"When You Die, Someone Should Die With You"
Perspectives on Accompanied Death by Moses Ochonu and Friends on Facebook in Relation to the January 2022 Burial of the Aku Uka of Wukari
Compiled by Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju with an Introduction, Background Images and Accompanying Facebook Comments by Various Readers
Accompanied death, the process of a person dying along with a person already dead, recurs in various civilizations. It emerges in the now defunct Indian tradition of Sati, discontinued by the colonising British, in which a wife burnt herself alive in the process of her husband's cremation. It has also been visible in a number of various African civilisations. Wole Soyinka builds his play Death and the King's Horseman around that custom as it was demonstrated in 1946 in the Yoruba city of Oyo. The sections of the play centred on the attempted ritual suicide of the king's horseman who is to follow his lord to the beyond are among his greatest work. It has been described in African cultures, as also actualised in the forceful seizure of people to be killed in accompaniment of a dead ruler, though whether it still continues in some or all of those cultures, I have not been able to ascertain.
In the case of the Aki Uka of Wukari, in Nigeria, his corpse is seated on a horse, leaning on the horse rider, who rides with the body into a forest believed, by one perspective, to a forest wherein is the abode of spirits where the deceased ruler will achieve his final transition. The spirits, this view states, may or may not decide to take the horse rider along with the deceased ruler, whose body is also believed to experience a fate unknown to any but the spirits and the departed ruler's final companion.
Picture of an earlier example of the final ride of the body of the deceased Aki Uka of Wukari, with his living companion
In the case of the Aki Uka of Wukari, in Nigeria, his corpse is seated on a horse, leaning on the horse rider, who rides with the body into a forest believed, by one perspective, to a forest wherein is the abode of spirits where the deceased ruler will achieve his final transition. The spirits, this view states, may or may not decide to take the horse rider along with the deceased ruler, whose body is also believed to experience a fate unknown to any but the spirits and the departed ruler's final companion.
Picture of an earlier example of the final ride of the body of the deceased Aki Uka of Wukari, with his living companion
Image source: Apajukun Facebook page
In the post and discussion below, Moses Ochonu and his Facebook friends discuss the subject in relation to the recent burial, in January 2022, of the Aku Uka of Wukari.
Moses Ochonu presents this view on what happens in the climatic final scenes of the ride to the beyond:
''there was no "intentional killing of another human being." The king's escort goes ALONE into the bush with the king on a horse and, depending on what the gods decide, would commit ritual sacrificial suicide. In many cases, the gods spare the escorts. In the current case, the young man was not only spared but has since returned home to his family.''
Zainab Ali, responding to Ochonu's post on the subject, presents another perspective on the fate of the ruler's companion:Moses Ochonu presents this view on what happens in the climatic final scenes of the ride to the beyond:
''there was no "intentional killing of another human being." The king's escort goes ALONE into the bush with the king on a horse and, depending on what the gods decide, would commit ritual sacrificial suicide. In many cases, the gods spare the escorts. In the current case, the young man was not only spared but has since returned home to his family.''
''historically the forest where the final burial is conducted is dangerous, wild animals evil spirits, and whatnot. So considering the escort is just one man, the possibility of something happening to him over there is known and accepted by him ab initio.
It is that danger that raise the conversation around the uncertainty of his return, it is never about him being sacrificed.'
Ochonu, a historial, tries to contextualise Ali's contribution:
''Zainab Ali thank you again!!This is very enlightening. You are educating many misinformed people. I believe many people criticize what they don't understand, and that there had to be a rational, perfectly logical reason for for the escort perhaps not returning. Often, with this type of things, the ritual/sacrificial/suicidal explanation is constructed strategically after the tradition has already taken root, as a way of consolidating monarchical power by further mystifying its occupant and putting sacred fear in the hearts of subjects. I have a similar story from Benin Kingdom.''
A principal disagreement between Ochonu and some of his intercutors is represented by the following exchange:
A principal disagreement between Ochonu and some of his intercutors is represented by the following exchange:
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I first provide the context of their discussion through images and accompanying commentary from sources familiar with the culture of the Wukari, from Apajukun, a Facebook page dedicated to this culture.
Context of Discusion : The Burial of the Aku Uka of Warri in Pictures and Commentary
Picture of What May be the Throne of the Aku Uka
Announcement of Live Streaming of Funeral Rites
January 12, 2022 PUBLIC NOTICE!!
This is to inform the general public that arrangement has been made for live streaming of the final rite (Pankya) of His Majesty, Dr Shekarau Angyu Masa-Ibi CON, The AKU UKA.
Those who may not be opportuned to attend can do so virtually on inferno TV (Facebook and Youtube).
