Afonja - To Be Or Not To Be - Guardian Newspaper
THE old time rivalry and mutual suspicion between the ruling Fulani minority and the Yoruba majority took a new turn on Saturday October 14 when six persons believed to be members of the banned Oodua Peoples Congress were killed by policemen on their way to the ancient city.
Ilorin itself was thrown into a state of near anarchy but for armed policemen that brought assurances that the citizens will be adequately protected.
No sooner did the smoke from the fire of discord disappear that the traditional institution of the town relapsed into its too familiar pastime; arguments, name calling and malice.
The picture is getting more complex by the day. To a casual observer, the quarrel is a straight one between the Afonja descendants and the Emir-led Fulani rulership.
True, the Yoruba (or is it the Afonja descendants) look determined to install an Onilorin of Ilorin in the city but there are other complexities that are giving the Emir, Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, some cause for worry.
Four of his Baloguns (one one of them is Yoruba) who are supposed to be his councillors in their various areas have declared 'war' against him. To show their seriousness about being upgraded, some of them are actually in court seeking legal interpretation of their demands.
As if that is not enough, the Baloguns joined by two king makers (Mogaji Aare and Baba Isale) severed relationships with the emir ñ subsequently they neither greet him, pay homage or visit him at the palace as the tradition required.
One might be tempted to say the face-off was between the emir and his chiefs but for the attempt to crown a new parallel monarch for Yorubas.
The two sides at loggerheads over the proposed Onilorin stool are the emirate council and the Afonja Descendants Union (ADU).
While the Emir's people say the ADU is a bunch of jesters, the Union says the emirship represents nothing but lies. They both try hard to prove that their different positions are supported by history.
Another serious point is that while the Emir and his supporters claim he is a father of all, his detractors say he leans entirely towards the Fulanis. They even claim that he removed Kolapo, the Yoruba part of his name so that no one will be in doubt about where his heart is.
Cloud Tag: What's trending
Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.
Olokoba Sulyman Ambassador Kayode Laro Sarakite Afolabi-Oshatimehin Adenike Harriet Ayo Adeyemi Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Mary Kemi Adeosun Funmilayo Oniwa Abdulganiy Abimbola Abdussalam Kola Ologbondiyan Vasolar Consortium Fatimah Abdulkadir Kwara Hotel Sayomi Mohammed Halidu NAWOJ Hassanat Bello AbdulHamid Adi Kwara State Government Makama Ado Bayero Olam Food Ingredients Yusuf Abubakar Bola Sagaya UITH Shaykh Luqman Jimoh Centre For Peace And Strategic Studies Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone Adedeji Onimago Kupchi Hosea Maxwell Mohammed Khadijat Kubura Solomon Edoja Abdulkadir Remi Hawawu Shehu Raheem Adaramaja Salihu S. Yaru PAACO-PCL Consortium Sanitation Exercise Lanre Issa-Onilu Playing Host Dumagi New Naira Notes Magaji Are Colleges Of Education Academic Staff Union Ayinde Oyepitan Afusat Nike Ibrahim Special Adviser On Digital Innovation Raliat Elelu-Habeeb Majlis For Sadaqah, Zakat And Waqf Sa\'adu Salahu Kwarareports.com CACOVID Ilorin Emirate Stakeholders Forum Bello Oyedepo Bola Tinubu Women For Change And Development Initiative Abdulazeez Uthman Raji Ayodele Kamaldeen Fatai Adeniyi Garba Ladi Hassan Local Government Senior Special Assistant On Student Affairs Yakubu Shaaba AbdulRazaq Jiddah Eghe Igbinehi Kamaldeen Ajibade Elekoyangan Nurudeen Mohammed Apaola Bashirat Bola Bello Adaramaja Simeon Ajibola Plat Technologies Peculiar Allowance Yaman John Obuh Maryam A. Garuba Kwara University Of Education

