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O Ye My People! - Nairaland / General (66) - Nairaland

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Bring Ye All The Tights… / All Ye Libers!!!! / Nlanders Whose Command Shall Ye Obey!! (2) (3) (4)

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Re: O Ye My People! by OAM4J: 1:04pm On Sep 07, 2015
Idowuogbo:

Well,thanks! angry sad

No vex my dear, How have you been too?...You know I love you you plenty plenty na! kiss

O ye my people! How una all dey o?
Re: O Ye My People! by wonlasewonimi: 5:01pm On Nov 17, 2015
OAM4J:


No vex my dear, How have you been too?...You know I love you you plenty plenty na! kiss

O ye my people! How una all dey o?

My jawo friend whats up
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 6:17pm On Dec 02, 2015
T'is the holiday season, that seems to start earlier and earlier in this neck o' the woods anyway. Whose birthday did I miss? OAM4J. embarassed Plus, that tongue-tied Awori chic? shocked shocked angry Hmm! Belated best wishes o.

1 Like

Re: O Ye My People! by CHRISTALLITE: 8:38am On Dec 03, 2015
Please come to my aid please.

I need Forty-five thousand(45,000) naira,to complete my School payment.
The total sum of the fees is Sixty-three thousand (63,000) naira.

I have gotten the tuition fees,Eighteen thousand(18,000) naira,given to me by a Nairaland Member,on the 30th,November;2015 which was the deadline date.

I had gone to the School,University of Ilorin to pay the tuition fee,but the school,will not allow me make payment,without registering fully,paying all dues.

The School,being aware of my condition,has given me a limited time to complete the payment.

Please I need to make this payment urgently.

Please in any way,you can,
Please help me out.
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 1:23am On Mar 08, 2016
Naaaaaaaijaaaaaaababe! What happened to to ye? Wherefore art thou?

Is you hanging out with all the cool kids someplace else, where nerds aren't allowed? Is that where Katsumoto, OAM4J, Ajanlekoko, Olaone are? What am I saying - all aforementioned persons put the N in nerd! tongue

Olorun Oba l'oke a gba adura e sha.

Naijababe! angry





Oh, here she is! Never mind. grin


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_VngL1ikOo
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 10:09pm On Feb 17, 2017
O ye my people


Wassapenin'? Missed you all smiley smiley
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 5:51am On Mar 22, 2017
Idowuogbo:
^Pay me to translate tongue tongue cheesy

Debosky understood was I wrote its U Mr ajebota dat doesn't. grin

This Idowu chick was somethin' else! Long time. Where's my long lost love? cheesy
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 5:52am On Mar 22, 2017
Olaone1:
O ye my people


Wassapenin'? Missed you all smiley smiley

<shake my head>

O ga o! embarassed
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 1:53pm On Apr 23, 2017
isalegan2:


<shake my head>

O ga o! embarassed
Moi one and only kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 1:57am On Jun 04, 2017
Ooni in Oxford, UK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQTBWYeza0I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJsBhSdVcnU

More of Ooni in Oxford. This is so awesome. cheesy At 9:21 mark, one of Ooni's attendants/praise-singers: "Omo Irunmole!. . . Oba ni n t'oyinbo o ni nle!. . ." grin Also, 13 minute mark to 16:00, Yoruba community play saxophone and sing for Ooni. It's boring after that until 33:10. Great ending. Must see. cool;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYsam9cYhgI

Bonus: Cuban lady performing Oshun dance.
Mo juba fun awon Afro-Brazilian and Cubanos. They are heroes in the preservation of my culture. smiley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DkepJNapBM
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 2:01am On Jun 04, 2017
Olaone1:
Moi one and only kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss

You no well. grin grin grin

I think Naijababe chased Ooni to Oxford in that first video. You can hear her breathless panting, and filming and talking on phone at the same time. cheesy
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 8:14pm On Jun 25, 2017
isalegan2:


You no well. grin grin grin

I think Naijababe chased Ooni to Oxford in that first video. You can hear her breathless panting, and filming and talking on phone at the same time. cheesy
Helloooooo kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss

Naijababe isn't active on NL again. Hmmmm sad
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 8:32pm On Jun 25, 2017
Olaone1:
Helloooooo kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss

Professor Ola Olabiyi! Which kind professor you be anyway? cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy tongue

Naijababe isn't active on NL again. Hmmmm sad

Who is? Nairaland has chaaaaannnnnggged! undecided

I hope you're well sha. And all my peeps here from way back. cool You people just let us know you're still keeping on. smiley
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 9:02pm On Jun 25, 2017
isalegan2:


