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DON'T TOUCH THE CHAIN!
As this reporter made effort to touch a chain nailed on the wall the royal father screamed '' Don't, Kai ! please don't touch it, it is forbidden. Don't touch it if you love yourself. Kai , please don't touch it or you will be paralyzed''. The old man cried to high heavens. Shock, fear and embarrassment engulfed  this reporter's mind and he started shaking like a leaf floated on water. He developed goose pimples. No matter
how bold you are even if you have a lion's heart your heart beat would increase not because of high blood pressure but seeing
a ''mere'' rustic chain nailed on the wall and being told how sacred it is
.
The monarch said ''the chain is called ' eghan' that is the chain
one  of our ancestors came down with from the above''. No wonder this forms part of the 'oriki' (panegyrics) Ulale quarter, Oma Alale ateghan ro [ Siblings of Alale that came down with chain]. That is what was on
the wall of one of the courtyards in the palace,the rustic chain
nailed on the wall , it coiled round the small rustic iron
nailed on the
wall.The nail and the chain had become rustic as they have seen ages.
According
to Oba Julius Okikiola Folagbade Adetifa III, the Alale of Idashen
, "It is forbidden to touch the chain, whoever touches it
will become paralyzed.I must confess to you that such calamities had
happened in the past as our forefathers told us. And this is known in
this vicinity .So no one touches it ! The chain
has been there for over 400years and it is what the first Alale used to descend from heaven''. He continued '' the Alale first landed in Okejeti , Ile -Ife, later at Ora and Oke Owo where the Government Primary school it today, and ended here at Idashen'', he said , while nodding intermittently and with full confidence of the approval of his story . Alale said ''people from all places come here to do research on it and
they found
out that it is true'' .
The royal father , who is now the 35th Alale of
Ulale said the chain is highly significant because it has a role to play before, during and after their festival, he continued ''Our festival called Agwe is held every five years and it is the most popular and important one in all our festivals .When it is the time for the festival
the mysterious chain gives signs and would unwind itself gradually especially in the month
of June till July , and that means the festival is ready
to be observed, while those in charge of the festival would know and
request for all the requirements needed . The community will then informed . And immediately after the festival the chain goes back or recoils
back to its former position until the following five years for another
festival", he proudly explained.
SLAVE DIED AFTER NAILING IT ON THE WALL
On how it was nailed there the monarch said he could not say since it has been there for centuries as he who happened to be the 35th royal father met it there also. He said ''According to history my father told me ,it
was one of the slaves that nailed the mysterious chain on the wall, after nailing it on
the wall the slave died!'', the old man said, looking straight at the reporter's eyes.
RULES OF THE FESTIVAL
According
to the monarch, Agwe festival is held every five years . Agwe means bath , he said. During this period necessary
rites are performed , some of the rules to be observed and strictly
adhered to are: one must not eat leftover food or wear the clothes he
wore the previous day, in a nutshell new clothes are worn
everyday.Mothers and women would plait their hair while the Monarch's wives would do same . There is also a stream where water is fetched for bathing
daily and those fetching the water must not be met on the road to
avoid calamity befalling on those who met them on the way.
Alale said the reason why it is observed is that ''the festival, Agwe brings peace, love and progress to the community''.
What if not observed? The Oba was asked. ''Haaaa,eewo!, it must be observed , it is compulsory and if not done to the fullest there will be calamity,
problems, wahala , war and many will not bear children. please don't ask this type of question , haaa, it will be fire on the mountain and I pray never to let it occur ," he replied.
STRANGE ROOM FOR FEMALE
Asked
why another room , called Ile Oru remained closed, the monarch pointed at it and declared with voice raised
"That room is a mysterious room (pointing) it has been there for
centuries. It is forbidden for any female to enter that room and whoever
does that will be barren for li...fe!" .
 Has anybody fallen victim?" the
answer is positive! . A Queen called Aisenwen, wife of one of the
Alale’s centuries ago entered the place as a result of the curse her father placed on her .
When she entered the room her husband, Alale who knew the story behind it knew she was doomed .
