The quest for royal supremacy – a tale of two sides of same coin delves into the public debate on the misunderstanding of the battle of Yoruba royal supremacy between the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo.
The simmering tension between the followership of the stool of Alaafin of Oyo, the paramount ruler of the Oyo Kingdom and the stool of Ooni of Ile-Ife, widely regarded as the custodian of the Yoruba ancestral emblem is uncalled for, and depicts ignorance.
Recent debates from both sides of the tribal traditional divide show an alarming level of people’s disconnect from the Yoruba culture.
Photo Credit: Punch
This article is not to assert who is superior among the two but will leave the readers to make up their minds.
Although, care has been taken to ensure that facts were not distorted and history misrepresented, it is safe to say that this article is not authoritative. Dates have been left out deliberately.
Quest For Royal Supremacy – A Tale of Two Sides of the Same Coin
For ease of understanding, let’s break it down:
How Did It All Start?
Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Yoruba race had only one child – Okanbi.
Okanbi then had seven (7) children – Two female and five male children. The first two (2) children were female and the last five (5) were male.
Let’s focus on the last five male children, for now, we will come back to the eldest daughter later.
The third child and the eldest male child was the first Oba of Benin (Nigeria) followed by the Onipopo of Popo (Benin Republic), Onisabe of Sabe ( Benin Republic), Alaketu of Ketu (Nigeria) and Oramiyan (Nigeria). Aside from Oranmiyan and the Oba of Benin, and the two princesses, I’m not sure of the order in which the others came.
While the Oba of Benin is the most senior male child, in terms of chronological age; Oranmiyan, the youngest male child had the first right to the throne.
Why So?
This is because in Yoruba culture, as practised then, the first male child to give birth to after the coronation of the prince-father would automatically have the first right to the throne.
Yoruba folklore has it that, even the then Oba of Benin accepted it and never contested it, even though he was the eldest male child.
Since all the other four male children were given birth to before Okanbi was enthroned as the King of Ile-Ife, and only Oramiyan was given birth to after Okanbi’s ascension to the throne; Oranmiyan was confirmed as the supreme heir to the throne.
Quest For Royal Supremacy – A Tale of Two Sides of the Same Coin
What Happened After the Demise of Okanbi?
After the demise of Okanbi, Oranmiyan ascended to the throne, uncontested mainly by the Oba of Benin. Oranmiyan’s royal supremacy was accepted by the Oba of Benin (a fact, that one!!!!!!) and others.
During his reign, Oranmiyan appointed the husband of the eldest daughter as his chief priest. Being the chief priest, he was referred to as the ‘Oonirisa’.
Oramiyan had many ceremonial duties and wars to attend to, so he needed someone solely dedicated to serving the over 200 gods and demigods in Ile-Ife, hence the importance of the role of Oonirisa.
Over time, whenever Oramiyan would be out of town, the people of Ile-Ife would come to Oonirisa for guidance and direction with the approval of Oranmiyan.
Suffice it to say that, Oonirisa would deputize for Oramiyan in his absence, in those days.
The respect Oranmiyan accorded Oonirisa was not unconnected to the fact that Oranmiyan ascribed his military and diplomatic exploits to the backing of the gods and demi-gods, which Oonirisa was taking care of, on his behalf.
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How Ooni Did Come About?
Being a warrior, Oranmiyan set about expanding his territories. As usual, he entrusted the leadership of Ile-Ife into the hands of Oonirisa.
He went about warring, conquering villages upon villages, towns upon towns from present-day Oyo township to present-day Benin Republic. After the sustained conquests, Oranmiyan decided to settle in the Oyo Kingdom.
Initially, Oonirisa would act in deference to Oranmiyan’s authority. Oramiyan would issue instructions from Oyo and Oonirisa would only have to execute it at Ile-Ife.
With time, Oonirisa began to enjoy more autonomy, with the blessing of Oranmiyan.
Of course, the autonomy grew over time but remained largely peaceful until the reign of the recently demised Ooni of Ife, Olubuse the II, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, when there were cases of few ego clashes between him and the Alafin of Oyo, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
Quest For Royal Supremacy – A Tale of Two Sides of Same Coin
Lesson Learnt
We should always act with posterity in mind.
If Oranmiyan had come back to Ile-Ife after his numerous conquests, there wouldn’t have been this issue.
A huge personality presence can maintain the status quo now, but somehow, in future, it will always be challenged; thereby creating avoidable future problems.
The Ile-Ife stool was owned by Oranmiyan and The Oyo Stool was conquered by Oranmiyan. Safe to say that, both stools belong to the same man-Oranmiyan.
Advise to those whose blood is already boiling:
Bloodshed, rancour, hatred, whatever name you want to call it, is not worth it. Both stools belong to the same ancestral source.
Both stools deserve utmost reverence, irrespective of the tribal traditional divide you align.
Let’s do what is right and not what is expedient because of posterity.
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/henry-viii-and-royal-supremacy
Quest For Royal Supremacy – A Tale of Two Sides of the Same Coin