Tunde Odesola

Ikú Bàbá Yèyé o!

I hail thee, ‘omo ikú tí ikú ò gbódò pa’ – the child of death, whom death must not kill; omo árún tí árún kò gbódò se – the child of pestilence, whom pestilence must not strike. Sàngó incarnate, it is you I greet! The mighty one who billows fire in the mouth! Oba Koso! The king never committed suicide!

It is unto you I chant, Aláafín Òyó. The stealthiness of the tiger is not cowardice. The rain renders useless the bata (drum) and its accoutrements; ‘òjò pá bàtá, pa jowon, jowon etí è’. I roll on the floor to my right. I ‘yika’ on the floor to my left. In the land of Oduduwa, no one, I repeat, no one greets the king standing; those who disparage the king are dispatched to the grave, ‘aróba fín, loba ń pa’.

Ikú Bàbá Yèyé, who dares look the tiger in the eyes? Or touch it by the tail? Big-Eyed Olójú Orogbo, it is the sensitiveness of the eye that protects it from being poked; it is the fear of the snake that protects it from being trampled; I will not disrespect the king.

Rather, I will pray for the king. May the land not be angry with your majesty. May Oyo live in harmony during your reign. May there be peace between the governor and the king. May rats continue to squeak like rats, may birds chirp like birds, may humans speak like humans, may the king’s horsetail gradually diminish to a needle, owing to many years of use.

Ikú Bàbá Yèyé, I know the meaning of your appellation. Ikú Bàbá Yèyé means raw power. It means Death-Father-Mother: Ikú Bàbá Yèyé – three forces of nature rolled into the Aláafín persona. Ikú Bàbá Yèyé means the Alaafin can kill and can preserve life. Death is a finality. Father is potency. Mother is safety. Ikú Bàbá Yèyé!

Kábíyèsí Owoade, through the nuggets of wisdom from Yoruba culture encyclopedia, Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, I navigated the whorls of oral history. I accosted your ancestors – Oranmiyan, Ajaka, and Sàngó, the first three men to rule Oyo as Aláafín. Great men, all. But, something, inadvertently, struck out like a thunderbolt while Baba Elebuibon led me by the hand through Yoruba myths.

I had asked the Araba of Osogbo, “What position is Sàngó on the echelons of Oyo kings?” Elebuibon replied, “There are two Sàngós. One was the third king of Oyo, after Oranmiyan and Ajaka. That is the one popularly referenced and worshipped, especially by the people of Oyo and its environs. The mother of the Sàngó, who was the third Aláafín, was from Tapa. That Sàngó was the one who belched fire through his mouth. He was the one who committed suicide.

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“There was another Sàngó called Sàngó Ayélégbe Òrun. He is an orisa who existed long before Sango Aláafín, the husband of Oya. Sàngó Ayélégbe Òrun is the one who causes thunder and lightning. He is a deity widely worshipped. The difference between the two Sàngós is that one is an orisa while the other was a king deified after his death. Also, the Sàngó Aláafín produces fire from the mouth while Sàngó Ayélégbe Òrun produces thunder and lightning.”

Oba Owoade, I went this whole hog to affirm the pedigree of your lineage and the nobility of your birth. I understand a lot of water has passed under the bridge since creation day. And, I know you are schooled enough to know that different ethnicities have their creation stories. Like you, I am a Christian. But I am fascinated by culture, history, language, tradition and freedom. I do not believe in cultural superiority intoned by some adherents of Christianity and Islam.

This is why I ask: Why should I speak in another man’s tongue to talk to the God who created me a Yoruba? It is my whole-hog belief that neither Jerusalem nor Mecca is holier than any part of Nigeria. It is ignorance and a form of economic slavery for Nigerians to repose salvation in visits to foreign religious sites.

Just to be clear, I must state that I have visited a couple of religious sites, including Jerusalem, Galilee, Capernaum, Bethlehem, Rome, Mt Sinai, River Jordan, Dead Sea, etc. But I did not visit those places to earn me a gate pass to paradise. God does not dwell in man-made places. He dwells in the heart – if you allow Him. I visited those places to learn about people, places and cultures. Every evening, while in the Holy Land, I treated myself to beer, wine and fruits.

Alaafin, so far, your feet appear to be set on the path of honour, I beseech thee not to depart from it. I love your demeanour; I love your grace and face. I love the sheen of your blackness, ‘adu ma dan, okunrin ogun’; you are truly the son of your father.

As a mere mortal, I dare not behold the face of the Olori, lest my head be dismembered from my body. But, I must say, your Olori is graceful, intelligent, courteous and drop-dead gorgeous. Kábíyèsí, I did not behold the face of the Olori; I only got to know she bears the attributes of your mother, who was kind to a fault.

Now, let’s get deeper into it, Aláafín. Your predecessor, Alaafin Lamidi Olayiwola Atanda Adeyemi, was an intellectual monarch. By intellectual monarchy, I don’t mean the degrees he got before becoming king. All that becomes useless when not applied to deepen the Yoruba worldview.

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Oba Owoade, by intellectual monarchy, I mean Adeyemi’s awesome capacity to engage the intellectual class, research and postulate on the labyrinthine past, and showcase the beauty and depth of Yoruba culture. I charge you, Igbákejì Òrìsà, to follow in the footsteps of Oba Adeyemi by engaging the intellectual community on ways to advance Yoruba culture and tradition, and restore the glory of kingship in Yorubaland. You can do this by working with some like-minded kings.

Kábíyèsí Adeyemi was a human library. He read every day like a student eyeing a first-class. Although I have told this story of his profundity elsewhere, please, permit me to share it with you.

During the coronation of the 13th Timi of Ede, Oba Muniru Adesola Lawal, in 2008, Alaafin Adeyemi, who graced the occasion, put the records straight after the 50th Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade Okunade, Olubuse II, inadvertently presented some cultural history wrongly. Adeyemi did not just know the history of Ede because Ede is an Oyo town. Adeyemi’s rich vein of history derived from the intellectualism of his mind. Oba Adeyemi knew about everything because he read voraciously. Gone to the great beyond with Adeyemi were 10 giant libraries.

Aláafín Owoade, I am happy Oyo found a crime-free, cool and calm prince to appoint as king. Some towns were not that lucky because their kingmakers boarded animals together with humans on the journeys to pick their kings, and animals eventually got hold of the thrones. I commend Governor Seyi Makinde for approving your emergence.

Kábíyèsí, I watched a video and read stories about you suing for peace and unity among the Yoruba. That was good. I must say your coronation on April 5, 2025, was a spectacle. It was a galaxy of royalty.

But, Kábíyèsí, the way the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, was treated at your coronation has sent tongues wagging. You must have noticed this. To deactivate wagging tongues and set the records straight, I asked questions.

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I put a call across to the Chairman, Local Organising Committee of the Coronation Ceremony, Dr Kunle Ogunmola, who said the image of the Oluwo looking like he was turned back at the gate, did not present the whole truth.

Ogunmola said, “The Oluwo was duly invited. I know those who went to give him an invitation. He had wanted to go through the entry where the governor, the Alaafin, the Ooni, and the Sultan passed through; that was where he was stopped and told to go and take the entry meant for other dignitaries.

“He eventually found his way to the VVIP section, where he sat but decided to leave before the end of the programme. It was not that he came and was barred from entering. He was allowed entry but left before the end of the programme.”

No doubt, Oluwo has many detractors. But I am ready to defend him on this. His detractors can argue that if the Oluwo went through the gate meant for his calibre, he would not have attracted that kind of negative attention he got. They may be right. But, what if he did not know that he was not in the same class as the Ooni and the Alaafin?

Oluwo has been at daggers drawn with the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, coming out recently to say he made Ogunwusi king as if he were the governor of Osun who appointed the Ooni.

I love the way the Ooni is handling the outbursts from the Oluwo; no one sees the whipping, but everyone hears the weeping. When next I see the Ooni, I will ask him, “Who instructed policemen to bar the Emir of Iwo from seeing the Sultan of Sokoto at the high table during the coronation of the new Aláafín? Who?”

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