Part 2 — Chapter 11

Chapter XI THE REVOLUTION IN THE EPO DISTRICTS § I. The Destruction of the Epos and the Death of Ojo Amepo Notwithstanding the Fulani devastations, there were not wanting still among the Yorubas powerful generals, who could successfully oppose them if only they would act together. One such was Ojo Amepo the Kakanfo. Ojo Amepo was one of the generals of the late Kakanfo Afonja of Ilorin ; he inherited the lion-like spirit of his chief. After the fall of Afonja he resided at Akese, where he found employment for his enterprising spirit in waging intestine wars with the Epos, and became a great man and a terror in that district. Thus Ojo Amepo usurped the prerogatives of the AlAfin in that district. He took Iware, Okiti, Ajerun, Koto, Ajabe, towns near Ijaye, and he assumed the title of Kakanfo in opposition to Edun of Gbogun whom, however, he survived (as Edun himself formerly did in opposition to Toyeje of Ogbomoso) showing the state of anarchy in the kingdom as there can be but one Kakanfo at a time. Amepo was a good horseman and an intrepid warrior. Ago was one of the towns in the Epo district. Oja the founder perished at the Kanla war as we have already noticed, and the only man of power then in that town was Prince Atiba formerly of Gudugbu, and he was in friendly alliance with the Ilgrins and abetted them, when they were resolved upon subjugating the Epds. Chiefs Amepo, Salako, and Ojomgbodu were opposed to the Ilorins, and the latter soon found a pretext to wage war upon them and to destroy their towns. The Ilorins encamped at Ago Oja against Ojomgbodu which was about 6 or 7 miles distant. The Kakanfo at Akesfe sent Dado his commander-in-chief at the head of a detachment to reinforce the beleaguered town ; associated with Dado were Adekambi, Soso, Dese and Lagbayi, all distinguished men. A portion of the Ilorin army was encamped against Wonworo at the same time, and the Kakanfo also sent Ayo another distinguished war chief to protect the place. Both these places were obstinately defended and, but for the tragedy which befell the Kakanfo at home, they might have held out longer even if they could not repel the enemy eventually. 234 Amepo the Kakanfo being anxious about his men when he heard no news from the seat of war, rode out one morning dressed in his red uniform with only about 20 boys as his attendants. He took the path leading to the seat of conflict to listen if per- chance he would hear the sound of musketry showing that his people were still holding out and the town not yet taken. He dismounted under a large tree in the fields, and most un- fortunately for him was discovered from afar by a company of Ilorin horsemen, who had made excursion into the W6nw6ro farms, and were returning to their camp at Ago-Oja by way of Akesfe. He found himself in a predicament all too late, his body guards were, alas ! too young to defend him, and his corpulency prevented him from springing at once upon his horse and making good his escape. So he was slain there under the tree, and his head and hands were cut off and carried in triumph to the camp before Ojomgbodu. But before doing so, the Ilorin horsemen rode back to Akese and called upon the town to surrender under threats of immediace destruction. The Kakanfo being slain, and the war-chiefs absent at Ojomgbodu, the town Akese surrendered at discretion ; but as soon as the horsemen were gone the inhabitants packed up and deserted the town. The Kakanfo s army at Ojomgbodu of course did not know of the tragedy that had befallen their master at home until they were informed the next morning in the battlefield by the Ilorin horsemen taunting them. To confirm the truth of their statement, Amepo s speckled hand which was cut of! was thrown to them within the town wall for identification. " Know ye whose hand that was ? We have slain your master ! What is the use of further fighting ? Woe betide you if you do not surrender at once." The men were panic stricken and would have fled there and then but for the presence of mind and brave speech of Dado the com- mander-in-chief. He said to them " The death of our master is no reason why we should give way, let us fight like brave men and not show the white feather." Turning to the besiegers he said " We are here to defend the town not our master whose misfortune is only an incident though a lamentable one. You prepare yourself for a battle to-morrow, for you shall receive such a severe encounter as you have never experienced before ; you will then know how brave men can resent treachery." This speech created order among the troops and the Ojomgbodu people also were re-assured ; but it was only a ruse in order to make good their escape, for by daybreak, before the Ojomgbodu people knew that they were deserted. Dado had retreated with his army in good order and escaped to Ika-Odan. § 2. The Occupation of Ijaye and end of Dado Ika-Odan now became the home of the flower of the army from the Oyo provinces. The leaders here were the only brave generals who would not submit under the yoke of the Ilorins, and who held out still until such time that fortune would veer round to their side. These refugees soon became masters of the town, the wives and daughters of their hosts became theirs, and the hosts themselves practically their menials. Everything at home