Yemi Olakitan
The revered throne of the Alaafin of Oyo, a symbol of Yoruba tradition and culture, has been embroiled in a bribery scandal that threatens to undermine its legitimacy. In October 2023, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) quizzed the Oyo kingmakers over allegations that they received N15 million each from one of the candidates vying for the throne.
This disturbing revelation has cast a shadow over the selection process of the new Alaafin, Prince Akeem Owoade.
The Alaafin throne is not just a symbol of power; it’s deeply rooted in Yoruba tradition, history and culture. historically, the Alaafin of Oyo was the head of the Oyo Empire.
The Ifá divination system, a cornerstone of Yoruba spirituality, has been used for centuries to guide the selection of kings. Professor Wande Abimbola, a renowned expert on Ifá divination, has conducted extensive research on its significance in Yoruba religion and culture.
However, the allegations of bribery have raised questions about the integrity of the selection process. Can a king chosen through a tainted process truly embody the values and traditions of the Yoruba people? The answer lies in the values of transparency, accountability, and fairness.
As the Yoruba proverb goes, “A king who is chosen by the gods must be worthy of the gods.” The people of Oyo deserve a leader who embodies the sacred values of their tradition. Anything less would be a betrayal of the trust placed in the Alaafin throne.
In the past, traditional rulers in Yoruba land were chosen in specific ways. Certain conditions have to be met before a king is chosen in Yorubaland. The first condition is that candidates must be born into a royal family. In kingdoms where the royal families are more than one, the throne is usually rotated among royal families.
The final process is consultation with Ifa divination. One who is knowledgeable in Ifa divination will be called upon by the kingmakers also called the Oyomesi to consult the oracle who will choose the new king. Whoever Ifa chooses is king even if he is a poor farmer from a remote village.
Today, the process has become political and monetized. The throne has shifted to the highest bidder. Sometimes, some one who is not from a royal family may become king if he can bribe his way there.
This, according to Prof. Wande Abimbola is a negation of tradition. A professor of Yoruba language/ literature, Prof Wande was a former vice-chancellor of the University of Ife (formerly Obafemi Awolowo University) and a priest of the Ifa Oracle.
According to him, in a viral video he was asked by the Oyo State Government to consult the Ifa Oracle to choose the next Alaafin because the Oyomesi Kingmakers had been compromised. Professor Abimbola revealed this in a video clip on social media that he consulted the Ifa Oracle on the new choice of Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade.
He said, “Yes, it’s the Oyo State Government that asked me to consult Ifa. By April this year, it will be three years that our King, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, joined his ancestors. The kingmakers were consulted to pick a successor, and then interested individuals started giving hefty money to the kingmakers to influence their decision.
“This later divided the rank of the kingmakers because they discovered that the money their leader shared to them was a far cry from what he collected. The five kingmakers had earlier supported a particular prince who gave them the heaviest sum but after discovering the act perpetrated by their leader, two of them backtracked. They reached out to the government to say they were no longer in support of the candidate, adding that they just discovered that the money their leader collected from the said prince was incredibly heavy from which he gave them peanuts.
“That’s where the crisis started. Citizens of Oyo too started writing in newspapers to call out government that ‘it’s money you want to use to elect Alaafin into office, is that good?’” he recounted, adding that at that stage the matter became messy.
The reknowned traditionalist, who described the Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde as a good man, said Makinde felt concerned and asked: “Was it not through Ifa divination that the King was chosen in the past?”, adding that if the same process was not explored, the stool would remain monetised and the institution bastardised.
The Àwísẹ Awo Àgbàyé lamented the erosion of the integrity of the traditional institution in Yorubaland through monetary inducement saying: “We don’t know of Hausaland or any other land elsewhere but in Yorubaland today, the system has been corrupted with money. They would buy generators, cars and what have you for the kingmakers to influence the process.
“The kingmakers may collect money from a hundred candidates, it’s the highest bidder that they will give the stool to. That’s how they are doing it now.
