In this interview with EMMANUEL ADENIRAN, the Elerinmo of Erinmo Ijesa, Oba (Dr.) Michael Odunayo Ajayi, Arowotawaya II, spoke on the current state of the nation as well as issues relating to the History of Erinmo Ijesa Kingdom among others…Excerpts:
Can our readers meet you Sir?
I am Oba Dr. Michael Odunayo Ajayi, the Arowotawaya II, the Elerinmo of Erinmo Ijesa, in Oriade Local Government Area, Osun State.
When exactly did you ascend the throne?
I ascended the throne of my forefathers on the 9th of July, 2014. Erinmo Ijesa is an ancient town that was founded on or about 100AD by the third (3rd) and fifth (5th) Ooni of Ife, the Obalufon Alayemore. The Obalufon Alayemore’s father was also an Ooni of Ife, who was the Obalufon Ogbogbodirin, who on record was the longest reigning King, it was recorded that he reigned for over 420 years before eventually becoming an iron.
What is the relationship of the Erinmo Indigenes with other neighboring towns?
We have a very close relationship with our mother city of Ile-Ife. Erinmo is known for having spiritual potent mountain and that is why you hear people saying ‘Ori Oke Erinmo’.
There, you see people coming from different places for prayers and asides the mountain for the Christians, we also have a mountain where the son of the founder, Akidan resides in Erinmo and some other people also go there for consultation and prayers.
Erinmo is an agricultural town where lots of farmers do come for farming activities especially to plant crops such as cocoa, kolanut, rice, plantain, palm-nut and many others. Erinmo at that time was like a food basket for its environs.
Erinmo Ijesa then was also a place of residence for non-indigenes from Delta State called Isobo and Ibo. We also have good interpersonal relationship with the Ekitis, Oyos, Idomas, and the Igalas.
Since your ascension, what are your achievements and contributions to the development of Erinmo Kingdom?
My father had already softened the ground for me in Erinmo Ijesa. My father, Pa Asiwaju Joseph Olubowale Ajayi was the first University graduate to be in such position in our town. He was one of the people that assisted a lot of indigenes within the town.
Following his steps, I have a mandate to look after the less privileged in the society such as the youth, women, men and the children and as such different polices are being set up to meet their needs. Aside this, I am trying my best to build a lasting infrastructure for the town in terms of good road, electricity, water among others so that when industries begin to spring up, they will have basic infrastructure with which to operate without any hindrance.
We have set up a vocational school where people learn handcrafts and vocational trainings in order to be self-reliant. We also have free computer classes for students in the Junior Secondary categories which will empower them to be computer literate.
Furthermore, we have been supporting the aged and the specially created people regularly with food and financial support. For women, we set up Elder in council committee to look into issues relating to aged people and among them, we have a woman who is up to 115 years old. Most times, I try as much to tap from their wealth of wisdom, based on the fact that they are older than me and they are skilled in native intelligence.
Is there any tourist site in Erinmo Ijesa?
There are many tourist attractions here. Even the spiritual mountain that people often visit has become a tourist attraction, though we have not really tapped into it. Look at Israel for example; they make a lot of financial gains during visitations by pilgrims and tourists.
We are indirectly tapping into its benefits such as people coming to the town to buy things among others but I think we have to look into it and properly harness it in such a way that it will be more beneficial.
Can you recount how festivals are celebrated in Erinmo Ijesa?
We have major festivals in Erinmo Ijesa. One of such is the founder festival popularly known as ‘Akidanyin’. On the day of its celebration, a whole cow has to be killed, cooked and must be eaten on the spot. One of the taboos is that any part of it must not be taken home, whether a bone or a meat. It must not be removed from the spot.
The Akidanyin festival usually takes place at the royal market close to the Oba’s Palace and everyone knows that everything you eat must be on the spot and not to be taken home because disobeying the instructions has great consequences.
In our market for instance, there are certain foods that must not be taken closer to the market place such as the seed from the palm-nut. There are certain ailments that happens to people, when they die, they cannot be buried within the town but outside of the town just as it is done in some Yoruba cultures. The consequences of such sacrilege include affliction in terms of diseases and sometimes it can lead to death and everyone in the town have been seriously warned about it.