and in the farms was soon devoured as they lived only by foraging. When nothing remained in the Ika-Odan farms they extended their operations into the Ijaye farms. When the Ijayes could no longer endure it, and their farms were nearly all eaten up they attacked these marauders ; a skirmish ensued and the foragers finding the men of Ijaye too strong for them, sent home for re-inforcements. Kurumi's advice was for conciliatory measures, considering that these proceedings were rather hard on the people, who really could not help attacking the foragers. But Dado their leader was for opposition. " Cowards " said he, " what can the I j ayes do ? " Saying this, he hastily put on his armour and rushed on to the scene of the conflict. He was allowed to go on alone, none of the other war-chiefs followed him. The foragers seeing their leader coming were inspirited and put forth more efforts, and he led them to victory. They drove the Ijayes home, and pressed so closely on their heels that the latter could not rally to defend the town, but deserted it and fled on, till they escaped to Ika-Igbo. Ijaye now fell into the possession of the assailants who did not fire it, but simply occupied it as was done at Ibadan, each one taking possession of the finest compound he could get. Dado now sent to invite Kurumi and the rest of the war-chiefs at Ika-Odan, and they came and took possession of Ijaye. Thus that town passed out of the hands of the Egbas, and became an Oyg town to this day. At a special meeting convened to consider their future course it was resolved that they should make Ijaye their home at least for the present until they could see a brighter prospect of dis- lodging the Fulanis from Ilorin and then return to their own homes. They therefore took possession of the lands and farms along with the houses and proceeded to so.v the farms, lest famine should follow the present abundance. Thus they became proprietors of houses, lands and farms not their own. The fields were extensively cultivated, all the war-chiefs with the sole exception of Dado their leader, paid great attention to agriculture, going to their farms daily. Dado was of a more restless spirit and was indifferent to agriculture. Nothing delighted him more than the rattle of musketry, for he was never in his element unless he was at the head of his army directing a battle. He often frightened his people home from farm, mistaking the volleys Dado ordered to be fired for an attack on the town. The other war-chiets petitioned him again and again not to cause such an alarm, but he usually replied in a haughty manner: " Cowards, were I such as you I could not have brought you here, when yoi" wished to negotiate peace with the aborigines." Casting this at their teeth day by day, his colleagues felt hurt but were afraid of opposing him till one day Kurumi summoned up courage to do so and was backed by the other chiefs, a civil war ensued and Dado was expelled the town. Dado's Later Career.—To trace the subsequent career of Dado we have to anticipate some events of history yet to be narrated. Dado was bold and brave as a warrior, but in his disposition, he was irritable and very proud. On his expulsion from Ijaye he went first to Iware, and from thence he crossed the river Ogun going to a small town near Isede called Tobalogbo. He encamped outside the town walls with his few followers, and sent to apprise the Bale of his arrival. His fame as a great warrior having travelled far and wide the Tobalogbo treated him with every mark of respect, supplying him and his followers with provisions, and on the next day he came out with his chiefs to pay his respects to the fallen general. Whilst the Bale and chiefs prostrated before this monster in the act of salutation, he ordered them all to be decapitated ! He and his men then rushed into the town and captured it. He cared only for the booty and not for making it his residence ; he, therefore, passed on to the town of Aborerin near Iberekodo and there he built a house and resided with his family and about 400 men. Subsequently he left Aborerin with his family and belongings and wishing to try the fortunes of war once more, he joined an Ibadan contingent under Osun the chief of the Ibadan cavalry in an expedition in aid of Oniyefun. When Osun fell in battle, and Oniyefun was reduced by the Egbas, he narrowly escaped with a handful of his men, leaving his wives and children at the mercy of the conquerors and escaped to Ijaka. Divine retribution now began to overtake him for his cruelties and for his heartless treachery and cold-blooded murder of Tobalogbo and K 238 THE HISTORY OF THE YORUBAS his chiefs. He lost everything at Oiiiyefun, and from that time he went up and down the country as a " fugitive and vagabond." After some time spent at Ijaka he came to Ibadan ; he accompanied Lakanle the Ibadan commander-in-chief to the Arakanga war (to be related afterwards); on their leturn he went to Ilorin and returned again to Ibadan. Fortune was altogether against him He outlived his fame and glory, suffered from penury and want and was reduced to a nonentity. After Lakanle's death, having no one to befriend him at Ibadan again, he went once more to Ijaye. Kurumi was then at the zenith of his glory, with the old animosity against Dado still rankhng in his breast. He sent