“The governor now said he would not accept such, saying that should stop.
Prof. Abimbola recollected that Gov. Makinde pointed to him and said: “Is this not our father sitting down here who, we know, does not lie or deceive. In all the places he has worked both in government and in the academic community, he never took what does not rightly belong to him and he is an Ifa priest who holds the title of Àwísẹ Awo Àgbàyé . Why not let him go and consult Ifa. If we do it according to the tradition, it would bring appropriate result.
According to reports, Professor Wande Abimbola is the Awise of Yorubaland – head of all Ifa oracle diviners. He has affirmed the legitimacy of the new Alaafin, noting that the Ifa Oracle has the final say as of old.
Abimbola then claimed that the Oyo State governor put a call to him and asked him to preside over Ifa oracle’s choice of who would succeed Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi, as it was done in ìgbà ìwásè – the ancient time. “I spent ten days seeking the face of Ifá oracle and Ifá made its choice,” he said. Asked who Ifá chose, the professor said it was Prince Owoade, the man announced by the Oyo State government on Friday. He claimed that upon the Ifá divinity’s choice, the kingmakers sought to persuade him to change his mind over it through many subterfuges, but he refused.
The announcement on Friday of Prince Akeem Owoade as the Alaafin of Oyo-designate by the Oyo State government was the trigger of the above.
Abimbola also alleged that a fight ensued among the Oyo Mesi, the traditional kingmakers of Oyo, over sharing of the huge sums of money collected from candidates for the office. Though they had collectively agreed to choose the candidate who gave them the hugest bribe, two of the kingmakers were said to have quarreled over the amount of money collected by their head and the amount given them in turn. Oyo people were then said to have petitioned the government asking if it was aware of the deleterious influence and effect of bribery on the stool.
The Aláàfin, before the advent of the colonial lords, held powers that could only be curtailed and questioned by the seven-member Oyo Mesi, the council of kingmakers. The kings of Oyo were given cognomens, which affirmed their mini-omnipotence, like Ikú Bàbá Yèyé and Aláse èkejì òrìsà, both of which considered them as vice-regents of Yoruba gods of creation on earth. Except when the institution of kingmakers intervened, the actions of the Aláàfin, either justified or otherwise, were unquestioned and unquestionable.
The role of the Oyo Mesi in the choice of Prince Owoade has become an issue lately. Immediately after the interment of Aláàfin Adeyemi in the traditional kings cemetery in Bara, the contest for succession to the throne of the foremost king in Yorubaland began. Made up of seven principal officers of the state, together the kingmakers are the Electoral Council of the Oyo Kingdom, and are also imbued with legislative powers. Their head is the Bashorun, who also doubles as the Prime Minister. Other members of the Electoral Council are the Àgbàakin, the Sàmù, the Alápinni, the Lágùnà, the Akínikú, and the Ashípa. When there is vacancy, the Basòrun is expected to consult the Ifa oracle for guidance and approval of who the next Aláàfin would be. In times past, it was believed that Oyo kings were chosen by the gods. However, the peremptory manner with which kings are chosen in Yorubaland and the fascination of kingmakers with money in the choices have given people a different opinion.
So many studies have been embarked upon on Yoruba ifá divination and its arts. The divination trays have also been subjected to sizable studies.
In this wise, Abimbola has variously propounded and pursued the desirability of the use of Ifá divination poetry and literature as sources of historical evidence, even in a modern age as ours. He theoretically and even practically focuses on Ifá prose, poetry, mythology and divination. Indeed, many studies on the Ifá corpus have submitted that with Ifá divination, there is not only a religious implication but a means of communication between man and the Orishas among the Yoruba people. In fact, studies have posited that Ifá divination has a cultural underpinning for the Yoruba people and is connected to Òrúnmìlà, a Yoruba prophet and philosopher, whose teachings are used by kingmakers in the selection of kings in times past.
