Offa

By Adeleke Gbenga

At the entry gate of the Offa Descendants Union (ODU) hall, outside was a huge poster of late Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin. His frozen picture visibly loomed out of the poster at the gate steering at the guests coming into the hall as if welcoming them to his posthumous centenary celebration. The image popping out of the poster struck familiar cord with the likes of Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, Chief Wole Oke and other distinguished guests who were older enough to recognize the familiar face. To them, the familiar face on the poster was a memorabilia of an oracle of ideological purity and progressive politics in the defunct Northern region and the old Kwara State. An epitaph to an era gone in the history of Offa. But to those who were younger and not familiar with him, majority of whom were present at his posthumous centenary anniversary, the man on the poster was just an ordinary man like any other man they see on the streets. He might not ignite any passion, any response of deeper value and reflection in them. Infact, the event looked just like any other ordinary event to them. 

But the posthumous centenary anniversary of late Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin, the firebrand politician from Offa held recently in Offa strikingly illuminated an era in the politics of the defunct Northern region and the old Kwara State. An era that might be outside the grasp of many young people. This was an era between 1940s and the early 1980s when late Chief Olawoyin bestrode the politics of this part of the old Nigeria like a colossus. He was the leader of the opposition party, Action Group in the defunct Northern House of Assembly in the First Republic and leader of the Unity Party of Nigeria(UPN)in the Second Republic. 

For his adventure in politics, his chivalry in fighting injustices in the old Northern region and the old Kwara State, he was literally resurrected from his grave recently in Offa, his country home where he was celebrated and put in the pantheon of gods and goddesses of Offa and become part of the Offa mythology. Like the oracle at the Delphi in Greek mythology, the politics late Chief Olawoyin plied in the First and Second Republics in a saner clime were enough to turn the late sage to an oracle and his home in Offa a Delphi, a sort of sacred political groove, the contemporary politicians should make a pilgrimage of. But a cruel twist of fate in the political history of the old North conspired against this. And the melancholy dark silence of dead night fell on his destiny.

But the people of Offa will not forget one of the greatest of their own. And a bright new day of blissful glory after the long dark silence of dead night, dawned on the late sage. As a result, all roads led to Offa in Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State on 5th February 2025 for a  posthumous centenary celebration of life and time of late Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin. The posthumous centenary anniversary was a rollcall of the eminent dignitaries from all walks of life. 

Among the young contemporaries of late Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin from Kwara State that graced the occasion were Chief Wole Oke and Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo. There were other eminent dignitaries from Kwara and Southwest in particular, who graced the occasion. They were too numerous to mention. 

By 10am, the expansive hall of ODU had been filled to capacity. The aroma of Yoruba tradition and culture scented the air. The guests’ sartorial tastes for unique fabrics for occasion like this, their sense of good dressings, sense of fashion and grandeur and exquisite cars at the parking lots of the expansive hall accentuated the status of the occasion. Little wonder that the minstrel bards welcoming the distinguished guests with entertainment, to the warm embrace of the hall competed against one another in their virtuoso skills to attract attention. Their drumbeats accompanied by other Yoruba musical paraphernalia like ‘sekere” rent the air. More often than not, the minstrels increased the tempo of their arts and scampered after every new big dignitary they spotted alighting from the vehicle.

The atmosphere animatedly bustled and convulsed with throngs of crowd who came to pay tributes to the strong man of Offa politics. It was charged with the mood of communal feeling and community sense of duty. It needed not be told and neither written nor spoken, the Offa people felt an acute sense of injustice. They felt trapped in a space over which they seemed to lack control and so, they wanted to control their destiny. Such was the feeling fueling their quests for justice and restructuring of the present Nigerian polity that ignores history and culture. 

The spirit of the late politician hovered in the air. The atmosphere reeked of moods of celebration and lamentation. The history of an era, an era of progressive politics in the Yoruba parts of the old Northern region was reopened and brought to the fore. Members of Afenifere in Kwara and in Southwest were present at the occasion. 