Professor Ola Olabiyi! Which kind professor you be anyway? cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy tongue



Who is? Nairaland has chaaaaannnnnggged! undecided

I hope you're well sha. And all my peeps here from way back. cool You people just let us know you're still keeping on. smiley
Lond time, dear
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 9:03pm On Jun 25, 2017
How's America treating ya? wink
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 9:04pm On Jun 25, 2017
isalegan2:


Professor Ola Olabiyi! Which kind professor you be anyway? cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy tongue
Maybe Prof Asewonimi wink smiley smiley
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 9:36pm On Jun 25, 2017
Olaone1:
Maybe Prof Asewonimi wink smiley smiley

You know I no dey fear. And I like confrontations wella! tongue So you trying to taunt me with some alternate facts will only result in me listing all your suspected monikers back to ancestral times.

My Naija lingo has improved in strides too. wink

Who can decipher this post. cheesy
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 9:44pm On Jun 25, 2017
isalegan2:


You know I no dey fear. And I like confrontations wella! tongue So you trying to taunt me with some alternate facts will only result in me listing all your suspected monikers back to ancestral times.

My Naija lingo has improved in strides too. wink

Who can decipher this post. cheesy
Hmmmmmmmm tongue tongue tongue tongue tongue tongue


Let me runnnnnnnnnnn wink
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 10:04pm On Jun 25, 2017
Olaone1:
Hmmmmmmmm tongue tongue tongue tongue tongue tongue


Let me runnnnnnnnnnn wink

I don't cause trouble. . . any more. grin
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 10:08pm On Jun 25, 2017
isalegan2:


I don't cause trouble. . . any more. grin
lol
tongue
I hope
Re: O Ye My People! by Nobody: 7:54am On Jun 26, 2017
Olaone1:
Helloooooo kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss

Naijababe isn't active on NL again. Hmmmm sad
i am on sane sections . The kids, numpties and plain bat 5hit crazy have taken over everything else.
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 11:58am On Jun 26, 2017
naijababe:
i am on sane sections . The kids, numpties and plain bat 5hit crazy have taken over everything else.
Ohhhhh
Babiest babe. Good to know you are still keeping on
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 4:58pm On Oct 04, 2017
( Where is my long-lost love, Oluwo Kilode? Some people say this is he/him. cheesy )


http://punchng.com/i-was-ridiculed-for-returning-home-a-poor-senator-prof-wande-abimbola/

Life & Times

I WAS RIDICULED FOR RETURNING HOME A POOR SENATOR –Prof. Wande Abimbola



Published September 16, 2017

Prof. Wande Abimbola

The Awise Agbaye, Prof. Wande Abimbola, tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI that he did not know his birthday until he became the Vice- Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife

How was your childhood experience?

I was born in the premises where I live now. My father’s apartment is in the front and I was born in one of the houses in the premises on December 24, 1932. But I did not know the exact date of my birth for many years.

When I was at Baptist Boys High School, now Olivet High School, Oyo, our class teacher one day asked for the date of birth of everyone in the class, so I had to travel seven miles to our village to ask my parents. They said they did not remember the date. They said that they could not recall the date because four other boys had been born before me and they did not survive beyond few months. The Yoruba refer to them as Abiku; that is children who don’t plan to stay long because they were probably on a visit.

I was seen as an Abiku too because they did not know if I would live. That was why they did not remember any detail pertaining to my date of birth.

Several decades later when I was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, I came home to see my mother, who died 11 years ago at the age of 107, and my elder sister, who is still alive. My sister said I was born on a Saturday. She said that Saturday happened to be a Christmas Eve because on that day, some Christians in the next village were dancing.

I thought that could be a clue to my date of birth. When I got back to school, I asked the librarian to find a Saturday in the 1930s that fell on a Christmas Eve. He said there was one in 1932 and another one in 1938. I knew it could not have been 1938 because I started school in 1945. I could not have gone to school at the age of six at the time. You had to be at least eight years old. I came to the conclusion that I was born on December 24, 1932.

Which other schools did you attend?

I was admitted to the University College, Ibadan, now University of Ibadan, in 1959. I was a state scholar. At that time, the best students in each faculty enjoyed full scholarship. They would also pay stipend to your parents and three children. That was in the colonial times. I studied History.

One of my classmates was Prof Oloruntimeyin. Before my final examinations, there was an advertisement for the employment of a junior research fellow in Yoruba Study at the university. Yoruba as a course was not available at the time. When Oloruntimeyin saw the advert, he advised me to go for it and I was selected.

