Home Opinion OYO101: ALAAFIN – How Not To Choose A King! | Muftau Gbadegesin

OYO101: ALAAFIN – How Not To Choose A King! | Muftau Gbadegesin

733
0

Apparently, the garbage of outright fabrications and outlandish falsehoods built around the spectacularly strange selection and presentation of certificate and staff of office to the newly appointed Alaafin of Oyo have crumbled under the weight of irrefutable and unimpeachable evidence: those who ought to uphold the law have their hands caught in the cookie jar of illegality. And with crystal clarity, people have seen through the fog of propaganda and veneer of state-sponsored media manipulations.

Perhaps, a lie need not travel for twenty years before the truth catches up with it. In less than a month of clandestine and open assault, every single invective ever told and ever thrown through the media, ‘Ifa’ or whisper about the selection process of the Owner of the Palace of Oyo has suffered heavy knocks. The carefully orchestrated and choreographed excitement that surrounded the announcement of the new Alaafin have died down – never to rise again.

Google search engine

Any throne can be rubbished and ridiculed but not that of Aafin Oyo. In effect, no throne can survive centuries of wars, invasions, and expansions without having the internal mechanisms to stomach and fight off intruders and hijackers. That mechanism will surely swing into action and crush all meddlesome interlopers wherever they may be hiding with merciless abandon. When Bashorun Gaa grew in notoriety, he was flushed down the drain. While Gaa wasn’t the only powerful figure who brought Oyo to its knees, Afonja, an Oyo Prince equally thought he could revolt by conniving and conspiring with aliens against his people. History placed him where he truly belonged: the backwater of irrelevance. Outside of Oyo, stories of prodigal sons who sold their father’s property for pittance and peanuts abound. A compound that is still peaceful and stable, as the Yoruba would say, is yet to witness the rise of its bastards.

As attacks and assaults on the throne of Alaafin gained widespread attention, locally and globally, attempts have been made to revisit the Machiavellian’s dangerous take on power grab: that the end justifies the means. Whereas in a saner clime where the sacredness and sanctity of an eminent throne as that of Alaafin of Oyo is concerned, the reverse of that plot is usually the case: the means ought to justify the end. Read between the line of messages to the new King: none, from renowned scholars to the acclaimed friends of the palace spoke critically against the dangerous precedent being set by the political elites. Again, none spoke about the desecration of the revered and cherished tradition of the Oyo people. They all sleep and faced the same direction – we now know why: that Prince Lukman Adelodun Ayinla Gbadegesin outwitted all the devils on the way caught puppet installers and their acolytes off guard. They are never saw it coming. For one, a king that sits on a three-legged throne should not rest his back on the chair. He should also not sleep with his two eyes closed. Those who got to the throne through the window must brace for the blitzkrieg of the enemies from all doors. Tell them to get ready to fight the gods and the ancestors for waging internecine war against the sacred and eminent throne.

As we read in history, nowhere are Kings brought to the palaces with stained banners. Monarchs that will enjoyed warm reception of the people must emerg through a codified, strict and age-long customs and traditions. To jettison that process because of primordial or primitive sentiment risk stripping the ancient stool, and its controversial occupant naked in the market square.

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth” was how Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s minister of information invented the machinery of propaganda in the 20th century. In years that followed, around six million Jews languished in concentration camps and gas chambers in part because of Hitler, following the invention of his minister unleashed the monsters on his enemies. Today, populists around the world look up to Joseph Goebbels for inspiration. Whether it is Donald Trump advocating for “America First”, or the Hungarian’s Viktor Orban promoting “illiberal democracy”, or Javier Milei of Argentina shouting “Long live freedom, damn it”, the philosophy and perspectives of populists are the same: they claim to own the TRUTH, everything else is fake news.

Had he not been a populist himself, Governor Seyi Makinde wouldn’t have insistently, consistently and persistently dragged the Oyo Mesi into the mud for pecuniary gains. Had he paid close attention to the voices and forces in the town, he wouldn’t have imposed his choice on the people. Fair enough, as usual of all populists, he was merely repeating a lie hoping it will somehow turned to the truth. And for a while, that tactic worked like magic: it became difficult to fault a sitting Governor repeating the claim. Sadly, a Governor is not infallible. Think of how the Governor baselessly alleged Alhaji Kunle Sanni, the chairman of Oyo State Muslim Community of not executing a SUBEB contract awarded to him by the previous government. Granted, the Governor retracted his statement because he was told available facts contradicted his utterance. Come to think of it, how many of such cases of false narrative would have been swept under the rugs causing permanent damages and injuries on the hard-earned reputation of the people?

In essence, a kingdom exists partly because of the King and the people. It is the people that formed the kingdom and accept the King as the sovereign. Unless people are accomplice or complicit in the selection of a King, buying legitimacy for a flawed arrangement will backfire. Not surprising the state government has been running from pillars to post shopping for legitimacy for their coup.

As history taught us, coup plotters know that stealing the stool in the broad daylight is a call for chaos and anarchy. Slowly, a countercoup will emerge that will snatch the throne and hand it over to a new ruler. In a warning shot fired at the Governor, the Oyo Mesi through their counsel, Kunle Sobaloju (SAN), urged Governor Makinde to refrain from resorting to a trial by media or court of public opinion in a bid to confer legitimacy on recent unlawful acts of the state, under his control. “If there is any evidence to support these allegations”, they noted “we respectively advice that is should be brought before the court, where it can be properly examined and addressed”. “Please”, they categorically echoed “recognize that you remain liable to prosecution for the defamatory acts committed by you in office, for which you may be held accountable after your period of immunity is over”.

To take many steps back to the Nicolo Machiavelli’s take on power grab: will the end truly justify the means in this case?

OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @Upliftnuggets on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here