While the life and time of Chief Olawoyin was celebrated at his posthumous centenary, it was an occasion to reflect on the status of Offa citizens in Kwara State under the present Nigerian structure. As Yoruba people, they probably asked; are we Northerners or South-westerners? Are we first class citizens or second class citizens in Kwara? Why are we part of the North even when we are Yoruba by culture and history? This was part of the problem of cultural and identity crisis discreetly put on the front burner at the posthumous centenary celebration. This was poignantly accentuated by a lecture titled ”Yoruba Nationality Consciousness and Controversy” which was further expanded and expatiated by a book written in honour of late Chief Olawoyin,  titled  ”A Century of Legacy and Leadership”

Offa was part of Northern Nigeria under the control of the Ilorin Native Authority Council. It was so during the life of late Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin. He struggled with this till the end. For example, it was narrated that early in the 50s when the party of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Action Group moved a motion for Nigeria’s independence prior to 1960. Northern politicians were said to threaten to pull the North out of Nigeria if a request for early independence as demanded by Action Group was granted. Northerners were not ready for independence at the time. So they threatened to secede from Nigeria. 

Chief Olawoyin was said to have threatened back that if the North seceded from Nigeria, the Yoruba people of the Ilorin and Kabba Province would also secede from the North. Because they were not Northerners. He and one Alhaji M.K Ijaya were said to have written series of letters to the power that be then, in which they reportedly accused the North of injustices and how the Northern People Congress, the ruling party in the North was fueling instability in Offa and other Yoruba towns in the North. 

There was a letter he was said to have written on 2nd August 1967 to the Governor of Central West State Ilorin and another one he wrote to late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir. Ahmadu Bello in which he specifically demanded independence for Offa and other Yoruba towns in the North. He wanted them to be independent from the Ilorin Native Authority Council. He was said to have bitterly complained how certain people from Ilorin were nominated to represent Offa District in Ilorin Native Authority Council. 

These were the conundrums of the old Nigeria late Chief Olawoyin was said to have grappled and struggled with in his life time. It could be said that Chief Olawoyin literally walked the length and breadth of the ODU hall during his posthumous centenary celebration, with tales of his heroic deeds recalled, and testimonies of his encounters, experiences and brushes in politics brought to memory. A short documentary on his life and time was beamed to the audience in which close family members and associates shared their experiences and encounters with the late politician, to the audience. 

The posthumous centenary was a broad sweep of the distant past brought to memory with an exposition on the depth, breadth and length of the history of Offa’s struggles and how the struggles forged and continue to forge its politics. It was a reminder of who the Offa people are, a poignant reminder of their history and culture. It was an evocation of cultural and ethnic history, dovetailing to the current wave of ethnic nationalism sweeping across the length and breadth of Nigeria. It was an expository exploration on Nigerian conditions and its crisis, especially its current structural contradictions and tensions. 

It equally served as a call to duty. A sort of mobilization and call on the people of Offa and the entire Yoruba people of Kwara State to preserve their ethnic and cultural identity. A lecture as aforementioned said was delivered to this effect by Balogun Akin Osuntokun. It was titled ”Yoruba Nationality Consciousness and Controversy” Balogun Akin Osuntokun seriously lamented how current Yoruba parents had allowed their language and traditional religion dislocated and displaced by foreign languages and religions, i.e English, Arabic and Christianity and Islam. 

Balogun Akin Osuntokun reiterated that no culture could survive without its language, warning that any people that accepted foreign religion must definitely absorb its culture. He charged the audience to take interest in the cognomen of their family, ”oriki idile” that instructs about myth of the past, to challenge the present generations to preserve the heritage of their families. He used his own personal journey of self rediscovery he embarked upon fifteen years ago which took him to Ajase-Ipo in Kwara State to trace his ancestry’s origin. Balogun Akin Osuntokun lamented that the present Yoruba generations have lost their traditional religion and culture to the foreign ones. He stressed that the soul of any nation is their tradition and culture.

The posthumous centenary celebration as equally aforementioned was accompanied by a book presentation in honour of Chief Olawoyin. It was a compendium of 257 pages titled ”A Century of Legacy and Leadership” reviewed by the ace columnist with the Nigerian Tribune, Dr. Lasisi Olagunju who narrated roles played by Chief Olawoyin in the historical struggle of Offa to exist as a Yoruba community independent of any foreign overlord.