That is the most reason why we always try to pass the message across from one generation to the other so that everyone gets to know about it. Although, we are in a modern age, it is not necessary that somebody should enforce it rather they are enforced supernaturally. In order words, those who commit the offence in secret will surely face the consequences as they would be literally exposed.
On the cultural festival in Erinmo Ijesa, how much of it have you been able to benefit from in terms of tourism-gains?
Traditionally, every year we have new yams festival called ‘Odun Ijesu’. We celebrate it every year and to pray for farmers to have better yield in the coming season and I think this is common with many towns in Yoruba and non-Yoruba speaking states. It is a big festival here and it is usually celebrated between June and August every year.
Again, we have “Odun Olokun”. This is a spiritual festival whereby we do celebrate overnight frying of ‘Akara’ known as bean cake. Also, we pray for the souls of the departed not to forget Erinmo Ijesa and for them to always support Erinmo indigenes in their daily endeavors. Furthermore, Akidanyin festival is usually celebrated between October and December every year and there are other festivals we do celebrate from time to time. There are some days that as a King I don’t have to come across any human being and at such period I have to remain indoors.
Since your ascension to the throne, can you talk about your experience?
I am grateful to God for the opportunity to be alive and to be on the throne till today. I ascended the throne as a young man before attaining the age of fifty. I saw it as an opportunity to put into use all the knowledge I had acquired in the course of my working career for multi-national companies all over the world.
I realized that becoming a king makes me to start another level of education on what my job entails especially as it relates to what my people need. Like the days of old, kings are just meant to be a warrior but the kind of war we want to push now is to improve the welfare of our people and also demand for those things that will help develop our communities.
Furthermore, my aim is to focus on things that will foster peace among our people and to attract more luxuries to our people either from government or through private sources. This is to ensure that the welfare of our people is well taken care of and that is the job of a king and this is what I have been doing since I became a king.
What is your take on the agitations for the proposed Yoruba nation?
Before the existence of the colonial rulers, everyone in this nation once existed on their own. The Yorubas now in Nigeria once existed independently just like other nations had existed on their own. It was the advent of the colonialists that changed everything whereby they now brought administrative changes in line with their own political arrangement.
Also, before the colonialists came, the Iwarafa mefa and the chiefs in the palace had their own Senate. We also had our own Senate and House of Representatives, but with the advent of modern way of life, the South and the Northern protectorates were amalgamated together in 1914.
We are okay to be together and better to be a distinct nation but If we are able to stay together, without anybody feeling aggrieved or being marginalized, there will be no problem.
But if we feel some people are taking advantage of this to marginalize others, then we can be on our own just as we were before. If anyone wants us to be together, then they should ensure fair play and justice that will guarantee equal right, equal level of access to basic amenities and the issue of insecurity has to be addressed among others. If all these aforementioned cannot be put in place, there is no need to continue to be together. A Yoruba adage says that ‘Orisa bi o le gbemi, se mi bi o se bami’.
It is a decision that is obviously based on the prevalent circumstance in the country. If everybody looks out for the same level, and everybody enjoys equal right, it is then we can be proud to say we have a united Nigeria. When we were operating regionalism, our leader then, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was able to do extraordinarily well beyond what they have been able to do now. Even with our oil, if being together doesn’t bring fair play, then it is better to stand on our own.
What is your view on the activities of the Fulani herdsmen in your town?
Our farmers have most times experienced herdsmen invasion while working on their farms. The herdsmen have always destroyed what the farmers have planted. Most of the times, the farmers are afraid to go to their farms because of fear of the herdsmen and that is what we are telling the government and the security forces. There must be assurance for the safety of lives and properties of the people, because in the past, the issue of internal security was looked into by the domains of the traditional rulers. So, if you are to ask now, who are the criminals in this town? I should be able to know in my position as a King. But can someone who lives in Abuja know the criminals in Erinmo Ijesa? No.
So, there is a need for us to know many things, I will give example of a country such as America. America does not have any person like the Inspector General of Police. It has county police and police department for each state among others. So, the security apparatus is set up to suit the peculiar circumstance of that particular place. There are places where the nature of crime is cybercrime and they focused on that peculiar type of crime. So, we need to tackle insecurity with the apparatus of the nature of the security challenge being faced at such particular place.
