Aoole Arogangan

Aoole Arogangan was the Alaafin after Abiodun, who was a cousin. Aole Arogangan ruled for seven years. He was unpopular mostly because he compared terribly with his immediate predecessor. Aole, as Alaafin, was petty and he showed no particular ambition to be a good king. His suppressed malice and weakness combined to put an end not only to his reign but also the united Yoruba nation and its tributaries.

The stated manners of this prince, had earned him several unknown enemies among the powerful members of his government, and he suffered a great mutiny, when, in order to kill his Army Chief who lived in Ilorin, an influential Aare Ona Kakanfo named Afonja, he commanded an expedition that would bring the army against Iwere, a place fortified by nature and by art. It was customary for Army Chiefs, known as Aare Ona Kankanfo, in the old Oyo Empire to commit suicide when faced with persistent failures and Aole hoped that would be the lot of his rival. The nobles and their men turned against Aole’s loyal party and then sent insignia of Alaafin’s rejection. Aole, on receiving this symbol, took his own life after completing a dramatic gesture followed by what will appear as prophetic utterances against the powerful members of his government who triggered his fall. This is believed by some, to be the reason for the decline of Oyo influence in Ilorin and of the end of the old Oyo Empire.

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