Abẹ́nilórí at the gates of Yorubaland

First half of the article

GLOBALLY, teaching is associated with building state capacity, modest livelihoods, and peace of mind. Teachers shape civilization. Teachers and students in rural Nigeria are now casualties of social collapse. Rural schools are no longer merely underfunded; they are exposed frontlines of national insecurity. The Federal Government recently exempted intending teachers from JAMB examinations. Yet a more disturbing question confronts the country: why should anyone teach in vulnerable rural communities where the Nigerian state cannot guarantee protection of life?

What happened at Ahoro-Èsíèlè in Oríire, Ọ̀yọ́ State, was not merely murder. It was civilization butchered publicly. A Mathematics teacher, Mr. Michael Oyedokun—a custodian of reason and logic—was beheaded by Abẹ́nilórí (head severers), and the gruesome spectacle was circulated globally as though human life was meaningless.

Expanding geography of Abẹ́nilórí

The Nigerian military has identified the Abẹ́nilórí as members of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awatiwal-Jihad (JAS)—the original Boko Haram organization. Six teachers and thirty-nine students remain in captivity. Boko Haram emerged in the North-East under Obasanjo. Under Jonathan, the movement evolved into an insurgency that abducted hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok, dozens of whom remain missing. Under Buhari, Boko Haram metastasized from a regional insurgency into a wider ecosystem of banditry, mass kidnappings, and jihadist violence across the North-West and North-Central. Now, under Tinubu, Boko Haram has expanded into villages in Yorubaland.

Nothing better illustrates the failure of the Nigerian State. Four presidents, including two retired Army Generals. Yet the geography of terror expands. It is the paradox of Nigeria’s over-centralized security architecture: local priorities are sacrificed in the name of national security, yet national security continues to decay. A unification of mutual peril.

History of head severing in Yorubaland

From Chibok in Borno to Maga in Kebbi, and now Oríire in Ọ̀yọ́, Boko Haram’s trajectory has culminated in Abẹ́nilórí—in Yorubaland under a Yoruba Nigerian Commander-in-Chief.  Is the Nigerian state collapsing? Who will now defend Yorubaland? Before the British incursion, beheading in Yorubaland was not random savagery against innocent people but a grave punishment reserved for treason or existential threats.

Aláàfin Májẹ̀ọ́gbé, who ruled the Old Oyo Empire between 1768 and 1774 and misused the power of beheading, was himself not spared by the traditional system. One day, he summoned a queen to the royal bathroom. Seeing the king without royal regalia, the queen forgot the gravity of the throne. She mocked his size, wondering how such a small man wielded so much power.

Májẹ̀ọ́gbé concealed his anger at the remark, secretly dispatched royal executioners (Abẹ́nilórí) to the queen’s village to decapitate her parents and return their heads in calabashes.He then convened a palace assembly and ordered the queen to open the gifts. Upon lifting the lids, she confronted the bloodied heads. The Aláàfin explained that his authority could destroy anyone who disrespected the throne.

Overwhelmed by terror and grief, the queen wept:“Ikú tó pa bàbá àti yèyé mi!” Meaning:“The death that has slain both my father and my mother!” The expression later became“Ikú Bàbá Yèyé,”a royal salute acknowledging Aláàfin’s authority. The Old Oyo Empire possessed a sophisticated system of constitutional restraint. The Aláàfin’s authority was not absolute. It was moderated by the Oyo Mesi—a council of seven kingmakers led by the Basọ̀run, who functioned as prime minister. When an Aláàfin became tyrannical, the political system intervened.

In this instance, after consultations, the Basọ̀run presented Májẹ̀ọ́gbé with the “calabash of rejection” containing an empty space—a declaration that both the gods and the people had rejected his rule,compelling ritual suicide as punishment. Such was the sophistication of the old Oyo political order.

Unfortunately, although contemporary laws still recognize the role of traditional kingmakers, politicians increasingly shape traditional institutions in ways that weaken their independence, moral authority, and role as the conscience of Yoruba society. No wonder, nearly 250 years after Májẹ̀ọ́gbé’s punishment, an innocent Yoruba school teacher’s head is severed by invading terrorists and displayed; yet the Aláàfín, Oòní, Olúbàdàn, Sọ̀ún, Ataójá, Ọ̀wá Ọ̀bòkun, Awùjalẹ̀, Aláké, Àkàrígbò, Déjì, Òṣèrèmọ̀wẹ̀, Ọlọ́wọ̀, Olúfẹ̀, Ẹwì, Ogóga, Ẹlẹ́kọ̀, Olófin, and…

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