One of the criteria for the appointment was a Master’s degree certificate in either divinity, anthropology, English or literature. I was not qualified in any way. A week before the interview, the director of the Institute of African Studies, the late Prof R.G Armstrong, dropped a note in my pigeon hole at Melamby Hall. He wanted to see me. When I got there, he said that he saw my application and asked why I applied when I did not even have a first degree.

After more than one hour of discussion, he was impressed with me and said he would short-list me. There were 11 people who had Master’s degree that were invited. I was called in first. When I discovered that the interviewers did not know anything about the subject, the session became a lecture and I lectured them. Four days later, I got a letter of appointment and a note for me to choose an accommodation among the houses available on the campus. That was how I became a junior research fellow in Yoruba Studies even before I wrote my final first degree examination.

I occupied the position for more than two years. While doing it, I started wondering why there was no degree programme in Yoruba. There was a friend who had scholarship to study Linguistics in Birmingham. We discussed the issue when he arrived back in Nigeria and we decided to start a degree programme in Yoruba. But before that, I had to travel to the US to do my Master’s degree in Linguistics. My plan was to return to Ibadan to start the Yoruba programme but on my return, I went to the University of Lagos. I met Dr Adeboye Babalola and another person there and we started a degree programme in Yoruba.

I later did my doctorate degree on Ifa. There were just three of us that bagged the certificate in 1970 at UNILAG and it was the first time the school would offer doctorate degree. The three of us did different programmes.

Which date of birth were you using before you knew your actual date of birth?

On the date that the teacher asked for our birthday, he said it could be at the back of our parents’ Bible but my parents were not Christians. I just told him that I was born on June 26, 1936 when I could not get the date. I used that date until after I became the Vice Chancellor at OAU.

What influence did your parents have over your choice of religion?

The influence of my parents looms large in my life. I was born into a traditional family. My late father was the Asipade of Oyo land. He was the leader of the Ogun community. He was a veteran of the First World War, fighting alongside the allied army that captured Cameroon from Germany.

My grandfather was also a soldier that fought in the Ijaye War of 1858 to 1862. He was the leader of the Alaafin of Oyo army. He fought alongside Basorun Ogunmola and Ibikunle, who was Ogunmola’s superior.

My mother was a Sango worshipper and she taught me how to chant Ijala and Ogun songs. She could render the chants of 15 Orisas (deities). In those days, people were educated in traditional matters through interaction with parents. My mother could remember details of what happened 90 years ago.

Before I went to school, my father enlisted me as an apprentice with the famous Oluwo of Akiitan called Fadairo. I studied Ifa there for eight years before I went to school.

In school, how did you relate with pupils who were either Christians or Muslims.

In the whole of Oyo town at the time, there were just five churches and the faithful were not fanatics. So we related well. The Muslims were even far lesser. Indigenous religion was widely practised.

The free primary education that the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo started in the 1950s propagated foreign religion in Yoruba land. Our minds were changed to look down on our own culture as evil and invalid. They called traditional worshippers candidates of hell. It was propaganda that killed our traditional religions.

They found a way to convert the children who also went back home to convince their parents. Some children told their parents that if they refused to convert to Christianity, they would not give them befitting burial when they died. So many parents converted to Christianity.

It is not a mistake for people to practise a way of life different from the one practised where they were born. The problem comes when you reach a stage and throw away your original way of life. It is not a problem if someone travels to Mecca and returns with the Arab traditional cap. The problem comes when he decides to burn his traditional clothes because they are no longer good for him. That means the man is insane. We have taken foreign religion to a level of insanity.

The decay we are seeing everywhere in Nigeria is the result of the large scale abandonment of the traditional way of our fathers and mothers. We have condemned our way of life and embraced foreign culture. You can be a Christian or Muslim and still see some values in the way of life of our forefathers. Today, parents give their children Mary, Michael, Rasheed or Isiaka. Where are our own names? That kind of life is ruining our culture and our view of the universe in which we live. It leads to hopelessness.

What exactly do African traditional religions connote?

Don’t call it African traditional religion. It comes from Christian mindset. What that means is that it is not really a religion but tradition. Why don’t they say Christian or Islamic traditional religion? I call it indigenous African religion because every religion has its own tradition.

I taught at Boston University for seven years as a professor of divinity and at Harvard as a professor of literature. I taught in 10 American universities and I always tell people that that appellation is not right.

What is Ifa in real sense?