He said ”This book of 257 pages celebrates the valiant spirit of Offa, the ancestral home where we were told the umbilical cord of Moremi lied buried. We all know the story of Moremi, her courage, her patriotism and sacrifice”  

He described the book as a primer on epic battles the Offa people undertook in their struggles to have a permanent home. But it proved to be daunting encounters and exercises for them. It was a relentless resistance against an equally relentless and formidable foes who continued to unsettle and force them to move and relocate from one settlement to another.

”The old Offa and its people were unsettled and disrupted so many times. They were forced to move and relocate from one settlement to another on account of wars they encountered, until they permanently settled in their present location” he explained. Speaking extensively, he narrated in Yoruba language to further buttress on their encounters and experiences

”Nigbati Ilofa kogbawa, akolosi Ofa-Oro, Nigbati Ofa-Oro kogbawa, akolosi Ofa-irese. Nigbati Ofa-irese 

kogbawa, akolosi si Igbo-Olutu, Nigbati Igbo-Olutu kogbawa, atunpada si Ofa Esun. Nigbati Ofa Esun kogbawa, akolosi Ofa Arinlolu Olofa” 

The above was said to be on page 71 of the book, according to Dr. Lasisi Olagunju. He reiterated that these exposures, experiences and encounters with wars forged the character and the valiant spirit of Offa people. He pointed out that the ”Ijakadi loro Offa” a metaphor that speaks volume of the valiant spirit and ethos of fierce resistance of the Offa people, probably had its origin from these encounters and experiences. These include the spirit of activism, resistance, fairness, equity and justice. He stressed that a typical Offa indigene will not quake or quit or run away from intimidation or oppression of the powerful. A true Offa blue blood would face the difficult situation and assert his or her rights even if he or she will be killed.

The book reviewer, Dr. Lasisi Olagunju quotedly stressed further ”the Olofa who started the resistance died peacefully. But a long list of his successors did not enjoy such luxury. His son who took over from him abdicated the throne due to internal intrigues and betrayals. The one who succeeded him sustained the activism and was deposed by the Ilorin Native Authority Council. Another who took over in 1906 and did as his predecessors did had his staff of office withdrawn in 1917. The one who took over from him was deposed three years after. He was first dethroned in 1920 and detained for 19years in Ilorin by Ilorin Native Authority Council. He was freed and returned to Offa in 1940 not as oba but to give him time to die at home. The one who succeeded him was as trenchant as his father. He was equally dethroned. After him was another unbending Olofa who spent four years on the throne and died in 1936. Then came Oba Wuraola Isioye in 1937. He was first dethroned on 15th February 1957 for his support for Awolowo’s party, Action Group which won the 1957 election in Offa. Oba Wuraola Isioye was finally deposed on 28th May 1959, few months to another election on a flimsy excuse of old age” 

Dr. Lasisi Olagunju reiterated further ”after Oba Wuraola Isioye was finally deposed on 28th May 1959, he was to be exiled to Dekina in today’s Kogi State. But Chief Olawoyin got wind of the plan to send him on exile. He quickly took step and took him out of Offa at 9:00pm in the night to Ibadan for safety before the arrival of Government agents” 

“What we are talking about and celebrate here are resilience, courage, fearlessness, resistance, patriotism, loyalty, self sacrifice, justice and equity” Dr. Olagunju said.

Also on Oba Okunoye Moronfolu, he narrated, ”Oba Okunoye Moronfolu took over as Olofa at a time Ilorin threatened the peace of Offa and everything it represented. The old Offa ran away from Nupe marauders. This last Offa stood firm in righteous resistance against the Fulani incursion”  All these were characters the late Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin was said to embody in his life time. 

The ace Nigerian Tribune columnist said if late Chief Olawoyin had been born as a female, she would have been a Moremi reincarnated. But he came as a male child, however with all the spirits and principles of Moremi, such as courage, valiant and fierce spirit of resistance, resilience, self sacrifice, justice and equity, reincarnated in him. Thus, his activities and struggles made it look as if Chief Olawoyin continued the struggles where Moremi had stopped. But his own, on a more grander scale and fiercer and wider field. 

