The highly revered Owa of Idanre Kingdom has spoken up about his life and the incredible things that have happened to him.
The Owa of Idanre Kingdom, Oba Fredrick Adegunle Aroloye IV
The Owa of Idanre Kingdom, Oba Fredrick Adegunle Aroloye IV, a nonagenarian, in this interview with PETER DADA, speaks about his life before and during his reign as the paramount ruler of the Idanreland, Ondo State
Please tell us about your background.
I was born on March 30, 1927 and I attended St. Paul’s Primary School and Methodist School, both at Idanre. I had my secondary school education at Western Boys High School, Benin and Hussy College, Warri and later went to England, where I attended Balham and Tooting College of Commerce and Law. When I finished there, I took up an appointment under Survey Country Council as a licencing officer. From there, I was transferred to Greater London Council as a Finance Clerk.
When did you return to Nigeria and why?
I left England in 1969 on my father’s instructions. He said he wanted to see me before he died. I went to England in November, 1958. Initially, I didn’t want to go to England. When my mother died, I was taking my class four examination. They sent a telegram, but my principal didn’t allow me to see the telegram. He kept it from me until after I finished my examination. On the day that we finished our examination, the principal invited me to his house and I was afraid. He asked me to eat and after the meal, he broke the news of my mother’s death to me. That was how I returned home.
How did you sponsor your education in England?
I had a childhood friend called Samuel Agboola Akintan, he told me to travel to England to continue my education. I asked him how I would do that when my father did not have money. My father was receiving 200 pounds per annum at the time. But he (Akintan) said I should leave it to him. He was a Treasury Cash Officer at the time; he was able to convince the council that the salary of Owa (Idanre) was very small and that it should be reviewed. So they increased it to 500 pounds and backdated it to the previous year. That way, we were having a surplus of 300 pounds. I was able to pay for my trip and the tuition. He is a good friend of mine and I will never forget him. Now, he is number three to me. He is my High Chief. Luckily again, I had one friend called Ife Aladenika; he is an Ondo man. We travelled together; he told me that they used to be engaged during Christmas time. We got casual jobs at a post office and we were able to make money. During the Easter period, we went to the post office again and got ourselves jobs. We put the money together with the one that was given to us at home. During a long vacation, which was for 10 weeks, we were also fortunate to get work at a food factory. We were paid nine pounds per week. So when we got back to London, we had enough money to pay for our tuition and so on.
What was it like working as a young black boy in England?
It was splendid. At that time, citizens of member countries of the commonwealth had equal opportunities. For instance, when I was a licencing officer in charge of changing of ownership in England, I had my own office and a clerical officer, who was a white man. One day, a white man came to our office; he wanted to do change of ownership and my clerical officer directed him to me. So when the white man opened the door and saw me, he said I am sorry I’m in a wrong office. He went back to my clerical officer who then brought him to my office. Immediately the white man saw me again, he said he was sorry and that he didn’t know I was the right person he would see. The white man did not believe a black man could occupy that seat. Also while I was working at the London Greater Council, people liked me. After I had returned home, they wrote to me to come back and occupy the position because I was one of the black men that did very well in that office. So I replied that I could not return to the job because I was the king of my town. It is very unfortunate that we don’t enjoy those things again. Things were still fine till 1963 but immediately after we became a republic, we did not enjoy those things again. Even in school fees, there was discrimination.
After returning to Nigeria, you worked with the government as a Treasury Officer and in charge of money; did you have any temptation to steal money as some public servants do nowadays?
There was a time that I was broke. But I thought that if I should prepare a fictitious voucher to bring out money and if they found out, I would destroy my name, so I resisted the temptation. There was a time a man came to my office and started congratulating me. I asked, ‘what for’? He said I had been selected to participate in a football competition. He asked me to bring N25,000 to win N1m. I told him that I did not have such money and he said ‘you are the treasury officer, take from the money in the treasury’. But I said he should let me tell my wife but said I shouldn’t tell anybody. Then I told him to leave my office. He then introduced the same thing to my colleague in Ijebu Ode, the man fell into his trap and was jailed. The man came back in disguise and introduced the thing to me again. I told him I was not interested. I said I was comfortable, and so he left. It is better for a person to protect his integrity.