Ifa is one of the orisa (divinity) of Yoruba people. It started in Ile-Ife since the beginning of Yoruba race. We know of Obatala, Ogun, Oya, Osun and so on. Ifa is one of them but it is different because it has more extensive literature than any other divinity. All the chants of Ogun can be rendered in two volumes; like the size of a Bible.

But that of Ifa is versed. There are 256 odus (books) of Ifa. Each odu contains 800 stories. The first book is Ejiogbe and it has 800 stories. In all, we have a total of 204,800 stories. That will fill the size of a large library. There is no other literature in the world that has such volume. Ifa is the greatest heritage of Africa.
It talks about everything. It is our own encyclopaedia which is held orally. It is a testimony to the fact that human brain can retain a lot of information without having to write anything. Unfortunately, a lot of it has been forgotten but a good deal of it is still alive.

I have written 10 volumes on Ifa alone and is being used around the world. Nigerians don’t read books. In schools, they just read handouts or a few texts given by the teachers. About 25 years ago, I noticed that some of my books were not available, so I re-edited some of them. One of such books now sells for $1000 per copy in the US.

I gave some of my books to bookshops in Nigeria and encouraged them to sell on return basis. After a year, none of them reported the sale of the books. Some even lost the copies. Odusote Bookshop in Ibadan sold a few copies. In Nigeria, we would rather read newspapers.

Are you also a Babalawo?

Of course I am. I studied Ifa as a youth in Oyo and studied more in Ile-Ife and other places. In 1971, I was initiated as a Babalawo. Ten years later, all the Babalawos in West Africa converged on Ile-Ife to install me as their Awise Agbaye (their mouthpiece).

The job of a Babalawo is to cast Ifa. There are instruments of Ifa like the divining chain, Ikin which is made of sacred palm nuts. The palm nuts have between three to 16 eyes so they can see. When Orunmila or Ifa was alive, he had two eyes in the front and two at the back. A Babalawo will cast and see everything that will happen to the client. It is completely scientific.

It is different from being possessed by orisa like a Sango or Osun priest. After feeding and dancing to those orisa, they can possess you and you will start saying what they ask you to say. Babalawo does not function like that. He uses verses of the odu that he casts.

You can only help your client when you have memorised many verses. Not all of them know all the verses and that is why they work in group. Each of the Babalawo in the group will know different verses and they can chant for more than an hour while attending to a client.

There is an Awise Agbaye who is the lord of Ifa. If he is around, he will interpret the verses for them. Ifa is the greatest African gift to the whole world. Unfortunately, while Ifa has travelled all over the world, Yoruba people, who are the real owners are ignorant about it because somebody changed our minds. There are white people who are now Babalawo and some of them have private jets from the practice.

In New York, there are more than 2000 Babalawos and in Miami, there are more than 100,000. Some of them own banks and function in the legislative house. There are thousands of them in Cuba and other countries.

Can the Ifa verses be documented into a book like the Bible or Quran?

People ask me that question everywhere I go. Ifa books are available everywhere. I wrote several volumes from the 1960s but people don’t read them. That is the problem I am trying to point out.

Do the white men use Yoruba to practise Ifa?

Do you have to practise Christianity in the white man’s language? The white men who practise Ifa have found a way of modifying it. They chant in Yoruba language but speak to the clients in the language they understand.

Are your children also practising Ifa?

Olodumare (God) blessed me with many sons and daughters including three sets of twins and they are either Babalawo or Iyanifa. They all followed in my footsteps. Let me clarify however that I am not saying that they might not follow other religions. All I am saying is that it is wrong to discard your own culture. My son, Taiwo, studied in Cuba. He is a Babalawo. He is known in all Spanish speaking world.

You have a white woman as a wife. Is she also practising with you?

I married other wives as well who are Nigerians. I had three wives before I married the American, we met in the US. I live more in the US and come home constantly. Some people will marry 10 wives and hide nine. Part of our culture is not to maltreat women.

My American wife speaks seven languages. She is an Iyanifa. She knows all the Ifa chants that I know and she will render them in Yoruba. I travel with her all over the world to meet world religious leaders like the Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury, leaders of Hindus all over the world and so on.

Do you preach religion to them?

We don’t preach. There should be a law to regulate preaching all over the world. Why should someone come and stand in front of my house to preach that anyone who is not a Christian or Muslim will go to hell? You don’t condemn people’s religion. Whatever your religion teaches, do it with dignity.

I was in a church during a programme in the 1970s and the preacher said Babalawos would go to hell. I stood up and told him that I would not go to hell. I asked if his forefather who once practised indigenous religion was in hell. After the service, he came to apologise. Babalawo will never condemn Christianity or Islam. If you see what we are doing and you want to follow our way of life, you are welcome.

