The Osi Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba
land, Chief Gani Kayode Balogun, has condemned the support the Oluwo of Iwo
land, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi has given to the Olugbo of Ugboland over
inordinate creation of Yoruba Obas in the Diaspora.
In the statement made available to
us, the Osi Aare Ona Kakanfo said, Oluwo has turned himself to the mouthpiece
of the Olugbo despite condemnation the act has suffered from Obas and
other stakeholders in Yoruba land.
A call has been made to government
and those concerned for the creation of an Authority named as central
council of Obas from all the Yoruba speaking ethnicity to help administer
proper conduct, ethics and culture among the monarchs in order to check unruly
kings and make the Yoruba nation a better entity.
FULL TEXT OF THE STATEMENT
Press Statement from the office of
the Osi Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland land, Chief Gani Kayode Balogun, the Osi
Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland.
Enough of Oluwo's tantrums.
Our attention has been drawn to an
interview granted by the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, in which
the monarch turned himself into the mouthpiece of the Olugbo, regarding the
indiscriminate, inordinate creation of Yoruba Obas in the Diaspora embarked
upon by the Olugbo to the chagrin of the majority of the Obas in Yorùbá land.
We have also noticed the exiguous
reference the Oluwo made to the Ààrẹ Ọ̀nà Kakaǹfò of Yoruba
land and we therefore wish to state as follows:
That the Ààrẹ Ọ̀nà Kakaǹfò of
Yorubaland, has a deep sense of history, such is his revered role as to be able
to place issues as they affect the Yoruba in proper perspective!
The Oluwo should recall that as he
is the 16th Oluwo, if we are to count from Parin or the 14th, if we are to
count from the more acceptable Oluwo Adagunodo, and so is the Ààrẹ Ọ̀nà Kakaǹfò, Iba Gani
Abiodun Ìgè Adams, the 15th Ààrẹ of Yoruba land.
Contrary to what the Oluwo said in
his interview on Rave FM Programme, "Frank Talk," the Ààrẹ is Not a
chief.
It is important to point to the
Oluwo that the nascency of his problem as he is wont to often grapple with history, is sadly his tendency to
overreach himself, always missing the facts and finding himself at odds with
the Yoruba culture and tradition!
Shall we say that since this Oluwo
did not observe the full initiation and integration at Ipebi and by his own
mouth confessing to have skipped the vital Ifá solemnation of his stool,
therein lies his problem to be always be at variance with our history, culture
and tradition at all times!?
To help this Oluwo, a reminder, or
perhaps a tutelage that the Ààrẹ is the King appointed over all warriors in the four corners of
Yoruba land, from the Ẹkùn Ọ̀tun, Ẹkùn Òsì, Ẹkùn Ebolo And Ẹkùn Epo.
The Ààrẹ as a king
is crowned with the
Ojijiko crown, which only the Ààrẹ alone is allowed to wear and none
other shall wear it.
The Ààrẹ is invested
with the powers to administer his rule, investing such powers over his 60
chiefs flung and scattered in all corners of Yoruba land.
Even a poor student of history knows
the place of the Ààrẹ among his fellow monarchs.
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| Oluwo, with his wife putting on crown |
How poor can this Oluwo then be if
he has to be schooled in the basic Rudiments of our culture?
Today, as much as it was in the 16th
century that witnessed the creation of the present city of Iwo and the revered
institution of the stool of the Ààrẹ, the Ààrẹ as the
defender of the realm, is as important as he was at the Time of Kòkòrò Gangàn
the first Ààrẹ and Adagunodo the Oluwo who saw in the Ààrẹ a king and
was glad of the exploits of the Ààrẹ.
