Edo 2020: Odolaye Speaks On Oba Of Benin’s Supremacy

Odolaye has spoken about Oba of Benin’s stance on forthcoming Edo guber polls.

See-Finish: Ofinẹho.

Weeks ago Wakilu, my son in a rare flash of introspective brilliance asked this question:

“Ba’ami kini pàtó iṣẹ́ àwọn Ọba Aládé ńlẹ̀ Yooba gan, yàtọ̀ sí kí wọn mọ́ọ fi ọparun wé igbó àbí máa ṣebii Wuligaansi káàkiri ìlú bí Ọba Iwo àbí máa sọ ìtàn òfò àbí yọ fòkìfòkì kii bí Ọba Ifẹ̀ àbí máa turalaisi kí wọn sì bóo tòrótòró àbí lé àwọn ìyáwo jọ sórí igbá bíi atarodo, ṣọ̀ọ̀mbọ̀, alubọsa, atawẹ́wẹ́ àti tomati bí Ikú Popzy-momzy? Ẹ dakun kini bẹ́nẹ́fíìtì wọn gan-an na?

I purposely held back that day because I wasn’t prepared and my response would have turned inadequate on one hand and needlessly revisionist on the other part. Beautiful that I waited. And thankfully not too long after that day, another Ọba from another region made the perfect case for me.

I simply played a trending video of the Ọba Of Benin, the Uku Akpọlọpọlọ – where he publicly chastised a prominent Edo politician on the uselessness of thuggery and violence as a political necessity for him. To say I am envious of the Edo people’s awesome, traditional respect for their King would be an understatement.

We used to revere ours too not long ago, but political-Ijẹkujẹ wouldn’t let them understand that respect is a two-way street. And if they fail to respect themselves, how would they expect us to respect them? It is a simple phenomenon of ‘see-finish’ or as Edo folks themselves refer to it as – Ofinẹho!