for him one day and as Dado lay prostrate before him Kurumi ordered him to be decapitated ! Thus the same measure was meted to him, as he once meted to his hosts of Tobalogbo. The Occupation of Abento,—Kuriimi of Ijaye was an arbitrary and domineering chief, and moreover tribal jealousies and clanship were rife among the chiefs who now occupy Ijaye as they were from different provinces and townships brought together here by one common calamity. Kurumi and the Ikoyi chiefs with him were from the MetropoHtan province. The notable war-chiefs from Akes^ were :—Ay6, Adekambi, Ajadi, Sukotg, Bankgle, Lahkn, Aruno-agba-ni-igbe and Oluwol^. These chiefs from the Ep6 districts could not endure the hauteur of Kurumi who was backed up by the Ikoyi chiefs. They hold themselves superior to the Akes^ chiefs. Ikoyi was indeed the premier provincial city next to the Metropolis, and the Onikoyi the AlAfin's viceregent, but these chiets seem to have forgotten that they were no longer worthy of the honour they now claimed since they have become disloyal to the Crown. However, in order to avoid a civil war from constant friction the above-mentioned Akes| chiefs with their men left Ijaye in a body and retired to Abem6, a town 12 miles distant (midway between Ijaye and the present Oyg) under the leadership of chief Ay6. We now have two rival towns, Ijaye occupied by the Ikoyi chiefs, and Abemo by the Akes^ chiefs, § 3. How Ibadan Finally Became a Yoruba Town The Fall of Maye The marauders who settled at Ibadan after the fall of Ooriin and all the Gbagura towns (as we have mentioned above) com- prised the Ife, Ijebu, Qyo, and Egba chiefs with their men. Chief Maye an Ife was the acknowledged head of them all. He was a proud, haughty, and irritable man, overbearing to all ; Lakanl§ the Oyo leader (as above mentioned) was the only man who could speak when May§ was in a rage. The Ifes generally regarded the Oyos of the settlement as slaves because they were homeless refugees ; they treated them httle better than they would dogs. Maye handled them with an iron hand, and denied them every security either of their goods or of their lives; they were oppressed and beaten with impunity. The Oyos, groaning under this yoke of bondage sought every opportunity for lifting up their heads, but the very name of Maye inspired such a dread in all, that no plan could be acted upon. The bards sang of him as the greatest general of the day, a man who commanded an amount of dread and respect, un- surpassed by any, etc. But, like Napoleon after Moscow, " From the highest to the lowest, there is but one ^tep ;" so it was with Maye. His fall was sudden and cornplete. Two neighbours were quarrelling over a piece of ground used in common as a dunghill, one was an Own man, Amejiogbe by name, one of May§'s soldiers, the other an Oyo man; both of them private soldiers. But as Oyos were treated like dogs, when Maye came out, he asked no questions about the case, but sided with the Owu man and simply drew his sword and cut off the headof the Oyoman. Instantly a hue and cry was raised, and an alarm given that Maye was putting all Oyos to death ! The Oyos became desperate, and all flew to arms. Maye was taken aback with surprise to see them making a dead set at him. They refused to hear his plea for self- defence, and would not allow him to re-enter his house ; he was beset on every side and driven out of the town. He escaped on foot by the way of the present Abeokuta gate and crossed the river Onk followed by some of the Ife chiefs e.g. Aponju-olosun, Aregbe Deriokun, etc. After this, the Oyo chiefs began to feel ill at ease, and were the first to offer him terms of reconciliation. They knew his fame and valour and were trembling for the possible consequences. In the afternoon an embassy was sent to him with a humble apology and petition saying " Our Father should return home, our Father should not spend the night in the bush." He answered the messengers roughly and swore by the gods that he would surely destroy the town and that before long. The next day higher grades of ambassadors were sent to sue for peace, and with them large baskets of provisions for himself and his followers because "Father must be hungry since yesterday." These were not even allowed to approach his camp, and some of the Oyos who accompanied him as personal friends sent privately to apprise their country-men that it was of no use their waiting for an answer, the great chief would neither hsten to them nor even grant them an interview and it was in vain to hope that he would agree to return to Ibadan. The ambassadors had to return home to report their ill success but they left behind all the provisions they took with them in hopes that his followers would take them away after they had gone. The chiefs were much disappointed at this turn of affairs and blamed themselves for their rashness and instructed the ambas- sadors not to wait for further orders but that by early dawn they should proceed once more and offer their humble submission and say that they would agree to any fine he would be pleased to impose upon them as a condition of his returning home. In the meantime a meeting was convened to consider what further steps should be taken; they decided to levy a tax upon all the people in order to raise money for the fine. But the messengers soon returned with a distressing report :—" The master's camp, has been broken up, the food they carried the previous day was left untouched, for hawks, crows, and vultures to feed upon, nor could anyone tell his route or destination! " It was surmised that he probably went to join the Egbas at Abeokuta to raise an army to fight them : but a few days after, a farmer reported that he saw a broad path leading to Idomapa in the south. Maye then was the guest of Oluwol^ of Idomapa, but the people of Erumu invited him to Erumu, offering him their support and friendship because his calamity was caused by his espousing the cause of an Owu man. We have seen above, that Erumu was the chief vassal state of Owu and that to this place the Olowu and his people escaped when the city of Owu was taken. They were determined to avenge Maye's wrongs, and with such a distinguished commander on their side, they hoped to be able to annihilate these Oyo marauders, the principal agents in the destruction of their capital city. Before they were prepared to lay siege to Ibadan, the Erumu people and their guests began at once to make predatory incursions into the Ibadan farms, kidnapping also the caravans with corn and other foodstuffs from Ikir^ so as to cut off theii food supplies and distress them by starvation before reducing them by war at the ensuing dry season. This state of things continued nearly a whole year and during that time vast preparations were made to crush Ibadan by an overwhelming force. An alliance was formed with the Ife towns of Ikir^, Apomu, Ipetumodu and other towns in their neighbour- hood, and a large army was raised against Ibadan. The Egbas also were invited as allies, as all have their grievances to avenge on the new occupants of Ibadan. Two famous commanders Degesin and Ogini led the Egba contingents ; they marched through the Ibadan farms in the south to join the main army at Idomapa. The Gbanamu War. The Ibadan chiefs met this overwhelming force with courage and determination bat the odds were against them ; at every battle in spite of all they could do, they lost ground and the assailants advanced to within a mile or a mile and a half of the town. The Ibadans in their extremity were obhged to ask help from Kurumi of Ijaye who readily responded to their call. They were all one people whom a common calamity compelled to these parts, and they had to make a new home and defend it. Kurumi arrived at Ibadan on a Friday, but as Fridays were con- sidered inauspicious days the Ibadan chiefs suggested that the fight should be postponed till the next day. Kurumi repHed, "It is true Fridays are inauspicious, but it is only so to aggressors, not to defenders of hearth and home." The last decisive battle then was fought on that day. It was a bloody day. Equal courage and valour were displayed on both sides, but in the end, though outnumbered by far, the superior military skill of Kurumi and the Ibadans won the day. For the Ibadans it was a life and death struggle, and because it was mostly a hand to hand fight in which swordsmen proved themselves a match for those with fire- arms the battle was named " Gba'namu " (grasping fire). Rushing upon their assailants sword in hand and grasping the barrel of the gun, the Ibadans averted the fatal discharge of the weapon while using their swords and cutlasses with effect. Thus the Ife, Owu, and Egba alUes were completely routed. Several of their leaders were made prisoners and put to death. Maye the great commander was taken prisoner by a common soldier, and as he was being led to the town all the war-chiefs refused to see his face. It is a common belief amongst warriors in this country that any war-chief, who ordered a brother war-chief, his equal in arms, to execution, will surely meet with the same fate at no distant date. Therefore, although the whole of the chiefs desired his execution yet no one was bold enough to show his face and order it, and take upon himself the responsibility for what all desired. Both the captor and the captive fully understood the import of the phrase " Let him not see my face." It meant his death warrant. Maye therefore cried out: " E m.a da a se, E fi oju mi kan alagbk ! E ma da a se, E fi oju mi kan Lakanle. (Do not take the responsi- biUty, bring me before a chief ; do not take the responsibiUty, bring me before Lakanle). But all in vain, his fate had been sealed by the chiefs declining to see him, and so the great Maye was beheaded by a common soldier. Degesin and Ogini the Egba commanders also shared his fate. Chief Kurumi claimed the honour of the victory and hence his bards sang to his praise "Opa Maye, o pa Ogini, O pa Degesin, O fi oko ti Ife laiyk " (he slew Maj^e, he slew Ogini and Degesin and thrust his spear into the bi easts of the Ifes). By this victory the remnant of the Oyo refugees was saved. The Erumu War The victors followed up their victory and encamped against Erumu. Reinforcements came for them from Iwo, Ede, Apomu and other places ; the Oyo refugees in those parts joining their brethren at the siege of Erumu so that the doomed town was hemmed in on every side: indeed they had to fight from within their walls. As the besiegers could neither force the gates nor scale or beat down the walls, they were content to reduce the town by famine. The most disgusting