Sankofa (For We Are Our Past) Remi Omodele, Founder & Executive Director
The past is never dead. It’s not even past. William Faulkner Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. I am because you are. An ancient Zulu maxim
I have a confession to make. I was born in Ikere, the West African town which inspired My Palace Initiative. My mother is a member of the royal family, and I enjoy a close relationship with Aba, His Highness, Oba Adegoke Adegboye. Strange as it may seem, My Palace Initiative has little to do with my familial affiliation. In fact, it has complicated my current efforts in a way. Let me explain.
In 2007, I had yet another brief conversation with His Highness during which I voiced my frustration. Every time I visit him, the palace is in a worse shape than the last. Aba’s response: “I am here at the people’s wish. If the walls should collapse and end my life, that, too, should be seen as their wish.”
I had a similar conversation with a number of my mother’s relatives, some of them Chiefs representing the royal family in the Council of Chiefs. My vociferous and direct views were met with polite silence and a few sympathetic nods. For the first time, it dawned on me: Neither the King, nor any member of the royal family is entitled to ask the town for anything, least of all, a palace! According to tradition, the palace grounds belong to the people and only they, never the King, can build on it.
But as most of us know, traditional ways have long given way to colonial practices as well as the influence of contemporary society which are no respecters of Africa and her ancient traditions.
Between the restriction on the royal family and the town’s lethargy—lethargy stemming from the erosion of ancient value systems—the palace has been slowly falling into disrepair for about a century. This erosion has rendered asunder the social systems that made constant maintenance and repair of the palace possible. Now, many worry that future kings may not respect the people’s ownership of the palace and may rebuild or modernize it to suit their individual taste, thereby resulting in the loss of the ancient earthwork architecture forever. Despite the worry and the disrepair, the palace continues to function as the place of gathering for important festivals such as the obligatory Yam Harvest rituals which usher in the traditional New Year.
While many of the traditional functions continue, the disrepair threatens the palace and the values for which it stands. Indeed many Africans have begun to look back longingly to the days when the palace was a source of pride and dignity. Also, many now believe that the demise of the ancient systems is perhaps one of the prime sources of Africa’s endemic problems. For me, the collapse of the Ikere and other African palaces is certainly a symbol of the collapse of a rational, regional way of life.
The challenge for me has been how to motivate and encourage the people. After more than three years of research and consultations, however, I have come to believe that I can best succeed through My Palace Initiative. My research and travels have led me to an impressive array of people who enthusiastically share as well as endorse my belief that the restoration of the palaces will preserve Africa’s architectural treasures; that my desire to restore palaces is at once regional and global; that these palaces are an African way of life as well as architectural treasures for the world to enjoy. These endorsements have come from friends and relatives, nationally acclaimed artists and authors, historians, sociologists, civil servants, market women, farmers as well as earthwork professors.
I gratefully acknowledge that these endorsements have been vital. They have buoyed me, and they have translated into tangible and much needed assistance. I am encouraged that all these people realize that the palace is the flag bearer of African ideals such as ajogbe, ajore (Yoruba) or ubuntu (Nguni, Siswati, isiZulu, isXhosa, isiNdebele). Known by different names throughout Africa, ubuntu or ajogbe is the guiding principle for life and orderliness. Ubuntu, according to Bishop Tutu, is "a quintessential human moral commitment to other people’s well being."
A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others… He or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished…
President Nelson Mandela adds:
A traveler… would stop at a village [and] the people would give him food… [He] didn’t have to ask for food or for water… That is one aspect of Ubuntu but Ubuntu has various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to improve?
As we can see, African palaces are more than mere architecture and prestige. In the lives of many Africans, the palace is not simply an icon. It is an embodiment of the ideologies and glue that have held Africans together despite all external pressures. Ubuntu is the standard practice typical of palace life. It emanates from the palace, that is, the leadership, and permeates society. Like the person with Ubuntu, the palace is available to all, and it is affirming of all. In traditional times, there were no gates. Homelessness and similar deprivations were forestalled through this singular way of life. In Ikere, parents with too many children or those deemed unruly would readily send such children to be raised in the palace. The elderly found care. In the absence of the palace, cases of homeless children and neglected elders have been confirmed in Ikere.
I shudder to think of what would become of Africa and Africans if the palaces and the ideals they shelter become extinct simply because there are no longer palaces to house these ideals. Speaking of shelter, UNESCO has been at the forefront of the struggle to return looted artifacts of cultural import to their homes of origin. My vision encompasses palaces to which such works will return; palaces complete with museums; palaces where foreign visitors as well as natives find ubuntu; palaces that are open for business once again: educating, entertaining, nourishing creativity and promoting justice. Such palaces will serve to showcase the best of Africa’s past and shine a light on a promising future. The world as well as Africa’s future leaders will recognize the palace as the repository of profound accomplishments, ideals, and meaning.
Remi Omodele, PhD Executive Director
Let not this past die on our watch. Let's save it, and save future generations the cost of digging for it.
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The Ogoga of Ikere: late 19th-early 20th century |
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