How Afonja (Yorubas) lost the Ilorin throne - Vanguard Newspaper


THE rivalry between the Fulani and Afonja descendants over the throne of Ilorin is rooted in history.
While the Fulani rest the case of their claim to the kingship of the ancient town on the fact that the monarch had from the time immemorial been produced by them, the Afonja descendants, who like majority of the people of the town are Yoruba, say since their ancestor founded Ilorin, their claim to the throne ought not to be disputed.

History appears in support of the former's position although the progenitor of the Fulani indigenes of Ilorin, Alimi, was actually a tenant to Afonja.

The death of Afonja and Alimi, however, saw the eldest son of the latter emerging as the first monarch of what was then known as Ilorin.

Historical sources, tracing the story to the 19th Century, said Ilorin of today was founded by Afonja, the then Aare Ona Kakanfo (Generalisimo) to Alaafin of old Oyo (Oyo Ile), who used the town as his military outpost. It was this outpost that he carried out his war expeditions for the Alaafin. In the usual nomadic wandering, Alimi arrived Ilorin and was hosted by Afonja. Soon after Alimi took Ilorin as his place of abode, a rift broke out between Alaafin and Afonja. When the disagreement reached the climax and the two had to take up arms, Afonja, out of regard for Alimi's spiritual and military prowess, sought his support. Alimi helped in mobilising an army in support of Afonja leading to victory over Alaafin. The defeat led the then Alaafin migrating from old Oyo to the site now called Oyo.

After the war, Alimi became a teacher to Afonja's children as the latter wanted his offsprings to learn the secret of power. When both died, Alimi's son, Abdulsalami, inherited his father's duty of teaching Afonja's children.

When the idea of appointing somebody to head the village came, the eldest child of Afonja wanted to have the position but met opposition from Abdulsalami who had military support from his fellow Fulani kinsmen. Abdulsalami ultimately became the ruler of what is now called Ilorin around 1831.

The issue now is that Afonja's descendants believe that their forefathers were cheated and want a redress. But the Alimi people are claiming that the Afonja people never ruled Ilorin and, as such, no precedent exists to back their position.

Penultimate week's incident was not the first time the Afonja and the Yoruba would attempt to assert their right to Ilorin kingship.

Historical sources said in 1895, the Yoruba rose against the then emir, burnt his palace and killed him. But the revolt did not result in enthronement of a Yoruba king. In 1913, when Lord Lugard administered the northern and southern Nigeria, Yoruba were said to have spearheaded a riot over tax to bring the rulership of the then emir to ridicule. In 1936, the Yoruba, according to sources, also moved to oust Emir Abdulkadir who was banished to Kaduna but got reinstated by the colonial administration.

In 1978, the George Innih administration of Kwara State raised a judicial panel of inquiry to look into the Yoruba agitation.

The Yoruba people reportedly made a case for the merging of Kwara State with the Southwest before the commission while also laying claim to the Ilorin throne. It was said they even claimed antecedent to the throne as they allegedly said Yoruba had produced four obas in Ilorin before the advent of the Fulani. But the Alimi people, in a counter position, claimed there was no known Yoruba king in the town before their forefather mounted the throne.

The report of the panel never saw the light of day while there was also no white paper from government.

A twist to the tussle was the recent petition by three of the six Yoruba chiefs (mogajis) in Ilorin to the State House of Assembly complaining that they had been classified as ungraded by government allegedly at the behest of the emir. Their non-grading, according to the chiefs, suited the emir, so that there would be no rivalry of any sort from the Yoruba to his authority. Ilorin Descendants Progressive Union (IDPU), formed to protect the interest Ilorin indigenes who are of Fulani extraction, once in its opposition to the upgrading of the chiefs, said dong so would bring them at par with Gambari. But the Afonja Descendants Union (ADU) which came on stream in 1978 to advance the cause of the Yoruba in the town and with Kasumu as its leader would hear none of that. The group is allegedly pressuring the legislature to grade the chiefs.

Another angle to the agitation is the demand for Oya State that will comprise the Yoruba speaking areas of Kwara and Kogi States. The move, it was said, is to pull the rug from under the feet of the emir and end the Fulani rulership of Ilorin.

