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| Emir Sulu Gambari (Left) and Prof. Wole Soyinka (Right) |
The second
battle for Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, appears ongoing. The battle is
between Emir Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari and a prophetess of the local god, Obatala,
but there is the Professor Wole Soyinka angle to it.It all started with the
plan by the prophetess, Yeye Ajesikemi Olokun Omolara Olatunji, to celebrate
the Aje Olokun festival, also known as Isese, but the move was opposed by some
members of Majlisu Shabab li Ulamahu Society who stormed her residence at
Okeadi area of the Kwara State capital and warned her not to hold any
traditional religious festival.The priestess had reportedly released fliers
announcing a three-day event to celebrate the festival.
Ilorin used
to be a Yoruba town with the worship of the Yoruba gods being the norm. But
that was before jihadists took over after a battle.
The conquest
led to the imposition of Islamic values on Ilorin which the members of Majlisu
Shabab li Ulamahu Society would appear to be protecting when they tried to stop
the celebration of Obatala by Yeye Ajesikemi Olokun Omolara Olatunji.
Yeye
Olatunji has cancelled her event scheduled for July 22 to 24.
Soyinka
joined the fray, firing a statement in which he accused Emir Sulu-Gambari and
the people of Ilorin of infringement on traditionalists’ religion rights.
“It is sad
to see the ancient city of Ilorin, a confluence of faiths and ethnic varieties,
reduced to this level of bigotry and intolerance, manifested in the role of a
presiding monarch”, he said.
According to
him, “the truncation of a people’s traditional festival is a crime against the
cultural heritage of all humanity.“Year-after-year, Ramadan has been celebrated
in this nation as an inclusive gathering of humanity, irrespective of
divergences of belief.
“Not once,
in my entire span of existence, have I encountered pronouncements by followers
of any faith that the slaughtering of rams on the streets and market places is
an offence to their concept of godhead. Vegetarians hold their peace. Buddhists
walk a different path.
“Prior to
Ramadan, non-Moslems routinely join in observing the preceding season of
fasting as a spiritual exercise worthy of emulation.”
The Nobel
laureate recalled how for instance, “a procession of Corpus Christi was once
attacked, some killed, by a brood of Moslem fanatics, for daring to process
along the streets of that same Ilorin, saying, “Needless to say, such
abominations have become routine. Community is sacrificed to bigotry.”
He explained
that he presently teaches in Abu Dhabi in the Emirates where the Islamic
religion originated, and the system is inclusive.“It may interest you to know
that, in Abu Dhabi, numerous programmes are pursued, at government expense, for
the evolution of a humanised community based on religious tolerance and mutual
respect,” Soyinka said.
“By contrast
here, several tiers removed from origin, must we turn the turban of
enlightenment into a crown of bigotry?
“And in a
society whose very constitution that supposedly governs us all guarantees
freedom of belief, association and movement?”
The novelist
described the Emir’s action as one that has led to religious malformations.
“Your Royal
Highness, it is conduct like this that has bred Boko Haram, ISIS, ISWAP and
other religious malformations that currently plague this nation, spreading
grief and outrage across a once peaceful landscape, degrading my and your
existence with their virulent brand of Islam,” the Nobel laureate said.“It is
conduct like this that has turned, before our very eyes, a once ecumenical city
like Kaduna into a blood-stained mockery of cohabitation. It is conduct like
this that makes it possible for a young student, Deborah, to be lynched in the
very presence of armed police, on mere allegation of having belittled the image
of a revered prophet.
“It is action
of this nature, perpetrated in obscure as well as prominent outlets of the
nation, that turns a young generation into mindless monsters, ever ready to
swarm out and kill, kill, kill.
“Simply kill
for the thrill of it, but under presumption of religious immunity. It is
conduct like this that then nerves one extremist to wake up one day in a
Scandinavian country, publicly announce his intention, and proceed to make a
bonfire of copies of the Qur’an. Reprisals follow, equally mindless, trapping
humanity in an ever-ascending spiral of costly but gleeful violence.”
According to
him, the African continent has endured centuries of disdain and despoilation at
the hands of alien religions – Christianity and Islam at the forefront.