FORBIDDEN TO SEE OBA'S HEAD
As the royal father kept on adjusting the white skull cap on his head several times , one wondered why, but he has this to say with total confidence that it is a taboo for any royal father to leave his head open for public glaring , he said no
royal father must leave his head open to the public to see and since he is a royal he has to be covering his head. " I am
a monarch and my head must not be seen . It is
forbidden , that is why I don't leave my head open and again I am also an ordained spiritual Aladura Priest whose head has been poured with anointing oil . The old man dropped a bombshell ''whoever
sees the skull of this head will be stricken by poverty .That is why
many drivers did not like to drive monarchs .They will live and die as a
pauper if they dare see the monarch's head '' , he said .
Asked who drives him , the monarch quickly replied" Oh, my
son drives me , and he is free to see my head for he owns me and
could be the future King but for others they are afraid to drive a king
as they will ever remain a pauper! ", he said with full authority .
Roles as a traditional ruler and Baba Aladura
"As
a man of God and also a traditional ruler , I am doing both
successfully , Oba as a traditional ruler is different thing from the work of God .You place God's work
on your shoulder and handle or hold tradition in your hand .I have no
juju but I believe fervently in God , I know what to say , I know a
little invocation ,but don't know more than that.I believe fervently
in God.When it is also time for tradition , I also observe it but most of them
are handled by the town's chief priest"
HOW THE QUEEN ENDED HER LIFE
The
Baba Aladura who doubles as the monarch and head of community said
the forbidden sacred room no man born of a woman must not open and had never been opened in life sacred room had never been opened , and nobody dare tries it
.we believe there is a special ritual performed in the room to guard
against destroying the town, so many things must have been done to guard
against enemies in the town .It is a sacred room and a- no- go area to
everybody .I have never been tempted to break into the place to sight
what is there.
He added ''here is a river here called Aisenwen , it does not flow,
we call it the river that never flows.It is also good in healing as
many had got healed there also .
.The water or river is worshiped , she was a goddess
from another town, she got married to Alale, her taboos were broken
and she ran into a clay pot and hide herself''.
The monarch likened it to the story of Oronsen .
THE GREAT CONTROVERSY [Whose story is ORONSEN?]
The monarch said the story of Idashen is like that of Oronsen's Igogo festival in Owo. According to Alale the Monarch's wife was a beautiful woman the royal father, Alale married. She was very rich and was excreting coral beads while she warned her husband to respect and honor her three taboos , thou shall not throw wood before her very eyes, thou shall not grind okra and threw firewood before her.
According
to Adetifa III, the wife of one of the ancestors, Alale was beautiful
and loved by the King but other wives were envious of her . Apart from the
beauty, the woman, Aisenwen used to defeacate expensive coral
beads which was strange and also made the king loved her. One day she
stole her father’s precious stone called Ogun and presented it to her
beloved husband, the king, during a festival of which the royal father
gladly accepted not knowing where it came from. The father of Aisenwen
who was powerful discovered what happened and then placed a curse on her
daughter, Aisenwen that she would do the forbidden in her husband’s
home.
The story continued that the other wives
of the royal father secretly discovered the taboos of the woman through
their husband and plotted against her and broke her taboos in her presence by
throwing wood, throwing water among others before her eyes. The woman
then ran into the forbidden room (Ile-Oru) weeping like a baby there.
"When the royal father came, searched for her and later found her in the
forbidden room he screamed as he put his index finger in her mouth
since he knew the consequence. The beautiful lady narrated all what went
wrong while the royal father was away and from there she fled into a
bush in tears. As she was going she was weeping, shaking her head and
cursing the day evil befell her. She was sorrowful. She was in tears and
no amount of pleadings from her husband could rescue her."
When
Aisenwen got to the bush, she met a clay pot there and went inside to
hide in case her husband sought for her. Truly, the royal father went
into the thick bush weeping too in search of his beloved wife. He went
with gifts begging her. He went with his chiefs and slaves to beg his
beautiful wife to come back home but the woman turned deaf ears. In the
end, the clay pot miraculously melted and turned into a river but
refused to flow. To date , the river is there and called Aisenwen
River. " Each time you pass this river, my son, you will see that, it
does not flow. It is a true life story of love,"
River Aisewen is
popular in the community and it is worshiped every year. According to
investigation, the river cannot flow and must not flow to the other
side. "It has been dredged several times but does not flow to the other
side.
