A History of the Yoruba People by Stephen Adebanji Akintoye

Author:Stephen Adebanji Akintoye [Akintoye, Stephen Adebanji]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, pdf
Publisher: Amalion
Published: 2009-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Administration of the Empire

In essence, the Oyo Empire was a large Yoruba kingdom, ruled according to the typical Yoruba system of government applied over a vast territory. At the head of it all was the Alaafin, a typical Yoruba divine king. Like the kings of all Yoruba kingdoms, the Alaafin was selected from the pool of princes of one royal lineage. For the selection, all princes (sons and grandsons of former kings) were eligible - with the singular exception of the oldest son of the recently deceased king. From the early seventeenth century, this one prince, with the title of Aremo, was allowed to be freely associated with his reigning father in matters of government, and then he had to die (by committing suicide) when his father died. Succession by primogeniture was, as would be remembered, generally rejected by Yoruba kingdoms; Oyo-Ile’s requirement that the Aremo must die represents a particularly drastic rejection of it. The purpose, as in all Yoruba kingdoms, was to ensure that the right of the people to select their king would not be interfered with by one privileged prince.

As in all Yoruba kingdoms, in theory, by popular sayings, and as demonstrated in civic ceremonies and rituals, the government was the Alaafins government, and he was supposed to have the power of life and death over his subjects. But, in reality, in the Yoruba system of limited monarchy over which he reigned, he was subject to well established, powerful, institutions, as well as to elaborate rules and prohibitions. The high Inner Council of chiefs, named the Oyo Mesi, consisting of seven of the most powerful quarter chiefs of the capital city of Oyo-Ile (the Basorun, Agbakin, Samu, Alapini, Laguna, Akiniku and Asipa), met with the Alaafin daily in the palace to make all laws and take the highest decisions of government. Such laws and decisions were then announced to the kingdom as the Alaafin’s word. Outside that system, the Alaafin might not try to operate. In the generally militarized mode of existence to which this kingdom was forced by circumstances, the high chiefs of the Oyo Mesi were also the highest military chiefs. They also bore the responsibility of selecting new kings, and of removing an unpopular king by asking him, if matters came to such an end, to “go to sleep” [See Chapter 8].

The highest officer in the Oyo Mesi was the Basorun who bore responsibilities akin to those of a Prime Minister or Chancellor and presided over the Oyo Mesi in council. Of the other members of the Oyo Mesi, the Agbakin had charge of the worship of Oranmiyan in addition to other duties; the Laguna was the kingdom’s highest ambassador (a sort of foreign minister) in the most critical situations; the Asipa was, in the council of the Oyo Mesi, the Ojuwa (he who distributed presents given to the Oyo Mesi); the Alapini was the officer in charge of the egungun mysteries and, over time, he became the head of all religious affairs. The lineage to which the Alapini title belonged was an old Nupe lineage.

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