Ifa Priest and cultural and traditional icon, Araba Ifayemi Elebuibon, has come out to speak about the ongoing dispute between the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo. He recently discussed the roles of the monarchs and the impact of their division on the Yoruba people.
Speaking during an interview with VanguardNG, he revealed that the Ooni of Ife is superior to the Alaafin of Oyo.
According to him, the Ooni is the father of Yorubaland, who has many sons, including the Oranmiyan, who eventually became the Alafin, expanded his kingdom, and built his empire.
He, however, stated that despite the expansion of the Alaafin’s kingdom, it never made him superior to his father.
“The supremacy battle between the two thrones or monarchs has nothing to do with Yoruba tradition or history. Traditionally, the relationship between the Ooni and Alaafin is like that of a father to a child and a child does not disrespect his father.
But like I said, the advent of the colonialist and later the political class gave birth to the current situation. The Ooni, as a father, was blessed with many sons, among whom was the Oranmiyan, who became the Alafin and was very powerful. He expanded the kingdom to the status of an Empire, but that does not make him superior to his father.
Because the Colonialists made a treaty with the Alaafin does not make him superior over the Ooni, it is the white man’s way of creating division within the race. But according to Yoruba tradition, Ooni is the most superior among Yoruba traditional rulers,” he said.
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He further noted that the colonialists’ making a treaty with the Alaafin does not make his position bigger than that of the Ooni of Ife.
Araba concluded by saying that because colonial rule always comes with its own mischief, they tried to create divisions among the Yorubas with their decisions.
“Well, as I have explained that the rise of the Oyo Empire was due to the personality and Charisma of Oranmiyan, whose expansionist agenda thrive beyond him, but that could be likened to a son, whose exploit outgrow those of his father. He remains the son of his father. Besides, all of these successes does not make Oyo Empire the origin of the Yoruba race, that is settled in both cotemporary history and Yoruba traditional history.
Without necessarily going too much into history, we all know that the Colonial rule has an agenda wherever it goes. They try to create division among the people in a bid to keep them under their rule for as long as possible.
Signing a treaty with the Alaafin is one of such situation. While they needed to resolve a prolonged crisis among some monarchs in the Lagos area during colonial rule, the colonial masters pleaded with the Ooni of Ife to leave Ile-Ife to resolve the crisis. Why didn’t they seek Alaafin’s help? Remember also that when Ooni went on that quest, no traditional ruler wore a beaded crown till he returned to his palace,” he added.