He therefore
urged the Emir “to rein in those agents of division, of triumphalist
intolerance, such as the Majlisu Shabab Ulamahu Society. There is a thin line
between power and piety.”
“Call Yeye
Ajasikemi OIokun Omolara to your side, make peace with her and make restitution
whichever way you can for this grievous insult to our race. We know the history
of Ilorin and the trajectory of your dynasty – but these are not the issues.
“The issue
is peaceful cohabitation, respect for other worldviews, their celebrations,
their values and humanity. The issue is the acceptance of the multiple facets
of human enlightenment.”
Venoms
Meanwhile, some stakeholders in Ilorin did not allow the Soyinka stinker to go
without a response before Emir Sulu-Gambari called for ceasefire.
One of the
reactions came from Mallam Abdulazeez Arowona, the Emir of Ilorin spokesman and
Chairman Kwara State Council of Chiefs, who described Soyinka’s statement as
“not only nauseating but also uncharitable to the people of Ilorin Emirate who
have by all standards remained peaceful with people of different faiths and
tribes.”
“It will be
of great importance for Prof. Soyinka to use his intellectual prowess to
promote peaceful co-existence in the society, rather than challenging
constituted authorities on the reason they averted a crisis in their community
when they know that ‘prevention is better than cure”, Arowona stated.
On his part,
Alhaji LAK Jimoh, a historian, in a riposte, titled, ‘Egungun be careful, na
express you dey go’, said: “His (Soyinka) references to the fatal
inter-religious disharmony and hostility in Kaduna, Boko Haram and ISWAP are a
calculated incitement to disrupt the age-long tranquility in Ilorin Emirate
that is renowned for ethno-cultural tolerance and inter-religious harmony.
“Again, in
his usual puffy intellectualism, even on subjects about which he knows next to
nothing, Soyinka, the self-anointed MR KNOW-ALL, sarcastically boasted thus:
‘We know the history of Ilorin and the projectory of your dynasty — but that’s
not the issue.”
Emir
Sulu-Gambari, in calling for ceasefire in another statement by his spokesman,
Arowona, noted that peace and tranquility are the major recipes required for
the promotion of harmony in Kwara.
“His Royal
Highness, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari CFR has ordered that nobody should
further express their anger on the Isese festival and Prof Wole Soyinka saga
under any guise any longer in the interest of peaceful coexistence and
harmonious working environment in Nigeria”, the statement said.
Battle
It will be
recalled that in Ilorin, founded in the 15th Century and by 18th Century had
become a thriving commercial centre, many natives, especially those who are
Muslims, are struggling with their Yoruba heritage.
They believe
wrongly that the less Yoruba they become, the more acceptable they are to what
they perceived to be the power-centres of Nigeria.
Yet bearing
their Yoruba names have not deprived the Ilorin people of the ability to rise.
Ilorin was
one of the provincial towns of the old Oyo Empire and it belonged to the Ekun
Osi District where the Onikoyi of Ikoyi was the supervising sovereign under the
Alaafin.
Other towns
in that district include Irawo, Ogbomoso and Iwere.
As Oyo
Empire waxed stronger, it annexed some of the Igbomina settlements like Oro.
The Igbomina sovereign was (and still is) the Orangun of Ila.
The Orangun
and the Alaafin are both sons of Oduduwa from Ile-Ife and therefore co-equals
under the old Yoruba traditional constitutional arrangement.
Ilorin was
to change all that.
Early in the
19th Century, the Alaafin appointed Afonja, a well-respected general, as the
new Aare Ona-Kakanfo (the generalissimo of Oyo Imperial Army).
The
constitution forbade the Aare to live in the capital and share the same
domicile with his overlord, the Alaafin.
Therefore,
Afonja stayed in Ilorin and, with his new appointment, he became a senior to
other generals like the Onikoyi, the Olugbon and the Aresa.
But, instead
of keeping to his oath of office, Afonja moved against his principal.
In other to
strengthen his hands, he invited a peripatetic Islamic preacher, Mallam Alimi,
to join him with his band of young converts called ‘Ogo Were’.