Idanre is an ancient town, how did it come into being?
We have two sets of history. The aborigines’ belief then was that that they descended from heaven with the help of a chain. The first footmark can still be seen on a rock here today. We call it Abogun footmark because it was Abogun that discovered the footmark later. Another history says that when Oduduwa and Olofin came from Upper Egypt to Ile-Ife, they stayed in Ile-Ife for some time. And because of their intelligence, they changed our administration. They became the head. Oduduwa became the Ooni of Ife and when he died, Olofin took over as the head but Olofin wanted to continue the journey. He didn’t want to end it there. So Olofin asked the first son of Oduduwa, Oranmiyan, to stay behind but he (Oranmiyan) refused because he wanted to follow his uncle. Olofin was Oduduwa’s immediate younger brother. So Oranmiyan followed his uncle. They met the people of Idanre here and took over the leadership as usual. When Olofin was about to die, he assembled his people and told them that after his death, if they wanted him to protect them, they should offer a human being to him as sacrifice every year. The people were perplexed and wondered how they would get the human beings. So he taught them the rite to be performed. When he died, they were performing the rite and his first son, Abogun, became the Oba (monarch). Oramiyan wanted to become the Oba but the people said they wanted Olofin’s son. So Oranmiyan left for Edo and later to Oyo Alaafin. So Abogun was the ruler. The human being that his father demanded as sacrifice from him annually would come by himself with two leaves called Irere. Any stranger seen then during Olofin’s period was used for the sacrifice. And when the adjoining towns saw what was happening to us, they gave us a nickname, Onidan, which meant people that performed ritual to get human beings used for sacrifice for their god. Our former name was Ife-Oke. When our children were being kidnapped, we sought protection and left that area for Utaja. There was a man among us, he was a hunter, and he said he discovered a place on the hilltop that would accommodate our population at that time and get us away from the threat of kidnappers. That was how we moved up there and we were there for 800 years before we started coming down again. In 1894, Governor Carter from the colonial office, came up there to sign a treaty with my grandfather, Arubiefin the First, saying that her Majesty, the Queen of England, would give them protection and that they should not follow any other foreign country. So we were being ruled right from the colonial office in Lagos. He also said Her Majesty would be giving the Oba 50 bags of cowries if we were able to keep the road between Owena and Idanre. In those days, it took them nothing less than two months to go to Lagos and bring the bags of cowries. So when my grandfather died, my father, Aladegbule, who brought Christianity to Idanre in 1895, was supposed to become the next Oba but because he was a Christian, people rejected him. They preferred his younger brother, who was an idol worshipper. But the brother did not live long. He ruled for seven years. After his death, the people asked my father to become the king. So he was enthroned in 1919. In 1926, my father wrote a letter to the Lieutenant Governor in Enugu. Then, Nigeria had been divided into northern and southern protectorates and the southern protectorate was being administered from Enugu. So it was Enugu that my father sent the letter to and it was debated in the legislative council and passed that we were free to move down the hilltop. It was then the Surveyor-General was asked to survey the new town for us. They made two places for us called Ilu-tuntun.
What is your relationship with Alade Idanre, the neighbouring town?
That is what I am saying; we are the same because by that time, as I told you earlier, they were purely idol worshippers and we were Christians and they used to clash. So the district officer advised my father that in order to prevent future crisis, we should manage the space given to us. He said in England, where he came from, the queen could be in London or Scotland and be ruling. So he said when he planned this town, the Owa’s palace should be here and downhill, he would put where Oba’s palace would be there. That is why they are calling this place new town and that place new town. The Postmaster-General wrote to differentiate them. There is a stream that divides Oke Idanre town into two. If the people on this part moved
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