In Ifa practice, do you believe in after life in either heaven or hell?

We believe that if you do something wrong, when you get to heaven, you will be punished. From our literature, there is nowhere where hell is mentioned. At the gate of heaven and earth, people will be questioned.

Is there a link between Ifa and other religions?

Christianity and Islam call God by various names. We Yoruba people call Him Olorun or Olodumare. When Christians and Muslims want to call God in Yoruba, they call Him Olorun.

We have had cases where armed robbers would say that Babalawo did charms for them. Does a Babalawo have powers to do such things?

There are people we call Onisegun, they are not Babalawo. Babalawo does not do evil.

There are various versions of Yoruba history. How can we get the authentic history of Yoruba people?

Ifa will tell you the authentic history. Everybody knows that human lives started in Africa. The Yoruba claim that it starts in Ile-Ife. How then can someone say that Yoruba are from Egypt or Mecca?

How did you get the title of Elemoso of Ketu in Benin Republic?

I don’t like accumulating titles. The late king of Ketu in Benin Republic, Adiro Adetutu, was my friend. He gave me the title. The title means the protector of Ketu.

But I don’t let people pile titles on me. Those who do so call themselves chiefs. What does that mean? What it means is an uncivilised person. If you go to Europe or England and call yourself a chief, they might ask you to come and dance for them. Nobody in the civilised world bears the name chief.

You once had a stint in politics. Compare your time as a senator to what we have now?

I was the Senate leader between November 1992 and November 1993 when the late Sanni Abacha ousted us. But the Senate I led was not paid. Only N5,000 was paid to each of us to visit our constituency once in a month. We were all lodged and fed free at the Hilton Hotel. I have said it many times that we were not paid a dime.

Our problems are the people and not the politicians. We vote them to go and steal and bring home the loot. When Abacha drove us out, I came to my house in Oyo. That is my only house in Nigeria. I had no car, so I took a bus and arrived home at 2am. I actually had two Mercedes Benz cars that were at home for 15 years before I gave them out. I was using taxis to go out.

I went to Lagos twice in danfo (commercial bus) as a senator. On one occasion, I sat in the front seat. We entered Lagos at 5.30am. In the bus, people were talking about me. They said that I went to Abuja and I returned a poor man taking taxis each time I went out. One of them said that people like me who could not steal should not be voted for.

When the bus stopped, I looked back and greeted them. I introduced myself to them and they were shocked. The people make the politicians thieves. I don’t cherish material things. My father built the house I live in in 1918 after he returned from the World War. I only built more houses in the compound to be comfortable. That is all I have.

Copyright PUNCH.
http://punchng.com/i-was-ridiculed-for-returning-home-a-poor-senator-prof-wande-abimbola/

1 Like 2 Shares

Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 9:50pm On Oct 04, 2017
BBC Nigeria news in Pidgin generates confusion on Yahoo.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/1b80123d-5b86-3d68-9ebd-d7d543679c93/nigeria%3A-oga-don-get-40-years.html

World
Nigeria: Oga don get 40 years jail for corruption
BBC News Pidgin Tue, Oct 3 2:47 PM EDT



Di fight against corruption for Nigeria don reach another level for Tuesday 3 October 2017. Dis na because one Federal High Court don jail one former government oga for 40 years because of corruption. Di court say Professor Adefemi Gunbodede, wey be former Director-General for Institute of Agriculture Research and Training for Ibadan, Oyo State misuse 177 million Naira ($321,429). Na di Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), government agency wey dey in-charge of fight against corruption carry case go court come win. Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel, wey be di High Court Judge, talk say Gunbodede remove money from government purse take do another tin. According to EFCC, trouble start ... (Read more)

Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 12:34am On Oct 09, 2017
Hmmmmmmm
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 10:11pm On Oct 16, 2017
Professor Ola, e si wa ni adugbo yi? How do you like my Yooba? tongue
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 6:41pm On Oct 29, 2017
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 4:07am On Oct 30, 2017
Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 9:11pm On Nov 04, 2017
OLUGBO OF UGBO TELLS THE STORY OF ILAJE/UGBO, MOREMI, ILE-IFE, ODUDUWA AND THE YORUBA PEOPLE

Why Ugbo people don’t marry ladies fair in complexion –Oba Olugbo of Ugbo
Published September 17, 2016
Ademola Olonilua
Punch Nigeria Newspapers



Oba Obateru Akinruntan is the monarch of Ugbo kingdom, Ondo State. He tells Ademola Olonilua in this interview how he emerged the king and the place of his kingdom in Yoruba history

Were you approached to become a monarch or was it a decision you took on your own?

