African Epics

There are many Yoruba names whose meanings are now lost due to the facts that the words forming the roots of those words are no longer in use. For instance ask the young Master Olopade the meaning of his name and he will probably tell you that his name means " policeman has come". Ask Mr Olopade, his father, and he would probably tell you it means "the owner of the staff has come". The two of them would be wrong as Olopade actually means " the Opa devotee has come". The same goes for all other Opa names like Opatola, Opadotun etc. Those names show that the ancestors of the bearers of the names were worshippers or devotees of the Opa Cult otherwise called Awo Opa, one of the religion cults or secret societies proscribed by the British in colonial days. Or imagine another scenario: Pastor Obafemi, the pastor of a Pentecostal church, is asking Deacon Ogunyemi to change his name because he believes that the name of the deacon is associated with Ogun, an idol,...

Where were you in 1987? That was the year Oba Yesufu Oloyede Asanike, Olubadan of Ibadan made history. Olubadan installed Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola as the Bashorun of Ibadan. It was a prestigious title befitting of a distinguished personality in the mould of MKO Abiola. That was the title of  the legendary Bashorun Oluyole who was the paramount chief of Ibadan in 1850. It was also the title of Bashorun Ogunmola who reigned between 1865 and 1867. It was therefore historic that exactly 120 years after the death of Ogunmola, MKO Abiola became the fourth person to be conferred with the prestigious title. It was indeed a befitting honour for someone who had amassed chieftaincy titles from almost every town in Nigeria. As of the time of his installation in 1987, MKO Abiola was reputed to have over 150 chieftaincy titles. He was the Bobajiro of Ode-Remo. He was the Bada Musulumi of Gbagura Egba. As he drove out of the palace of Oba Asanike that fateful day with his son by h...

#Copied# Gani Fawehinmi was  the best legal mind of his time in Africa but he was not even the best in the University days,  truthfully, he had ordinary pass in his Law degree, not even a third class degree. He could be classified as "let my people go" in those days. After Gani left the University and passed his Law  school , there was nothing ordinary again in his life, he was the best in everything he  touched. He wrote lots of legal books and journals  in Nigeria.  He visited Courts more than those who made First class in the same school with him or those who became SAN before him. Gani's presence in any court was a big news to the Press and the nation, he was delightful and reassuring  to watch, he spoke the language of his profession like an angel and every judge knew him as a man of integrity. Gani was the most honorable lawyer Nigeria ever produced  To most Nigerians particularly the poor and middle class, he was their hope, and ep...