ABOBAKU- THE MYTH, THE LIES AND THE MISCONCEPTION BY TOSIN AYO

Now, that the last Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, the Olubuse the II, the generalissimo of the source has officially descended from the roof top of life and he has been interred, the hue and cry over his human interment ingredient popularly called the 'Abobaku' should subside. I have always asserted that the King never dies, what changes into mortality is the occupier, not the office, it is the occupant that changes, not the title. The Ooni lives forever till the end of time...

I remember my Briton Journalist friend, Jason calling me recently during the heated crisis to ask about the real facts behind the maid purportedly slated to accompany the departed King to the extra-terrestrial hereafter, which he hilariously dubbed the 'Abubakar'... I explained to him that such a barbaric cultural heist does not exist in the 21st century contemporary world in Africa. In a bid to defend my black root, I explained that every race has its past and history is retentive- it has a sparkling memory. I reminded him that bestiality was once a prime forte of his ancestral forebears and that life, read as civilization began in Africa. Ethiopia and Egypt on my mind. I thereafter beseeched him to be slow of tongue and quick of eye in denigrating the dark sides of Africa and consequently magnify the lights of victory and excellence shining forth from Africa with Nigeria- Africa's best kept secret as its most visible strobe.

The tale of the 'Abobaku' predates colonial history. The 'oro' culture that makes captives of strangers most especially women during the restrictive hours predominantly the dim of dawn to herald the ancestral fraternal coronation of a new King or the interment proceedings of a departed monarch is part of our culture in Nigeria.

I read about an Ekiti King who masterminded the capture of an influential man's daughter- an 'alien' who was railroaded into cultural oblivion and consequently used as sacrifice during the colonial era- the King and his host of brazen chieftains justified and defended this evil gaffe on cultural grounds even though they were clearly repugnant to equity, fairness, justice and good conscience. The fearless Judge sentenced the insensitive and largely unlettered King to death and he was summarily executed for taking another's life and impinging it on customary innuendos. This is how just the justice system was as far back as the 19th century in the 'dark' Africa.

The right to life is inviolate and inalienable. No one is permitted to derogate therefrom. It forms an integral part of jus cogens rule of International law to which all other rules, domestic legislations and even national constructs of the nation's constitution should kowtow. No one has the right to take another's life except the state in accordance with the proper delineation of derogation regarding homicide and other capital offences.

Many fables abound about the inaugural proceedings of the earthly King in Yoruba land and other tribes. Many contend that the King's heart must be extracted and boiled for his successor to eat and after the physical ingestion- he is deemed to have eaten' the King- 'Je Oba- j'oba'. He becomes a suzerain of the earthly firmament congregating with the extra-mortal world, but sitting over the affairs of men. The same ritual is repeated with him to his successor ad infinitum. Thus, a King who 'ate' his predecessor cannot validly refrain from allowing himself to be 'eaten' by his successor. His corpse belongs to the council of chiefs and not to his family. His faith conviction is subservient to his cultural affiliations, hence the aphorism that no King can claim to be a born again Christian. His faith allegiance belongs to everybody and to nobody, but his body is the exclusive preserve of the throne's customary disposal rites.

It is immaterial that the King spells out the procedure for the disposition of his carcass after his demise in line with his desire, his body belongs to the 'Elegbes' of the ruling council spearheaded by the Kingmakers. I read about the fascinating tale of a Yoruba royal family who despite the severe warning of their beloved father, the King whilst he was alive and as stated in his Will regarding the disposition of his remains according to tradition whose children did not allow the initiates- Royal chieftains and occultic priests access to their father’s body after his death, but buried him according to the routine Christian rites of passage- immersion in the casket to be lowered below the earth's crust. They went ahead and buried him secretly, but not with the attendant grave, monumental consequences and spiritual attacks on the family in particular and on the community in general.

An earnest enquiry was thereafter made to unravel the mystery behind the evil that plagued them and it was revealed that their disobedience was the prime cause. They sought the 'Elders' help in securing a veritable atonement and they were ordered to give up their father, the late monarch's body for a fraternally rightful rite of a passage. He was to them, their father, but more than that, he was the King over some people! The king’s body was thereafter exhumed at night, his body chopped up into tiny bits and buried in specific spots around the town to appease and assuage the angst of the gods with the consequential rites. Normalcy and quietude then returned to the town and turbulence flew away from the family through the window. He who seeks the benefit of the throne, must bear the burden of the stool!

I find it preposterous, one-sided, denigratingly condescending and profusely unfair that many people especially non Yorubas disparaged the Osun people and Yoruba people over the rumoured forced burial of the King's maid with him to accompany him on his journey of no return. This is not a cultural monopoly of the Yorubas as I will show in this piece. Many news outlets went bunkers about the cheerless news that the Ooni of Ife’s Abobaku was on the run. Abobaku in its literal sense means the one who is doomed to die with the King. An Abobaku takes his oath the same time the Oba is coronated and he is billed to expire from the earth's surface the day the King departs. He therefore prays that the King lives long lest he joins him wherever he leaves. The King's longevity is to his advantage- he protects the King and prays for his long life as that is his only claim to continued existence on life's plain. Majority of the 'Abobakus' are supposedly very close to the King and should benefit from his largesse because of the promising consequence of death at the expiration of the King's life.

Many misconceptions and blatant fabrications trailed the Abobaku tale. Part of the lies and perhaps the most lethal include the emergence of a particular viral picture of an overfed, dark, nude, pot-bellied Ugandan slave on the Internet as the purported Abobaku on the run who was later recaptured.

