Life worth living

It must have been a struggle for a great many resisting being sucked into the murky and putrid water of Nigerian politics, the election in particular and its aftermath.

This year’s presidential election has engendered an awakening and pumped life into sentiments we thought we had overcome. You would want to close your eyes and shut ears to most of the posts flying all over the place. Passions are inflamed triggering foul language. Sometimes passions rise to a boiling point.

In the course of the exchanges, the statement by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, in 2017 that Lagos is not part of Yorubaland was exhumed. It has gone viral. In my view, that can only add to heightened tension, it does not douse it. It is unwise to complicate matters thrusting such an issue into political controversies which are in themselves combustible enough. Is it to estrange the highly revered monarch from his people at a time when his moral and traditional authority as well as his counsel is called forth?

As this column argued at the time the pronouncement was unnecessary. It was controversial and it was bound to provoke responses from those who were familiar with the history of Lagos.

Much as Professor Omo Omoruyi, for example, sought to distort what was common knowledge about the historical relationship between Benin Throne and Ife, the Oba of Benin himself had had to straighten matters. On the occasion of his coronation as the 40th monarch of the ancient city, the Oba of Benin, Ewuare 11, said he is a “direct descendant of Oranmiyan,” whom, in his words he described as “the son of Oduduwa.” The history of Lagos taught in some schools in the West and which has been on most peoples’ lips is that the Aworis are the original owners of Lagos. And they came from Ile-Ife led by Olofin Ogunfunminire.

Ashipa was his right-hand man and confidant who had a Benin princess as wife through whom he had a son, Prince Ado. Prince Ado succeeded Ashipa as King of Lagos. He himself was succeeded by his son, Gabaro. If Ogunfunminire and Ashipa were from Ile-Ife in Yorubaland and Ile-Ife is reputed to be the cradle of the Yoruba it should follow that Lagos they founded must be Yorubaland.

Even if for the sake of argument, the King, Prince Ado came from Benin does that then excise Lagos out of Yorubaland? The Western Region stretched covering Fadeyi, to Mushin, Isolo, Ikotun, Egbeda, Agege, Somolu, Ikeja, Ojoo and Badagry. They were not part of Lagos Colony. Indeed, Yaba and Ebute Metta were ceded to the colonialists on request to build houses for middle-level civil servants at the time.

To safeguard the hold on swaths of Yorubaland and communities, Chief Awolowo established Ilupeju and Ikeja (Oba Akran) Industrial estates. He built the GRA Ikeja to fortify the hold.

As Professor of History, Jide Osuntokun, was to shed light on the controversy when it arose in 2017, he likened the Oba of Lagos Throne to the British monarch, saying that Queen Elizabeth 11, had her ancestry from Germany (Anglo-Saxon), and asked: “Does that make England part of German territory or is London where she had her Buckingham Palace not part of England? Prince Philip, the Queen’s consort was a prince from Greece which makes his son, now King Charles 111, a Greek. Is London where the throne is no longer part of England on that account? Can we also say that Britain is part of Greek territory?

I traced the journey of the Aworis all the way from Ile-Ife to a village near Abeokuta where they first settled, then Otta where they settled in large numbers believing they had reached their destination. From there the movement headed for Ijanikin, Otto Awori. Several of them in the party headed for Isheri where they lived for about three to four years because the pot placed in a river guiding them from the beginning of their journey suddenly again began to move. They followed it to Ebute Metta then to Lagos Island where the Pot Finally Sank, hence the Awo Ri—Awori. They had their farm at Iga Idunganran, planting pepper. Professor Banji Akintoye is an authority on this.

Former Managing Director of The Guardian, Lade Bonuola (right); former Managing Director, New Nigerian Newspaper, Haruna Mohammed; former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke; Ambassador, Dr. Patrick Dele Cole; Dan Agbese; Dr (Mrs.) Nwadiuto Iheakanwa and Executive Director, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Mrs. Motunrayo Alaka at the FrontFoot Media Roundtable in Lagos.

“The Idejos further claim that their ancestor, Olofin, made Ashipa who had a Benin wife, mediator between Olofin’s quarrelling children. When Ashipa died Olofin invited Prince Ado, “the son of Ashipa, to return from Benin and take up his father’s role, after the quarrel between Olofin and the Oba of Benin had been resolved.

The Idejos gave him land, a disused pepper farm on which he built his house (Iga Idunganran—palace at the pepper farm). Ado succeeded his father, Ashipa. Ado’s children were Akinsemoyin, Gabaro and Erelu (a woman). Gabaro succeeded Ado. Thus, the succession had been King Ashipa (1600-1630); King Ado (1630-1669); Gabaro (1669-1704); Akinsemoyin (1704-1749) down till this day with Oba Akiolu in the saddle from 2003.

Of course, there is the Benin connection, a version of the account says the coming of the Benins was as a result of conquest and the name Ashipa was a corruption of Aisikahienbore (we shall not desert this place) who was the viceroy of Oba Orhogbua who had established a camp, (Eko, the Yoruba name for Lagos) as a base for raids against Dahomy, today’s Republic of Benin. According to PD Cole, when Ashipa died Edo, his son succeeded him as viceroy.

At Addo’s appointment several nobles—war, spiritual and administrative chiefs –were sent out from Benin to help the new viceroy. They brought with them the royal symbols of office of the Obaship.” Dr. Cole refers to what he calls another non-Idejo version which “tells of how, in gratitude for the return of the body of a Benin nobleman, the Oba of Benin made Ashipa the Oba of Lagos.” There is the Aina Elewure angle, that she was the person who requested the Oba of Benin for protection of his troops stationed at Ilaje safeguarding trade along the coast up to Port Novo because of certain threats to her flourishing business.