We have one ruling house and four segments in all. To cut the long story short, the stool was monopolised by one of them for a long time without any plan to relinquish the post for others. So the other segments went to court and they won. After the judgement, I was invited to become the Oba. When they invited me, who am I to say no? I was invited.

What has kingship status changed about your life?

Before I became king, whenever I travelled and I saw roasted plantain and groundnuts, I normally stopped to buy them but I cannot do that now. When I was just a business man, I would stop to buy the roasted plantain and I could even sit down with the seller and eat it there but now, I cannot do it, I miss that a lot.

How did you feel when Forbes Magazine ranked you as the richest monarch in Nigeria and the second richest monarch in Africa?

The people that came out with that list know what they saw before they came out with the ranking, I don’t know what they saw. I don’t know the people that rated me; neither do I know how they came about the rating. Mine is to look at my purse to know whether I am being flattered or not. When you hear such a thing, you will be happy but I do not know the people that came out with the ratings.

But what is your net worth?

I don’t know how much I am worth. I would not tell a lie but I do not know what I am worth in this country and in the world but I know that I am living well and I can afford my three square meals a day.

How do you relax?

When I wake up in the morning as early as 6am, I run round the house then I spend some time in the gym doing some exercises. After that, I have my bath and take breakfast. Sometimes I listen to music. I read a lot of books about the Yoruba race and I am very conversant with our ethnic history. I also read international journals.

Recently, you published an excerpt of your book referring to the Ugbo stool as the oldest in Yorubaland. This claim appears to be in contrast with the history of Yorubaland, can you shed some light on your claim?

If you read some of the articles which I wrote, I said it without any contradiction that I am the owner of the Yoruba nation. They claim that Oduduwa is the progenitor of the Yoruba race, yet he met my great-great grandfather, Oba Makin Osangangan, the son of Oraife in Ife. If you go to Ife today, they would testify to it because a lot of books have been written and they acknowledge this fact.

A son of Ife, Dr. Moses Ajetunmobi, also wrote that when Oduduwa arrived at Ife, he met 13 communities and that Oduduwa came from Mecca. I was invited during the launching of the book and the late Oba Sijuwade wrote the dedication to the book. The late Oba wrote that he agreed with the findings of the erudite author. Also, the late Oba of Benin, a nice and brilliant monarch who I respected so much said in his book that the only Oba he respected in the South West is the Oba Olugbo of Ugbo, who resides in Ilaje and is the owner of Ife. If we are talking about the history of this country, the man was very rich, eloquent and brilliant. He knew a lot of things about this country. I remember some years back when I was with the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and he said to me, ‘Olugbo your father is the owner of Ile Ife’.

I have about 2000 authorities I can quote over this subject because I travel far and wide to study. I went to Portugal, Germany and I also visited the national archives in London. These are the places you can get our book; you cannot get any book here in a because most of our books have been distorted because they don’t want the truth to be known.

What is the place of Ugbo land in the story of Moremi?

Many people must have read about the Moremi episode. The Ugbos raided Ife many times, so they consulted Ifa and Osanyin for a solution. The oracle told them to put a beautiful lady in the market and they put Moremi there who later betrayed the Ugbo people. This is why she is never celebrated in Ugbo. We see her as a betrayer, someone who leaked our secret to Ife. That is another reason why Ugbo people do not marry ladies who are fair in complexion. We see such women as another Moremi.

We believe that she was a traitor and a betrayer. She deceived us and leaked our secret to Ife, otherwise we would have kept invading them till date. There would not have been anybody in Ife if not for Moremi. That is why we can never celebrate her. She betrayed her husband, she was a killer and we can even call her an armed robber. That is why nobody in Ugbo can celebrate her.

But was she not the link between the Ugbo and Ife culture?

We had our sons in Ife, we had about seven quarters in Ife, so we did not rely on her. The two markets in Ife, Oja Ife and Oja Ayegbagun belonged to my great-great grandfathers, Oba Makin Osangangan and Oraife. The Aje of Ife belongs to our house. When you get to Ife, ask for Oke Remo and Ile Ero, you will see our people there. We did not need to rely on Moremi, she is a betrayer.

If your ancestors were at Ife before Oduduwa, at what point did they leave Ife and even began to invade it?

When Oduduwa came, he did not understand Ilaje language and it took him about 16 years before he could understand our language because he came from Mecca. When he arrived at Ife, he met the Oba Makin Osangangan in Ile Ero. It was my ancestor that received Oduduwa in Ile Ife.

