YORUBYTE: VALENTINE – THE AFRICAN WHO DIED FOR LOVE
It would
be Valentine's in a few days, it is the celebration of love they say.
Whenever sacrificial love is being talked about, they make it seem like
Africans do not have the capacity to pay the ultimate price for love.
They talk about how Jack died for the girl in Titanic, they talk about
how Romeo died for Juliet, they talk about how St. Valentine died for a
babe. You want to know the truth, they are all LIES! The Love story in
Titanic was fabricated, Romeo was just a product of Shakespeare's
imagination, and there was no St. Valentine death anywhere. Please
confirm for yourself.
On the other hand, in Africa, we have some
real genuine cases where guys died for the sake of their lovers. Guys
who lived amongst us in flesh and blood, not some made up Jack Dawson,
Romeo or St. valentine. Let me tell you the story of one of such people
who gave his all for his love, here in Africa.
The Oyo empire was
a very big empire in West Africa back in the days, it was situated
largely in the country called Nigeria today. it formed one of the four
major empires of Africa. To rise to become the king of the Oyo empire, a
group of people called Oyo mesi (kingmakers) have to give their
blessings. It so happened that at one time, the head of those King
makers was a man named Gaa, his chieftancy title was "Bashorun", so he
was called Bashorun Gaa!
Ha! Gaa was wicked! he was feared! Just
the mention of his name made quite a lot of people develop weak knees.
You think the biblical Pharoah was wicked? compared to Gaa, Pharoah was
an angel. Bashorun Gaa personally installed 4 kings and killed them,
just to show his might. When Bashorun Gaa installed Labisi as king, the
man didn't even finish his installation rites before Gaa caused his
death. Just 17 days into the initiation rites and the poor dude was
dead.
He appointed the next king immediately, Alaafin Oduboye.
After Oduboye became king, Gaa demanded that the king prostrate to him.
Just because Oduboye refused, saying it's never done, Gaa killed him
just 130 days after he ascended the throne!
Pronto, Another
prince, Alaafin Agboluaje was made king by Gaa again. Alaafin Agboluaje
tried to obey Gaa but the "Bebe" celebration caused a rift between them,
and guess what? Yes, you guessed correctly, Gaa killed him! (The Bebe
is a story for another day).
Next, Gaa installed Agboluaje's
brother, Alaafin Majeogbe promptly. Within 90 days, you know what
happened? Yeah, you are catching on real fast, Majeogbe was killed. 4
kings within a spate of one and a half years! Gaa was a terror.
Look, you won't understand the impunity Gaa wielded in Oyo with his
sons. Let me give you an example; Gaa's son forced an "alabaru" (a
commercial load carrier) to carry a luggage far heavier than the guy
could carry. He walked behind the alabaru amusing himself with the guy's
suffering. He remarked in jest that the man's neck had become so thick
that he doubted if a sword could cut through. He pulled out his sword to
confirm it. Peu! he cut the "Alabaru's" head, just like that! Ni'lu to
l'oba, to ni'joye. No one dared touch him, cos he was Bashorun Gaa's
son.
Another Son of Bashorun Gaa shot dead a farmer making ridges in
the farmer's own land. When he was asked why he killed the farmer,
Gaa's son replied, "the bastard was disfiguring Oyo land by making horns
on it". Ridges! .... Horns! Not even the king could do anything about
it because he was Gaa's son. Now you have a LITTLE understanding of who i
am talking about.
Bashorun Gaa had a mortar in his house that
if he sits atop, he is said to turn into a mighty elephant that can
destroy 400 battalions of soldiers at once. uhn-uhn, Gaa was not a man
to toy with.
So, after Alaafin Majeogbe was killed and a young
prince of about 25 years was again appointed by Bashorun Gaa as king,
the young king, Alaafin Abiodun Adegoolu, as we say in this part, really
borrowed himself brain o. Infact, by that time, no one wanted to be
Alaafin anymore. but kingship was forced on Adegoolu. To preserve his
life, the Alaafin Adegoolu used to go to Bashorun Gaa's house EVERY
morning to prostrate for him. We are talking about the greatest king in
the whole of Yoruba kingdom fa! The only king who has the title of
DEATH!. Iku baba yeye, alase ikeji orisa (Death the father, Death the
mother, second in command to the gods). When the King prostrates to a
chief, who else dares look the chief in the face? None, save for a man
who has love burning in his breast.
Alaafin Adegoolu had a
daughter called Agboin. just to please Bashorun Gaa, Alaafin Adegoolu
made up his mind to give the girl out to Gaa in marriage. So, every
morning when the king comes back to the palace from his prostrating
session with Bashorun Gaa, Alaafin Adegoolu would send his daughter,
Agboin to Gaa's house to give him some kolanuts on her way to the
market. Agboin obeyed her parents by taking the kola nuts to Gaa but she
always complained to her mother that she was not interested in Gaa as
she already had someone she loved. on one of such days when she was
complaining to her mother, the queen asked her who this boy was that she
was always talking about?
Agboin, the princess of the Alaafin
opened her buccal cavity and uttered an odoriferous stench, she said she
was in love with the son of a common peasant, his name was Akinkunmi.
