OGBONI AKALA (The Myths, The Facts & The Legends) An Interview with Chief Suara Alani Bankole

OGBONI !!! From the suffix OGBO, which means AGED, it's is a community of elders who were trusted with piloting the affairs of YORUBA societies Long before the advent of colonialists, the ancient traditions of the Yoruba people had an effective system of governance, deeply rooted in their cultures, spirituality and livelihoods, it encompasses judicial system, conflict resolution system, spirituality, different kinds of rites (marriage, burials , naming ceremony and so on) , king selection, chieftaincy distributions, education, farming , public health and so on... AKALA in Egba is also called OSUGBO in ijebu , IWAREFAS in OWU, OYO MESI in OYO.... Each YORUBA enclave had a name for them , they comprise of men of outstanding reputations from noble houses in the land, warriors, farmers, traders etc... MALE AND FEMALES are well represented in the society.

However there has been lesser functions designated to them since the amalgamation of Nigeria and advent of foreign religions, this has given rise to misconceptions about their true purposes in the ancient and current society, this gave rise to our decisions to seek out the members of the AKALA societies to help shed more lights to the raging arguments about the true identity of the OGBONI AKALA, Hopefully the Yorubas home and diaspora can come together to respect and revive that which genuinely belongs to them!

Àròó Eyin Baba , ati eyin Yeye oo!!

E je ki a roo pe l'ásè!