creatures were used for food, and even greedily devoured in order to sustain life ! It passed into a proverb " When the price of a frog came to 120 cowries then Erumu was taken." The siege of Erumu recalled that of Oke Suna in the fight between Solagberu and Abudusalami. The following anecdotes illustrative of the horrors of the siege of Erumu were told by eye-witnesses :— Corn planted within the walls of the town wanted but a few weeks for ripening when the famished inhabitants could no longer wait for a full corn, everyone helping himself not only to the immature corn but also the corn-stalks. It was so much relished that one of them was heard to say that he did not know before that corn stalks were so delicious and that henceforth he would ever be using it as an article of food. Another reported the case of a good-looking and well-to-do young woman, a snuff seller, at Erumu. Before the war broke out, her beauty and style always attracted young men to her side in the shed where she was grinding and retailing snuff. Her stall was so clean and so well-poUshed that they required no mats to sit upon, they would just squat on the ground about her. This well-to-do woman was so famished that she died of starvation at her stall in the open thoroughfare, and of all her admirers not one was found to do her the honour of a burial ! Again, another eye-witness among the besiegers related that whilst bathing in a stream which flowed through the town to the camp, he often saw myriads of maggots which he could not account for as if the water bred them, but when Erumu was taken he saw hundreds of putrefying bodies in the stream within the town and this accounted for the maggots he saw in such abundance lower down as the stream flowed by the camp. On the town being taken the Oluroko (or king) of Erumu and the king of Idomapa were caught and slain. Also the Olowu was now caught who (cLs was related above) escaped thither when the city of Owu was destroyed. Now, he was a provincial King of great importance, a real crowned head, and his case caused the victors some embarrassment. No pure Yoruba would venture to lay hands on a king even if worthy of death ; in such an event the king would simply be told that he was rejected and, noblesse oblige, he would commit suicide by poison. The Olowu, although now a prisoner of war, was regarded with so much reverence that none of the chiefs would dare order his execution, and yet they could not keep him nor would they let him go. His death was compassed in a diplomatic manner. The conquerors pretended to be sending him to the Ow6ni ol Ife, who alone may be regarded as his peer in this part of the country, and he was to be accompanied by one of his own slaves as a personal attendant and by some messengers to the Owgni as his escort. But the slave, who was supplied with a loaded gun as his master's bodyguard, had been privately instructed that at a given signal from the escort he was to shoot his master dead, and that he would be granted his freedom and loaded with riches as well. Thus they proceeded on their way until they came to the bank of the river Osun when the signal was given and the slave shot his master dead on the spot ! These "messengers" now set up a hue and cry of horror and surprise: " WTiat! You slave ! How dare you kill your royal master ? Death is even too good for you." And in order to exonerate themselves of all complicity in the matter, they set upon the poor slave attacking him on all sides and clubbed him to death saying " The murder of the king must be avenged." They then dammed up the river in its course and dug the king's grave deep in the bed of it, and there they buried the corpse whilst uttering this disclaimer :— " O King, we have no hands in your cruel murder. The onus of it rests with your slave and we have avenged you by putting him to death, and he is to be your attendant in the other world." They then allowed the river to flow on in its channel over the grave. Burying the king in the bed of the river was regai ded as an expiation made for his murder, because they were conscious of guilt although they attributed the act to the slave. With such reverence and sanctity was the person of a king regarded. The divine right of kings is an article of belief among the Yorubas. Such was the end of the last king of the famous city of Owu, The title is continued by a representative of the family at Abeokuta. § 4. The Settlement of Ibadan After the fall of Erumu the war chiefs returned to Ibadan and the rest of the people who joined the war as volunteers returned to their respective homes. It was not till this time that Ibadan was peopled by Oyos chiefly. Everyone of these war-chiefs entered the allied army of Ife and Ijebu at Idi Ogugun as a private volunteer, but they soon showed their capabilities in the various wars. Oppressed and enslaved by the Ifes, scorned by the Ijebus, in pure self-defence they banded themselves together under a leader for mutual protection and notwithstanding the great dis- advantage under which they were placed, they vindicated their superiority and at last obtained the ascendancy in the town. Under such circumstances did the Oyos become masters of Ibadan. Hence the allegation that it was they who expelled the Egbas from their original home and took possession of the same is wholly