Topic: Historical Nigerian True-Life Story of a Man Who Lost His Five Sons in One Day (Read 64 times)

I agree with you Fivestar4everMVP my friend,  the thing be like that provarb were them dey talk say,  dog were himm time done reach to lost,  no the follow the owner or hear the owner whistle again,  na the same thing happen to that KURUMI of a guy,  I don't blame him for his decisions and off course the reactions and the result of that actions may have brought his end as the kings and changed a lot of things for his defendants.

But then lesson must be learn and we have to move on at some point,  thanks any ways for this interesting piece and looking forward to reading the next big story from you bless up bro!

You are very correct my brother, but with all honestly, i personally no go talk am point black say na Kurunmi fuck up, because las las, one thing go still surely kill a man, and another thing be say, devil no dey give person something comot eye like God dey do, when devil give person something, him go still colobi eye for the thing dey find way wey him go take collect that thing back in another way.

So wetin i mean with wetin i talk?, i mean say, person wey him time don reach to go, him time don reach be that, and no matter how careful wey that person be, death must surely find way come jam the person, the sad thing for this one matter na say, e take him five sons follow body, and this one na the man pride na him cos am.

But come to think of it, had it been such tradition wey Kurunmi dey defend and fight for still dey exist till now, you think say e go make sense?

This na interesting story, i really enjoy am but my say na,  kurunmi fuck up, why em no follow the advise of their gods at that time since em rely on them for directive to no go into war, so every thing wey em stand for na just waste.

So many lessons dey for this story especially the one wey be say no matter how strong wey u be no try to fight full crowd .

   The story of Kurunmi is one that draws tears from the eyes of people who feel pity for a man who stood firm for tradition.

There was a time in the history of Yoruba where the heir to the throne is killed whenever the king dies. This tradition came about because it was discovered that a lot of princes killed their fathers so they could ascend the throne and become king instead.
It was believed that if the heirs were killed alongside their fathers, kings would live longer on the throne.

During this period, Alaafin Atiba was the paramount ruler of the Oyo empire, and he appointed Kurunmi, the son of Esiele as the Aare-ona-Kakanfo ( the generalissimo of the whole Yoruba warriors).

As it was with tradition, a king and an Aare-ona-Kakanfo cannot stay in the same town because they wield similar powers, so Kurunmi was assigned to Ijaiye, where he was given the power to lord over.

One day, Alaafin Atiba summoned the kings and lords of the neighboring towns and told them he wished to change tradition. Present at the meeting were kings like the Timi of Ede, Balogun Ibikunle of Ibadan, and Kurunmi himself.
When they were seated, Atiba came down from his throne and held the sword of Ogun (the Yoruba god of iron) in his right hand, and the bolt of Sango (the Yoruba god of lightning and thunder) in his left. He charged the royalties present to swear by the sword and bolt that after his death, his son Aremo Adelu will be made king after his demise instead of him being killed according to the tradition.

Kurunmi disagreed immediately, and he reminded Alaafin Atiba that according to tradition, the moment Atiba does, his son Adelu must follow suit. Other royalties tried to persuade Kurunmi, but he was adamant. When he couldn't convince them, he walked out in anger and headed for Ijaiye.

The other kings and chiefs went home to their people to inform them of the latest developments. When Balogun Ibikunle of Ibadan told his chiefs the news, one of the chiefs Basorun Ogunmola took the matter up and suggested they wage war against Kurunmi.

Kurunmi had once captured Ogunmola who had a secret affair with his wife. He captured him, tied him to a stick like a goat and fed him ashes as food. As a form of revenge, Ogunmola proposed war against Kurunmi.

Alaafin Atiba sent emissaries to Kurunmi to change his mind, but he remained adamant, and when Alaafin Atiba saw that he would not change his mind, he sent two calabash bowls to Kurunmi. One of the calabashes contained an effigy of a pair of twins (Yoruba symbol of peace), while the other calabash contained gunpowder (Yoruba symbol of war).
Kurunmi immediately chose war and sent the emissaries back to Atiba. Immediately, Kurunmi summoned his chief warrior Balogun Ogunkoroju and told him to prepare for war.

As part of the preparations for war, Kurunmi consulted the oracle, and the oracle warned him not to go to war with Ibadan because he would lose the war. Kurunmi was not going to have any of it, and he pestered the oracle to tell him what to do to win the war.
The oracle then told Kurunmi that in order for him not to lose the war, he must not cross the River Ose, which was the boundary between Ijaiye and Ibadan. Kurunmi agreed, and went ahead to plan for the war against Ibadan.

While Kurunmi was making preparations, the Ibadan warriors, led by Ogunmola went to meet the people of Ęgba who were said to possess very powerful charms.
The Ęgba people then prepared a potent charm called Eedi (a charm that causes someone or a group of people to ignore warnings or dare something that will harm them). The Eedi was set out to the River Ose so that the Ijaiye warriors will be tempted to cross the river.

When the war came, Kurunmi sent his five sons to war to fight the Ibadan people. During the face-off, Ijaiye warriors soundly defeated the Ibadan warriors, and the remaining Ibadan warriors fled back, crossing the River Ose.
Unfortunately for Kurunmi, his warriors fell to the potency of the Eedi, and they crossed the River Ose, believing that they had momentum, and that they could chase the Ibadan soldiers far away.
Immediately they crossed the river, their charms failed them, and they were killed in thousands by the warriors of Ibadan who had set a trap for them. Kurunmi suffered heavy losses, and lost all his five sons in the war.

Basorun Ogunmola mocked him and sent a message to him that he was coming for his head. On hearing the news of the death of his daughter and his men, Kurunmi became very devastated and suicidal, but while he grieved, he held on to his belief that tradition remains tradition, and that he does not regret standing firm in the face of corruption.

Kurunmi committed suicide by taking poison, and he was thrown into the river Ose according to his wishes so that Basorun Ogunmola won't have the luxury of cutting his head and hanging it in shame.


#COPIED, more interesting Nigerian true-life stories coming.