How then does one best pay tribute to a sacrificial lamb like Akinloye? After some contemplation of the question, it dawned on me that this could be best addressed by looking at Akin’s self-sacrificial life in the context of the history of life in general. The usefulness of this methodology lies in an understanding of the word ‘history’, which I have come to realise. The subject of history, to me, means an account of His-story. The ‘His’, here, being a synonym for Christ.
Hence, I have come to the realisation that the history of the earthly manifestations of a soul, particularly of a great one like Akin’s, is a story of Christ’s creativity through the embodied soul. Some features of our brother’s earthly life bore witness to this. For instance, Akin’s literal sacrifice of the health of his body for us Nigerians.
The self-sacrifices Major Akinyemi rendered are part of His-story’s uncanny relentless process of spawning sacrificial lambs. Thus the ancestors of the Akinyemi’s of Ifewara in Osun State, teach, through Yoruba traditional religious scriptures, that whenever the world was thrown into a Dark Age and consequent disorder, God would come to show humanity the way out of this ignorant state.
God, according to the corpus of the Ifa Oracle, does this by sending his most loved child, Ela to earth to restore enlightenment and order. This is why one of the meanings of Ela is the Redeemer. Each time Ela was sent back to earth He had a different name. Orun-mila, Olu-orogbo, Agbon-niregun are, for me, the various Yoruba names for the Eternal Christ during His respective incarnations on earth.
The Yoruba progenitors of this distinction of the Eternal Christ from when Christ is enmeshed in history, must have been adepts of the Bible. For there are many correspondences between the Yoruba Old Testament and the Jewish one. If you doubt me, I suggest you check out the biblical verse where Jesus, speaking as the timeless Christ (who in Ifa is Ela) said: “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).
The Ifa affirmation to what appears to be Christ-in-history, which states: “Orunmila eleri ipin, igba keji Olodumare” meaning “Orunmila, witness of fate, the second to the Godhead” also teaches us a lot. Is this Ifa maxim not similar to this biblical revelation: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14)? And, also to the Pauline reminder that Christ Jesus “is the image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15).
Betrayals
Lest we forget, despite the parallels we have illustrated between the Ifa Oracle and the Holy Bible, the sacrifice our Lord Jesus made is the most enlightening of the pathways to Salvation. However, as every happening in history has its opposite, there has always been a Judas archetype to betray and lead a lamb to the sacrificial table.
We saw a reflection of this kind of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus, in how, at least three supposed gentlemen and officers and friends of Akin betrayed his trust. One of these turncoats allowed himself to be overwhelmed by the temptation of the promise of the rewards of high office.
It was actually the Akinloye Akinyemi’s close family friend and one of his Sandhurst officer cadet comrades, Major Okeowo who was the Judas. This was an officer who was later made an aide camp (ADC) to a General Officer Commanding (GOC). Major Okeowo as fate will have lost his life in the Nigerian Air force C130 plane crash near Ejigbo.
Comradeship to Akinloye was, above all, to the truth and integrity of one’s profession and faith. Thus he felt betrayed by close associates who, because of the pursuit of money, power and fame, allow themselves to be compromised. One such betrayal that he felt very much was one of his close Sandhurst and Shrivenham peers, Lt Col Komo Dauda. Akinloye could not understand why such a brilliant and hardworking officer allowed himself to become a goon of Sani Abacha’s regime.
This was an officer whose kinsmen the Zuru people have for centuries been oppressed by a majority neighbouring ethnic group. For Komo to allow himself to be used to terrorists another minority ethno-nationality offended Akinloye very much.
The naming to put to shame some officers is necessary to remind the living that the evil that people do live after them. It is important that military officers, and indeed public servants, always do what is morally right for their people. Examples of brilliant and hardworking officers who were persecuted simply for being Akinloye’s very close friends, include: Lt Cols Paubilus Izourgu and R. D. Obiki.
The third traitor was an officer and Akinloye’s good friend who allowed himself to be overcome by the temptation of the flesh.
These are just three of the many betrayals that our brother had to stomach. Akinyemi’s readiness to sacrifice his life for others reminds me of a very good friend and Catholic Reverend Father, Elias Kekong Bisong’s insightful categorisation of how in comparison to our Lord Jesus, people take to the making of sacrifices.
To Akinloye, being a Christian was more than the keeping of outward observances. It meant to deny one’s self, so as to carry one’s cross and follow Jesus. This is what Akin did. Those who are familiar with the biblical scene of Golgotha will remember that there were three crosses: the Cross of the first thief, the Cross of the second thief and the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The first thief rejected his cross, rebelled against everyone and died in despair. The second thief accepted responsibilities, defended Jesus Christ as not deserving the cross and died with hope. The Cross of Jesus Christ was a Cross of choice of our redemption.
Put differently, there are really three types of crosses of life for a human being to choose from. In other words, the cross we reject like the first thief, the cross we accept (like the second thief) and the cross we choose, like our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross we reject destroys us, the cross we accept saves us, and the cross we choose, saves us and saves others.
It, therefore, follows that sacrifice and love are one and the same. Thus there is no love when there is no giving part of oneself away. There must be a form of self-denial before there can be love. It was with such understanding that Akinloye accepted his cross. He played his part well. His life has taught me, and consequently given me the realization that there is no point in being led by selfish desires.
