Operation Amatekun, the security outfit for the Southwest was launched last week in Ibadan, Capital of Oyo State by the six State governments in the geopolitical zone. The outfit is to nip in the bud the rising wave of kidnappings and farmers/herdsmen clashes in the area.

So much is being said about this Southwest security initiative. Those issues will remain in focus as the outfit goes ahead to fulfill its mandate.

Gani Adams photo is significant in many respects. Gani Adams, is the current holder of the position of Field Marshal or Generalissimo of Yorubaland, a title that has subsisted from historic times. The Aare Ona Kakanfo as the title is known in Yorubaland, was given to the Commander of the Oyo Empire Army in those days when the Empire thrived. The Empire was sacked in the 19th Century by Fulani jihadists (a conquering moslem religious army) led by a Sokoto Caliphate Flag bearer, Alimi. Afonja, the then Aare Ona Kakanfo had invited Alimi to come to his aid to overthrow the Alaafin who was like the Emperor of the Oyo Empire. Afonja was in Ilorin, the base and abode of Aare Ona Kakanfo. According to tradition, the Alaafin and Aare Ona Kakanfo did not reside in the same location. The Afonja rebellion succeeded. The Alaafin was uprooted from his throne at Oyo Ile, near Ilorin and the seat of the Empire was relocated to a place called Ago Oja, which is the present day Oyo town, 30 mins away from Ibadan, capital of modern times Oyo State and which was a settlement for some of the people displaced from Oyo Ile by the Afonja’s war against the Empire.
Yes, Afonja won the war. However, he lost the control of Ilorin, his base to Alimi, his Fulani ally in the war that he initiated. Alimi became the Emir of Ilorin when he planted the flag he brought from Sokoto. Meanwhile, Afonja had been killed and his army and supporters were in disarray. The circumstance of Afonja’s death is shrouded in some controversy. A prominent line in the controversy was that Alimi had a hand in his death in order to actualize his ambition to annex the area into the Sokoto Caliphate that was panning from the north towards the south.

Aare Ona Kakanfo, has since symbolically transformed into the title of Generalissimo of Yorubaland, never mind that some areas in Yorubaland will not be quick in admitting the situation. So, the title is still being conferred on prominent Yoruba sons who possess valour in fighting the Yoruba cause. Late Ladoke Akintola, Premier of Western Nigeria, held the title of Aare Ona Kakanfo until he was killed by the military coup plotters in January 1966. Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the presidential election of 1993 that General Ibrahim Babangida (now retired) annulled was also Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland.

Gani Adams, the man in the photo above is the present Aare Ona Kakanfo. He is the leader of the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, a pan Yoruba Cultural Organization with zeal to defend the interests of the Yorubas even if that avowed mission demands physical combat to achieve them. It must be underlined that secession is not part of the organization’s creed.

Gani Adams wore tiger’s skin which is part but not the full regalia earmarked for his title. Tiger is translated to mean ‘Ekun’ in Yoruba language. ‘Amatekun’ is the Yoruba word for Leopard.

I hope you have learnt something new about the Yorubas who are situated in the Southwest of Nigeria.