He was said to marry to unbending principles. He was offered a ministerial appointment by the late Premier of the defunct Northern region, Sir. Ahmadu Bello to win him to his side, but Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin was said to reject the offer. He chose to become leader of the opposition party in the defunct Northern House of Assembly.

It was also narrated that the late Premier of the defunct Western region, late Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola at the peak of his crisis with late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of Action Group,  approached late Chief Olawoyin and pleaded with him to join him against Chief Awolowo, because both of them i.e Chief Akintola and Chief Olawoyin were the same Oyo Yoruba with similar tribal marks. He wanted Chief Olawoyin to join him in a fight to decimate Awolowo who was an Ijebu Yoruba. Chief Olawoyin rejected the suggestion and stood firmly out of principle by Chief Awolowo, as narrated by the book reviewer, Dr. Lasisi Olagunju.

He however paid a price for this. He was sentenced to jail with late Chief Awolowo on a charge of treasonable felony.

The posthumous centenary anniversary was witnessed by the matriarch of the Olawoyin dynasty, Chief(Mrs.)Ruth Mopelola Olawoyin and other family members including the Ajirogun of Offa, Barrister Olusegun Olawoyin. Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin who would have clocked 100years on 5th February 2025 was born on 5th February 1925. He was a publicity secretary of Zikist Movement, a revolutionary movement of young Marxists in the 40s, in Jebba South from 1948 to 1949 before the movement was eventually banned. He was appointed administrative secretary of Offa Descendants Union between 1953 and 1974. He was the first old boy of Offa Grammar School to be appointed a member of the Board of Governors of the school in 1954 until 1975. He was a councillor in Offa from 1955 to 1979 when he resigned in preparation for the gubernatorial election in Kwara State in the 1979 elections. He was a co-founder of the Offa Community Girls School in 1955. 

The school’s name later changed to Anglican College of Commerce.

Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin was appointed an organising secretary of the Action Group in 1953 for former Ilorin Province and in 1954, he was elected the general secretary of the party for the defunct Northern Region. In 1956, he was elected Action Group member for Offa town in the defunct Northern House of Assembly. He was a co-founder of the Middle Belt Peoples’ Party in 1953, another radical political party of the minority ethnic groups in the old North. He was the party’s publicity secretary from 1953 to 1955. He was nominated a member of the Northern Nigerian Leaders of Thought from 1966 to 1967. At one of their meetings held in the defunct Northern Region Legislature, J.S. Olawoyin moved a motion calling for the carving out of 6 separate and autonomous States from the old and former Northern Region. 

Kwara State was included among the new States he proposed for creation. It was first named Central West State before it was changed to Kwara State. His motion was ably seconded by the father of the present Governor of Kwara State, late A.G. Abdulrasaq, an intimate friend of late Chief Olawoyin. Chief Olawoyin attended the London constitutional conference in 1957 and another one held in 1958 also in London. The 1958 London constitutional conference addressed the vexed problem of Henry Willink’s report on the minority ethnic groups in Nigeria. Chief Olawoyin also attended the Lagos constitutional conference of 1960 in which final arrangements were concluded for transfer of powers to Nigeria by the British colonialists on October 1st 1960.

He was a director of the New Nigerian Newspapers ltd from 1967 to 1979. Chief Olawoyin was a member of former Western Nigerian Finance Corporation, Ibadan from 1957 to 1962. He was imprisoned at Broad Street Prison in 1962 with Chief Obafemi Awolowo and 25 others. He was the Chairman of the Nigerian General Insurance Company ltd from 1980 to 1983. He was one of the foundation members of the Unity Party of Nigeria and was elected its State Chairman, Kwara State in 1978. He was the party’s gubernatorial candidate for the 1979 election in Kwara State.

 He wrote a book titled ”My Political Reminiscences(1948-1983). The book was published by John West, a publishing company based in Lagos, owned by late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, former Governor of Lagos State and a strong member of the Unity Party of Nigeria.The book was launched in 1993. The highlight of the occasion was the book unveiled together with a launch of foundation in memory of the late political leader.