The first Yoruba history written by Samuel Johnson in 1889 stated that when Oduduwa arrived in Ife, he was wandering for about three months before he came out of the forest. Oduduwa fought with Obatala and defeated him. We had a lot of warriors that worked for Oba Makin Osangangan and they felt jittery about the man that came from nowhere to defeat Obatala. Our great-great grandfather had to retreat because they had families and a lot of property at Ife. Back then, the only thing the Ife people had was palm wine; that was their only economic power. The Ugbo people decided to retreat because they knew if they fought at Ife, the battle would affect their daughters, wives and children, so they retreated to Oke Mafuragan and they decided to attack Ife from there. Our people raided Ife successfully to the extent that the people of Ife thought our warriors came from heaven.

So what is the place of your kingdom in Yoruba history?

When we were in primary school, they taught us that Oduduwa is Lamurudu’s son. We were also told that Lamurudu came from Mecca, yet Oduduwa is the progenitor of Yoruba race, is that logical? Isn’t his father, Lamurudu supposed to be the progenitor of the Yoruba race and not Oduduwa? There was a lot of controversy surrounding the Yoruba race. Some people felt that an Oba was wealthy so they sided with him to achieve their goals and that was how history was distorted. I remember when I was in primary school, I learnt that about 25 professors were tasked with finding out the history of the Yoruba race and they did a beautiful job gathering information, they wrote the book beautifully and one of the things they wrote was that the Yoruba race belongs to the Ugbo people but the result of the research never saw the light of the day.

If you look at what is happening in the South West, everybody is keeping quiet. We have a lot of sophisticated Obas but if they want to talk, they do so in their rooms or palours because they know I have what it takes to challenge them. I am talking with the authority I brought from overseas because the Portuguese are very rich with information when it comes to the history of the Yoruba. They are the first to come to Yoruba land especially in our area because we are close to the river and we are fishermen. We are the first people to have a treaty in 1884 and the British confirmed it. When we are talking about seniority, you have to acknowledge me.

Don’t you think your claim is contradicting the known history of the Yoruba race?

The Yoruba history has been distorted for a very long time and it would take time before the record can be set straight. I am not trying to re-write the history of the Yoruba race, I am only stating what happened. People have done a lot of bad things by distorting the history of the Yoruba race because of their ambition. This is the time of change for Yoruba race just like President Buhari has brought change to Nigeria. They have been deceiving us for a long time and I want to set the record straight.

But why did you not raise these issues when the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade and the late Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa were alive?

I remember in 2013, when both kings were still alive, about ten newspapers reported it that I said ‘the Ugbos are the owners of Yorubaland’. Where were they then? They were alive and they read it but nobody contradicted my claims. What else do I want again? These kings were still in existence at the time I first spoke out. They acknowledged it.

But why didn’t your predecessor say this before his demise?

Look at what happened during the time of Jesus Christ; there were Moses, Joshua, John the Baptist, and other prophets before Jesus Christ. These prophets were not called progenitors of Christianity but Jesus Christ came for just 33 years and we proclaim him our saviour. That is exactly what happened; there is time for everything. It is not how far but how well. This is the time to speak out, it is never late.

Are there records backing your claims?

Yes we have a lot of records. The Alaafin of Oyo confirmed it, as it was widely reported. He confirmed it that my great-great grandfather was the owner of Ife. Also in the book of Omo N’Oba Erediauwa; it is there on pages 209 and 210. I said I have about 2,000 authorities on this subject. Before you can confront me, go and read your book well. If you meet me and you are not up to expectation, I would fault you and your kingdom; then your kingdom would fault you because you do not know anything.

What is your relationship with the other monarchs in the Yoruba kingdom?

I have one style; I do not believe in fighting with anybody because the person you fight today could later be your friend and help you in life tomorrow.

What is your relationship with the new Ooni of Ife?

I am not fighting with him. I call him a friend of Ugbo. I am not fighting with anybody. Proving my worth in the Yoruba nation does not mean that I am fighting him, I just want to set the record of Yoruba history straight. If he comes to my house, I will entertain him with whatever I have. That is my attitude towards life because I am a civilised Oba. I regard him as my friend even though I am older than him. I am friends with any Oba in Yoruba land and they are my friends as well.

When would the body of your book be published?

When I publish that book, it would be as if I detonated a bomb. It is then that you would know the kind of people that should be Oba in the Yoruba nation. A lot of people that are Obas now are not supposed to be on the throne. For instance, a slave cannot be an Oba, an hunchback cannot be an Oba.