A Poetic Celebration of the Aku Uka's Ride to the Beyond with His Companion
THE TRANSMOGRIFICATION & THE TRANSITION OF AKU UKA
He does not belong here alone, he belongs to the gods!
He descended from far beyond.
He was born mortal yet immortal.
His persona is twined betwixt two worlds.
He is an enigma beyond comprehension.
He is a satellite of the gods over the people.
He is a vicar of the gods.
He is the blend of the real & the surreal.
He knows no hate and hates not one.
On his hands is the power to make or stop the rain.
He possesses the power to silence the thunder and forbid the lightning
from striking.
Now, the appointed time beckons & his spirit must transit to NANDO, the great beyond where he will commune with the gods in the land of the living dead.
On his left hand, he holds the esoteric grains which he must release for the survival of the people.
On his right hand, he holds all the natural elements which he must let go of for his people as he journeys ahead.
But behold, a young hero on a stallion riding along gallantly with pride, dignity & majesty to the great beyond with the ANDU.
The ground quakes & the multitudes of people shake & tremble at the sight of the young hero who must not look back until he delivers the new citizen to the land of the gods.
Prince Beavens Ajiduku (PhD)
A prince from the great Kwararafa Kingdom
An Expository Explanation of the Aku Uka's Ride to the Beyond with His Companion
Credit: ApaJukun.
PANKYA AND IT'S MANY MYSTERIES.
The events of yesterday have left people wondering 'what actually took place?'. For an outsider, even some insiders, there are questions to be answered.
Firstly, PANKYA is the Jukun transition ceremony for the Aku to the great beyond. The Aku does not die. He is a 'son' of the gods, the guardian and protector of his people. His place is between the mortal and the immortal. The Aku is not venerated or honoured, no, he is WORSHIPPED by his subjects. He is a priest-king to whom libation is offered every morning. He is not associated with affairs of mortals like funeral and wedding. He is beyond emotions and weakness. Thus, he DOES NOT DIE. There will is no 'funeral rite' for him but the of journeying to NANDO and finally KINDO.
The PANKYA is a mystery. A mystery is what cannot be understood using human logic. Only those inserted into its cult (cult as in its true meaning and implications) and 'educated' in its practice can make sense of it.
So, the PANKYA is not just a ceremony or rite, it is a religious rite performed by cultic priests and worshippers. All others are just onlookers.
Because he does not die, there are no undertaker's, coffin or grave, that will make him mortal. He rides majestically on his royal horse to meet his forebears. The young man with him serves as his sheath bearer. But also serve as the proverbial scapegoat, on behalf of the community.
ABAGA'IDU NASHA'IN has gone to KINDO, his mission accomplished here. Another will take his place. May his reign last long in peace.
So, in summary, the Jukun culture is deeply religious, steep in mysteries. Any religion without mysteries is a fable. Thus, the PANKYA MUST BE UNDERSTOOD within the context of religion, for so is the Jukun world view..
CHIDON KU YII WATASHUMA.
Dankaro Solomon Further Responses
According to Jukun tradition, the transition of the Aku must be followed by the ritual suicide of the Aku's horseman as well as his wears, because the horseman's spirit (which is the ATOBE) is essential to helping the Aku's spirit ascend to the afterlife.
A specific family in the Jukun land has been task with the duty of the horseman to the Aku when embarking on journey to join his ancestors -- members of that family are trained from childhood to perform such duty relentlessly when need arises.
GOOD NEWS COMING FROM NANDO TO BYE-VYI TO KUNTSA.
The horse rider (ATOBE) has finally returned.
He's indisputably a man and a substantiated tenancy spirit.
The man that scuffled with the ghost prevailed.
Congratulations to the Apajukun of the great Kwararafa Kingdom.
Selections from Responses to the News of the Return of the Aku Uka's Companion
Umaru Emma
Solomon Ajiduku wrote:
This is how the cult looks like--an ombudsman, the proverbial scapegoat, the sacrificial lamb, the letting of his back to be laid the body of the late Aku in a soul-lime mood, in a sublime, to be taken to a destination, only known to the proverbial lamb and the cultists, the owners of the voodoo.
My grand parents were of it, my father too, I also partake in it. It is running in my blood. He goes with the horse, majestically paranoid engulfed him in darkness, melancholically he is encapsulated. The journey to the burial ground takes three days, at a point he will be left only him, the horse and body of the Aku Uka. He must deliver it to the gods, owners of the crest of the Aku Uka. Yes, he should, he might not come back any more-- if he does, he becomes in fable, he will be feared, looked at as a ghost. The horse, an innocent calf, has to go together with the body of the death. That's how the tradition is represented. We came with it from the Southern Yamen, in Israel, and very interesting indeed. It's mystical, but only those that belong to it knows about it. The onlookers will express scepticism, cynical, express doubt, but that's the mystic of it, you can't find it any where in this world. Check the history, it has always been like that, from 1903 till date. The traditional burial rites have remained the same. My grand father went through it in 1947, after his rule in 1927.
