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In Yoruba traditional governance, titles are not casual labels; they are repositories of history, authority, and sacred responsibility. Within the Oyo royal heritage, few stools have been as persistently misunderstood as that of the Ona-Aka. According to authentic Oyo tradition, the Ona-Aka of Oyo is not merely a local functionary or peripheral chief. Rather, the Ona-Aka is a principal royal figure whose stool is deeply rooted in, and inseparable from, the institution of the Alaafin of Oyo. To understand this is to appreciate the sophistication of the Oyo political system and the care with which it balanced lineage, power, and spirituality.
The Oyo Empire was governed by a clearly defined constitutional order in which every office had meaning and limits. Kingship was sacred, but it was also structured. Titles emerged from lineage, ritual necessity, and historical experience, not from administrative convenience. It is within this carefully calibrated system that the Ona-Aka must be situated.
Historically, the Ona-Aka is known as Bàbá Àgbà Ajaka, a direct biological son of Alaafin Oluaso, the seventh Alaafin of Oyo and the longest-reigning monarch in Oyo history. It is popular among historians that Alaafin Oluaso had over a hundred children, with 27 taking principal roles in the administration of the empire. This ancestry establishes the Ona-Aka as royalty in the strictest sense.
Alongside Ona-Ishokun and Ona-Omo-Nla, the Ona-Aka constitutes one of the three major principal royal lineages of Oyo-Alaafin. These three lineages together form the Bàbá-Ọba, translated as the Fathers of the King. This institution is one of the most distinctive features of the Oyo traditional system.
In Oyo tradition, a reigning Alaafin must not have a living biological father. The rationale is both political and spiritual: the king must stand alone as the supreme authority and symbolic embodiment of the state. Alaafin is seen, not as a king but as a god! To resolve this, Oyo created the Bàbá-Ọba, official fathers who provide moral guidance, ritual legitimacy, and ancestral continuity to the Alaafin. The Ona-Aka, as one of these fathers, occupies a role that is constitutional.
Beyond the Bàbá-Ọba, the Oyo royal system also recognises the Ọmọ-Ọba class, regarded as the official royal brothers of the Crown. While the Bàbá-Ọba are three in number, the Ọmọ-Ọba are six: Baba Iyaji, Atingisi, Agunpopo, Olusami, Arole-Oba, and Arole-Iya-Oba.
What is critical to understand is that both groups, the Bàbá-Ọba and the Ọmọ-Ọba, belong to one extended royal family. Historically and traditionally, they are blood relations of the Alaafin. As a result, intermarriage among them is strictly prohibited. This prohibition reinforces their shared ancestry and preserves the sanctity of the royal line.
Members of these royal families bear names that are peculiar to Oyo-Alaafin royalty; names such as Afonja, Ogboja, Agboin, Sanda, Tella, Akee, Ogoo, etc. These names function as historical markers, linking present generations to the founding lineages of Oyo. The Ona-Aka stool exists firmly within this royal framework.
The Ona-Aka stool is a significant and ancient institution within the Oyo royal family. From its inception, it has been an integral part of the Alaafin institution. It is not an appendage to kingship but one of its sustaining pillars. The relationship between the Alaafin and the Ona-Aka is not episodic; it is structural and enduring.
Among the three Bàbá-Ọba, the Ona-Aka is the eldest. This seniority carries both symbolic and practical significance. The Ona-Aka serves as the chief custodian of Òrì, the Yoruba deity of destiny. In Yoruba cosmology, Òrì represents an individual’s fate and spiritual essence. That the king’s destiny is ritually entrusted to the Ona-Aka underscores the spiritual authority of the stool.
While the Ona-Aka holds seniority, the Ona-Ishokun is next, often regarded today as the most prominent among the trio, largely because the Ona-Ishokun lineage descends directly from Alaafin Abiodun Adegoolu, one of Oyo’s most celebrated rulers. This balance is expressed in the traditional saying:
“Ona-Aka Baba Ishokun, Ona-Ishokun Baba Oba.”
The proverb affirms hierarchy, lineage, and interdependence within the royal system.
The progenitor of the Ona-Aka lineage in present-day Oyo was Kibitiola of Oyo-Ile, who became the first Ona-Aka in this era. He served alongside Alaafin Atiba Adewimbi Olujide Atobatele, playing the role of a royal elder during the rebuilding of Oyo-Atiba after the collapse of Old Oyo. The fall of Oyo-Ile, the capital of the Yorubas was not because it was overrun by Fulani marauders, but people left the city in fear of reprisal attack after the death of Alaafin Oluweu in war. Oyo’s scattered across, formed new cities/towns/villages across Yorubaland.
Kibitiola was succeeded by his son, Ogunjinmi Aleyo, the second Ona-Aka in Oyo-Atiba. Ogunjinmi Aleyo was renowned for wisdom, restraint, and courage. His role in safeguarding the sacred throne of the Alaafin during the Ijaiye War remains a defining chapter in Oyo history. Such responsibility was entrusted to him because of his position as a royal father, not as a subordinate chief.
The third Ona-Aka, Okesina, further exemplifies the stool’s centrality. In his role as custodian of Òrì, he bestowed the name Orimadegun on Alaafin Bello Gbadegesin Oladigbolu II. Historical accounts also record that Alaafin Oladigbolu II spent his formative years in the Ona-Aka Agunpopo royal court, under Okesina’s guardianship and mentorship. This level of intimacy reflects a relationship of fatherhood, not hierarchy.
One of the most telling traditions underscoring the Ona-Aka’s status concerns marriage. When an Ona-Aka joins his ancestors, custom dictates that the reigning Alaafin should marry one of his widows. This practice reinforces continuity between the stools and affirms their shared royal essence.
Thus, following the death of Adeyanju, the fourth Ona-Aka in Oyo-Atiba, Alaafin Siyanbola Adegboyega Akanbi Oladigbolu married Adewoyin, one of Adeyanju’s widows and the mother of Okediji, as a queen. Such a tradition would be inconceivable if the Ona-Aka were not firmly embedded within the royal institution.
In Oyo’s palace, governance is shared between the king, senior chiefs, and the royal women, especially the Ayaba. Other palace chiefs such as the Ilari and Emese served as royal messengers, administrators, and enforcers of palace decisions, ensuring communication between the Alaafin and the wider kingdom .
There are many important offices for women, the Iya Ile Ori, Iya Ile Agbo, Iya Mode, Iya Kere, Iya’le Oduduwa, Iya Ode, Eni Oja, etc. The Ayabas, particularly the senior queen (Iyale), played an important political and ceremonial role. She managed the inner palace, supervised royal wives and attendants, and acted as a trusted confidant of the Alaafin. In some cases, the Ayaba influenced political decisions through counsel and palace networks, reflecting the significant though subtle power of royal women in Oyo governance.
The Ona-Aka stool is therefore historically, traditionally, and institutionally inseparable from the Alaafin of Oyo. It is a cornerstone of the Yoruba traditional system as practised in Oyo, embodying lineage, spiritual authority, and constitutional responsibility. To understand the Ona-Aka is to understand the depth and sophistication of Oyo’s royal heritage, and to preserve it accurately for generations yet to come.
Written by:
Prince Afolabi Aderemi, an Oyo prince of the Tella Gbaagi Olufunu Agunloye ruling house and a diaspora leader based in Lisbon, Portugal.
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