Tunde Odesola
A long time ago in the Animal Kingdom, the Cock was not the most fearsome creature, but it was the most feared. How come? Dynamites come in small packs; the Cock was one: cocky, strutting and magisterial, like a confident ruler in ancient times.
Curiously, the Winged One had only a beak, feathers for skin, one eye on each side of the head and two scaly legs bearing blunt talons. So, to what did the Cock owe the flap in its wings, the spring in its feet, and the zing in its head? Sadly, the Cock did not understand the source of its power.
But I know the source, and I will reveal it. The Cock’s object of authority and mass appeal lay right at the centre of its head. It was its crown and symbol of respect: It was its comb, red, fiery and fleshy.
The Lion, Elephant, Hippopotamus, Crocodile and other beasts feared the comb of the Cock. Whenever the Cock came into sight, everyone scampered out of sight. Animals courageous enough to behold the comb on the Cock, did so in utter awe.
It was a time the Wolf was feared for its ferocious appetite, a trait that earned it the Ajẹgunjẹran title. Despite this title, however, the Wolf feared the Cock like a plague. When Cock-a-Doodle walked the jungle, other animals mounted a guard of honour, heads bowed, bodies stiff like soldiers at attention.
The Cock’s word was law. The hand that dared caress its sword got blood as reward. A crow at dawn wakes the jungle to shivers and jitters. Power was good.
After some time, the Cock took the veneration in the kingdom for granted. The throne was becoming repetitive labour. So, the Cock wanted to spice royalty up by parading as king and servant at the same time; running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. The Cock desired the topness of the tree to crow, and the bottomness of the soil to cluck.
During a walk one afternoon, after a meal of corn-on-the-cob and a long throaty drink, the Cock came across the Wolf who shrieked and ran off, shivering. The Cock ran after it, but the Wolf on four legs was faster, disappearing out of sight. “I have warned the Wolf not to run away from me,” the Cock swore under its breath, “Yet, it won’t listen. Fool!”
A few days later, the Wolf chased a rabbit into a forest cul-de-sac. Within minutes, the rabbit was dead meat. The wolf grabbed the rabbit in its fangs and was clawing out of the cul-de-sac when the Cock blocked the way. No escape. Wolf spat out the rabbit and began to plead, “Please, don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! You can have the rabbit. Please, don’t kill me with your fire!”
“Kill?” the Cock thought, and became even more confused when the Wolf said fire. “Which fire?” the Cock asked.
“It’s right there! Right there on your head: red and hot and flaming! P-l-e-a-s-e!” the Wolf screamed, its back pushing into the undergrowth, eyes fixed on the Cock. Moving toward the Wolf, the Cock touched its comb and asked, “Is this what you call fire?” The Wolf screamed louder, “Yes, that is it; the fire! P-l-e-a-s-e, don’t kill me! Don’t come near me!”
Then the Cock stopped in its stride and burst into laughter. It laughed so hard, it fell on the floor, rolling and wiping tears away. Touching its comb, the Cock asked again, “Is this fire to you?” The Wolf nodded its head, shivering, gripped by indescribable fear. It opened its mouth to scream, but fear had evaporated its voice.
Hahahahaha! The Cock struggled to suppress laughter, blinking tears away. It cleared its throat and said, “See, this is no fire; it is red meat. It is my comb, my crown. It’s my Creator who endowed me so majestically with it.” Then, the Wolf stopped panting and sweating. “Touch it, touch it; it is not fire. It is red meat,” the Cock assured, craning its head toward Wolf.
Slowly and gently, the Wolf caressed the crown. It felt warm, fleshy and bouncy. With a manic glint in its eyes, the Wolf grabbed the neck of the Cock in its paws and tore off the comb in one chomp. Blood spurted. A food connoisseur doesn’t waste sauce. Quickly, the Wolf dipped the head of the Cock in its mouth and siphoned the blood, crushing the soft-boned head kraa-kwa-kaw-ka-kra!
The Wolf chewed off the head and neck of the Cock, and held the body in its fangs, together with the rabbit, en route to its den. “Chicken broth for dinner is not a bad idea in these austere times,” the Wolf thought as it ran home. And, forever, the Cock lost the efficacy of its crown.
Juju music legend, Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey, introduced Prince Dapo Tejuoso to me in 1975. The open invitation was contained in Obey’s “Mùkúlú Múke Màá Jó” album recorded 51 years ago. At the time, my parents lived on Lawanson Crescent, off Kayode Street, Onipaanu, Lagos. Baba and Mama Tunde loved good music – highlife, calypso, juju, rock, funk, pop, country, apala, sakara, Jim Reeves, James Brown, etc.
Then, we had a radiogram chiselled out of a shiny, brown mahogany. You could upload about five vinyls on the turntable, sit back and watch each vinyl drop softly from the spindle holding the records in place, as the stylus moves with the precision of a crane at a construction site, playing each record.
Obey’s album drops off the spindle and begins with the lead song “Mùkúlú Múke Màá Jó”, followed by “Bi Mo Rilu Ma Sapa”, and then “Aba Nla Nikan Nda,” which is a tribute to an amazing Egba Amazon, Chief Mrs Bisoye Tejuoso, the Iyalaje Egba, and Chairman, Teju Industries. Mrs Tejuoso was the mother of Prince Dapo Tejuoso. She was 80 when she died in 1996.
After the tribute to the matriarch comes the loudest announcement of Prince Dapo Tejuoso on Nigeria’s social scene in the song, “In Togetherness”. In the song, Obey serenades Dapo and his wife, Bimpe, saying, “Bimpe, you’re a lucky wife; Teju, you’re a lucky man/when you marry Bimpe, you live together, in togetherness, you’re one.” Obey goes ahead to popularise Teju Foam in the album.
“Aba Nla Nikan Nda” reinforces Chief Mrs Bisoye Tejuoso as a respectable woman of honour, dignity and public importance, just as “In Togetherness” celebrates Dapo and Bimpe as a couple encouraged to be together as one entity in love. It also establishes the social currency of Dapo as one built on an understanding of social mores. No doubt, the good public image built by Dapo since the 1970s, when the album was released, contributed to his emergence as king in 1989.
However, there seems to be a widening distance between the prince celebrated in the popular song of Obey and the obligations of the monarchy institution he eventually came to represent.
Specifically, the video of Oba Tejuoso went viral a few days ago when he was seen removing his crown and skull cap while kneeling down to lead a Christian chorus. As religion is wont to elicit controversy among Nigerians, the video has generated varied reactions. While some praised the monarch for his ‘humility’ and ‘reverence’ of God, some condemned him for rubbishing the Yoruba traditional institution, which advocates that traditional rulers must cover their heads in public.
Every traditional ruler in Yoruba passes through rites prescribed by Yoruba religion, which is Ifa. Indeed, every Yoruba oba undergoes seclusion for some days when they are taught the histories, culture and traditions of the land in relation to Ifa.
After emerging as oba, however, some kings abandon the Ifa template through which they emerged and embark on missionary reformation of the traditional institution.
This is the heart of the conflict. The conflict is between two groups I will call the conservatives and the non-indigenous religionists. The conservatives are the group that believes Caesar should be given his due, while the non-indigenous religionists are the group that do not reckon with Caesar.
I am a practising Christian interrogating the conflict from an intellectual perspective.
Does Ifa mandate Yoruba kings not to leave their heads uncovered in public? The Araba of Osogbo, Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, offers an answer. “The story is contained in the Ifa corpus. It is titled “Ọ̀wọ́nrí Ṣẹ̀dín”. Ọba Àjàláyé was the first king of Ife. He had a little bony growth on his head. Ajalaye became depressed with the outgrowth on his head, so he stayed indoors and was ashamed to go out.
“The matter was even made worse because Ọ̀rúnmìlà had gone on a journey, and it was his son, Amosun, who held down the fort in his absence. The king sent for Amosun, who consulted Ifa and assured the king that his shame would become fame.
“On the way back home from the palace, Amosun could not stomach what he saw on the king’s head. So, he went to the bush, dug a hole in the ground and shouted into the hole, “Kabiyesi huwo!”, meaning “Kabiyesi has grown a horn!”
“A farmer saw and heard Amosun. On lightning feet, the farmer ran to the king to divulge what he heard. The kabiyesi became even sadder and distraught. That was when Ọ̀rúnmìlà returned from his journey. And the king sent for him.
According to Elebuibon, Ọ̀rúnmìlà, the deity of wisdom, knowledge, divination, philosophy and destiny, led his son to the king.
“He told Ọba Àjàláyé that his shame would become fame. He told the king to offer some sacrifice of snails, after which the horn-like outgrowth disappeared. Then, he told the king to embark on a roadwalk through the town, with singers, drummers and dancers in tow.
“Ọ̀rúnmìlà directed the king not to remove his crown during the road show. The road show turned into a historic carnival, with many people admiring the crown of the king, falling over themselves to pay obeisance to him.
“It was from that day that it became mandatory for Yoruba kings not to leave their heads uncovered in public. The growth on Àjàláyé’s head was not a deformity. It was a divine mark to recognise all princes who would be kings in future. From that day on, princes no longer have the symbolic outgrowth,” Elebuibon said.