The ‘Ogo
Were’, claiming to operate under the authority of the Aare (Afonja), became a
law unto themselves.
With unpalatable news coming from everywhere on the activities of this unruly
band, the Aare decided to move against them.
When Alimi
got wind of this, he staged a pre-emptive coup and the Alimi forces were able
to stage a surprise attack against Afonja in his house.
The battle
lasted almost two weeks as Afonja, surrounded by his sons and war commanders,
gave a good account of himself but he was defeated and Alimi and his people
took over Ilorin.
Note that
none of the Yoruba top generals, Onikoyi, Olugbon and Aresa, came to the aid of
Afonja.
Even Solagberu, Afonja’s old friend and the leader of Ilorin Muslims at
Okesuna, refused to offer help.
The coup against Afonja had grave consequences in Yorubaland.
It was that
coup that led inexorably to the collapse of old Oyo Empire and the evacuation
of its capital city, Oyo.
Many
important towns like Ikoyi and Iresa were subsequently destroyed. Owu was also
destroyed.
When Alimi forces finally captured Offa in 1887, they destroyed most of the
town and decreed that male citizens must grow beards and convert to Islam under
the pain of death.
The
take-over of Ilorin by a foreign power was bitter pill for the Yoruba ruling class
to swallow.
Today, Ilorin has expanded in terms of huge commercial and social adventures
such that, despite the growing technology and social media threats, Islam is
still jealously guarded by adherents.
This would
appear to be the motivation for the members of Majlisu Shabab li Ulamahu
Society to try to stop Yeye Ajesikemi Olokun Omolara Olatunji from celebrating
Isese.
The Obatala
prophetess, meanwhile, spoke on her ordeal: “I am a member of the Kwara State
Association of Traditional Religion otherwise known as Isese. This is an
association of people practicing traditional religion.
“We practice traditional religion which is allowed by the Nigerian
Constitution.
“We planned
a three-day event to celebrate the traditional religion festival between July
22 and 24.
“It is not a secret thing that we want to do. It is a get together party in
which we want to give recognition to some people who live within and outside
the country.
“I had spent
a colossal sum of money in preparation for the festival. I paid close to N300,
000 to hire the hall, we had booked for Aso Ebi (Ankara) and customized T-shirt
and other things.”
Yeye
Olatunji, however, expressed disappointment that the event was twisted by
mischief makers through several social media platforms.
“The social
media went out with information on what we did not plan to do during the
festival”, the prophetess lamented.
“They said
that we wanted to worship a river and that we wanted to celebrate Osun goddess
as it was being done in Osogbo. The social media published that we wanted to
celebrate Ogun festival and that we wanted to bring idol worship to Ilorin
which I know is the place of Islam.
“I have been
living in Ilorin which is a peaceful town and I have enjoyed the peace of the
town since I came to settle here.
She said
that she cancelled the Isese programme to avoid loss of lives because it could
be hijacked by miscreants.”
“It is not
because of what they are saying that I cancelled the program. I cancelled it
because of wise counsel from elders, religious leaders and the police who
advised that the program be stopped”, Yeye Olatunji said.
“I cancelled the celebration because I don’t want crisis, I don’t want people
to see me as a trouble maker and i don’t want people to label me that I cause
religion crisis in Ilorin.”
The
prophetess, a business woman who deals in soft drinks and foodstuff, said she
had been celebrating the festival in the confines of her home since she came to
Ilorin five years ago.
“This is not
the first time that I am celebrating the festival. I have been holding the
festival since I came to Ilorin five years ago, but I celebrated it within the
confines of my home, but this year festival is planned to be more elaborate and
we wanted to give recognition to some of our friends who have been supporting
us”, she narrated
Yeye Olatunji, who said she was a prophetess in a spiritual church before she
converted, explained that she was not born into traditional religion.
“I was not
born into traditional religion practice but every family especially in Yoruba
land has a trait of ancestral practice. My foray into traditional religion is
self indoctrination.
“My
conversion to traditional religion was through personal experience”, she
stated. “Nobody converted me to worship traditional religion.
“I got inspiration
from dreams and other sources”
Credit:
Daily Dispatch Newspaper