-Wole Adejumo
Basorun MKO Abiola meant different things to many people
across Nigeria and beyond. To some, he was a man whose business empire ensured
the daily bread of many families. From the philanthropic angle, Abiola was the
man who provided lifelines to many. He was not Africa’s Pillar of Sports for nothing;
his football club contributed quite a number of regulars to Nigeria’s national
soccer team, the Super Eagles back then. Politically too, he is today seen as a
martyr, one of the heroes of Nigeria’s democracy. No wonder his death on July
7, 1998 raised a lot of dust in the country.
Fifteen years after, his
death is still spoken about with
many angles being explored. It is believed in some quarters that if the
presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 elections had not made the famous “Epetedo
Declaration” a year after the election, he would probably not have been arrested
and detained and he might still be alive today.
The is also the “tea” hypothesis, concerning how Susan Rice
prepared a cup of tea which eventually proved to be the late businessman’s last
drink on earth.
Abiola was known to have held traditional titles from all
the geo-political zones in the country and even beyond Nigeria. He achieved a
rare feat of being the Basorun of Ibadanland and the Aare Ona Kakanfo of
Yorubaland, holding the two titles simultaneously.
Not many have however thought about it that the beginning of
the end was when Chief Moshood Abiola took the Aare Ona Kakanfo title.
Though it has been claimed in recent times that the title
has become more or less ceremonial, traditionally, the Kakanfo is meant to be
the head of the Eso’s (the Alaafin’s special military force) and the head of
the Yoruba army. The title in those days was reserved for the greatest Yoruba
tactician.
When Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola became the occupant of the
position decades after Aare Latoosa’s death during the Kiriji war, it was
believed that the days when Kakanfos died in wars were over. The thought all
over Yorubaland then was that Akintola’s dexterity and achievements as Minister
and Premier of the Western Region earned him the title.
Characteristics of the Aare Ona Kakanfo
A peep into the spiritual responsibilities attached to the
title probably explains why the late Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba I.B Akinyele
prayed in his book, Iwe Itan Ibadan that no Ibadan indigene should ever become
the Aare Ona Kakanfo again.
Before taking office, Kakanfos of old were made to pass
through rigorous spiritual exercises including shaving the head after which 201
incisions are made on the bald head with 201 different lancets. Specially
prepared ingredients from 201 viols are rubbed into the cuts, one for each.
The incisions are mainly to make the Kakanfo fearless and
courageous, hence the stubborn and obstinate nature of Aare Ona Kakanfos.
In the days of the Oyo Empire, Oyo indigenes or residents
were never made Kakanfos because the Aare was not to give way to anyone, not
even the Alaafin, if the need ever arose.
And by virtue of his office as the commander of the
Alaafin’s army and that of the entire Yoruba nation, Kakanfos of old were
required to go to war at least once in three years on the orders of the
Alaafin, and the Kakanfo must return dead or alive within three months. In
other words, he is to return home a victor or be brought home as a corpse.
A Jinxed Title?
So far, Yorubaland has had 14 Kakanfos namely Kokoro Gangan
(Iwoye), Oyatope (Iwoye), Oyabi (Ajase), Adeta (Jabata), Oku (Jabata), Afonja
(Ilorin), Toyeje (Ogbomoso), Edun (Gbogun), Amepo (Abemo), Kurumi (Ijaye), Ojo
Aburumaku (son of Toyeje of Ogbomoso), Latoosa (Ibadan), Ladoke Akintola
(Ogbomoso) and Moshood Abiola (Abeokuta).
Whether by coincidence or design, most of them were
connected with turmoil that shook Yorubaland. Afonja L’aiya L’oko (the brave
warrior with the spear) of Ilorin, Kurumi of Ijaye, Latoosa of Ibadan and
Ladoke Akintola had their deaths connected to incidents involving change of
government. Toyeje who could have been said to have had a good end suffered an
ignominious treatment as Onikoyi, a provincial ruler created a parallel Aare
Ona Kakanfo in person of Edun. As such, Toyeje had to cope with the existence
of a rival Kakanfo and it was only in his time that Yorubaland had two
Kakanfos.