World-renowned Ifa scholar and Awise Agbaye, Prof Wande Abimbola, said it was wrong of traditional rulers to negate the essence of traditional beliefs which they swore to uphold upon coronation.
Abimbola, a former Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said, “The traditional stool is being trivialised by our traditional rulers. It is sad. The whole thing is becoming meaningless. If an ọba is in his private room, he can leave his head open; nobody expects him to wear the crown to bed. By Yoruba culture and tradition, no ọba is allowed to leave his head uncovered in public.
“Even an ordinary man does not leave his head open in public, let alone a king. When you see a Yoruba man wearing an agbada, he will wear a cap. The head, ‘orí, is important to the Yoruba. Orí is a deity on its own; that is why the Yoruba say “Orí ni à bá bọ, ká fi òrìṣà sílẹ̀.”
“The crown itself is an òrìṣà. It is not anybody that can take it off an ọba. In academia, the Visitor, Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Bursar, etc have their own special gowns that distinguish them on special occasions. That is what the crown does. It is a symbol of authority.
“The way some of our kings are carrying themselves, they will spoil the ọbaship institution, and it will soon become totally irrelevant. They should not spoil our heritage. If you cannot abide by the dictates of Yoruba customs and traditions, why put yourself forward for the post of a king?”
Between Abimbola and Elebuibon lay a criticism that frowned on traditional rulers diminishing the offices they occupy by disregarding the customs that give those offices their distinctive meaning.
Embedded in Tejuoso’s action is a tenacity that canvasses freedom of worship, which is a personal right. Tejuoso, without a doubt, is expressly entitled to freedom of worship.
However, by contesting and accepting to become ọba, Tejuoso represents, first and foremost, the traditional institution he leads, and not the religion he practices. By becoming an ọba, Tejuoso has accepted to abridge his personal comfort and interest in the service of his people. This is why the people of Oke-Ona can throng his palace at any time to complain about their pains, or flock to his palace at any time to trumpet their gains.
To say that the singular and momentary act of leaving his head uncovered during a Christian worship strips the Tejuoso of authority is to engage in sweeping and intellectual laziness. Tejuoso’s action reaches farther than that supposition. It hits the core of a fundamental question: whether a ruler can claim the prestige of a tradition while treating its obligations as optional.
Ọba Tejuoso is not a rigid ruler. He is a medical doctor by profession. He is also an astute businessman. Ọba Tejuoso showed his flexibility during a recent interview with prominent TV personality, Mo Abudu.
In the viral interview, Tejuoso claimed he was in a monogamous marriage despite having three wives. E shock you? E shock me, too. But the kabiyesi explained his conviction. He said he and his three wives, having accepted Jesus Christ, have become one in Christ; hence he remained a monogamist.
Tejuoso said, “To you, I have three wives. Three wives, yes. To me, I have one wife. Okay, I will explain that to you. I have accepted Christ, okay? The three of them have also accepted Him into their lives. So, how are they one person? Very good.
“Jesus Christ is in me, and Jesus Christ is the person living my life for me. So, you see them as one. So, it is the same spirit of God, the same Jesus Christ who is living in each of us. So, how can Jesus now rise against himself?”
Ọ̀rọ̀ sùnnùkùn! Shocking words from the throne of Oke-Ona! Because I don’t have the intellect of the king, I will go to the Bible to unravel the puzzle with, first, a simple question. Why did Jesus say the deeds of the father will not earn his child eternity? Jesus was clear: Three cannot become one.
It was the first time in my life to hear such a royal interpretation of the Holy Trinity – mẹ́ta lọ́kan! I admire the king’s flexibility on the issue of polygamy. Can the controversial issue of the king leaving his head bare in a public space enjoy the same flexibility that the issue of polygamy enjoys in the king’s reasoning? I strongly think so.
Though both are personal decisions, I think Tejuoso should apply the same measure, more so when leaving the head uncovered attacks the belief system of an entire people and ancient institution.
As a fellow Christian, I wish to humbly inform Oba Tejuoso that I did not find any passage in the Holy Bible that turns polygamy into monogamy on account of acceptance of Jesus Christ. The instance where worshippers are entitled to become one in Christ is in worship, not in marriage.
In Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4–6, 1 Corinthians 7:2, and Ephesians 5:22–33, God is explicit: one man; one wife. God Himself said He is a jealous God. He is the only Trinity. He will not share his glory with no earthly mortal. And, unless the Bible is rewritten tomorrow or the day after, ‘one-man, one-wife’ remains the Biblical prescription.
Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com
Facebook: @Tunde Odesola
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