I have been ruminating and racking my brain for inspiration to find a way of putting something together about my brief encounters with the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III since the news of his demise was broken online last week.
Yes, I am not one of those media practitioners who will claim to be close to the deceased African monarch. In my over 30 years as a professional, I only had reasons to speak to him directly four years ago at the official commissioning of the First Technical University, Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State. He was there as a guest speaker.
On that day, something just nudged me to approach him to officially introduce our publication, Parrot Xtra Magazine which we stated publishing in 2004 to him and seek royal blessings. Of course, he was easily approachable and I greeted him like a cultured Yorubaman would. I later gave him copies of our past and current editions then. Our Photo Editor then, Dare Alesinloye was on ground to capture the moment.
Well, I, perhaps, approached the respected monarch at that time because of an earlier encounter I had indirectly with him some eight years earlier that ‘opened him up for me to discover his secret’.
Dear reader, I am sure you are wondering too what and what comprised of the great monarch’s secret that I discovered…
The story is not long but it is an extremely symbolic story I told to so many people including the past and present governors of Oyo State, late Senator Abiola Ajimobi and Engineer ‘Seyi Makinde at one point or the other.
To some of us, the late Alaafin was a man to be feared and revered and perhaps, ‘kept away from’ because of the myths, mystiques and other supernatural powers he was reputed to have. (Maybe I am here revealing my own secret too!) Someone once told me that one of the powerful monarch’s drivers told a friend that some of the times, the Alaafin, while traveling back to Oyo Town from Ibadan or elsewhere, he would disappear and reappear at the palace while the driver alone would return with the official vehicle. I never got to confirm the veracity or mendacity of this gist. All I can say is that I was not exactly enthusiastic to get close to him.
So, on this particular day that I was to uncover the Alaafin’s ‘secret’, I had earlier been invited to an event by one of the daughters of the African monarch, Princess Folasade Adeyemi and the venue was the historic Premier Hotel, Ibadan.
I cannot readily remember what the event was about but I got there early because I am a strict keeper of time by nature.
As I waited for the organisers to get themselves ready, I scanned the hall and discovered that it was almost filled up. Yet, nobody was making attempts to start the event. Unknown to me, they were waiting for their most important guest and that was the Iku, the Alaafin of Oyo.
Eventually when he arrived, the whole environment erupted into bevy of movements and activities.
Of course, being a ‘parrot’ by nature, I had earlier positioned myself within the hall to be able to capture activities on the ‘high-table’ and elsewhere in the hall.
As the Alaafin majestically made his way into the venue accompanied by the organisers, other guests present in the hall started going to him as came inside to prostrate saying ‘Kaaaabiyesi’ but he simply refused to answer or respond to the greetings. He kept moving into the hall while his aides adjusted his colourful agbada for him.
If I can still recollect, I think it was when the fifth person that approached him to pay homage saying ‘Kaaaabiyesi’ to him that got the rare honour of being responded to. The Alaafin stopped. He momentarily leaned on his walking stick, then swung from right to left and left to right in a regal fashion. Then he stood still while looking directly into the eyes of the young man that was paying obeisance to him, saying ‘rara, e je ki a koko se iba fun Olodumare, ohun ni ka bi o ko si’ (let us pay our respect to God Almighty because he is the only unquestionable One). While he was saying this, he pointed towards the roof of the hall, apparently towards the sky too to indicate that he was referring to the God that resides up and up and far away outside our planet Earth.
Witnessing this really shocked me. I was seeing the powerful Alaafin publicly acknowledging how awesome God is! Interestingly, I seemed to be the only one who read meanings into what we just witnessed because nobody else seemed to notice. The coterie of homage makers increased and the Alaafin was ushered onto the high table and the event started.
Throughout the one hour I spent at the event, I kept replaying the experience about the A-Class monarch I just recorded.
“So, this is Baba Alaafin’s secret”, I mumbled onto myself, adding and querying myself saying “he just revealed his secret to me. Did he study the Old Testament of the Holy Bible to know how the biblical King David related with God?”, I asked.
I also promptly answered myself “yes he just behaved like King David who would dance and praise God at all times yet still did stuffs that would make people to raise eye-brows.
“No wonder”, I continued “the Alaafin is always victorious over real and perceived enemies because God is always on his side and fighting his wars for him. Only God is unquestionable! What a great public acknowledgement of God coming from the Alaafin of Oyo!”
Since the experience of that day, my relationship with God changed – meaning that I borrowed a leaf from the monarch and my respect for him increased a thousand folds.
In addition, I never failed to tell my friends about this experience. Those close enough to me will attest to this.
If the Alaafin as powerful as he was could fear God, who are those men in positions of authority today pretending to be God over Nigerians? Will they also borrow a leaf from the late African monarch or continue ‘as usual’?
My strong belief is that if our country becomes blessed with God fearing leaders, our story will radically change. Insecurity engendered by corruption and nepotism will definitely become a thing of the past because justice and fairness will become fully entrenched.
Dear reader, kindly permit me to also join others to mourn and commiserate with the family left behind by the great monarch. May his Solomonic soul rest in peace.
- Olayinka Agboola, was Press Secretary to Late Governor Lam Adesina of Oyo State. He is is the Chief Reporter/Crew Leader at Parrot Xtra Media Network where he publishes Parrot Xtra Magazine and PMParrot.com. He also anchors Parrot Xtra Hour on Splash 105.5fm Ibadan every Tuesday morning.