What is closer to the truth and more credible, in my view, would seem to suggest that Benin coming to the throne of Lagos was not as a result of any conquest, for in a conquest, the first thing the victor does is to appropriate land and erect a flag. That was not the case in Lagos. The Idejos own the land.

According to PD Cole, “Although the Oba and his chiefs owned no land, the Idejos could not refuse him land if and when he asked for it: but he had to ask for it, thereby reinforcing the Idejos’ ownership and the element of consent in the whole relationship.” The Idejo version asserts that Ashipa married a Benin woman whose son Ado actually lived in Benin and was invited back to rule. Ado was said to be a good mediator and very rich and when the first Europeans arrived they just took the wealthy man for the king.

What I am getting at is that we should not allow political contestation set the country ablaze by importing unrelated into the aftermaths of the election results or stoking incendiary issues into what courts and tribunals are meant to resolve. All grievances should be taken to them for resolution. We should outgrow resort to pugilism and violence and elect to round table conferences or courts to settle conferences. Conflicts are a clash of degrees of inner development. A matured man will elect the civilised way. It is the time for true leaders to speak and get the tension in the land to come down. Life is worth living.

A publication in a magazine called “A New Approach”—‘A magazine for the dissemination of the New Knowledge for True Upbuilding’ deepens understanding what life is all about. Threats and careless statements do not lead to fulfillment of the purpose of life as they poison relationships.

The article captioned ‘A Life Worth Living’ was written in 1963 by Alois Lehri and reproduced in “A New Approach” in January 1979. It is as relevant then as it is today. It reads:

“At some time in his life everyone must struggle with negative thoughts, which in especially tragic circumstances may even lead to the madness of self-destruction. This is especially true for the individual who has not recognised the meaning of his existence here on earth, simply because he has never exerted himself thoroughly to investigate the sense and value of human experience.

“For such a person the ‘blows of fate’ that afflict him become overwhelming obstacles. The perpetual necessity of having to exert himself and the many unpleasantnesses, illnesses and apparently insurmountable setbacks overpower his tormented soul: at last he seeks to bring an end to what he imagines is a hopeless situation by taking his own life. Far more people than we imagine suffer in this way from the fear of life, permitting it to drive them to utter despair. They do not understand life.

“The human being who is spiritually ‘open’ knows about the Law of atonement, the law of reciprocal action, to which he is subject in regard to everything he thinks, says and does, not only in this earth-life, but also far back in all his previous earthlives. He knows about Karmic entanglements which, to the casual observer, may present the spectacle of fate unfolding in dramatic fashion, whereas in reality it is nothing but the harvest of seed which at the time was frivolously or maliciously sown. Most of the so-called impulsive actions spring from fear, from fear that suddenly perceives no way around an obstacle, from fear that sees the impossibility of things continuing as they have.

“There are so many reasons for fear—either the fear of having no money, of no longer being able to earn enough, of being out of work, or of losing a loved one, perhaps a son, a daughter, father, mother, husband or wife, or of becoming seriously ill—in short all the developments in life that may take quite other forms than these, though these are scarcely unusual.

“If they indulge in these fears human beings are oppressed by them, not only from day to day but even from hour to hour to the next. Many suffer from the ‘fear of life’ and are often driven to give way to despair. This fear destroys them; they are no longer in control of this life which they do not understand. In reality, however, they do not want to understand it because of their aloof attitude towards God, their lack of faith or their self-centeredness. Hard as it may sound this is selfishness because they see only the heavy blows that assail them and regard themselves as the ‘victims’ of fate.

Yet this is quite unjustified, for fate knows neither favourites nor victims, instead, it is completely unbiased, giving to each strictly according to the law, the harvest of what he has once sown. The attitude of these pessimists is far removed from God because they are unable to recognise that the honour of perfection belongs to the Creator. For the Creator’s perfection and the Laws created by Him do not permit anything unjust to befall any person. God is neither unjust nor does He test human beings with sorrow or distress.

“True faith in the Creator, that is, the true knowledge of Creation, can only bring the recognition that fate cannot bestow anything which does not at the same time provide the key to its solution. We never have to carry more than we are able to bear. When those in despair fail to master their conditions of distress, especially to master them inwardly, then it is due to the fact that they have lost their heads and are no longer able to think of how to escape from difficult situation in which they find themselves.

“True faith and true knowledge of the functioning of the laws which represent the Will of God are the two circumstances on which we have to establish our existence and build up our activity. Insofar as we do this our life will become worthwhile. The power with which we are able to master everything, even the most difficult situations in life, grows out of knowledge and conviction, for we receive thereby the recognition that life is given to us in order to become free of all guilt and all karma.

Whatever may befall us in the way of accidents, misfortunes and want should be the incentive to become inwardly spiritually awake; this way of spiritual ascent is the meaning and purpose of human life.

“Life is worth living in every situation and in every way if it aspires towards the great goal of becoming a human being according to the Will of God.”

It also calls for our working on ourselves. In the words of David Bruegel, “Working on ourselves begins with the awakening of the spirit and the awakening of sleeping spirit reveals itself in the longing to find the light of pure truth. The radiations of the Light of Truth are present around us in thousands of ways—in the wonders of nature, in the beauty of true art, in works of pure love, in the voice of conscience, in the law of movement of the worlds, in the creator’s power of life, and in whatever else bears witness to the honour of God to the great Creation.”

Leaders should speak and rein in all those planning or wishing mayhem over electoral fortunes or misfortunes! Every action comes with consequences. As they say, it is love that makes the world to go round! Life is Worth Living.
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