By ADEOLA SOETAN
Ibadan has the longest and sustained “Ipebi” systemic process in the whole of Yorubaland. Before anyone can be Olubadan, he must have been traditionally groomed, nurtured and accustomed to the rudiments of Obaship and culture in a very long period journey to the revered throne of Olubadan from the time he queued as “Mogaji” of his family household to an unpredictable and divine trajectory to become Olubadan. The luckiest ones who finished the race successfully would have spent nothing less than an average of thirty to forty years.
This a major reason Ibadan can never have any Oba Igbolabi on the throne. Any high chief coming to the throne is already a full embodiment of all it takes to be Olubadan. Any Igbolabi would have been detected very early enough to be wielded out from the queue.
So, in Ibadan, a new king as Olubadan Ladoja is now, is never a stranger to the natives and the people he is going to rule over are never strange to him. Unlike other Yoruba towns, in Ibadan there is no curiosity on who is next when the throne is vacant due to the eternal exit of an Olubadan since the next in line is already known. No anxiety about the personality of a new Olubadan because an average culture conscious native has an idea or opinion of the new king. That is one of the reasons there’s no cut throat competition, millions of naira spent, or anxiety about the personality, root, family and business life of the Olubadan.
An everage adult omo Ibadan knows Oba Ladoja fairly well because he has always been part of them in different aspects of his life. For me, that is a great advantage that has made Ibadan chieftaincy succession pattern and Obaship ascension a good model and recommendable to other towns who want peace and progress in their Obaship tradition. I repeat that any Oba Igbolabi with wonron wonron unroyal and unfit behaviour can never climb to the highest throne of Ibadan land.
What is Ipebi? Essentially, Ipebi is an acculturative royal seclusion for an Oba-elect to be properly tutored on the traditional values, customs, taboos and the significance of the royal throne he is going to sit on and manage the traditional affairs of his people as their custodian of total culture and development.
Please, forget all the lies being bandied about what goes on or not in Ipebi. Many reasonable Obas have debunked the lies of an Oba in Ipebi eating flesh of his predecessors and drinking their blood. Very laughable. It’s mere display of ignorance, idiocy and empty arrogance of some particularly the mischievous kurukere foreign cultures – religious fanatics. I remember that Oba Dr. Dapo Tejuosho of Oke Ona Egba debunked this age long fallacy during a media interview in the 80s at Abeokuta when he asked media practitioners who asked about the rumour, that, “Se iri to ri mi yi, as a medical doctor and a widely travelled cosmopolitan man, I can eat human flesh and drink blood of my predecessors? Then he smiled, nibo ni mo ti mun wine de no, ti ma ma mun eje eniyan…” (With the way you see me as an educated person, medical doctor who’s widely travelled around the world I would eat human flesh and drink blood of my late predecessors…? ”
Well, if it had happened before in the dark ages, definitely such barbarism is no more. All cultures including the ones sold as religions to us in Africa had passed through the age of barbarism, like nailing offenders to the cross, stoning adulterers to death, mob killing of blasphemers, pedophilia, killing and maiming of people of other religions by calling them infidels to be killed. Unfortunately, these foreign cultures faithful still maintain some of these acts of barbarism and justify these crimes against humanity in this 21st century civilized world of science and technology that has proven many of their stone age beliefs very wrong and stupid. I digressed.
Ibadan land does not have Ipebi seclusion traditional practice for their Olubadan-elect. Why would they if the purpose of Ipebi is mainly to get a new Oba in other towns to be thoroughly schooled about the culture, people, places and events of the town he is going to be king over. In Ibadan, their “Ipebi” is not a crash programme of one to three months where an unknown prince or non-prince if he has money, not familiar with his town, can be quickly plucked like mango from anywhere including foreign countries and be made king. We are all living witnesses of such quick plucking of “GMO” royal fruits and the nuisance some of them become as kings.
In Ibadan, the moment you become a “Mogaji” of your family’s Agbole, your “Ipebi” school of rudimentary traditional and royal governance of your people starts to count. And as you are climbing up the ladder of Olubadan in Council, your Ipebi experience widens as more responsibilities are given to you before you become a high chief and ultimately become the Olubadan if you are very lucky to be alive in a long drawn life trajectory that may take you 30 to 40 years to accomplish.
By the time one becomes the Olubadan, he would have been moved round all the eleven local government in Ibadan for traditional leadership responsibility. So already, Oba Ladoja is already very familiar with his people and the people already know the personality of their king. All that is expected now is for him to perform to a very good standard on the highly exalted traditional Obaship position in Yoruba land and Nigeria.
This is a reason why Ibadan can never have any riotous Oba Igbolabi doing wonron wonron on the throne. Kamari. Never! Apart from old age, the thorough system of ascension to the throne would have wielded out such a notorious uncultured hooligan from becoming the Olubadan.
Plucking an Oba from abroad like orange may not be totally bad but the character and integrity of such “Tokunbo Oba” school and family background should be properly investigated. And those who feel that they need young kings before their towns can develop should “have known the scores” now that it’s not really about age but the idea, vision and character of the kings that make a big difference, after all, with all their young and yuppie kings some with expensive 20ft dog chains on their Owambe party necks or excessive “ganja” smoking as their unique royal identity, none of their towns can withstand Ibadan in unstoppable development despite having old kings in succession, yet they still have more influence to attract development to the ancient city
I wholeheartedly welcome Oba Adewolu Ladoja to the revered throne of Olubadan of Ibadanland. Ki Ade Pe Lori o, May your days be long, Kabiyesi!!!
*Soetan (08037207856)