Such are the reasons that
accompanied the installation of Ààrẹ Gani Ìgè Adams, with a staff of
office given to him in the presence of no less than 780 Yoruba monarchs, two
Governors, top representatives of all the Governors in southwest, North, Niger
Delta and Republic of Benin were also present at Durbar stadium in Ọ̀yọ́ Aláàfin,
during the historical event. The event is in the media for anybody to see. And
I urge the Oluwo to find time to watch the video of the epoch making event on
the social media via YouTube, and compare that event to the day of his
installation as the Oluwo of Iwo land.
Ààrẹ Onakakanfo
of Yorubaland, Ibà Gani Ìgè Adams, is pained just as other monarchs are,
concerning the preponderance of issues plaguing Yoruba monarchies as we are
currently embroiled in not a few of such controversies, particularly as it
affects the Oluwo. Had it been in the olden days, it would have been impossible
for the Oluwo to continue in his erring ways, as it was the job of the Ààrẹ to
reprimand erring monarchs.......Be that as it may, the Ààrẹ is now
calling on the authorities to create without delay, a central council of Obas
from all the Yoruba speaking Ethnicities to help administer proper conduct,
ethics and culture among the monarchs. It has now become important to do so.
Such a body shall comprise of
Notable Obas from each state of the Yoruba Nation and part of what is important
is the discourse on the need to correct the faulty succession and selection
processes, as clearly seen in the quality of those emerging unto the
traditional stools of our forefathers.
The very first meeting in which
senior Yoruba Obas were in attendance including the Oba of Benin, was held in
Oyo Alaafin in 1937.
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| When Alaafin of Oyo installed Iba Gani Adams as the 15th Aare Onakakanfo |
Subsequently the meetings were held
annually, moving from place to place. Only 5 Obas attended the first meeting,
but was subsequently expanded to include the Oninana of the Gas people near
Accra, Ghana, who is also a Yoruba Ọba.
Very strict rules were set for those
Obas who sought to wear beaded Crowns... And in the meeting held in Ile-Ife
among the Yoruba Obas in 1959, the late Ooni Ife, Oba Sir, Adesoji Aderemi, had
this to say:
“In the course of our deliberations
at Benin City last year we touched on, the question of indiscriminate award of
spurious titles to people by the Obas and Bales as also of illegal wearing of
crown by chiefs who were not entitled to do so. It was hoped then that the
Council, now Committee of Obas and Chiefs would be able to deal with this
matter in their meetings during the year but circumstances did not afford it an
opportunity of meeting until shortly before this Conference just in haste to
give decision on very urgent matters and to discuss some bills. I regret to say
that during the year, there have taken place many illegal wearing of crowns in,
for instance Oshun Division, llesha Division and in other little known villages
of the coastal district. At llesha I gather that it has caused some bad blood.
You will agree with me, gentlemen
that it is a serious lapse in our custom and tradition for a chief to dare to
put on his head a beaded crown to which he has not succeeded! What glory, what
honour is there in a crown which one’s father never wore, never bequeathed!!
Those who persist in wearing beaded crown unlawfully may one day be called upon
to surrender them; I can only advise them to discontinue doing so before they
are compelled to abandon them: I also feel to warn those who are just thinking
of wearing crown illegally to try to have some confidence in themselves. They
should cease to suffer from inferiority complex. They should try to have the
courage to restrain themselves from following the path of perversion – No
amount of distortive history can right what is fundamentally wrong. Don’t let
us deceive ourselves; it is not the hood that makes the rank: it is not beaded
crown that makes an Oba. For instance, you have in the hierarchy of chiefs
great rulers such as the Olubadan of Ibadan, the Shohun of Ogbomosho, the Timi
of Ede to mention just a few who never wear a beaded crown the fact is that
non-wearing of beaded crown by them does not detract a jot from the importance
and the dignity attached to their titles and their personalities.
Behold the Timi of Ede any day in
his Akoro headgear which is the proper thing for him to wear and you find a
dignified ruler who is very confident of himself and his ancient title: the
same ‘holds good for the Shohun of Ogbomosho who has never bothered himself
about the beaded crown which his village heads have made so cheap. And what of
the Olubadan of Ibadan, head of more than three quarter of a million people;
his dignity, indeed his greatness lies in his simplicity. A word is enough for
the wise.”
The Ààrẹ has only
brought out this piece from the revered Ọba Adesoji Aderemi, The late Ooni of
Ifẹ, to show
how those entrusted with sustaining, preserving and maintaining our tradition
have so bastardized it, a situation that has allowed Olugbo to embark on
proliferation of meaningless Obaship in the Diaspora, and the desecration of
the Yorùbá culture of Oluwo calling himself an Emir and placing a crown on the
head of his wife. Oba Akanbi remains the only Oba in Yoruba history that has
truly done that. It is an aberration.
The Ààrẹ has a lot
of regard for the Good people of Iwo and rightly acknowledges the important
place Iwo holds in history and in Yorùbá land. Particularly the culture of
Yoruba land in ọdún eégún of Iwo that the Ààrẹ most grateful to the Ìwo community
for upholding. However, Oluwo has continued to emphasize his Islamic faith
over our culture and tradition, forgetting that he is Oluwo, a monarch that is
meant to serve all.
Iwo is a secular city, with
Muslims in the majority. Far from it is it possible that the Oluwo might have
forgotten that from 1958 to 1982, Oba Samuel Omotoso Abimbola was The Oluwo of
Iwo and one of the longest that reigned so peacefully in the ancient town!??
Or, does the Oluwo not know that Iwo
is where even an Ifá verse extolled the exploits of Orunmila the Philosopher
and Sage, who married his wife, "Apetebii", the mother of Afuwape,
upon paying a huge price like Jacob of the Bible did for Rachel, and that is
the Etymology of the word, "Iyawo", which means, "Wife",
depicting, Iya—Iwo, that is, the suffering and degradation Orunmila suffered at
Iwo, before he got his wife that turned out to become Great Blessings to him...
Anyone who knows the Odu Ifa that speaks of this and also the story of Afuwape
Omo Orunmila and Ilemere Omo Ija, will attest to the Blessings that come from
Truly suffering to get a Good Wife.
Before then, the Yoruba word for
wife, was, "Aya"!
This Oluwo must be made to undergo
lessons in our ways, in order to be a good monarch!
Aare Gani Adams is living on
history, and traditionally, he is the king of all warriors in Yoruba land and
as a monarch, by virtue of his position, Oluwo should also know better that he
is a product of history, he should know better of a prominent Yoruba adage that
says"At'ari Ajanaku, ki i se eru omode".
Ààrẹ Gani Adams
is not in the business of commercializing our culture and tradition and cannot
be. Though a Muslim by birth, the Ààrẹ by his oath of office must exist
for the uplift and security of the Greater Yoruba, all faiths therefore are
welcome to all monarchs as the father of all, the Ààrẹ therefore
finds it worrisome in the conduct of the Oluwo, the acts by omission and
commission that appear not to be in the interest of the Yoruba at these times
in which the Yoruba Nation is seemingly under a siege.
The Ààrẹ therefore,
will wish the Oluwo to join him and others in finding solutions to the more
important issues affecting our people, especially the spate of insecurity that
had been ravaging the south(A good example was that of the lecturer from
Obafemi Awolowo University) rather than to involve himself in such reckless,
unfettered actions that seek to rather diminish us all, reducing our heritage
as the illustrious Yorùbá race are far from the people to be so treated
by one of their own, let alone a monarch of an important city such as Iwo! Now
is the time for sober reflection. All stakeholders in Iwo land should call him
to order. The time to speak up against all those that want to desecrate the Yoruba
tradition is now, and we must rise against this, not individually but
collectively, all in the interest of all.
As I have said earlier, Iwo is a
very important city, with rich culture and tradition; therefore, nobody should
be allowed to desecrate the rich culture and the good image of the town.
Signed:
Chief Gani kayode balogun
Osi Aare onankakanfo of Yoruba land.
