By Shina Orodele
Is this one of the times we have to thank the British for invading our lands? If we were in the time before the British ventured into our lands, the Ijebu army would have been armed to the teeth and marching towards Ake. That is if the Benin warriors were earlier stopped by the people of Ondoand other Yoruba nations from marching to Abeokuta to go and teach the Alake how to respect the Oba of Benin.
I hate fake power, if you don’t have real power, don’t pretendyou do. There is dignity in that. Most of our Obas, our so called custodians of culture are too afraid and weak to man up and face the reality of their situations. They pretend like they have any real power. They revel in unnecessary egos and unfounded pride without adding any value to their communities. They talk about the achievements of their forefathers and automatically assume their positions even when they have not worked to be accorded such positions.
I think when they talk of superiority among themselves; it should only be in the context of history which may not be viable at the moment. We all know that kingdoms rise and fall. A small kingdom may rise to become an empire and a kingdom or nation from an empire may rise to rule over the empire it is under. Such is the dynamics of statehood. Based on this, the past is of little significance when compared to the present.
We are encouraged not to forget our history, not to forget where we are coming from. These words are meant to drive us into positive actions to better our yesterday and not to rejoice in old victories and glories which have no effect on our present lives.
Today, the Oba that has real power is the one that is loved by his people, and works towards making the lives of his people better. Such an Oba commands respect and his influence goes beyond his territory. As at today, the power of the present Ooni is not derived based on past glories or hardly remembered victories of petty wars but he derives his power from the love his people shower him. He derives his power from his genuine interest and actions in promoting the unity of Yoruba and making Ife a tourist state. In him we see a true leader, a real Oba.
Another Oba that has also shown us how to exercise real power and not living on fake pride is the Oluwo of Iwo. From what I have seen, the Oba is so close to his people that he knows what they want and works towards making them available. The people have no choice than to shower such a leader with love and respect. I think our councilors, Chairmen, governors and all our politicians have much to learn from the Oluwo.
Today shall tell what tomorrow shall be. We have some kings living in the past glories and achievements of their great grandfathers and thinking they are still lords over territories conquered by their ancestors when they know reality doesn’tsupport their claims. Many of these kings have done nothing to better the lot of their people or protect their people from external attacks. They have contributed almost nothing to the upliftment of their ‘territories’ yet they want to be respected and loved.
They want their people to prostrate before them and hail ‘kabiyesi’. These kings are living in the comfort of their palaces with little or no knowledge of what their people are dealing with. Thanks to Edumare, we have some kings creating events after events which will subsequently become history. These are the true kings. These are the kings with true power, with great influence and that command the respect of their people. Little wonder, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo prostrated before the Ooni. This was to show to the world how powerful the Ooni is. Well, the Ooni earned it.
Some people have asked how does the seniority tussle by these kings affect the price of garri in the market. The answer is: It doesn’t affect the price of garri at all. What will however affect the price of garri is if they can abandon their petty fights and emulate the Ooni by making all their communities tourist centres where everyone would love to be. That will definitely affect the price of garri in their communities.