What we need now is to find appropriate solutions that will fit in. We cannot seat in one place and hope that things will work well. We have to involve the traditional rulers and there must be constitutional roles for traditional rulers in Nigeria. People run to traditional rulers only when they have problems and during campaigns for elections.
The traditional leaders must have a role and such roles must be to facilitate development to the local level, enhance security situations among others. If we have people in Abuja representing us, why can’t we have constitutional roles as traditional rulers? It is the neglect of this that has led us to where we are today.
What is your stand on open grazing in the Southwest as it is being advocated by some Governors?
I can’t subscribe to open grazing. We are talking about private business here. If your private business is infringing on the rights of others, it is not good. I have my own domain and I think government should make arrangements to do open grazing and confine the Fulani Herdsmen to where they belong to. The North is big in terms of land mass and there are lots of opportunities for the herdsmen in terms of vegetation. Israel is a very small country but they are able to manage their land mass to grow their crops and do everything within their domain. We need to be fair and considerate with one another in this country.
What is your reaction to the appointment of Traditional rulers by State Governors?
It’s a pity! In the past, each town has a way of appointing its traditional ruler because being a king is more than the physical but it is also spiritual. That method has been approved and agreed on by everyone over the years without any rancor. However, with the advent of colonialism, there was a need to have more control on the people and that is why they instituted an indirect rule and they wanted to have control on each region, they introduced the house of chiefs in order to subject and subdue all the traditional rulers under the Queen of England. They believed that there is only one King and every other person is a chief by referring to them as tribal chiefs.
Sadly, despite the fact that we have gained Independence since 60 years ago, we are still practicing the chieftaincy laws. How can it be chieftaincy laws? Why not King’s Law?
Nowadays, Governors determine who will be crowned as King, whoever the governor does not deems fit to be chosen cannot be appointed. We are working towards giving the mandate to the traditional rulers. That’s why we are agitating for traditional roles in the constitution. ‘Towo eni o ba tii ba eku ida, a kole bere iku to pa baba eni’.
To recognize the traditional rulers within the constitution, these are some of the things that the House of representative members and senators should be fighting for because it affects everybody in Nigeria. It is not restricted to Yorubas alone- imagine somebody who is elected as a governor to work for two terms of eight years in office and the representatives’ elected for eight years or more comparing them with somebody who is seated on the throne forever. Who is closer to the people? Imagine somebody like the Awujale of Ijebu land and the Alaafin of Oyo after spending over 50 years on the throne. Consider, many Governors who have ruled and left and yet our traditional institutions and rulers still remain.
Then, who will have better understanding of the need of the people. So, it is important that the Yoruba traditional rulers stopped this rancor between themselves because at the end of the day, everybody has his own domain clearly defined and nothing is going to change that. It doesn’t matter if it is big or small, what is important is to leave a lasting legacy.
I think that will be fine rather fighting over the issue of seniority which is unnecessary. Even if they pronounce me as number one King in Yoruba land, it doesn’t change the fact that am still going to be Elerinmo of Ijesa Kingdom. These are the things we need to correct.
What message do you have for Nigerian political leaders?
I will like to urge the federal government to take steps and correct the anomalies in the security situation in Nigeria. It is getting to a stage where we are no more comfortable in the nation. People are being kidnapped and it has become a very big and lucrative business and the government needs to do something decisive.
Secondly, the state of our economy is in shambles. I will implore the government to take immediate steps to boost the economy and to ensure fair and even distribution. Thirdly, this is Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is high time we allowed each region control its own resources; everybody should be able to control what they are able to gather in their area and send fraction of is it to the center.
Fourthly, there should be a deliberate policy to support the youth in order to create an enabling environment because this is their future. A country that doesn’t prepare its youths to take over leadership space is definitely setting the pace for failure. It is very important because lots of youths are now engaging in cultism, doing menial jobs and the best brains are leaving the country. How can a country producing oil be importing petrol? How can a country producing gas still be finding it difficult to generate electricity and relying on olden days’ technology? These are things that need to be addressed and they must be addressed immediately.
I believe when all these issues are addressed, it will immediately boost the economy of Nigeria and I wish everybody well in this nation. I wish the indigenes of Erinmo Ijesa well and pray that God will continue to be with us and there will be no war in Nigeria by the grace of God Almighty.
