Punch
94-year-old Owa of Idanre in Ondo State, Oba Fredrick Aroloye, speaks to PETER DADA about the highlights of his 45-year-old reign
You’ve been 45 years on the throne; how will you describe the experience?
Well, we thank God for everything; we have been having challenges and God has been helping us to solve them.
At the initial stage, it was difficult because they introduced politics to the system. According to our own tradition we have a way of choosing our Obas. When our Olori (Oba’s wife) gives birth to a male child, our people would go and consult the Ifa oracle on the third day to know which side the child is from – mother’s side or father’s side. There are three chiefs who will examine the newborn. Nobody must touch the baby until those three chiefs completed their rites. If it was a baby that would be an Oba in the future, those three chiefs would know how to bring the baby up. Such a baby must not spend more than three to four years in the palace before he would be sent to a revered person that would train him. When the Oba died, those three chiefs would be consulted and they would meet with High Chief Lisa, who is the head of kingmakers in Idanre, to begin the process of having another king. But if there were more than one prince, they would consult Ifa oracle to choose the right person.
Was this tradition followed in your own case?
In my own case, I was in school, taking Class Four examination when my mother died. But they didn’t tell me until I finished my exams. They had buried her before I got back. They sent a telegram; my principal didn’t allow me to see it until we finished our exam. On the day we finished our exam, the principal invited me to his house; I was afraid. He asked me to eat and after eating he broke the news of my mother’s death to me. So, I returned home and learnt that my mother had been buried.
Then, a friend of mine advised me to go abroad to continue my education. But I asked him: “Where would I get the money to do that?” Secondly, my father was already 125 years old at the time and I reasoned that if I travelled abroad, he could die before I return and I would not see his corpse too, just like in my mother’s case.
Later my father called me and advised me to go abroad. He told me that since I would be the next king after him I needed sound education. He promised me he would remain alive till I return. So, I agreed and left for England.
After finishing school in England, I started working. Later I began to receive letters that my father asked me to come home. When I got back to Nigeria, about 50 people followed me to see my father at Oke Idanre. My father was very happy to see me, so were my people. By then, my father was over 140 years old; he could no longer walk, they had to bring him out. I sat beside him; he was just touching me, telling me how happy he was.
Then one of the chiefs stood up and said, “Kabiyesi, what happened to Agbogun, the first Idanre king, will happen here, when one of his sons was asked to rule and be reporting to him.”
The chief said I would be Odode. But my father asked me to come back the following day. When I returned the next day, my father told me to disregard what the chief had said; my father said I should go and work first.
Two weeks later, I received a letter of employment to work as a Treasury Cash Officer in the civil service of the Old Western Region because I was doing similar work in London. So I started working in Ibadan. After six months I was transferred to Ondo town. But shortly after, my father died and they asked the family to choose among the children his successor. The family chose me. That was on April 20, 1970.
Prior to the time, two politicians had come to me with a memorandum for me to sign; they wanted me to pledge that if I was appointed as the Oba I would follow their own party. But I told them that a king should be father for all. And because I turned down their request, they went and brought my brother to contest the stool with me. However, the family disagreed with them. But to frustrate me, these men ensured that I was transferred to Abeokuta, so that I would be far away home.
One day, the then governor came to the VIP lounge beside our office in Abeokuta and saw me. He asked me to introduce myself and I told him my name and I said I was from Idanre. He asked me what brought me to Abeokuta and I told him. So, the governor set up a panel led by a chief magistrate, Sijuwade, to look into the matter.
Later the governor dissolved the kingmakers and a new set of kingmakers emerged. It was the new set of kingmakers that chose me. And after I was chosen, some of the chiefs who opposed me started coming to me privately to apologise and congratulate me. All these problems took about six years to resolve. If not because of that, I would have been 51 years on the throne; but I thank God.
Can you trace your education journey?
I was born on March 30, 1927. I had my primary education at St. Paul’s Primary School, Idanre and Methodist School, Idanre. I had my secondary education in Western Boys High School, Benin (Edo State) and Hussy College, Warri. Later I went to England to further my education. In England, I attended Balham and Tooting College of Commerce and Law where I obtained my professional degree. When I finished from there I took up an appointment under the Surrey County Council (England) as a Chief Licensing Officer. From there, I was transferred to Greater London Council where I worked as a Finance Clerk.
When did you settle down to start a family?
I had married in Nigeria before I travelled to England. When I got to England, I married another wife who is a Nigerian. There, I had many Europeans ladies who wanted to marry me, but because my father had told me that I would succeed him, I thought to myself that if I married a white woman, she might not be able to cope with our tradition here. That was why I married a Nigerian there.
Was it because you knew you were going to be a king that you decided to marry two wives?
Yes. You see, my initial plan was to have one wife but as an Oba, it is not possible because there are many functions to be performed in the palace, which one woman cannot not do alone. As of today, I’m managing five wives; I would have married more but the energy is no more there.
Are there things you used to enjoy doing that becoming a king stopped you from doing?
