Oba Abdul Adetoyese Olakisan is head of Ogboni Agbaye. In this interview by OLUWOLE IGE, he speaks about aboriginal Ogboni fraternity, insecurity occasioned by current herdsmen attacks in some parts of Yorubaland, activities of illegal miners in Osun and other issues.
How would you describe your position in the aboriginal Ogboni fraternity?
I am Oba Abdul Adetoyese Olakisan, the Oba Ogboni Agbaye and Awise Iwase of Yorubaland.
As Oba Ogboni, what does your organisation stand for? The primary objective of the aboriginal Ogboni fraternity since inception is to attend to the needs of the Yoruba nation: to guide and uphold our moral values as a nation. And these we do in collaboration with our obas, yeyes and other influential subgroups under us: egbe ode, egbe isona, among others.
Why do many people regard your organisation as a secret society?
Let me explain that the Aboriginal Ogboni Fraternity is a corporate body registered under the Nigerian law and you can fact-check. We file returns at the Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C). We have affiliates in the diaspora — Cuba, America, U.K., China, Togo, Ghana, Brazil, South America and India. In the State of Georgia where we have a large followership, we have also registered in fulfillment of their law. I have the certificate right here. In Cuba, the same thing subsists. I travel round the year to coordinate and oversee their activities. In Nigeria we are almost everywhere. We have membership in various professions: medicine (orthodox and traditional), pharmacy (orthodox and traditional), judiciary, law and teaching, farming and artisanship. Even in the religious societies, we have clerics, prophets and alfas. For instance, I am a practising Moslem, praying five times daily. However I must admit that there are certain aspects of the activities which are not open to the public. For instance intelligence gathering and diplomacy as well as membership role. On membership role, it is not even peculiar to the fraternity, even public companies’ shareholders are hardly known. Yet they exist. If you belong to the fraternity, of course you are privy to everything we do.
There is this siege or threat of kidnappers and herdsmen attacks in Yorubaland, what can the fraternity do to tackle these challenges?
You do not expect me to tell you here all we are doing or will do. You forgot to add the illegal miners devastating our forests and landscape, exposing us to the eventuality of earthquake. However let me tell you that our governors are partially to be blamed and I am happy they owned up in Akure during the burial of Pa Fasoranti’s daughter. Our people also share part of the blame. Governors are to blame for neglecting traditional institutions responsible for detecting, prevention and combating crime. Specifically, there is no town in Yorubaland where you won’t find our Iledi (ogboni branch), there is nowhere you won’t find the OPC. Both of us gather intelligence and can confront any security challenge. Do you know there are herbal preparations that ward off animals and birds from farmlands, and also herbal preparations that kill them outright? Herdsmen cannot match us in terms of power and they know. And it is a less expensive gambit, let the governors support us with the wherewithal, you will see. Frankly, no tribe in Nigeria can surpass or subdue the Yoruba in warfare. Anybody that declares war on the Yoruba will not last twenty one days. The Aare Ona Kakanfo knows this. The Fulani did it in 1840, in Ikirun, they were dispersed under 48 hours, abandoning their horses. The Biafra war failed because of the incursion into Yorubaland, they retreated at Ore and the war receded. Let the government consult and support the traditional institutions and see the positive result and permanent end to insecurity.
Original article written by Oluwole Ige at Nigerian Tribune