Oyetola and the ‘a o m’erin j’oba’ choristers, by Semiu Okanlawon

Permit me to tickle you with the Yoruba folklore: A o m’erin j’oba (We’ll Make the Elephant King), which, in history, has no parallel in apt dramatisation of deceit, wickedness and fraud usually woven around fame and positions of influence and affluence. In the A o m’erin j’oba tragi-comedy, the elephant, in its obvious majestic size and shape, was led on by a band of deceivers, manipulators all garbed in praise-singers’ attires. Sadly, they had a sinister motive. Those who chorused its praises and assured the elephant of its impending “coronation” had dug his grave where they planned to ditch it once they succeeded in cajoling it to follow them to the venue of “coronation” ceremony.

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