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| A Dream Deferred - Langston Hughes | | | What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Langston Hughes |
| In memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | | |
| Though An Oba, I Have Only One Wife - Elekolehough An Oba, I Have Only One Wife - Elekole
Elekole
The Elekole of Ikole-Ekiti, Ekiti State, His Royal Majesty, Oba Adetula Adeleye, will be celebrating his 50th coronation anniversary on January 15, 2008. In this interview with Dapo Falade, Adeleye spoke on his ascension to the throne, the challenges of the institution, the role of traditional rulers in the modern society viz-a-viz the traditional norms and cultural values, as well as his expectations from the government for his people. Excerpts:
How has it been as a king in the last 50 years?
Well, one has to be extremely grateful to the Almighty God for His mercies and for preserving our lives up till now. The journey has not been too bad, has not been rough and not been too smooth. It is a mixture of both. But on the average, it has been enjoyable; it has been good; it has been full of praises to God and full of admiration for my people who have been cooperating with me very actively since all these days and years.
There must have been challenges in the 50 years. Can you recollect some of them?
I am a trained teacher and psychologist. One of the things we were taught while in college was to be happy all the time. Whatever might be the situation, all we want is to remain focused on the good side. I was very young when I ascended the throne. In actual fact, I was a student in the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, from where I was called home.
I would not say that I contested the throne because I was too young to contest. Even though 50 years ago was a dark period, then, people did not know how to do things free because they felt that nothing goes for nothing. But in my case, something came for nothing, because nobody asked or claimed money from me and I was brought into the situation.
Fortunately, there were some old chiefs who were here then, both within the town and the palace; and these were the people who put me through in the various activities that I had to perform – how to do things, how to speak, the way to dress and every other thing. So, practically, I would say that I did not find things difficult and, as I said earlier, I am grateful to God for His mercies and for giving me the wherewithal to be able to pass through the years.
Ekiti people are known for their individualism. They like to be seen and be heard. Given the divergence of views and opinions on issues in the society, how were you able to maintain the peace in your kingdom, coordinating the various sectors of the community?
I can say that we are very articulate; everybody speaking their mind; everybody airing their views. And with what people say, with the views they express, you will be able to sift the shaft from the grain to be able to know which to hold. By my practice, I don’t generally like being too forward when any situation arises; but I would watch what others are doing. And after a careful study of the situation, then I would combine all the various views that have been expressed and I would be able to come up with what I think will be acceptable and advantageous to the people.
From what you said, 50 years ago when you ascended the throne, the society was in the dark. Now modernity is gradually eroding cultural values. Can you say that you have been able to blend modernity with traditional cultures and norms?
I would say yes, because if at the very initial stage I said all these cultural and strange things were too old, so I would do away with them, I would become very unpopular.
Our people believe that by April or May when rain does not fall, it means that some gods must be appeased. If you say that it isn’t so but that the season is not yet ripe for rainfall, people will say that this boy has come to expose us to hunger. So, even though you don’t believe in it, you still let them do it – if only to satisfy them.
Forty to 45 years ago, whenever people felt that there should be rainfall, we would call the trado-medical people to do everything to make the rain fall. But today, when we feel that there should be rain and there is no rain, all we do is kneel down and pray to God, who Himself knows the right time for rain to fall that would be beneficial to the people.
So, I would say that it has been a blending of the old and the new. But the blending is systematic, so that there will be no eruption; so that there will be no unnecessary misunderstanding of one’s good intentions. And the way one puts it across could be so simple that there would be no antagonistic expression from the people.
The traditional institution for several years has been associated with perceived fetish practices. Is it possible for a Christian or Muslim now to become an oba without being fetish?
Yes. I think so. I seriously think so. I would say that for some years now, I cannot remember myself engaging in any fetish activities. But as you can deduce from my speech, I don’t tell people: ‘Don’t worship this or that,’ but I don’t participate in the worship. There are some title holders whose main duty is to worship this god, that goddess or the other. I will not tell them not to do it, but I will not join them in doing it.
If they say that these are the things they need, I will tell them to go ahead with it, but I would not participate in it.
But in the process of being anointed for the throne, you would have performed some rites. Don’t you think that they are fetish?
I can say that some of them are not necessarily fetish but inevitable. For instance, before a young man is made an oba, he has to go to his chiefs, kneel down before them; they perform certain rites on him, pray and all that. But it is not himself doing it but it is the people who are doing it. That does not make him to be fetish. They may say that is what they do, so that there might be prosperity for the town (which is their belief). You want prosperity for the town and you believe that the way to prosperity is hard work and love for one another and exhibiting things that will bring happiness to the people. But then, their belief is different. Give them the opportunity to exercise their belief and, of course, you will pursue your own belief, which you know is the right way.
Do you have any cause to regret being an oba?
I would not say yes, because I have always felt very happy, reasonably contented, and I always see the hand of God for good in everything I do.
Are you a polygamist?
I was married for less than one year by the time I got to the throne. An oba should be a polygamist but I am a monogamist. I was more or less under pressure from my people to take some more wives; but personally, as a Christian and as somebody who had been taught to engage in moderation, I don’t see the necessity for amassing wives.
One thing anyway is that a few years ago, I lost my legal wife and, like people usually say, I know that a king cannot be without a wife. So, I had another wife: but one wife at a time. I am a husband of one wife.
If you were not an oba and apart from being a teacher, what would have been your aspiration for self-development and self-attainment?
I have a friend who retired as a judge. He even attained the highest peak on the bench, Justice Olajide Olatawura. We were classmates at school. We started from St. Paul School, Ikole here up to Standard Four. But because the highest standard obtainable then was Standard Four, we separated. Because it was my mother who was training me then, it was not possible for me to go to Christ School at Ado-Ekiti, though I passed the Common Entrance Examination.
So, I went to Oke-Igbira Methodist School, Ayedun-Ekiti where I read Standards Five and Six and so became a pulpit teacher. After teaching for three years, then I went to Wesley College. But my friend went to Christ School and read up to School Certificate standard easily. It was when I was in my first year at Wesley College that he was in his final year at Christ School and after leaving school, he went to work at Ibadan and I was more or less spending my holidays with him. Fortunately, he got employed at the High Court and he developed interest in law and so, he eventually became a lawyer.
Now, after I came out of college, I was a teacher at Sagamu in present day Ogun State and I was interested in watching the proceedings in the magistrate court on Saturdays. In those days, working days were Mondays to Saturdays. There was this magistrate then who decided the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s case, Justice Sowemimo.
This man, in fairness to him was a very brilliant judge. Whenever any lawyer comes before him to quote any portion of the law, let that lawyer start and before he gets midway, this man would take over from him and recite everything to the very end. Then, I became highly interested, seeing people like the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo coming to court to argue cases. There was Chief T.O.S. Benson and there was one Mr. M.A. Adesanya, a native of Sagamu, who was another very good lawyer.
When my friend, Justice Olatawura, told me that he was going to read law overseas, I said nothing stops us from both reading law. But in my own case, my journey would be farther than his because he has a well to do father and very popular who could afford to send him overseas. So, it was in 1957 that he went overseas and it was then that the struggle for the throne was still on and I was at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and technology. My intention was to go with my teaching job, come out of the college, come out with a certificate that would earn me a reasonable salary, which I can save over the years and be able to go overseas to pursue a degree in law. But that was my thinking, while God’s plan was quite different. So, if I had not been here, I probably would have been a lawyer. But being my first love, I have children who are into the legal profession. My first son is a lawyer and he is a director in the state Ministry of Justice.
You are a custodian of traditional cultural values. Looking back, can you say that these values have not been debased and that we still have some affinity to them?
Losing affinity no. We don’t lose the affinity because the day we lose that affinity we are no longer Yoruba. Why we are Yoruba is because we have our own peculiar, interesting and amorous way of dealing with one another, which is quite different from that of the other tribes. Well, I would not go into the details of the other people. But we know that as Yoruba, we have our own peculiar ways of doing things.
I know, for instance, that if there is any big occasion where people of various tribes will congregate, if you look round and see either men or women who dress very well and most beautifully and you ask who they are, you will be told that they are Yoruba. And let us look at the houses we were building in the days of old, come to Yoruba towns and you will see that our own were the very best. And even in the food that we eat, if you really want to enjoy good food, good soup and varieties of food, then you come to Yorubaland.
That is why we are very distinct from other races or people. But if we now say that because of civilisation, we shun these things and we are far away from them, then we have lost our identity and we are no more, which God forbids.
There is the claim by some of your colleagues that the role of the traditional rulers had been eroded in modern day governance. To what can you ascribe this development?
When you talk broadly that the roles of the traditional rulers have been eroded, people were looking at those days when traditional rulers were judges, when they were the representatives of God on earth, when they were responsible for almost everything. But these are the days when the duty of judges is to decide cases.
The duty of our chiefs is to carry out the wishes of the people. Whenever a decision is taken within the town, the lesser chiefs will go to their different clans or quarters and inform their people that this is what we are asked to do. Or whenever the oba and his chiefs sit down and they feel that there is a sort of development in the town, they plan on how they can bring about this and systematically carry on the developmental project.
So, those are mainly the duties of the traditional rulers now. A traditional ruler who is good and acceptable to his people is still looked upon by his people for direction, for guidance and for leadership, and as long as this leadership attitude remains, what do you want to complain about? If the traditional ruler in a town feels that the town lacks certain amenities, which can be provided by the people, he can call them and tell that “we are due for these things, government can’t do them now, let us do it.”
If they agree with him, they will do it. Now, to think that we can be in partisan politics, ruling and be doing things as they used to some 100 years ago, that is not possible. There is a saying that time is changing and we people in it must also change with time.
A traditional ruler, who knows that things don’t remain static, that things go on improving and developing and that when there is development, there is the likelihood of leaving some things off in order that you may gain some others, then you keep life going. So, I don’t see the erosion of the role of the traditional rulers in the modern society.
Some of our traditional rulers are now abdicating their traditional role of being a father for all by joining partisan politics. How do you see this ugly trend affecting the traditional institution?
Let us face it, the development affects the institution very, very badly because the moment someone is made the traditional ruler of a town, no matter what is his age, he becomes the father, the leader and the everything that you look up to for everybody. So, he must see all of them as one. Everybody must see him as being acceptable to them and everybody must be acceptable to him.
Therefore, if such a traditional ruler sees himself in that way, he will not say that it is Party A that he likes better than Party B or it is Party X that is better than Party Y. An oba does not lean to the left, he does not lean to the right. Then, the people will feel glad to come to such a traditional ruler anytime there is differences between them, knowing that he will not take side, but will decide the issue exactly as it should be.
During your days in school, right from primary school up to the college, can you recollect the names of some of your classmates and close associates?
Some of my classmates in the primary school here, at St. Paul Primary School as I told you earlier included Justice Olatawura, the late lawyer, Ayo Oguntuase, Chief Olawumi Falodun of Odo-Oro and there is Chief Durojaye of Otunja who is still living. Among those who were with me at the Wesley College, unfortunately some of them have died, there was Chief Adegoke Famoroti. We entered college the same day and passed out the same year. He was the principal of a college before he died and, of course, he was very good.
There was one Mr. Ebenezer Adeyinka from Ido-Ekiti. He was a school inspector before he died. There was Mr. D.O. Adelusi from Ilupeju-Ekiti. He was a very good friend of mine, a good organist and a good singer. He died just a few months ago. Those are the few I can remember from the Wesley College almost immediately. But if I am to mention those with whom we were together at the college but from other places, I can easily mention Sir Okunola Lasekan, a native of Owo and he is still a living member of the Methodist Church.
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| Kwanzaa Stories: Benjamin "Pap" Singleton-The Black ExodustersIt is important, most important for us to teach our children the stories of our heroes. Some of these heroes are in our own families and the stories should be handed down. Kwanzaa is a good time for that. There should be at least 7 stories told each night of the celebration to give our children good strong roots and a sense of who they are. Kwanzaa will also have a lot more meaning for them if they can research the hero for a particular day of Kwanzaa and tell that story, or even act it out.
Try it and see what works for you and your family.
Here is a personal favorite:
Benjamin "Pap" Singleton
(1809-1892)
A leader in the "Great Exodus" that brought thousands of African Americans west from the post-Reconstruction South, Benjamin Singleton became toward the end of his life a pioneer of black nationalism who launched one of the first back-to-Africa movements in the United States.
Singleton was born in 1809 in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was several times sold as a slave but always managed to escape. Eventually, he fled to Canada, then settled in Detroit, Michigan, where he ran a boardinghouse that frequently sheltered runaway slaves.
Returning to Tennessee after the Civil War, Singleton became convinced that it was his mission to help his people improve their lives. He began in the late 1860's by organizing an effort to buy up Tennessee farmland for blacks, but this plan failed when white landowners refused to sell at fair prices.
Undaunted, Singleton set his sights on Kansas, where he and a partner named Columbus Johnson staked out a black settlement in Cherokee County (which failed) and a second settlement in Morris County. Singleton spread the word about his settlements through posters that circulated widely across the South, and he formed a company with Johnson that helped hundreds of black Tennesseans move to Kansas between 1877 and 1879.
Those who answered Singleton's call to head west became known as "Exodusters," and Singleton himself was described as the "Father of the Exodus." But the massive migration of African Americans from the South that reached a peak in 1879 was not inspired by Singleton alone. The driving force was the withdrawl of federal troops from the South in 1877, which marked the official end of Reconstruction and the return of racial oppression through segregation laws and the terrorist activities of groups like the Ku Klux Klan. By 1879, which became known as the year of the "Great Exodus," some 50,000 blacks had fled to freedom in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois, while thousands more had been turned back by whites patrolling the rivers and roads.
In 1880, Singleton was called to testify at Congressional hearings on the alarming migration of blacks from the South. By 1881, however, Singleton had begun a new phase in his campaign to aid his people, organizing a party called the United Colored Links in a black section of Topeka, Kansas, called "Tennessee Town" because so many natives of that state lived there. Affiliated with the Greenbacks, a white workers' party that called for fundmental social change in the United States, Singleton's Links party was intended to help African Americans acquire their own factories and start their own industries. Unfortunately, Singleton soon discovered that there was not enough capital within the black community to achieve this goal.
