Prof. Wande Abimbola, born Ògúnwán̄dé Abím̄bọ́lá, a professor of Yoruba language and literature and a former vice-chancellor of the University of Ife (formerly Obafemi Awolowo University), has revealed the process through which the Alaafin-elect, Prince Abimbola Owoade was chosen.
According to the academician and elder statesman who once served as the Majority Leader of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the government asked him to consult the Ifa Oracle to choose the next Alaafin because the Oyomesi Kingmakers had been compromised.
Professor Abimbola revealed this in a video clip currently going viral on social media where he was asked by a concerned Nigerian to confirm or not information that he consulted Ifa to choose the new Alaafin.
The erudite professor who spoke eloquently in flawless Yoruba language confirmed the news.
“Yes, it’s the Oyo State Government that asked me to consult Ifa. It will be three years by April this year since our King, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, joined his ancestors. The kingmakers were consulted to pick a successor, and then interested individuals started giving hefty money to the kingmakers to influence their decisions.
“This later divided the rank of the kingmakers because they discovered that the money their leader shared with them was a far cry from what he collected. The five kingmakers had earlier supported a particular prince who gave them the heaviest sum, but after discovering the act perpetrated by their leader, two of them backtracked. They reached out to the government to say they were no longer in support of the candidate, adding that they just discovered that the money their leader collected from the said prince was incredibly heavy from which he gave them peanuts.
“That’s where the crisis started. Citizens of Oyo too started writing in newspapers to call out government that ‘it’s money you want to use to elect Alaafin into office, is that good?’” he recounted, adding that at that stage the matter became messy.
The reknowned traditionalist, who described the Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde as a good man, said Makinde felt concerned and asked: “Was it not through Ifa divination that the King was chosen in the past?”, adding that if the same process was not explored, the stool would remain monetised and the institution bastardised.
The Àwísẹ Awo Àgbàyé lamented the erosion of the integrity of the traditional institution in Yorubaland through monetary inducement saying: “We don’t know of Hausaland or any other land elsewhere but in Yorubaland today, the system has been corrupted with money. They would buy generators, cars and what have you for the kingmakers to influence the process.
“The kingmakers may collect money from a hundred candidates, it’s the highest bidder that they will give the stool to. That’s how they are doing it now.
“The governor now said he would not accept such, saying that should stop.”
Prof. Abimbola recollected that Gov. Makinde pointed to him and said: “Is this not our father sitting down here who, we know, does not lie or deceive. In all the places he has worked both in government and in the academic community, he never took what does not rightly belong to him and he is an Ifa priest who holds the title of Àwísẹ Awo Àgbàyé . Why not let him go and consult Ifa. If we do it according to the tradition, it would bring appropriate result.”
The 92-year-old professor currently lives in the United States.
Seunmanuel Faleye is a brand and communications strategist. He is a covert writer and an overt creative head. He publishes Apple’s Bite International Magazine.
