Discussion on Yoruba history, especially as it concerns Afonja, a onetime Aare Ona Kakanfo of the Oyo Empire, will be at the front burner at MUSON Center, Lagos this Sunday as historians and top culture enthusiasts, including a leading Yoruba Storyteller and Cinematographer, Tunde Kelani, take a look at Yoruba history and life and times of Afonja and Alaafin of Oyo, Aole Arogangan.
The roundtable talk is being organised to launch a book: “Afonja: The Rise,” written by Tunde Leye, a former Banker and former staff of Interswitch, whose passion for writing, has produced four good books.
The Literary community in Nigeria will be well represented at the launch.
The book will be reviewed by one of the eminent voices in the Arts in Nigeria, Molara Wood, the erstwhile Arts and Culture Editor of Next newspaper.
Elizabeth Ajayi, a former Chief Lecturer of History at Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, who fact checked the book, will be on the panel of discussion.
The penal will also have Kelani, of Mainframe Productions, one of the custodians of Yoruba culture.
Popular musician, Aduke, will be on ground to spice up the the eventful evening, which will also feature live performance of “Spoken Words” by RezThapoet.
According to the author of the book, the discussion is being organised to further give hindsight into the history of the Yoruba before the colonial masters came to give the people alternative government.
On what informed his reason to write the book, Leye said he was compelled to research and put the story together because of the poor knowledge people of his generation have about Yoruba history.
He said: “I’ve always loved history generally not just the Yoruba version.
“Before my sojourn into this, I took it for granted that everybody knows our history.
“I have a couple of friends and we discussed history but most of what we discussed was Western history.
“Of course, they were very knowledgeable at it.
“One day, I just mentioned Kiriji War and they looked at me like: what is Kiriji War?
“Meanwhile, these are guys that if you ask them about the battle of Waterloo, they will tell you the type of Calvary and artillery used.
“I became confused that how could they be knowledgeable in other people’s history and as Yoruba guys, they didn’t know about Kiriji War.”
The author, who expressed his regret over the way young men and women today in Yoruba nation engage history as if it started when the white men came, said with the Sunday roundtable talk, stakeholders will appreciate the need to protect the African culture and history.
Leye said: “When you mention our history, they tell you about the Amalgamation and those things, but are unable to tell what happened before the white men came.
“I realised that I wanted to write about Kiriji War, but when I started researching, it became very clear to me that I can’t start the story from Kiriji War because something led to the Kiriji War.
“During the research, it became clear that the magical point to start the story was from the decline of the Oyo Empire.
“And everybody says that the person responsible for the decline of the Empire is Afonja.
“So this story is my take on who Afonja is and his role in the decline of the Oyo Empire.”
While calling on Yoruba leaders to attend the roundtable talk, Leye recommended the book, which is written as a novel, for scholars, students and Yoruba elites who are passionate about their culture.