AARE ONAKAKANFO: WHO IS THE 15TH FELLOW? BY ALBERT OLADAPO OGUNWUSI

MKO Abiola

In ancient times, it was a position that symbolized the might of Oyo Empire. The Aare Onakakanfo was the generalissimo of the Yoruba army. He either conquered or died. The kakanfo must never be defeated. To everybody’s shock, the mystique and tragedy have refused to depart from that office even in modern times.
Kakanfo Akintola was the first Aare of the modern era. On the night of January 15, 1966, a company of soldiers marched on the residence of the Premier, Western Region. Akintola omo Loogun, Ajalaagbe omo kulodo, yagboyaaju omo kara, took up arms against Nigeria’s first coupists.

Samuel Ladoke a akintola

Reports have it that he wiped out the entire contingent before reinforcements arrived. One man, officially a civilian, nearly overpowered a company of professional soldiers armed with offensive weapons! Hollywood must be green with envy. 
He fought till daylight, before he was mortally wounded. Eyewitness accounts have it that several hours later, with his body riddled with bullets, lying on the bare floor in the old Adeoyo Hospital in Ibadan, he was still breathing and remained so until he gave up the ghost at sunset. One of his predecessors, Kakanfo Afonja, also battled Fulani warriors in Ilorin in 1834. Even as the arrows rained on him, Afonja did not fall. He died on his feet, held up by the hundreds of arrows trained on him. That day, the Yoruba lost Ilorin to the Fulani hegemony. The Kakanfos were consummate tragic figures.
I must turn at this stage to the more capable hands of Samuel Johnson, the foremost authority on Yoruba history who describes the Kakanfo as fearless and courageous; irascible and prone to warfare. To buttress his position, Johnson submitted a most effective piece of evidence, Kakanfo Ojo Aburumaku had no war to fight. He fomented a civil war in his native Ogbomoso which he then had a good sport of putting down with severity. Afterall, he was Aare Onakakanfo, the Supreme head of the Esos, the 70 military commanders who make the Yoruba warrior caste.
Eso Ikoyi won kii gbofa leyin,
iwaju ni won fii gbota. 
Agba Ikoyi to gbojo iku toree gbalu.
Ikoyi Eso, arogun yo.
Kakanfo Kurumi was even more spectacular. He insisted that the Aremo must die with the Alaafin according to tradition. The truth was that he had been part of an earlier conference in which that convention was abolished. To enforce his desire, he made war on the rest of Oyo kingdom from his garrison city in Ijaye. His reputation as a warrior was legendary. He is portrayed in art as a no-nonsense nimble wit with a commanding presence. Aare Kurumi npe o, o londifa. Bifa ba fore ti Aare o ba fore nko? There was no excuse for refusing a call from the generalissimo. In a surgical commando strike, Ibadan special forces attacked at night his troops in Iseyin and wiped out the entire rear brigade. All of Kurumi’s five children who were company commanders died in that attack. Like his name, Aare Kurumi was ruined by death, indeed. I-k –u-r-u-m-i.
It must be acknowledged though that a few of the kakanfos had glorious tenures. Oyabi was based in the garrison town of Jabata. He kept off the internal strife of the kingdom with the wily Osorun Gaa killing the Alaafins in quick succession until the reign of Adegoolu who linked up with the military to destroy the prime minister. The Eso were lead into the city like Caesar did across the Rubicon River and Basorun Gaa was killed. Nontheless, Oyabi died rather young. In Ibadan, the new city full of promise where Kakanfo Obadoke Latoosa had taken up residence, the scourge of the notorious slave dealer, Efunsetan Aniwura, was ended by the Aare Ona kakanfo. However, even he Latoosa was victim of the mystique of the office of supreme commander. Latoosa was confronted by a palace coup and in very dramatic circumstances, he committed suicide. He had a notorious slave according to history, who grew increasingly disrespectful of the generals. Latoosa did not curb this behaviour until the deputy commander, Balogun Ibikunle was insulted by the slave. Ibikunle could not believe his eyes when Latoosa asked the slave to state his side of the case like two equals squabbling. Ibikunle simply beheaded the idiot there and then.
Latoosa then asked Ibikunle if he was ready to take the sceptre of office, to which Ibikunle answered in the affirmative. There was no negative response from the other commanders present. Latoosa had overrated his own popularity. Depicted as an overbearing and brutally magnificent warrior who went about like a masquerade, he was stunned by the turn of events and swallowed poison. He simply laid down and covered himself like one in sleep. It was the dramatic end of yet another kakanfo.
MKO Abiola started life as an accountant, then became Mr. Big-Business, philanthropist extraordinaire and ladies’ man. He took up the office of Aare Onakakanfo and from that day onward had a date to keep with destiny. Spectacular fame and tragedy also befell him. He was at the end of the day, just another Aare Onakakanfo. Another foil for the greedy god of strife.
I turn to Samuel Johnson again for a full list of the Kakanfos: Kokoro gangan, Oyatope, Oyabi, Adeta Oku, Afonja laya loko, Toyeje, Edun, Amepo, Kurumi, Ojo Aburumaku, Obadoke Latoosa [and of course SLA Akintola and MKO Abiola]. There have only been 14 Kakanfos.
Unarguably, the greatest traditional military office in Yorubaland, its irrevocable demand is glory or death. The question since Abiola died has been if the title made all the difference; or was it all factored in his destiny? The Yoruba insist, Ori la ba bo ka forisa sile, igba t ori ngbeni, kilorisa nwo? And even more importantly, who is the next Aare OnaKa
Who is the 15th fellow?