The Yoruba people of Ilorin are not alone in the struggle. The pan-Yoruba meeting which took place in Ibadan last year demanded restructuring of Kwara State such that Ilorin would be grouped with the Southwest. Analysts interpreted this to mean that the parley did not believe that any emir had any business on Ilorin throne.

hmmm

An uneducated Flat head (Ibo) man mistelling Yoruba history. What an insult.

Everytime Ibo is in trouble the first thing he does is make attempt to deflect to Yoruba.

What is new about loss of Ilorin that a 5yr old has not already been told many times to the tune of boring?

Innoson need your solidarity. Go and tell your shop owners with account in GTB to donate it to offset Innoson debt.

.

MayorofLagos:
Everytime Ibo is in trouble the first thing he does is make attempt to deflect to Yoruba.

What is new about loss of Ilorin that a 5yr old has not already been told many times to the tune of boring?

Innoson need your solidarity. Go and tell your shop owners with account in GTB to donate it to offset Innoson debt.

Well you'd be surprised this is my first time comming across the story and I thought it very interesting.

As for Innoson, he is a NIGERIAN hero and we should all rally around him and also be against the excesses of EFCC, irrespective of tribe

9jaDoc:


Well you'd be surprised this is my first time comming across the story and I thought it very interesting.

As for Innoson, he is a NIGERIAN hero and we should all rally around him and also be against the excesses of EFCC, irrespective of tribe

Rally round a fraudster, a common criminal? No thanks.

chibuzorAbia:


Rally round a fraudster, a common criminal? No thanks.

A person who has done what our govt, with all it's resources, could not do, who provides jobs to over 5000 Nigerians.
We should be bailing him out and giving him grants. The useless politicians who steal and contribute nothing is who we should be after.

Osucoward:
An uneducated Flat head (Ibo) man mistelling Yoruba history. What an insult.

I am an Igbo man and u r a Yoruba woman.
This is from Vanguard verbatim. I didn't change a single word.

9jaDoc:


I am an Igbo man and u r a Yoruba woman.
This is from Vanguard verbatim. I didn't change a single word.

9jaDoc:


I am an Igbo man and u r a Yoruba woman.
This is from Vanguard. igboverbatim. I didn't change a single word.

U bi igbo man but use FAKE. moniker abi?I pity dem bois wey go don chased u thinking u are a lady.I hail u

Ihatepork:


5000 Nigerians? Even leyland in it's heyday never provided up to 5000 jobs lol. Is it not an assembly? Abeg find another lie bro

Your quarrel is with the deputy senate president. This is what he said on the Senate floor verbatim:

"We have been talking about promoting made in Nigeria goods. This man manufactures vehicles, he has over 5, 000 people in his employment, he has international partners. What are you projecting before them? That he is a criminal? If we as Senate allow this to continue, there is nothing else that will ever work."

ipobarecriminals:
U bi igbo man but use FAKE. moniker abi?I pity dem bois wey go don chased u thinking u are a lady.I hail u

But I agreed with u now. You are a Yoruba woman and I am an Igbo man. In fact u should discreetly inform my husband. He keeps confusing me for a lady.

why do yorubas flare up each time a topic like this is raised..

ipobarecriminals:
U bi igbo man but use FAKE. moniker abi?I pity dem bois wey go don chased u thinking u are a lady.I hail u

Cross dressing and cross identity is in their gene

MayorofLagos:
Everytime Ibo is in trouble the first thing he does is make attempt to deflect to Yoruba.

What is new about loss of Ilorin that a 5yr old has not already been told many times to the tune of boring?

Innoson need your solidarity. Go and tell your shop owners with account in GTB to donate it to offset Innoson debt.

No be today this thing start sef. Gen. Afonja staged himself a nice little coup. No wonder Awo was always thinking coup till it ultimately culminated in him committing suicide.

9jaDoc:


Your quarrel is with the deputy senate president. This is what he said on the Senate floor verbatim:

"We have been talking about promoting made in Nigeria goods. This man manufactures vehicles, he has over 5, 000 people in his employment, he has international partners. What are you projecting before them? That he is a criminal? If we as Senate allow this to continue, there is nothing else that will ever work."

