endorsement by the government. Same thing happened the third time. Immense pressure was put on the Oyomesi against my choice because the government had vested interest in their own candidate. But the Oyomesi stood its ground! The process was thereafter put in abeyance until after the civil war, when the process was started afresh. The Oyomesi still picked me.

I was chosen by the kingmakers on 18th November 1970 and the government approved and gazetted my appointment in December 1970; and I moved into the palace after completing the necessary rites.

Through the process, one was inducted into the mysteries of the various gods, like the Ifa mysteries, and the Sango mysteries. One was also made to undergo these inductions in order to be the direct representative of these deities on earth. You are taken through these processes so as to know all the chants, the proverbs, and the Oriki of all the past Obas.

You must also be able to know the Ifa, the praise-songs, as well as understand the sound of the drums in Yorubaland like Bata, Apekpe, Gangan, Dudun, Shekere, and Agogo. After mastering these entire features you are then crowned.

I was crowned at an impressive ceremony on the 14th of January 1971.


Kabiyesi used to be a boxer. Do you still train, Sir?

I also run, and I played football as well, but people know me more in boxing. I have awards in all these other sports. I still jog and do a lot of road walk. I do as mush as six (6) kilometres if time permits and whenever I don't have official engagements, on Saturdays or Sundays. I still skip the rope! And hectic as this responsibility is, I try not to have any dull moments in my life. I have good health.


What is Kabiyesi's best food?

I eat Amala, Pounded Yam, Abula and Ogi. Normal food, simple!


Is there any clash between your faith as a Muslim and the demands of your office as the traditional custodian of our cultural heritage?

The Yoruba race is one of the best organised anywhere in the world. We are very liberal in the sense that religion is not allowed to creep into the governance of the Yoruba race. I don't care what your religious faith is in the cabinet of the Alaafin; what matters are your contributions to improving the lot of your community. That is (absolutely) important.

As the father of all, the Alaafin practices his own religion without discriminating against others in their choice of religious inclination. If you go to my office, you'd see a copy of the Bible and the Quran.

I can recite the Quran as much as I can make references to the Bible. I am also at home with the Ifa priests just as I can communicate with Sango deities in their own language.

I am liberal as far as religion is concerned. But I don't joke with my prayers as a Muslim because I cherish the Quran a lot. It may interest you to know that I was brought up in a strict Christian home, in Lagos. I also went to a Catholic school in Lagos. I am a free mixer.


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Our trip to the palace of His Royal Majesty, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III was an adventure, in a way as we saw some features that will linger in our collective memories for a long time to come. We invite you to come with us, on this expository journey.

In the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo Kingdom, there is one character that has stood like a constant star in the day-to-day goings on around the compound. He is a petite looking man of about 3 feet, in height. He is simply known as Baba Morenikeji, and he's reported to be about 130 years old. He told Focus that he's the head of the palace guards. We learnt that he has served three successive Alaafins and is still active in the palace till date.

Pa Morenikeji stands as one of Kabiyesi's most influential aides such that every visitor gets to meet him first by the palace corridors before getting to see the monarch. The man is said to be single and has no child. It is amazing that at his age he is still very agile and smart. He does not use any walking stick as his legs still carry him strongly. He does not use eyeglasses, and his dentition is still in place for a man his age.

Many prefer to describe Pa Morenikeji as an unusual creature but he sees himself as a normal human being. He is one of the wonders in the palace, no doubt.

In the expansive garden in the palace, is a huge tortoise that has lived there for 140 years. Focus was taken to see the aged turtle which feeds on rice, eba, amala, fruits, and water. Its size is gigantic, as it is strong enough to carry up to 2 full grown adults on its back. It is at home in its abode and is peaceful. The tortoise is part of the features that make the historical palace, a wonder to behold. It is called Ijapa Oba.

There's this ancient fish pond where the Alaafin keeps gold fishes. The pond is as old as the palace and is still in place in the garden.

To many who knew that the monarch used to be a boxer in his youthful days, it would astound one to know that the Kabiyesi still trains and skips the rope. We saw the punching bag he uses for training in the garden courtyard.
__________________
Osunkoya-Ifayomi
formerly known as Kwaku

Aiye loja Orun Nile O
Earth is a marketplace Heaven is home
http://ileiwosanorunmilamimotemple.freeservers.com/

[omaks]

What really interests me most about this post is its title. .........swallow 200 bullets? Is that 'bullets of Amala, Iyan or Eba or real bullets'. I am sure they didn't try the bullets for an AK 47 Kalashnikov Semi Automatic Machine Gun!! All that swallowing of gun powder does not really amount to sensible bravadochio really does it?

[Mikky jaga]

Kabiyesi, you have said that civilisation started from here. Would it be right then to say that Yorubas were Oyo, and vice versa?

The Oyos were not called Yorubas originally. Other groups that made up the Yoruba race preferred at the time (centuries ago) to be called Egbas, Ijeshas and whatever name they desired. But by the 19th century there was need to forge a common ground and have a standard linguistic form hence, the Oyo dialect was embraced by all Yorubas. So Yorubas are Oyo's by origin.

Fallacy by His Majesty!

Anyone that knows the Oyo dialect knows it is totally different from the common Yoruba spoken by majority of Yorubas today. My mum is from the Oyo stock. And when she speaks her dialect, we the children normally break out in laughter because she sounds so differently from the rest of us.

The more reason these monarchs cannot be relied upon to give us the true history of the Yorubas. They are too partisan and are like common politicians that will twist facts to favour their preconcieved opinions.

This is just one of the many falacies I detected in these interviews.

[superego]

Erm...why white man bullets? How recent is this culture? :think: