There are facts, but there are truths. When truths are twisted to
satisfy a motive, they could become facts and if facts linger too longer
unchallenged, they will become ‘truths’. Where does the truth of the supremacy
of ‘Obas’ in Yorubaland lie? Africa has missed a lot because we had it too late
to preserve our history through concerted efforts. If Oduduwa had written down
his account of his emergence, we would have been relieved of the pain to
extract truth from the facts throwing at our face.
There has been supremacy
battle among three major kingdoms in Yoruba land: Ife, Oyo and Benin. It is
noteworthy that none of the kingdom has denied having affinity with each other
but our quagmire is who is senior to whom. Obviously, that should have been an alien
headache to this generation as the monarchical system of government does not
exist in our clime anymore. The only argument that can support it though is the
need to preserve our heritage, history and culture so that the next generations
will not have to gulp fallacies forced down their throats by historical
twisters.
Recently, the Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba
Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo reintetrated that Ooni of Ife is indeed the number one
king in Yorubaland. He posited that Alaafin of Oyo, Oba of Benin, himself; the
Alake of Egbaland and Awujale of Ijebuland are behind the Ooni in that order. Many
people did not expect this to go just like that; even it might just be a
complimentary to a superior who deemed it necessary to pay an uncommon visit to
his subordinate.
This has not
gone down well with Oba of Benin, who has been arrogantly arrogating the numero
uno to himself against the backdrop of historical evidences. The Esogban of
Benin and Odionwere of the kingdom (Traditional Head), Chief David Edebiri had
on Monday said the Alake of Egba land, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo goofed when he said
the Oba of Benin was third in the hierarchy of Obas. He explained that the Ooni
of Ife was a son of the Oba of Benin, adding that the stool of the Oba of Benin
could not be compared with that of any Yoruba king.
On a good day,
this ought to give Ooni of Ife an opportunity to address certain burning issues
concerning the positions of Obas in Yorubaland. Instead, he has chosen to stick
to his principle and goal to restore unity among the Yorubas than being engaged
in supremacy battle with anyone. This is a plus for Oba Adeyeye Enitan
Ogunwusi. The carriage of this monarch since he assumes the throne has been a
dignified one and evidence of someone who is prepared to discharge his noble
roles anytime and under any circumstance. When sought to react to the statement
by the Benin monarch, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi chose not to dignify such
rant with a reply.
The Director of
Media and Public Affairs, Ooni’s Palace Moses Olafare said, “Let me emphasize
for the umpteen time that kabiyesi Ooni is less concerned over any supremacy
hullabaloo, what he’s only interest for now on the sacred throne of Oduduwa is
to explore measures through which the collective interest and genuine unity
among Yoruba and other tribes within the larger House of Oduduwa can be
enhanced.
“This informed his resolve to build bridges of harmony among Yourba Obas. I am resolutely committed to how Yoruba ethnic group can restore its glory and pride position among other ethnic inclinations in Nigeria and don’t want to be dragged into supremacy contest or join issues with anybody.” That is a real leader we now have in Yoruba land. This shouldn’t be a surprised as it will be against his professed mission to unite Yoruba if he were to reply to such facts which is not only controversial but belittling of a king claiming superiority for himself.
“This informed his resolve to build bridges of harmony among Yourba Obas. I am resolutely committed to how Yoruba ethnic group can restore its glory and pride position among other ethnic inclinations in Nigeria and don’t want to be dragged into supremacy contest or join issues with anybody.” That is a real leader we now have in Yoruba land. This shouldn’t be a surprised as it will be against his professed mission to unite Yoruba if he were to reply to such facts which is not only controversial but belittling of a king claiming superiority for himself.
However, the
Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo wouldn’t just let the facts
continue to be misconstrued as truth, he has promised to release evidences that
support his claim that indeed, Ooni of Ife is the number one king in Yoruba
land. Speaking through his Media Aide, Chief Lai Labode, Alake does not want to
be engulfed in any controversy and will release evidences to buttress his
claim. We hope the evidences by Alake can be taken up to dig deeper into this
controversial topic, at least, to give us clues by which we can tell our story
as Yorubas. One good thing about waking this sleeping dog is that we stand to
learn from it and enrich our understanding of our source. If we stand to
benefit, please, let these kings wake the sleeping dog but this may make Ooni
break his promise not to dabble into supremacy matter with any Yoruba kings. Apart
from Ooni himself, others are not ready to buckle down.