Shifting his sights again, in 1883 Singleton founded an organization called the Chief League, which encouraged blacks to emigrate to the island of Cyprus. Few responded to his call, so in 1885 he formed the Trans-Atlantic Society to help black people move back to their ancestral homeland in Africa. By 1887, this group, too, had proven unsuccessful. Suffering poor health, Singleton was forced at last to retire from his self-appointed mission, and in 1892 he died in St. Louis. But his vision of a society in which African Americans owned the land, directed the industries and held the power would live on, finding a charismatic champion in Marcus Garvey, whose Universal Negro Improvement Association of the early 1920's briefly realized many of Singleton's dreams.
For more information: Nell Irvin Painter, Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas Following Reconstruction (University of Kansas Press, 1986).
"Image and Reality on the Kansas Prairie: 'Pap' Singleton's Cherokee County Colony," Kansas History (Summer 1996).
The Program | P
BENJAMIN "PAP" SINGLETON (1809- ? )
Benjamin "Pap" Singleton called himself the "father of the Black Exodus," a movement that began during the late 1860s and continued into the 1880s, when thousands of freedmen resettled in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Indiana, and other areas. Singleton led nearly 8,000 blacks to Kansas via steamboat, train, and wagon.
Singleton was a former Davidson County slave, born around 1809, and raised and trained as a cabinet maker. After being sold and sent to New Orleans, he escaped back to Nashville and then to Detroit and Canada. During the Civil War years, Singleton left Detroit and returned to Nashville, which was under Union army occupation. He made a living building cabinets and coffins, while he lived in a large Union camp for fugitive slaves along the riverbank in Edgefield (East Nashville, near the Jefferson Street bridge). When peddling his wares, "Pap" Singleton, as his fellow freedmen called him, preached to idle, destitute former-slaves about going west to farm and own federal homestead lands.
In September of 1869, black Nashvillians held a large meeting about migrating from the South Elias Polk, Robert Knowles, Randall Brown, Henry Carter, and Daniel Wadkins argued the pros and cons of leaving the South. Many of Nashville's freedmen were frustrated because of crowded and impoverished conditions, recent outbreaks of racial violence by whites, and the 1869 electoral defeat of their city Republican ticket by white Conservatives (Democrats). When the mass meeting failed to gain a vote for the exodus, Singleton and a Summer County black preacher, Columbus M. Johnson, organized a homestead association. Johnson was concerned about addressing the large federal contraband camps, which housed impoverished freedmen in Gallatin and Hendersonville. In 1872, the association sent a committee to investigate Kansas for settlement. A year later, Johnson, Singleton, and 300 persons boarded steamboats on the Cumberland River to settle in Cherokee County, Wyandotte, and Topeka, Kansas. For years, the north end of Topeka was called "Tennessee Town."
In April of 1875, Singleton, William A. Sizemore, and Benjamin Petway called for a state convention to discuss black migration to the West. The convention met in Liberty Hall (44 Cedar Street, now Charlotte), which was built in 1872 by and for Nashville's first black bank, the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. The convention formed the Tennessee Emigration Society, sent delegates to Kansas, and resolved: "To the white people of Tennessee, and them alone, are due the ills borne by the colored people of this State." The Memphis Bulletin newspaper reported that the "chiefest ground of discontent is inadequate labor prices and delays in paying the same. A repair of this evil would tend greatly towards checking the flow of [black] immigration out of the State, already begun." Then the Nashville Colored People's Cooperative Emigration Club was formed "to improve the moral, intellectual, social, and material interests of the colored people." The leaders hoped to relieve crowding in Tennessee's urban black neighborhoods, resettle the black poor, and build a politically powerful society in the Far West.
Singleton, Sizemore, and their followers formed the Edgefield Real Estate Association, located at No. 5 Front Street. They held rallies in Brentwood and other black communities, raised funds by charging five cents for parties, and published newspapers to publicize the colored migration. Singleton criticized Frederick Douglass and other Republicans for opposing the freedmen's exodus from the South, saying, "Such men as this should not be leaders of our race any longer." But Douglass simply argued that the Negroes should remain in the South and fight the racist attempts to reenslave them. In Nashville, Singleton plastered lettered posters announcing: "Leave for Kansas on April 15, 1878." He established a colony at Dunlap, Morris County, Kansas, in June of 1879. At least 2,407 local blacks joined the exodus.
The Nashville Union and American called the Black Exodus "a foolish project," and white employers supported a campaign to attract Chinese laborers to replace the black workers. By 1882, the Black Exodus had stopped. The waters of the Cumberland River washed out all traces of the black emigrants who boarded so many steamboats near Edgefield. Benjamin "Pap" Singleton died out West during the late l880s and was buried in an unidentified grave.
Bobby L. Lovett
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