Ekweremadu should do his best to get pdp back in power. They will understand the language of stealing is not corruption; APC does not!

QueenSekxy:
why do yorubas flare up each time a topic like this is raised..

Now, unless you are new....anything Ibo is showtime for me. This is really a SHOWTIME, and you not going to spoil the fun for me. Swerve...

BabaRamota1980:


Now, unless you are new....anything Ibo is showtime for me. This is really a SHOWTIME, and you not going to spoil the fun for me. Swerve...

I don't understand

9jaDoc:


No be today this thing start sef. Gen. Afonja staged himself a nice little coup. No wonder Awo was always thinking coup till it ultimately culminated in him committing suicide.

Yep...Afonja staged a coup, when it backfired he stayed...fought till death. He was so powerful even in death his fulani betrayers kept shooting darts into him to be sure he was indeed dead.

Bring your mind to 1966, Nwobosi at Akintola's house. The Premier was the only casualty who exchanged fire with his assailants.

Now, forward to 1970. Ojukwu in Enugu. The only general in the history of African warfare to ever abandon his people and fleeing warfront after disguising himself as a prostitute.

Fast forward to 2017...Afaraukwu, the python II theater....where is your Mazi?

Bunch of lilly livered cowards!

QueenSekxy:
why do yorubas flare up each time a topic like this is raised..

It is not Yorubas. It is a very, very, very few jobless individuals who exist only on Nland. They may not even be Yoruba.

[quote author=BabaRamota1980 post=63472569][/quote]

Last time I checked Igbos are still Nigerians

9jaDoc:


It is not Yorubas. It is a very, very, very few jobless individuals who exist only on Nland. They may not even be Yoruba.

yeah true,,some of them are hausas

BabaRamota1980:


Cross dressing and cross identity is in their gene

At least they only dress, they don't take it in the ass like you

BabaRamota1980:


Ekweremadu should do his best to get pdp back in power. They will understand the language of stealing is not corruption; APC does not!

The issue is not Ekweremadu. The issue is harassing the one person building and providing jobs, while leaving polithievians who steal BIG and contribute nothing.

BabaRamota1980:


Yep...Afonja staged a coup, when it backfired he stayed...fought till death. He was so powerful even in death his fulani betrayers kept shooting darts into him to be sure he was indeed dead.

Bring your mind to 1966, Nwobosi at Akintola's house. The Premier was the only casualty who exchanged fire with his assailants.

Now, forward to 1970. Ojukwu in Enugu. The only general in the history of African warfare to ever abandon his people and fleeing warfront after disguising himself as a prostitute.

Fast forward to 2017...Afaraukwu, the python II theater....where is your Mazi?

Bunch of lilly livered cowards!

Without taking sides, I'd say u just supported the popular view that Igbos are indeed very wise people. They know WHEN to be brave. There is a time for everything. Time to be brave and time to run. See, because Ojukwu SURVIVED he is today an evergreen legend. Kanu SURVIVED. Every other person u mentioned foolishly got themselves killed. That's not bravery. It is called foolhardiness (notice the word starts with FOOL)

BabaRamota1980:


Yep...Afonja staged a coup, when it backfired he stayed...fought till death. He was so powerful even in death his fulani betrayers kept shooting darts into him to be sure he was indeed dead.

Bring your mind to 1966, Nwobosi at Akintola's house. The Premier was the only casualty who exchanged fire with his assailants.

Now, forward to 1970. Ojukwu in Enugu. The only general in the history of African warfare to ever abandon his people and fleeing warfront after disguising himself as a prostitute.

Fast forward to 2017...Afaraukwu, the python II theater....where is your Mazi?

Bunch of lilly livered cowards!

By the way how do u reconcile this your write-up with this part of the story:

"Alimi arrived Ilorin and was hosted by Afonja. Soon after Alimi took Ilorin as his place of abode, a rift broke out between Alaafin and Afonja. When the disagreement reached the climax and the two had to take up arms, Afonja, out of regard for Alimi's spiritual and military prowess, sought his support. Alimi helped in mobilising an army in support of Afonja leading to victory over Alaafin. The defeat led the then Alaafin migrating from old Oyo to the site now called Oyo."