I greatly missed my privacy; I can’t pay my friends a private visit, people would know if I do. I have many of my friends out there but I can’t be visiting them as I used to again. My social life is restricted. As an Oba, I must not eat outside the palace.
So, how do you connect with those old friends of yours?
I still have one or two very close friends that are still alive; but many of them are gone. Some of those alive cannot even come out again. Like me, they have also become old. Very soon I will clock 95 years; you can appreciate what I am saying. But I have invited one of them to come and celebrate my 45th anniversary of being on the throne with me. I believe he would be able to come.
What are some of the remarkable developments that your kingdom has witnessed since the beginning of your reign, 45 years ago?
A lot of things have happened. In the past, we used to be under Ondo but when I got here, I said no more, we should be on our own. Initially, they joined us with Ifedore Local Government Area because they said we were not big enough to stand as a council area. Luckily for me, when I was in the civil service I had seen a paper on how a local government is formed. So, I insisted that we should have our own local government area because we have enough revenue to be able to stand on our own. Today, we have our own local government with our headquarters in Owena town.
When I got on the throne, we had only one secondary school but today, we have many schools, both primary and secondary. What we are aspiring for now is to have a university. Our roads are now tarred. The town has enlarged and our population increasing. There is hardly a home in Idanre without at least one university graduate and we have professionals in all fields – professors, medical doctors, engineers, accountants, lawyers and so on. Whereas before I got to the throne, there was nothing like that.
I remember that on ascending the throne, I kept advising my subjects to send their children to school and the town is good for it today. We also ventured into agriculture, especially cocoa farming and I approached the government for assistance in this regard and they granted it. Today, we are the leader in cocoa production in Ondo State and Nigeria as a whole.
What are your thoughts on the high level of insecurity in the country?
We need security at the grass-roots level. We can do it traditionally. We would just consult our ancestors for solution. For instance in Idanre, we have two powerful persons that we remember today. We remember Orosun, the goddess of children. Unluckily for her, when she was alive, she did not have children. Though she used her power to give children to other women, the power didn’t work for her. The second person is Olofin, our father. When Oduduwa died, he (Olofin) succeeded Oduduwa. From Ile-Ife, he moved to Idanre and we still remember him till today. Then, there is another man called Ogun (the god of iron); he was the first to dig iron from the ground; he was very powerful.
Are you saying the country should invoke the spirits of these people to fight insecurity?
Yes, because we have something we do here to prevent insecurity. Also, there is another thing we do to maintain peace. The Obas appoint chiefs to be in charge of security and it works. We also organise prayer sessions. And three times a day, Owa must pray for the town to have peace. Where it is necessary to use a cow or a goat, we use. We are not idol worshippers but we do remember them (ancestors). Also, I have advocated it sometime ago, that we, Obas, should be given security votes because I know how much I spend on the security of my domain. The government should be giving us security votes. If we have security votes, we will spend it on security and you will see the difference.
Historically, what is the relationship among Odode Idanre, Alade Idanre and Atosin Idanre?
You see, we are one. In 1926, my father wrote to the European district governor then that he wanted to leave Oke Idanre and move down the hill to have a settlement. The matter was debated at the legislative council meeting and decided that all the people moving down from the hill should owe their allegiance to the Owa of Idanre as their paramount ruler and he sent the then surveyor-general to come down and plan the town for us. They surveyed this place. But Atosin Idanre has been there since the 11th century. It is older than Alade Idanre. Our first settlement is Alade Idanre after moving down from the hill. Later, something happened again, some people believed Alade Idanre is too far from Oke Idanre, and that it might be difficult for the people to worship their gods. If you go to Alade Idanre, Owa has a palace there. At a time, some people there were opposing the people here but now everything has been settled. There are no differences among the Odode, Alade and Atosin Idanre; we are all one.
As a paramount ruler, do you have roles to play in the enthronement of monarch in the two communities?
Yes, I do, when they get the cap of authority in Alade Idanre, they consult me whenever they want to choose their Oba. Before they send the name of the candidate to the governor for approval, they also inform me. That also applies to Atosin Idanre. Atosin Idanre has been founded long before Alade Idanre because the man who founded the town was a warrior and it is the only place where masquerades can perform in the entire Idanre land till today. Why? The founder of the town settled all his people there and it is only the place that a woman is allowed to be a regent. So, we perform all other traditional festivals at the same time and they all regard Owa as their paramount ruler.
What are some of the important traditional festivals in Idanre?
We have the Orosun festival; people come from Alade Idanre, Atosin Idanre and other places to celebrate it with us. We also have Ogun festival.
You’ve been 45 years on the throne; when you look back do you have any regrets?
No, I don’t have any regrets. However, at times your people may have a disagreement with you, but you have to manage the situation for the sake of peace.
What is your message to Idanre people?
My message to my people is that we should not joke with the education of our children. We should not allow our children to get involved in acts of cultism and we should promote love and peace among ourselves at all times.