In ancient Yoruba tradition, and most African traditions, kings are not to be buried alone or left to 'travel' to the afterlife on their own. A King is not a mere mortal, he has many slaves and maids that accompany and serve him in his journeys- eternal journeys shouldn't be an exception- this was what fueled this mindset. The psychology of service and eternal loyalty. His maids and slaves are thereby solicited to enable the King smoothly transition to the thereafter and continually serve him there. An ancient tradition- YES. Still practised? I think not. Now, you must realize Abobakus are not always called Abobakus, they might be called other variation of the names depending on the clime.

In Oyo kingdom, those who are destined to accompany the Kings on such involuntary eternal journeys are called Abobaku. In Wole Soyinka's Classic 1975 play: 'Death and the King’s Horseman', the Nobel laureate wrote on an incident that happened during colonial rule that has the trappings of the existence of an Abobaku: the King’s horseman, Elesin, who is prevented by the colonial ruler, Simon Pilkings from carrying out his duty. This results in a cataclysmic and catastrophic end- the villagers in acute agony blame both Elesin and Pilkings for exposing them to danger due to the derogation from cultural payment and ancestral fraternal obligation. The town only witnessed tranquility and quietude was only restored when Elesin’s son, Olunde returns from overseas to take over his father’s responsibilities under oath as an Abobaku and gave up himself as a successor-Abobaku. Twists and turns, swings and pure evil. Elesin committed suicide, damning his forbidden soul to a place of nothingness in the world to come.

It is imperative to note that Yorubaland is not the sole culprit that gives its King the mythical luxury of being buried with other people, their closest slaves, favourite queen, pets, animals and other bizarre accompaniments like I asseverated earlier. Many other African cultures have their fair share too. Part of the ancient Egyptian retainer sacrifice involved killing the King Pharaoh’s prime maidservants who were consecrated to serving the Pharaohs in the world beyond. Slaves of dead wealthy Vikings were also often beheaded and buried with them. The Mastor people also do not get buried until their Pereiao- King's confidant is buried with them.

In Plateau State, the Goemai bury the king’s favorite wife, horse, and servant in the same grave with him. Strangely- Alive! Such a gruesomely macabre fate. Many Kings' wives do not wish to be their husband's favourite wife for this reason. Baganda, Fruitsga, Shilik, Kpelle, Nyamwezi provide food and company for departed rulers by killing and burying along with the ruler’s wives, slaves, cattle, prisoners and some subjects with them to cater to them in their afterlife. In Igboland, Kings (Ndi Eze) are for instance buried with slaves and the insignia of office- staff of authority. There is evidence that the Hausas and the Fulanis equally carried out similar cultural bestiality too before they kissed Islam as their new way of life.

These are primordial tales that took place in the pre-medieval age. Whether such practices are still in vogue in Yorubaland is thus a question and I dare say NO. The whole world as a global village has definitely advanced beyond the capture and ceasure of another's life without a collective censure of the global community.

The rumour was however put to rest when an Ile Ife High Chief and a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon Rotimi Makinde denied the story making the round about the existence of an ‘Abobaku’ (the maid that will be buried alongside the king) in Ile-Ife. Makinde who is the Maiyegun of Ifewara said there is nothing like ‘Abobaku’ but ‘Saarun’ the head of the ‘Emese’ the palace steward who follows the Oba everywhere he goes. The Ile-Ife born chief added that the Saarun to the late Oba Adesoji Aderemi who died in 1980 was the late Yaya Arasanmi who passed on in 1987- that is seven years after the demise of the late Oba Aderemi and as such cannot be validly said to have accompanied a King who died 7years earlier.

Thus, as the former occupier of the Ooni stool, His Royal majesty, Oba Okunade Sijuade was interred last weekend, nobody was buried along with him. The Saarun as the head of all messengers in Ife kingdom and the mouth piece of the Ooni was not buried alongside the King. Only the tree in the Oke Mogun shrine is cut down in cementing the former Ooni’s earthly departure.

However, one must take into consideration that the traditional rites that mark the transition of a king is always shrouded in secrecy and the laws recognize our customs so far they are in concomitance with set out legal stipulations. The Oro was permitted and the King’s transition which was hitherto delayed was finalized when all the necessary rites and the 'condiments' were provided. The rites of monarchy have always been open secret, some more secret than others. No one dares question or enquires into the proceedings. There’s no smoke without fire, but this fire is definitely not as fiercely burning as portrayed by the sensational media. One thing that must be gleaned from this saga is that bestial cultures are gradually fizzling out and that no community has the privilege of taking human lives as sacrifice to the gods without an outcry from the inquisitively alert public.

Finally, we must all realize that there is no such thing as an 'Abobaku'- A king's fraternal accompaniment in the race to the land of no return, at least not in Ile-Ife, the ancestral habitual source of Yoruba people. Death is a solitary journey. Even the sympathetic flies do not accompany the delicious corpse to the grave to partake in the feast by a colony of termites! After death, comes judgement. Why send a soul to his mortality to 'escort' a King who has since arrived at the throne of Judgement to the afterlife? Why? The traditional execution of a King's ally to accompany him to his final destination is not only baseless, but pointless. It might have existed in those days when eyes were on the knees, not in today's world. In whatever shade it is- It is condemnable and altogether reprehensible- worse still; It is called murder, not culture...

Tosin Ayo is a Nigerian Legal Practitioner and a Researcher. He holds a Master of Laws (Energy law) of the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom.