Alaafin Siyanbola Ladigbolu I, who reigned because the sovereign ruler of Ọyọ from 1911 to 1944—Iku baba yeye! (The loss of life that claims even the daddy of loss of life!)

Alaafin Siyanbola Ladigbolu I, who reigned because the sovereign ruler of Ọyọ from 1911 to 1944—Iku baba yeye! (The loss of life that claims even the daddy of loss of life!)

The circumstances following his passing turned the muse of Wole Soyinka’s acclaimed theatrical piece, Demise and the King’s Horseman.

When the customary ceremony to honor the monarch’s transition was set to be noticed in 1946, a British colonial officer intervened by apprehending the Èlẹ́ṣìn Ọba (the king’s designated companion in loss of life) and inserting him in custody. Beneath British legislation, the act of making an attempt to take one’s personal life was thought of a legal offense.

The Èlẹ́ṣìn Ọba’s son, a service provider then residing within the Gold Coast (now Ghana), hurried residence upon listening to of the information, intending to hold out his father’s burial rites. However upon discovering his father nonetheless alive, he was so deeply shaken by what he perceived as a sacrilege that he took his personal life instantly.

This historic incident was first explored and narrated by Pierre Verger throughout the Sixties.

Professor Wole Soyinka’s dramatic adaptation was first printed in 1975.

Picture Supply: Dọtun Olowoporoku / Nigeria Nostalgia Challenge

Textual content Supply: ÀṢÍRÍ Journal Analysis Archive.