KING MAKING IN YORUBA LAND BY OLALEKAN ODUNTAN.

No king is made in Yoruba land without consulting Ifa oracle for a way out. The names of worthy nominees from the different royal houses are submitted to the king makers who will in turn submit such names to Ifa oracle priest for clarification. It should be noted that no other king can be chosen when the current one is not yet dead. While the priest is busy searching for who will be chosen by Ifa oracle as the next king, the king makers will patiently wait for the priest to arrive at a decision. The members of the council of chiefs to the deceased king will also have an input into the new arrangement and will also be interested in who becomes their king. Once a name has been chosen by Ifa as the person to be crowned as the king, all the necessary traditional rites will be put in place to appease the deities so as to make the reign of the new king to be successful. After the Ifa oracle priest has given the direction to follow, the king makers are now set for the coronation of their new king. The whole town will be agog with celebration of eating, drinking and merry making for ushering in their king. The people will also be happy that their king is being crowned and the development of their town must be paramount on his mind. The people's prayer is that during the reign of their king the rats shall cry like rats, the birds shall cry like birds and human beings shall talk like human beings. And all the people at the coronation will greet their king " Kabiyesi". After the coronation, he resumes to his palace for his duty to the people. The people expect so much from him in terms of development in the town. The king has his chiefs to assist him in running the affairs of the town because he cannot do it alone. The people and palace chiefs will pray that the crown shall stay long on the king's head, the shoes stay long on his feet, the horsetail stays long in his hands and words to his subjects stay long in his mouth. The king's chiefs and the people will prostrate again to their king and say "Kabiyesi". But the women amongst them do not prostrate for the king, they kneel in greeting too.