If your father is still alive, you cannot be an Oba. If your fingers are nine or eleven, you cannot be an Oba. Also, a deformed person cannot be an Oba; a bald man cannot be an Oba. In my book, I listed the qualifications of an Oba. That is why some people are misbehaving in the land. An Oba should sit at home while people would come and pay homage to him. You have to sit majestically, that is what they call an Oba.

What are some of the taboos in Ugbo land?

In Ugbo, anybody who is a prince cannot marry a slave because we do not want to taint our heritage. There is a hill in Ugbo that females cannot go to. The Oba must not see a dead person. An Oba cannot be present when a woman is giving birth even if she is your wife, other people would have to handle it. Once an Oba makes a decree, he cannot go back. We have a lot of festivals in Ugbo and before the masquerades come out, they first have to come to the palace; if it goes elsewhere, it would be disqualified. The Oba has to bless it before it goes to the public.

When you want to get married in Ugbo, you cannot go to your intended in-laws’ house; you have to send some representatives from your family to the place. They would talk to your in-law on your behalf and pay the bride price. There is a way you pay the money and it is not much, it could cost about N10. The day you are to sleep with your wife, everything has to be brand new because when you sleep with your wife, your in-laws have to see the impact the following day, it must be proven that she was a virgin.

Are you saying that virginity is still celebrated in Ugbo land?

Yes, it is celebrated. It is just that it has been bastardised now. In those days, it was held in high esteem.

How have you been managing to be a Christian monarch in a community that also practises traditional religion?

It is very simple but you should remember that in those days, there was nothing like Christianity. Our colonial masters were the ones that brought it to Nigeria. What I did when I ascended the throne of my father was to tell my people that I would not abolish the culture they had been practising. I said instead, I would get someone who would be doing it for them. There is no conflict there. If anyone believes in it, then they should carry on but I believe in Christianity. There is no controversy there.

Before you became a monarch, you were an oil magnate who had to move around the world. How were you able to adjust to the palace life?

It was as if I knew I was going to become a monarch. I have very sound members of staff that are well trained. I sent some of them abroad for training while some of them were trained here. Two of my sons were trained to be able to handle my work. Even when I travelled out of the country, my sons and staff are there to manage the business.

Many believe that before a Yoruba king is installed, he has to eat the heart of his predecessor; did you eat the heart of the king before you?

I did all that I was supposed to do but I did not eat the heart of anybody, I was involved in all the necessary sacrifices.


Copyright PUNCH.

http://punchng.com/ugbo-people-dont-marry-ladies-fair-complexion-oba-olugbo-ugbo/

1 Like 2 Shares

Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 3:00am On Nov 13, 2017
Mayowa Adeyemo praises Ogun (God of Iron)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nEa9v5Np6k

Ògún onírè ọkọ ò mi
Irúnmolè tí ń rù mìnìmìnì
Òlómi nílé fèjè wè
Òlása nílé fìmọ̀bímọ̀ bora
Ògún aládàá méjì
Ó fìkán sánko, ó fìkán yènà
Ojó Ògún ń fìkòlé òrun bò wá s'ílé ayé
Asa iná ló mú bora
èwù èjè ló wọ̀ sọ́rùn o
Ògún onílé owó ọlọ́nà ọla
Ògún onílé kángun kàngun òde òrun
Méje l'Ògún mi
Ògún alárá nií gbajá
Ògún onírè a gbàgbò
Ògún ìkọlà a gbà 'gbín
Ògún elémoná nií gbèsun asu
Ògún akirun á gbà wo àgbò
Ògún gbénàgbénà eran ahun níí je
Ògún mákinde ti d'Ògún léhìn odi
Bí ò bá gba tápà á gbàbókí á gba húnkùnhúnkùn
á gba tèmbèrí o jàre
mo ní e má bógúnrún fìjà seré
Ògún òlódodo l'Ògún tèmi
Ọmọ Orórínà, ọmọ Tàbúfú
Morú nítorípé l'ójó Ògún kó délé ayé,
Emu ló kó bèrè o ḿgbà tó délè ìrè o
Ògún onílé owó, Olónà olà
Ògún ónile, kángunkàgun òde òrun
Mo ní e má aàbógùn fìjà sére o o
Ara Ògún kan gó gó gó
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 11:28am On Jan 07, 2018
Hmmmmmmmm
Re: O Ye My People! by Olaone1: 11:29am On Jan 07, 2018
Isale, how's Iduganran? wink wink

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