If it flows a calamity will occur," a chief in the palace corroborated the story .
DOORLESS WINDOW
"What
of the strange window on the mud wall that has been there over 400
years?" It is here the powerful monarch, Alale disappeared into after he
had come down with chain and landed on the Osayinagwe tree. The window
must not be opened, yet it has no door through which you can enter, we
call it the doorless room." The royal father said with a smile.
According
to the monarch, the window has been there for centuries and no one
has ever
tried to open it. "It has no door but only a window. And this is where
our
ancestor Alale used to disappear into anytime he left the hot
war-zone'', he said with confidence and added ''it is a mysterious
window nobody must open or dare open it," he
said.
On the animal horns, the royal
father said "many believe that
somebody was behind Obalisa who normally did whatever he was told to do.They are horns of cows. During the Agwe festival they are brought out and they
are only two pieces. The belief is that a man is behind Obalisa yet the
man that does it is Oloke and this is still observed till date." 
The
monarch said he enjoyed wearing his special occasional clothes like
Keghojo, Olorimeji, Opanmeta, Egwu Okun all are traditional woven
clothes made for special occasions. "I am the 36th Alale on the throne and we still observe our new yam festival.
YES, I OBSERVE RITUALS AND OFFER SACRIFICES
For the monarch who is not only a Christian , but also holding a position like Pope as Baba Aladura of a church, he sis not deny the fact that he observes rituals and sacrifices. Beating
his chest, the monarch said that he offers sacrifices and rituals for
peace to reign in the country adding that he prays as a Christian and a
prophet for the country. "Despite the fact that I am the head and king
of this place, I observe prayer, I fast and do vigil with my subjects.
Again, as the royal father necessary things like offering sacrifices and
rituals are
performed too," he said.
A SPECIAL DRUM and MYSTERIOUS STAFF
There is a special drum called Oluseepe, it is also positioned strategically there, the leather
drum must not be beaten by just anybody and it is beaten during burial
only.
 In a corner is a beautiful staff wrapped with white clothe placed in a
conspicuous place where one of the Monarchs was buried , this staff can
only be handled by the Oloris (Queens). Though, it looked attractive
but it is forbidden to be touched by any living man, if it touches any
man , he becomes impotent immediately . No antidote. No wonder every
male runs away from it to avoid touching him and face calamity.
400 YEARS OLD TREES
Also
in the compound are five trees , they are called the five strange
trees - all the trees are touched only when it is time for yam festival
here , the monarch explained, "they are known in local parlance as
atori, ogbagbayobo, akoko, and so forth"
At the time of visit there were kolanuts,, animal skulls and other sacrificial materials under the over 400years old trees.
MY LIFE STORY
The
royal father who was once a tailor , plumber and musician narrated how
he became a King. He said he had once been told at the age of 20 that he would become a king in his lifetime . "I was born in
June , 1934 and it had been predicted since 1954
that I would become an Oba and also a Church leader but I
never believed it because the two were believed to be opposite .Aside
that I was
once a tailor, a plumber, and a musician .I had been told in my dream that I
would work for the Lord and if I disobey I would always be sick ''. The old man added that ''three or four
people told me they saw a crown and feather on my head but I never believed
it since I am an Aladura until years after when all these came to
pass".
PREDICTIONS CAME TO PASS
The royal father continued his story ''My father died in 1977, and the mantle of assistance fell on me , and in order not to leave the palace alone without anybody I was asked to be there temporary and be assisting for six years after his death since we don't have an Adele or Regent here like some other neighboring towns so therefore whoever is assisting
becomes Adele until I became the real king .
'' Infact became Baba Aladura in 2002
.They installed me as a royal father of this community and I ascended the throne in 1992. I have spent 27years on the throne'' .
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