Soyinka and the Need For Proper Exposure To Ilorin History
By Lanre Olumoh, Ph.d.
It is undeniable that Professor Wole Soyinka is a scholar of international repute. It is equally noteworthy that the professor is a household name in Nigeria as he bestrides literary circles like a colossus. Undoubtedly, the country’s only Nobel laureate commands respect from all and sundry.
It is, therefore, highly mortifying to see the professor going out of his way to court unnecessary controversy. Otherwise, how do we rationalise his recent attack on the Emir of Ilorin and by extension, on the whole Ilorin Emirate over the Yoruba “Isese Festival” which conception should be situated within the context of Ilorin bashing among Yoruba intelligentsia.
To all intents and purposes, it seem the don had pent up angst waiting to found expression at the slightest trigger, which in the extant case is the ill-conceived Isese Festival billed to hold in no other place than the city of Ilorin.
To justify his stance and that of his ilk that the Festival should hold as planned by its promoters, he presents a warped version of Ilorin and claimed to know the trajectory of the emir’s dynasty.
Well, we all have our past, even the British Royal Family is no exception. As if that was not egregious enough,Soyinka chose ,in a condescending manner to refer to one of the foremost monarchs in Nigeria by name shorn of any iota of honorifics!
A couple of months ago, I had the rare privilege of meeting with the Alake of Egbaland and what a great personality he is. He not only spoke very warmly of Ilorin and her people but also further regaled me with snippets from his days as an army officer at Baboko, Ilorin, where the Nigerian Army School of Education (NASE) used to be located in the 1970’s before its relocation to the present site at Sobi Barracks.
I have one of my best friends in Abeokuta whom I hold in high esteem. Hence, I found the denigrating tone with which Soyinka addressed our highly-reverred monarch rather unfortunate.
Well, one should not be tempted to be tarring the great people of Egbaland with the same brush. Therefore, I believe that a simple act of courtesy in his letter to the Emir would not only speak to the cultured disposition of the don but is also expected from a man of his calibre.
Perhaps, Soyinka does not seem to understand Ilorin history or has rather chosen to neglect or bury his head in the sand. As such, it is the responsibility of historians to help recalibrate his understanding.
Yes, he knows Ilorin as a northern Yoruba town which was once under the power of Afonja, who exploited the wave of Islamic evangelism, which swept over Yorubaland during the late 18th century, to break away from Oyo empire.
Afonja,the gallant Yoruba general as history tells us, later became a victim of his action and the Ilorin Emirate was inaugurated circa 1823. From that material time, Ilorin has been treading the thorny path of having to contend with hostile neighbous hell-bent on pulling it down.
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The belief then was that it doesn’t have the potentials to survive and that they would soon get rid of the new emirate. But all their efforts notwithstanding, the city has been lucky as it has continued to wax stronger as it had been able to record phenomenal growth, development and transformation on account of the unifying factor of Islam and the vision of her successive charismatic Emirs, the selfless service of the Baloguns that Ilorin produced that engaged in expansion, the clerical class spreading the message of Islam within and outside the emirate ,the supportive colonial government that made Ilorin provincial capital and later the military government that made Ilorin a state capital and thus gave it continued relevance in Nigerian politics.
Indeed, Ilorin has been lucky to have good administrators that have been contributing meaningfully to transform its landscape.
It is a well established fact that Ilorin is a foremost abode of Islam not only in Yorubaland but even beyond the shores of Nigeria. It has played significant role in the spread of Islam to many parts of Yorubaland in the 19th century resulting in the town being greatly revered by Muslims within and outside Yorubaland.
It is this spirit that T.G .O Gbadamosi, in his book: ”The Growth of Islam Among The Yoruba”, meant when he said Ilorin was regarded as a local “Mecca” by Yoruba Muslims. Furthermore, Danmole,another leading historian also stressed in numerous works that the spread and consolidation of Islam in many parts of Yorubaland, can be traced to the efforts of Ilorin Muslim clerics.
Soyinka needs to know that the respected seat of the Emir of Ilorin is not simply a throne but the entire gamut of Islamic tradition that it embodies.
Unsurprisingly, Ilorin unequivocally frowns at open display of anti-Islamic festivals and practices. The Emir, as the leader of the faithful, is, therefore, expected to resist any attempt to promote any act that is antithetical to the spirit of Islam.
At this juncture, it might be pertinent to ask some vexing questions: When did the celebration of Isese Festival extend to Ilorin? What relationship does Ilorin has with the festival? Why is the celebration of the festival not limited to the Yoruba towns where it originated? Was this festival celebrated in Ilorin in the last 100 years or in the last 5 years? Why should the festival hold in 2023, a year that Ilorin Emirate should be celebrating its 200 years of unbroken existence as an emirate and bastion of Islam? Where were the promoters of the festival all these while and why do they want to disrupt the peace and harmony of Ilorin Emirate?
If the celebration of the Isese festival is all about the constitutional provisions of freedom of association,beliefs , assembly and all that, then the individuals promoting it should as as well have chosen Maiduguri, Sokoto or Kaduna? It is to be recalled that Soyinka had cited the examples of places like Brazil and Cuba, but we should ask him whether those societies are Islamic in their orientation.
To be sure, Ilorin is not an intolerant society. Christian missionaries would have a good story to tell of their experiences in the Emirate particularly as it relates to the phenomenal growth of churches and faith-based schools. Indeed, I had attended St. Joseph Nursery and Primary School, Ilorin, and even had the ninth Emir’s daughter as a classmate.
The Ilorin traditional authorities had provided the enabling and peaceful environment for other faiths to thrive with the exception of the practice of fetishism. It is, therefore, not out of place for the Emir, the leader of the faithful, to exercise his prerogative as the custodian of the norms and traditions of his subjects by preventing the event from holding.
It is rather unfortunate that it is on account of this proactive step that Soyinka castigated the respected Emir and the entire people of Ilorin. How sad!
Ilorin is renowned for her forbearance and tolerance. But one can see that Soyinka is taking the tolerant disposition of Ilorin for granted and has probably found it difficult to differentiate Ilorin from Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, or other towns in the South-West.
Based on his treatise, one could say that he had not demonstrated sufficient capacity or readiness to appreciate the depth of Islam in Ilorin as opposed to what is obtainable in other Yoruba towns and cities. The earlier he understands that, the better.
