When the Oba came to London with just four wives…

Oyo State, Nigeria – When His Royal Highness, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba (King) Làmídì Oláyíwolá Adeyemi III went shopping at Westfield Mall in London, with just four of his numerous wives, many onlookers found it quite extraordinary. Some couldn’t understand why four women could marry and walk together in unity with just one husband without any conflict or competition. Others were mystified how this “lucky” man could manage four women at age 76.

An onlooker, Mr Norman Williams from Trinidad, said, “Men! I must have been born on the wrong continent. You mean you can have four wives and it’s legal and all okay with the women? Men, I knew I should have been born in Africa.”

Many Africans wonder what the fuss is all about. This 76-year-old king came to London with just four of his vast number of wives. What if he was in town with the rest of his wives?

Luke Kenshaw, from Jamaica, said the Oba is a good man. “It is better he marry them all than let them be single,” Kenshaw said. Too many women are single and I wish many other men and women will learn from the man.”

Authority

What Mr Kenshaw did not realise is that the Oba can do whatever he likes. He is referred to as the Kábíyèsí (the King No One Can Question).

He is also referred to as Alashe (He who has authority). He is the Ekeji Orisha (second-in-command to the gods). That’s why whoever enters the king’s courtyard must take off their shoes. The Alaafin is the only person allowed to keep on his shoes. Aláàfin means one who has authority in the palace (aáfin), or the Lord of the Palace.

His power goes beyond the palace. He is a recipient of a national honour, the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) of Nigeria. He is so influential that he installed the late Bashorun Moshood Abiola (MKO) as the last Aare Ona Kakanfo (Field Marshal) of the entire Yorubaland on 14th January 1988.

Prostration

Despite his power and influence, he walks around the Westfield Shopping Centre to the disapproval of some of his people. Many who found him at the mall fell with their faces flat on the ground in shock and shouted the Kábíyèsí! You can imagine the kind of attention that brought to the Oba, who probably thought he could blend in with other shoppers.
He must have thought the immaculate blue lace uniform was a giveaway. You can’t stroll around town with four women, all in the same apparel and expect to be anonymous. So the Oba went sightseeing around the Buckingham Palace area. This time he wore a different apparel and his wives (not in uniform) dressed in jeans and simple tops. Not long afterwards, it appears there are Yorubas everywhere in the City of London casting themselves face down on the ground in humility, submission, and adoration, in a greeting style commonly known as prostration (doba’le).

The Yoruba monarch waived back to them with a smile and couldn’t walk too far before another Yoruba man recognised him and fall on the ground with a shout – Kábíyèsí!

Polygamy

In the United Kingdom, a person who marries a second person while still being lawfully married is committing the crime of bigamy. Like many Africans, the Oba of Oyo is from a polygamous society, where multiple wives often become a status symbol denoting wealth, power, and fame. Bigamy does not exist in the Yoruba dictionary.