Akin’s rich Yoruba heritage
What is the relevance of our pointing out, earlier, the synchronicity, that is, the meaningful coincidence between the ancient Yoruba’s religious scriptures and their Hebrew parallels? It is to demonstrate that just as the Jews relentlessly gave, and are still offering the world men of wisdom, the Yoruba nation too, has kept on giving Nigeria in particular, and the world at large, beings of vision of which Major Akinyemi was one.
Starting from ‘The Word’ of Orunmila’s enlightenment, and the Yoruba Patriach Oduduwa, the ethno-nation blessed us with Madam Tinubu (whom Tinubu square in Lagos is named after), Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Methodist Patriach Bolaji Idowu, the three late Kutis-Prof. Olikoye Ransome Kuti, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Beko Ransome Kuti and of course their great parents Reverend and Mrs Ransome Kuti and their uncle the Noble Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka; Chief Rotimi Williams, Gani Fawehinmi, etc.
The Yoruba nation is still offering us the services of the likes of Generals Alani Ipoola Akinrinade, Benjamin Adekunle and Adeyinka Adebayo; Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi; Pastors Enoch Adeboye and William Kumuyi; Chief Akintola Williams, and obviously, the consummate politician Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Richard Akinjide, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Bisi Akande, the Awujale of Ijebu kingdom, Oba Sikiru Adetona, Otunba Segun Osoba, and the Emeritus Professor of International Politics and Security, Bolaji Akinyemi.
These are stars whose light Nigeria is in dire need of. This is why it is such a cruel irony that the Federal Government, which is most in need of personnel with appropriate capacity, have no Yoruba person in the topmost ten positions of the cabinet.
It may be necessary to ask our President and the ruling political party this: Why are the Yoruba deprived of any of these positions: Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of Federal House; Chief Justice of Nigeria, Secretary to the FGN, Chief Judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, Chief of Staff to the President, National Security Adviser (NSA), Private Secretary (PS) to the President, etc?
I do hope a Yoruba retired General is considered for the position of the Minister of Defence as a beginning of the long over due making up to the Yoruba. I do also hope that the leaders of Niger Delta and South West realise that the alliance between the two regions will be a marriage blessed by God.
Closely following the first group of Yoruba role models are Generals Emmanuel Abisoye, Olutoye, T B Ogundeko, and Ishola Williams, business moguls; Otunbas Oba Otudeko and Mike Niyi Adenuga; Otunba Niyi Adebayo; Professors Akin Oyebode, Segun Gbadegesin, Kole Omotosho, Bayo Williams, Mrs Margaret Vogt, Niyi Osundare, Anthony Asiwaju, Bola Akinterinwa, etc.
The young brothers of these great personalties must include rising stars like Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Babatunde Raji Fashola, the best Federal Minister of Agriculture Nigeria has so far been blessed with, Dr Adewumi Adeshina; Pastor Tunde Bakare and, of course, the recently transited comrade of ours, Major Akinloye Akinyemi.
What is common to the Yoruba nation’s gift to Nigeria, and the world in general, is that all these reputable and very important personalities is the hunger for divine wisdom which they were born with. Be it evangelists or statesmen or politicians or creative artists or intellectuals or military officers or civil servants or business people, most members of the Yoruba elite tap from the wisdom and spiritual science of the Ifa Odus. This is an inheritance which is stored up in the Yoruba people’s collective unconscious. What a Yoruba aspirant to any position needs to do is to drink from this already existing well of knowledge that is within his heart.
There might be some people who out of curiosity may question why I talk so admiringly of our Yoruba brethren; and may ask: what about my own ethno-nation? Since it takes one to know another, be rest assured that my people of the Boki nation and the Ejagam speaking people in general, and our neighbours in Calabar, the Efik people, are a well endowed race. This one sees not only in our highly creative and cultured personalities, but also in our intelligent and considerate approach to issues. We are also, as we all know, beautiful people.
This is why Cross Riverians are the most amiable and cleanest Africans. We are blessed with lovely musical voices, fascinating dancing steps and the most delicious African cuisine. One only has to go to Cross River State to behold all these, and many more.
This is why it is most ironic that a part of Cross River, Bakassi is being ceded away without the people’s consent. And the Attorney General and the Foreign Minister do not care to offer the proper counsel to the president.
It must be remembered that no far northern, specifically speaking Hausa-Fulani head of state ceded away Bakassi. How come that it is a southern President who initiated the ceding without any plebiscite? And why must a Niger Deltan President allow himself to be used to do what is an abuse of the human rights of the Bakassi people.
This we must finally remember: Major Akinyemi was no fluke. The Major came from a family of achievers. Apart from the world renowned Prof Akinyemi, Akinloye’s other siblings have all excelled in all their endeavours. In fact, the youngest of the brothers, Akinlolu who was always the contact between us and Akinloye when we could not easily reach him, is an enterprising business man. We Akinloye’s comrades thank Akinlolu for steadfastly standing by the high ideals of his brother. May God continue to bless Major Akinyemi’s immediate and extended family.
Akinloye was, indeed, a true son of his well-educated and cultured parents. Like his pastor father and mother before him and his brothers and sisters who were beside him, Major Akinyemi had exceptional foresight. He was, as we have illustrated, of the progressive leadership strand.
I only wish that we, Nigerians, and the Yoruba in particular, knew well, this illustrious son of ours. Comrade Akinloye Akinyemi’s contributions to the progressive cause were not publicly known. This is because since his years of incarcerations, Akin preferred to act for the noble causes from behind the scenes.
My final and dear wish is for my dear comrade Major Akinloye Akinyemi to rest in perfect peace, having played his part with courage and fortitude.
