WHAT THE INCOMING ALAAFIN OF OYO WILL LIKELY CONTEND WITH ALL THESE

Alaafin Oba Adeyemi III 

Written by Oladotun Oladele (Editor and Publisher, Oyo News Magazine 08037250845)

The eyes of the world is on Oyo Alaafin for the installation of the new Alaafin of Oyo which is a very good thing to look forward to because there are very few people who are old enough to tell the story of what transpired during the contest for the throne including the intrigues and back door politics of that era. The reign of Alaafin (Dr) Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III has ended but many who wants to occupy that same throne may not know that there were times when the late Alaafin wanted to abdicate the throne because of the problems associated with running the town, burning issues in Yorubaland, the responsibilities associated with the office and many other associated issues that have to do with such a prestigious position that the political class are not just comfortable with especially the ones of Yoruba extraction. 

Many are aspiring to ascend the throne of Alaafin, I would not know if they were grilled on what they understand by what is an "Alaafin". Their understanding of what it means to be an Alaafin? As princes from the ruling houses what precedences or knowledge or experiences or understanding of the reign of the departed monarch do they have? It is not just that the throne is vacant, there are lots of things that are attached to it and one needs to ask these contenders, have they dug their wells before they are thirsty? If anyone of them becomes the Alaafin, he can't go to any of his brothers to seek for any financial help or backing because they will say, if he was not capable to carry the responsibility of the office he wouldn't have contested or accepted to become the Alaafin. We can liken the seat of Alaafin to that of the President of the Country or Governor of a State. It is not a position that is an all comers affair.

At this point, I will consider it of utmost importance to borrow from the many words of the late former governor of Oyo State, Sen. Isiaq Abiola Adeyemi Ajimobi which he spoke while addressing family, friends, associates and well wishers at his 70th birthday celebration in Ibadan, where he said "ti a ba ma je eyin, a gbodo fo eyin naa" (translation: if we want to eat eggs, we must break the eggs).  Definitely, there is a great vacuum that have been created by the eventual departure of the 43rd Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, Iku Baba Yeye who is the Permanent Chairman of Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs. 

The late Alaafin was a very courageous and fearless leader. He was witty, a man of great and immense wisdom who understood governance and he was a ruthless fighter. A praise of the Alaafin is "o ba enikan ja, ti owo bo gbogbo ara ile loju" (literal translation: one who fights a person and sticks his fingers into the eyes of all the members of the household." Becoming the Alaafin is a great war and responsibility. 

Except for merely trying to underscore the facts, no government dared toy with the Institution of Alaafin in the last 52yrs of the reign of Alaafin Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III. He was a grateful person but he wouldn't take anyone trying to use gratitude for blackmail. He knew his rights and position, he held his position and protected  his rights never allowing anyone, be it whosoever he was to rubbish that position, as the Paramount Ruler in Yorubaland a very combative personality. He was for most of the times the first to go to court when he feels that there are infringement on the institution of the Alaafin never fighting a personal battle.

With these and many other attributes listed and unlisted as criteria for anyone who wants to occupy the position of the Alaafin of Oyo.  The discussions going on in town and on many media is that the coming Alaafin can be a gentleman but a lion even at heart because a lion is ferocious. He should not be a kid or underaged that some Obas will just pocket. They opine that many traditional rulers do not like Oyo because the history of Oyo have it that the Alaafin collected tributes as overlord to them and also ruled over all of them and they do not like the facts that the Alaafin is the first traditional ruler and they have always contested it even during the life time of the late Alaafin and it is evident that history does not favor them.

Government at the center especially at the states have had running battle with the Alaafin most especially Alaafin Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III over the consenting authority of the Alaafin as the consenting authority in Oyo State. It is on record that it is the Alaafin that crowned virtually all the kings in Oyo State. Their elevations were as a result of the works of Alaafin Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III even the state that was created from Oyo State, many traditional rulers have their roots in Oyo and even their beaded crowns were as a result of the Alaafin Oba Adeyemi III and he is always consulted when their history is in dispute as they were all under the old Oyo Empire even to  many traditional rulers in Kwara, Kogi and even Niger States.

The history of Old Oyo Empire is the history of Oyo and the Alaafin is the head while Yoruba is the national language of the Empire. A king that would not be able to protect this heritage would be a great departure and failure to the culture and tradition of Oyo Alaafin because Oyo is the home and hub of Yoruba Culture Tradition. Oyo  Alaafin or Oyo Town is very rich in culture and traditional religion. The Asa Orisa community have become a thing of pride because of the Alaafin Oba Adeyemi III and they have become highly respected individuals in the society as a result of the works and support of the Alaafin. The trip to Brazil with traditional religion practitioners was evidence of the works of the Alaafin. 

The battles of the Alaafin are many, in his lifetime, he frowned, wrote letters, spoke openly and strongly condemned the abuse of the most coveted paraphernalia of office of a traditional ruler which is the wearing of beaded crowns in the cases of some unscrupulous people who are not kings but are parading themselves as kings in places like Georgia, Ireland, Liberia and even in the far Northern parts of Nigeria when they are not traditional rulers. There is no title of "Oba of Yoruba" anywhere in the world and this is becoming the new misnomer. The Alaafin of Oyo does not have a representative in Brazil. He did not appoint anyone in Brazil as his liaison officer because there were reports of some fraudsters who are parading themselves as representatives or King of Oyo in Brazil. Today there are so many bastardization of Yoruba Culture and Tradition by some unpatriotic fraudsters and scammers who parade themselves as traditional rulers with no domain to dupe unsuspecting nationals. They try to snap pictures with traditional rulers and they say they are members of traditional rulers councils with lots of Photoshopped pictures.