The similar fates that befell past Kakanfos were obviously
more than just coincidence. MKO Abiola’s immediate predecessor, Samuel Ladoke
Akintola, the former Premier of the Western Region was shot dead on January 15,
1966 during a coup that marked the end of the First Republic. Armed soldiers
had stormed his residence and like a true Kakanfo, Akintola did not give up
without a fight. He opened fire and wounded some of the soldiers before he was
eventually shot.
Yorubaland will never forget Iyanda Asubiaro Latoosa of the
Oke Aare fame in Ibadan, Latoosa, Akintola’s predecessor died in the course of
the 16-year Ekitiparapo War that shook the whole of Yorubaland. Ekitis and
Ijesas came together with their allies and in a desperate battle to attain
independence from Ibadan which held them under subjection for decades. After
spending years on the war front on the hills of Imesi Kiriji, Latoosa died of a
broken heart in 1885. Of course by the end of the Ekitiparapo War, the face of administration
of Yorubaland changed, the Ibadan yoke was thrown off just as the British
became the new masters.
Kurumi, the Aare who held sway in Ijaye paid dearly in the
hands of the Ibadan army for insisting that Crown Prince Adelu should die with
Alaafin Atiba, his father, according to the old order. His refusal to recognise
Adelu as Alaafin led to his downfall as the Ibadan army had aligned with the
“constitutional amendment” effected by Alaafin Atiba which enabled crown
princes to succeed their fathers. After a two-year war, Ijaye was reduced by
famine and the Aare eventually died a sad man having lost two of his sons in
one of the battles. Till date, Ijaye has not fully recovered from the 1870s war.
Most of the inhabitants fled to Abeokuta where they took refuge in a part of
the town known then as Ago Ijaye. Many never returned as they adopted Abeokuta
as home leaving Ijaye which was one of the main Yoruba towns then with the
status far below the one it enjoyed in the days of old.
The case of Afonja of Ilorin was pathetic. At the zenith of
his glory, he was the greatest and most powerful Yoruba ruler. His undoing was
the invitation he extended to his Fulani priest to come and reside in Ilorin.
It was only a matter of time before an insurrection was made against him; he
eventually died by the hands of the Fulanis. With Afonja’s death came the
transfer of power as Ilorin which was before then a Yoruba town went into the
hands of the Fulanis. Like Ijaye, Ilorin changed; a town that was once ruled by
an Aare came under the firm control of the Emir.
Those who believe the Aare Ona Kakanfo title is jinxed have
traced the woes of subsequent Aares after Afonja to the curse placed on Afonja
by Alaafin Aole.
Aole had ordered Afonja to embark on a suicide mission by
attacking Iwere Ile, a town naturally fortified. The refusal of the Aare to
carry out the orders of his sovereign led to distrust. With the help of
Fulanis, Afonja instigated an attack that sacked Oyo. Before the Alaafin went
to sleep eternally, however he pronounced some curses after which the Yoruba
country never remained the same.
Though the title might have become ceremonial after the end
of civil wars in Yorubaland, the change has probably not been effected in the
spiritual realm.
… And Finally The Conspiracy Theory of Abiola’s Death!
It has been widely agreed that like most of his
predecessors, the late Aare Ona Kakanfo did not die of natural causes,
regardless of the autopsy report that did not spot any foul play. While the
‘tea’ hypothesis remains the most widespread, some Nigerians have come out to
say Abiola was killed by the same forces that killed General Sani Abacha, on
whose orders Abiola was detained.
That they died within 30 days of each other was more than a
coincidence to many observers. The conclusion drawn by a vast majority is that
“the two of them had to go since Nigeria was at a standstill for 4 years over
Abiola’s refusal to surrender his mandate as well as Abacha’s ambition to
transform into a civilian President”.
Meanwhile, 15 years after Abiola’s death, Yorubas are
eagerly waiting for the manifestation of another Aare Ona Kakanfo.
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