Ibadan And Its 12 Kings | By Lasisi Olagunju

Ibadan’s ways will continue to excite the human sense. The city won’t be tired of stirring crises and controversies that are soon resolved in its own peculiar way. And that is because it is a composite city of varieties in human values and opinions. I will insert Ayinde Barrister’s ‘Garbage’ guidedly here. Ibadan accommodates all and impacts all – the hardworking and the indolent. It is a ferment; a melting pot for all and for every culture that is connected with its history. Eminent historian, Professor I. A. Akinjogbin, put it very succinctly at the centenary conference of the Yoruba Peace Treaty of 1886 held at the then University of Ife in September 1986. He described Ibadan as a successful example of the mixing and mingling of all Yoruba groups. When you have such a phenomenal pool of people, you get a multiplicity of values and character traits. Akinjogbin said: “Virtually every town and village in Yorubaland lost at least a son to Ibadan. In other words, the Ibadan today are a thorough mixing and mingling of all Yoruba groups. Indeed, the Nupe, the Hausa, the Bariba were also successfully integrated into Ibadan. And by the end of the 19th century, even the Fulani were seeking to be accepted as full-fledged Ibadan when they sang “e ma pewa I’ajoji moo, a jo ni le yi ni” (see I.A. Akinjogbin in ‘War and Peace in Yorubaland 1793-1893’, page 5).

English poet and politician, John Milton (1608-1674), wrote on kings and their powers. He describes the scepters they wield as very much in the character of the staff in the hands of shepherds. The poet says kings love their people so that they could manipulate and fleece them. He says a king’s interest in a system is limited to how it makes it “easiest [for the people] to be kept under; and not only in fleece, but in minde also sheepishest.” I know many ask why we need kings in a democracy. It is a legitimate question that cannot be asked in isolation of where we are coming from as a people. British colonialism retained and energized traditional rulers for its use and advantage. Post-colonial Nigeria maintains them not as “museum materials” but as links to the past and (possible) instruments of stability and development.

As I write this, I could see with my mind’s eyes monarchs who are rewriting those negative lines of Milton on the use (fulness) of monarchy. Amidst failure of politics and politicians, kings now influence and attract infrastructure to their kingdoms. There are kings who are building schools for children of the poor, clothing and feeding them. There is one in Oke Ila, Osun State. The more progressive obas we have, the more likely the land gets better. So, beyond the ecstasy on the hills of Mapo, we wait to see the multiplicity of crowns in Ibadan translating to multiplicity of goodies and goodness in the traditional administration of the city. Otherwise, the crowns will be less of value than the beads strewn on them.

Ibadan now has a senior king and many junior kings. I wish them very long reigns. But if I say that prayer in an assemblage of Ibadan’s kingly heads, only the one at the head of the pyramid will say amen with all his heart. Why? Ibadan is probably the only Yoruba city where the news of death is good news. Agbotikuyo (hear-news-of-death-and-rejoice) is the word they proudly use to explain away the uniqueness of their monarchy.

There are eleven junior kings now in Ibadan. It has evolved from a city of knights with a reluctant crown to a city of major and minor royals in competition for eras. What does it mean for a kingdom to have a king sharing his royalty with junior kings? There was a co-regency in England when King Henry II crowned his eldest surviving son as junior king. The young co-king not only exercised zero royal authority, he pre-deceased his father. Co-regency was practised during Egypt’s 12th dynasty and across history in other lands. If co-kingship works for Ibadan, co-presidency may for Nigeria. But there was a co-regency in the Garden of Eden between the first man and the first lady. Should I pray, therefore, that Ibadan’s co-regency will not be like the one between Adam and Eve which ended with Satan’s coup de grâce?

 

Celebrated columnist, Olagunju writes from Ibadan.

(Published in the Nigerian Tribune on Monday 10 July, 2023)