The Alaafin have always said "If you are a prince and you think you are qualified or entitled to be a king or a traditional ruler, go back to your home town or village and contest with other princes of the ruling family in that town for the position of the baale or king and become an Oba not wearing a fake crown or calling yourself a traditional ruler in foreign lands to scam people thus desecrating the highly revered institution of traditional rulers. You can't fake traditional ruler title and think you will make it real. We know traditional rulers like Timi of Ede, Ataoja of Oshogbo, Ooni of Ife, Owa of Ijesha, Olofa of Offa, Olokuku of Okuku, Olubadan of Ibadan, Onpetu of Ijeru, Ona Onibode of Igboholand all these are towns with geographical boundaries but many unscrupulous and misguided individuals and youths are busy scamming people as kings and they are parading fake traditional titles around." The Alaafin have written to the government and security agents to checkmate these nefarious activities.

The day a prince ascends the throne of the Alaafin of Oyo is the day he must begin his battles because he must either fight or be ready for the fight of many misguided decisions in the traditional council where the consenting authority of the Alaafin had been bypassed or played down after there existed a vacuum in the traditional institution of the Alaafinate on the departure of the occupier of the throne. The Alaafin is not under any government because the gazette that is expected to be used to appoint the new Alaafin is older than the creation of the state where the Alaafin is.  This is not saying the governor ascent as representatives of the government because of the times we are in because in the days of old, before the colonial masters there was no governor that signs the nomination of the Alaafin of Oyo.

The battles of the Alaafin are many including boundaries that are in disputes with litigations. The Osun people who were also from Oyo are laying claims to Olori town and even successive governments have been neglecting these lands and it is the Alaafin who have been defending the land against land grabbers from the neighboring state of Osun. If you tag the Alaafin as a troublemaker he does not have to wait before trouble comes but he must set up his own wars and battles because it is not just respect for traditional rulers but they must be feared too. Many times to make peace, the old normal must be displaced and that is an invitation to war, these days it's an invitation to litigations in the court room to the supreme court.

The Alaafin does not need physical fights but he is always battle ready at every point because the  office demands that anyone who occupies it must be strong even physically. The greatest shield and umbrella is what the Alaafin is and it is highly important that like so many traditional rulers who are close to him, they would want to see that the new Alaafin is such a personality they can associate with like his predecessor in office.  If the new Alaafin is too young it could be a great issue as many traditional rulers who are older may be trying to avoid having to come close because they would all have to bow and lay on the ground as it is customary to the Alaafin and if it's an Alaafin who is so young and about the age of their own children that may want to be an issue until he proves himself in battle against the authorities having known his rights and he must win in all courts of competent jurisdiction. 

At a function where traditional rulers were gathered in Ibadan, a traditional ruler from the north once called a first class monarch in Yorubaland as his boy openly at the coronation anniversary of that king. The northern traditional ruler said the traditional ruler had been to his palace like five times and he usually refer to him as his boy, something that the incoming Alaafin must guide against especially if the person selected is not going to be referred to as a boy king. Alaafin is the only traditional ruler whose forebears ruled an empire for 600 uninterrupted years and as far as Nigeria and many countries of the world are concerned they don't rival that history, hence the Alaafin is not a boy to any traditional ruler in Nigeria or beyond. At the event, probably if the norther emir had spoken before the Alaafin possibly he would have been rebuffed. A traditional ruler is a king but a king won't be a king that can lead his people if the kingmakers did not take time to enthrone who is the right person by possibly subverting the process. 

No divination can tell the number of years a traditional ruler or king will reign for. The kind of personality that a king will be can't be determined by divination. The Alaafin is expected to be a too hot to handle personality. When a government respects the Alaafin by giving the institution it's due, the Alaafin reciprocates by always working for the good of the people through the government from the local to the federal and international. There are always elements in government who are supposed irritants who are aggrieved advisers of government who have always asked that many in elected government offices go head-on with the Alaafin when the Alaafin will not even be contesting any election let alone becoming the Alaafin.

"Le fi n gbo ariwo, lefi n gbo ariwo, iwosi ni Alaafin fin ko, lefi n gbo ariwo" (translation: when you hear noise, when you are hearing noises, it is insult and insurbodination that the Alaafin abhors)  A king who have understanding of contemporary times, who is not intimidated by persons or class. Alaafin Oba Adeyemi III is a king who is never afraid to stand alone. Many times, the Alaafin always fight alone because many traditional rulers are always intimidated by the withholding of their salaries and emoluments as a way of arm twisting and when the suffering is too much the kings do give in. Many traditional rulers have had to compromise because they want favors from politicians. A new Alaafin must be such that he would not play a second fiddle in all things because he must lead the vanguard for the entire Yorubaland.

The Alaafin may be ascribed to Oyo but the entire Yorubaland is his constituency and everything that have to do with the traditional institution and culture are what he has sworn to protect. The Alaafin must embody culture and tradition. He is not given to just one religion, he will be the father of all. Actually the Alaafin is a traditional religion personality because everyone is a convert to the religion that they proclaim today.

The age of the new Alaafin is very important because he can't be too young and how young is too young is a thing to be determined by the kingmakers. The international relationships the Alaafin had built including the ones with the United States Consular office where he is always invited  for their 4th of July  independence program would definitely require a man who is well exposed and lettered. The next Alaafin must hit the ground running. As it is, he would need a very large human network and net-worth to be able to run the office because there are no subventions from the federal or state for maintenance of the palace. The beauty we see today is as a result of the predecessor in office. 

There are other things too but at this junction, "ai setan L'Oyo ni won nma wi." (Translation: you can't complete everything in Oyo). There is a lot work for the incoming Alaafin of Oyo. All said above are just a tip of the iceberg or an icing on the cake of what the Alaafin contends with. End