inaccurate, and the bad feeling which this impression has created and perpetuated between the two peoples unto this day is hereby shown to be groundless. Ibadan then consisted of the central market and about half, a mile of houses around. The town wall was where the principal mosque now stands. Hitherto Ibadan has been occupied as a miUtary headquarter for marauding and other expeditions, but after this war, at a public meeting held to consider their future course, it was resolved that as they now intend to make this place their home they should arrange for a settled government and take titles. Oluyedun came first. He was the son of the late Afonja of Ilorin, and as such, the scion of a noble house. He was honoured and respected by all. He might have been the Bale, but he preferred to adopt his father's title of Kakanfo and it was conceded him, not for his valour, but for his age and dignity, being a survivor of the men of the preceding generation. Next came Lakanle " the bravest of the brave." He might have taken the title of Balogun or commander-in-chief, as he had hitherto been their principal leader in M'ar, but Kakanfo being a miUtary title, that of Balogun would be superfluous. He then became the Otun Kakanfo and Oluyole the Osi Kakanfo. The others were : Adelakun the Ekerin (fourth), Olumaiye the Ekarun (fifth) Abitiko Ekefa (sixth) Keiiihe Are Ah ese. To Osun was the honour given to confer these titles, and he in turn was created the Sarumi (chief of the cavalry). Only a single Ife chief remained at Ibadan and that was Labosinde, and even he (as was mentioned above) had Oyg blood in his veins through his mother. He was very gentle, good-natured and fatherly to all. Even during the days of Maye the Oyo chiefs had an affection and great respect for liim as a father. At the expulsion of Maye when the other Ife chiefs joined him, he took no sides and hence he was allowed to remain. After Maye's tall he did not aspire to the leadership of the people, preferring private life to the responsibilities of government. He was a man who loved peace; he would never carry arms nor allow any to be carried before him even in those turbulent days, except in the battlefield. A bundle of whips was all usually carried before him, as used to be done before the Roman Tribunes of old, and with this token of authority he was able several times to disband men in arms and put an end to civil fights. The combatants as soon as they saw the bundle of whips coming would cease firing, saying to one another'!Babambo " " baba mb^" (father is coming, father is coming). His title now is Baba I sale i.e. chief adviser, lit father underneath (for counsel). It will be noticed that (except this last) all the principal titles were military titles. Ibadan has kept that up unto this day. Although they seemed to be now settled, yet they really lived by plunder and rapine. A single stalk of corn could scarcely be seen in an Ibadan farm in the days of Maye, and although Lakanle encouraged husbandry, yet the people were so much given to slave hunting that they could not grow corn enough for home consumption. The women of those days were as hardy as the men, and often went in a body—as caravans—to Ikird and Apomu for corn and other foodstuffs although the road was unsafe from kidnappers. They supplied the town with food whilst the men were engaged in slave himting. One company returning would meet another just going out, and often, an unsuccessful individual returning would go back with the outgoing company to try another chance without first reaching home. Ill-luck of one did not prevent another company venturing out. At home violence, oppression, robbery, man-stealing were the order of the day. A special gag was invented for the mouth of human beings to prevent any one stolen from crying out and being discovered by his friends. No one dared go out at dusk for the men-stealers were out already prowling about for their prey. Thus even the great Maye was once stolen on going out one night. He offered no resistance but went quietly with the man-stealer, who, on reaching home, called for a light to inspect his victim. Finding to his dismay that it was the great 246 THE HISTORY OF THE YORUBAS chief Maye himself, he nearly died of fright. Quaking and trem- bling he prostrated at his feet and begged for his life. So bad were those days at Ibadan and so callous had the people become that if a woman or a child was heard to cry out "Egbkmi, won mu mi o " (O help me, I am taken) the usual answer from indoors was " Maha ba a lo " (you can go along with him). The moral and social atmosphere of such a place as has been described could easily be imagined. Yet they were destined by God to play a most important part in the history of the Yorubas, to break the Fulani yoke and save the rest of the country from foreign domination ; in short to be a protector as well as a scourge in the land as we shall see hereafter. A nation born under such strenuous circumstances cannot but leave the impress of its hardihood and warlike spirit on succeeding generations, and so we find it at Ibadan to this day. It being the Divine prerogative to use whomsoever He will to effect His Divine purpose, God uses a certain nation or individual as the scourge of another nation and when His purposes are fulfilled He casts the scourge away.