WHAT WERE YOU TOLD IN IPEBI?
BY OLUSOLA AJIBOYE,
A Prince Royal, freshly enthroned in Yorubaland Customarily answers two pertinent questions while he holds court before his subjects.
What were you told in Ipebi?
And what were your responses?The Crowned-Head will gleefully answer.
“I was told to recite off-hand, the genealogies of my ancestors”.
“I was mentored of their giant-immutable strides in the lives and affairs of their people”.
“I was also instructed to respect, uphold, nurture and sustain the norms, traditions, cultures and religions of my fore-fathers,….never to trample or expose my heritage to ridicule…”
The Ipebi Ritual predated modem history and has survived thousands of years that embraced the debilitating period of trans-Atlantic slave trade, Colonialism, Independence and neo-colonializm.
No king in the Yoruba country is considered fit for the throne without being prepped for Ipebi (Sanctuary of Coronation), where the King in waiting is mentally grilled, spiritually challenged, subjected to attitudinal trial and physically ill-used to some extent.
All these measures were meant to scrutinize his character merits and flaws, incubate as well as fortify his person for the great-sacred responsibilities of his office.
A traditional Ruler in Yorubaland is thus qualified for the throne only when he has walked through the furnace of heritage rites, cultic oaths and the Deities, and apply the norms, traditions and cultures learnt in the seclusive conclave of Ipebi to his royal functions.
Sadly today, these pristine conventions of Yoruba history and Royalty are almost gone with the winds. Majority of natural Rulers are now products of politics and net-worth.
Many Obas are moulded figures of Lapite, a Principal Character in the Celebrated Yoruba Movie “Saworo-Ide”. Many more are replicants without genuine link to their ancestors.
The result is a heavy back-lash on the progress, Unity, Security and well-being of their subjects.
The Yoruba country is now exposed to existential threats because many of their natural Rulers stand tradition on its head. No thanks to undue acculturation of foreign religions, concepts, ideas, and cultures noted for their corrosive impacts on the originality of African Civilization.
The yawning gap advertently created by political infiltrations in the selection and enthronement of Royal heads has left the traditional Institution severely impaired to the extent that Royal Palaces in different parts of the country are now homes to men of questionable character and pedigree.
The Ifa ancient religion has determined the spiritual and physical wellbeing of the Yorubas for thousands of years and is believed to have predated the birth of Christ. Ifa influences decisions in private and public spheres, including the choices of personalities who rule as Kings over the people.
The tradition has subsisted in a long-period of succession from one natural Ruler to the other. Except for few skirmishes and occasional missteps, Yorubaland in the 12th, 13th and 14th Centuries witnessed peace and security with enormous wealth for the citizens and their Kings. Historians are not in want of references to the golden age of the Yoruba Nation when Political Stability was the order of the day and the unwritten Constitution of the land supremely binding on all.
Kings were enthroned in line with tradition prescribed by Ifa and were thus accountable to the people through their priests and Chiefs.
To Whom are Royal fathers responsible today? The answer leaves insinuations, doubts and disgusts in mind. Some of these Royal fathers have engaged in conducts unbecoming and undignifying to their thrones. A number of them have willingly, (in Ignorance, perfidy and gratuitous trade-off of their heritage) turned hostile to the Institutions they’re under oath to protect.
On what moral scale can an Oba who spits on his heritage be assessed? The internet is inundated with grotesque parade of doping and jailed Kings. A traditional Ruler in Ogun State was recently suspended by Governor Dapo Abiodun for publicly assaulting a man old enough to be his father.
Another Royal father has become notorious for his affront on native laws, customs and tradition of his people in the guise of a dubious claim to Islamism. The most embarrassing dent on Royalty in Yorubaland was the recent conviction of the Incumbent Apetu of Ipetumodu by an American Court for stealing $4.2 million Dollars, set aside for a relief programme for victims of Covid 19.
These are very disturbing and uplifting trends for the traditional Institution which every true blooded son and daughter of Yoruba extraction is filially attached to. They are demanding immediate Intervention of an enlarged body of traditional Rulers across the South-West of Nigeria and beyond, to stave off a devastating onslaught on the legacies of their ancestors.
This writer is much concerned that the current war of attrition between and among traditional Rulers in Yorubaland has, done nothing good but open their people to the scheming of subtle back-stabbing ethnic rivals, land grabbers and power mongers.
Neither the Ooni nor the Alaafin need engage in a war of Supremacy at this critical stage when Yoruba lands are covetously sought by strangers-for annexation. Such supremacy war is an Inanity.
The Yoruba Race is in dire want of Unity as an ethnic Nationality in Nigeria. The two foremost crowned Heads should be conscious that Yorubas are targets of envy by those who will stop at nothing in drumming beats of disintegration for their people, Time is ripe for an umbrella, collectively held by the Kings under which all Yorubas can take shelter.
Olusola Ajiboye is a Veteran Journalist and Media Consultant based in Osogbo, Osun State South-West Nigeria.