"Akinkun-what?! What does that even mean?" asked the mother. Akin, in
yoruba language, actually means courage. Akinkunmi is a name that
translates to "I am filled with courage". The queen gave Agboin a
lecture i want all ladies reading this to pay attention to. "listen my
daughter, any Akin (courage) that does not have an Ola (wealth) in it,
is a useless Akin. if you must fall in love with an Akin, he should be
an AkinOLA, AkinbobOLA, AkindunmOLA, e.t.c. Any other kind of Akin is a
useless Akin". Yet, Agboin loved her peasant Akinkunmi so. Thank God i
am FemOLA, so i am worthy of a princess.
#TongueOut#
As i was saying jare...,
So, it came to a time that Bashorun Gaa decided to make a charm to
increase his wealth. The herbalist told Gaa that the blood of a deer
would be required for the sacrifice. in yoruba language, a deer is
called AgbonRin. the next morning when the king's daughter came to
deliver the kolanut, Bashorun Gaa detained her and gave her to the
herbalist to use for the wealth charm. "My Lord", said the herbalist,
"this is a human being, what we need is AgbonRin (a Deer) for the
sacrifice. Gaa retorted and said "this is Agboin, i order you to use it,
there is no difference between AgboRin and Agboin save for an
alphabet". Thus, the princess was pounded alive until she became pulp
and blood could be extracted from her.
When Alaafin Adegoolu
heard what had happened, he was devastated. He shed tears, hot tears but
there was nothing he could do, he dared not confront Bashorun Gaa.
Otio. Gaa ke? Rara. If Shea-Butter (ori) ever dares the sun, the
ointment is attempting a ruinous transformation of state from solid to
liquid. Alaafin Adegoolu, despite being angry reminded himself that
"shoe get size, and Okrika get quality". The Alaafin sought for help. He
dressed up as a woman and went to look for the Aare-Ona-Kakanfo (War
Generalisimo) of the yoruba race. The Aare-ona-Kakanfo at the time was
Aare Oyabi, he was resident in Ajase.
For three days after the
killing of Agboin had gone viral (yes ke, it went viral ni now),
Akinkunmi could not sleep. he was boiling in anger. he was furious that
his love was killed just like that and no one could do anything about
it. On the fourth day, while the king went to Aare Oyabi, Akinkunmi
couldn't stand the pain any longer, in anger, he barged into the house
of Bashorun Gaa early in the morning of the fourth day.
"Where is
that big fool called Gaa?" Akinkunmi shouted as he entered Gaa's house.
Sacriledge! "Egbin o n yoro". One of Bashorun Gaa's slaves, Gbagi, came
out to meet Akinkunmi and said to him, "You this son of a peasant, what
is it that makes you so garrulous without a fear of consequences, are
you aware of where you are?" Akinkunmi responded with a classic
statement that has never been forgotten ever since. He said, "I may be
the son of a peasant but what i am is a SON to my father, no matter the
wealth you display, what you are is a SLAVE to Gaa. Just call me that
old fool named Gaa and let him come explain to me why he had to kill my
Agboin".
"Who the hell is that?" Bashorun Gaa himself asked as
he came into the outer room to meet the two young lads. "Oh", retorted
Gbagi the slave, "The dog that goes into the lion's den would earn
itself a bath of blood". "its okay", said Akinkunmi, "However, the lion
itself would have some stains of blood on its skin". At this, Akinkunmi
rushed at Gaa and took out an ounde (charmed belt) which he swiped at
Gaa. The great Bashorun Gaa became paralysed! Gaa realised that truly,
the one who sneers at the kudeti river, calling it an inconsequential
flash flood, is usually drowned in that river. An inconsequential
Akinkunmi struck a debilitating blow to the mighty Gaa!. At that point,
Gbagi struck down Akinkunmi with a sword and Akinkunmi died on the spot.
He died for his love Agboin, even when he knew Agboin may never be
allowed to marry him. Akinkunmi sacrificed his all, just for his love.
It is said that by the time the Aare-ona-kakanfo Oyabi entered the city
of oyo with his warriors against Bashorun Gaa, Gaa couldnt get to his
mortar quick enough to get into it to turn into an elephant. this was
why Alaafin Abiodun Adegoolu was able to conquer Gaa. if Gaa was not
paralysed, he would have gotten to his mortar. if he had gotten to his
mortar, even the Aare-ona-kakanfo might have been toast.
All of
Gaa's children were killed. To ensure Gaa does not have any family
lineage at all, the Alaafin ordered the killing of all his grand
children too, even the toddlers. And finally, any pregnant woman
carrying Gaa's blood was disemboweled, before Gaa himself was killed.
Due to this event, an adage was coined in yoruba land that is being used uptill today. it goes thus :
"Bi o l'aya osika, bi o ri iku Gaa, o yio so otito". if you have the
heart of a cruel man, take note of Gaa's death and be true.
Happy Valentine in advance.
- Till Next week Friday
follow Olufemi on twitter: @ffadairo
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "OBA"
The word OBA is definitely a yoruba word. it is a generic word that
signifies superiority. OBA is derived from something that towers above
some other things (nkan to gaba le nkan mi). since time immemorial,
yorubas have refered to kings as Obas that's why there is an adage
saying Oba ba lori oun gbogbo (The king towers above all else).
The
OBA of Benin is OUR royal father, it is a taboo to OPENLY say OUR royal
father is wrong. it wasn't the king that said OBA is not a yoruba word,
so we can correct the chief with all due respect.
OBA KHA TO KPEE EEE ....... ISE!