A Projected Online Discussion by Culture Experts Explaining the Burial Rites
Post by Moses Ochonu on his Facebook Wall on the Burial Cereremony of the Aku Uka
Moses Ochonu
Monday, January 17, 2022 THE AKU UKA'S FUNERAL AND MATTERS ARISING
The recent funeral of the late Aku Uka of Wukari, traditional ruler of the ancient Jukun empire, one of the oldest in the Nigerian territorial area, was a spectacle to behold. Thanks to social media and the democratization of audiovisual and photographic technology, many of us got to watch it unfold in real time or saw recorded videos of it.
Already, instead of celebrating this beautifully passionate display of an ancient, traditional African funerary practice and its self-affirming and proud survival in the face of colonial and postcolonial pressures, I see the usual derisive and dismissive contempt for the rites from the usual suspects.
The sight of thousands of men, women, boys, and children dressed in the traditional Jukun tiedyed loincloth and emotively marching, singing, and ululating to send their beloved king to the other side is remarkable.
But not everyone is impressed. The Pentecostal crowd is out in full force, condemning what it sees as demonic, cultic funeral rituals of the late king's transition to the land of the ancestors.
The problem I have with my Pentecostal brethren is that, sometimes, they have a hard time accepting a world in which people of other religions can find their own path to God or spiritual happiness.
The traditional religion of the Jukun is just as legitimate as Pentecostal Christianity. It is definitely older. Both are paths to God, one through the messianic status of Jesus, the other through the mediatory agency of ancestors and their spirits. The practitioners of Jukun religion are just as certain of their their access to God as Christians are of theirs.
The contempt for elaborate, mysterious, and ill-understood Jukun traditional rituals is part of the general perception of traditional practices as inferior fetish and of Christianity and modernity as foreign and superior, even though these two phenomena are neither foreign nor superior. And even though the Bible itself clearly states that people who believe differently and follow a different path to God will be judged according to their own deeds, values, and beliefs on Judgment Day.
Many of the critics hide their bigotry and contempt behind the image of the body of the late Aku Uka riding on a horse tied to a man said to be the person, as tradition demands, to accompany him to his final resting place. This is a euphemism for the man dying and transitioning with the king.
From what I've read, the man alone will ride on the horse with the corpse of the King to the final resting place deep in the wilderness, where he is expected to "deliver the king" to the gods and then commit ritual, sacrificial suicide.
In reality, many of the "sacrificial" companions return home, spared by the gods. Only a few do not. The idea is that if the gods wish, they could take the life of the king's living companion during or at the end of the three-day journey deep in the forest.
In that case, the family would take some solace in the prepaid financial compensation but more importantly in the honor that their brave, self-sacrificial member is now a companion of the king in the afterlife. If the escort returns home, he achieves heroic status and is lionized and venerated as a person who accompanied the king to the other side and returned with supernatural powers and blessings from the gods and the ancestors.
Despite Jukun people and those with intimate knowledge of the religion explaining that the man is a royal servant who signed up for the sacrificial role, many of the critics (from both the Christian and secular modernist perspectives) have pounced on this aspect of the funerary ceremony to condemn the religion of the Jukun as a barbaric cult.
Certainly, cultures and practices evolve or should evolve with the times to respond to changing moral sensibilities and notions of what is morally acceptable. Religious rituals inherited from ancient times that offend the moral paradigms of the present need to be reviewed.
Whether the sacrificial horse rider volunteered for the role or was, as is often the case, dedicated to it from birth, by some oracular divination, or parental decision, this is 2022 and the dead, whether they're kings or commoners, should be buried alone to travel to their ancestors and/or their maker alone.
However, the existence of this practice is not a reason to condemn, wholesale, the beautiful ancient funerary tradition of the Jukun people, to deride the strong traditional religious devotion of the people, or to disrespect the sacred throne of the great Aku Uka.
For those who do not know, the Kwararafa/Jukun Empire, the postcolonial remnant of which the Aku Uka presides over, was the political cradle of most of the peoples and polities in Central Nigeria (Middle Belt), with the Idoma, Igala, Ngas, Eggon, Berom, Alago, Tarok, Ebira, Awe, and many other ethnic groups in the region tracing their origins or that of their kingship traditions to the great empire.
So great and vast was the Kwararafa empire headquartered in Wukari/Okali that it directly or indirectly ruled over a territory that briefly included Kano.
You can express your discomfort with the sacrificial aspect of the funerary rites without condemning a beautiful, resilient religion, a great kingship institution, or the legacy of an ancient, glorious kingdom.
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