What is the best way to destroy a powerful person or an organization? Is it from the inside or the outside? Obviously from the inside. If you want to kill a man, you would have a greater chance of achieving your goal if you can have the help of his closest friend or family. Going down the African historical lane, we see this notion of killing a man through his people used over and over and over again. Take for instance the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Europeans couldn’t possibly have succeeded in taking hundreds of thousands of Africans as slaves if their own leaders didn’t give them out in exchange for mirrors, guns, and the Bible. Again how was Africa’s Che Guevara, Thomas Sankara, killed? His death was orchestrated by France with the help of his closest friend Blaise Compaore and a group of other soldiers. Imagine if his friend stood by him, maybe Sankara would have lived long enough to transform Burkina Faso. What about the man who pushed for a United Africa, Muammar Gaddafi? Yes, the West was already planning on removing him because he didn’t play by their rules but members of the African Union reportedly asked the European Union and the West for help in putting Ghaddafi in line because they felt he was acting out of place. The help they sought resulted in the death of Gaddafi and left Libya in shambles till today.

In today’s video, we are going to revisit the story of the legendary Nigerian King who was betrayed by his fellow Nigerian rulers all because of the British Queen. This story is kind of ancient and like many ancient stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, there could be variations to it but it doesn’t make it any less valid. This story begins in 1911 in a village near Ugwolawo where a legend was born. His name was Attah Ameh Oboni, a prince of the Igala people. When he was about three months old, tragedy struck, taking the life of his father, Attah Oboni Akwu Odiba. With the death of his father, Prince Attah left the palace to stay with his mother’s relatives at Adumu Village in Itobe District. Attah was the only son of his mother, Alami Inedu, a native of Itobe, who was married off to three successive rulers. When his elder brother Acho was appointed district head of Ajobi, he took Prince Ameh Oboni to stay with him and treated him like his own child.

Some years passed and in 1935, Prince Ameh Oboni left Idah for lokoja and later to Okene, where he eventually found employment under the then British waterworks. While in Okene, Prince Ameh Oboni enrolled himself in elementary primary school where he studied up to class two (2). He was very fluent in Hausa language, the Official language of the defunct Northern religion. Prince Ameh Oboni at this time resided at Ugwunoba and Okene seeking for knowledge in the traditional way as a free thinker. However, his journey in seeking knowledge came to an end when in 1938, his brother Onu Acho died and Mr. Goble, the district officer of Idah, sent for the Prince. With the death of his brother, Prince Ameh Oboni, a young man of 27 became the heir apparent to the Attah throne. That same year he got married to his first wife, Aluda who hailed from the Achi section of the district.

However, it took 7 years for Prince Attah to be installed as the Attah of Igala land. This ceremonial event occurred on May 1st, 1945, a period when the Second World War was just coming to an end. The resultant economic boom affected the Igala Kingdom. Although Attah Ameh had only little formal education, he championed a developmental agenda that improved the quality of education, basic infrastructure such as good roads, basic amenities and other social intervention programs for vulnerable people in Igala. He expanded the Igala Native Authority schools, encouraged his people to establish primary schools in his kingdom, and expanded the Igala Native Authority dispensaries to all district headquarters.

To his people, His Royal Highness Attah Ameh Oboni was a powerful ruler who carried an aura of mystery and is believed to have had supernatural powers. It generally believed that whatever he said came to pass. For instance, it was said that he commanded that everyone should have money from any business he or she was doing, and that they should start to build modern houses instead of the common thatched houses, and it began to happen immediately. There was a particular sickness called jigger or chigger which eats up toes, making people unable to work and walk. Attah Ameh commanded that every infected person be healed and that the sickness be out of Igala land and yet again it happened as stated. Another time there was an animal, a wolf which used to come home and carry children including sleeping adults sometimes from the room which was made of grass wall. He cursed the animals never to come to Igala land again and that was the last time the wolf was seen in Igala land.

Reports also revealed that there was a time when Attah Ameh Oboni was invited for a meeting at Nsukka and on reaching Egabada River where they were to cross from Odolu, he was told that the ferry that would take his car across the river had gone. Instead of turning back, Attah asked his driver to drive on top of the water with his eyes closed so as not to be late for the meeting, and they crossed as stated. All these were proof of his supernatural powers and his people loved him for it. Attah Ameh Oboni ruled for ten years and these were explosive and unforgettable years in the history of Igala Nation. People say he ruled like Ayegba Om’Idoko, a powerful Attah Igala of long ago. Before he became the Attah of Igala, there was no Aerodrome in Idah but during his reign as King, Idah had an Aerodrome for the first time in its history. The town gradually became a modern town like any other Nigerian town. During the construction of the Aerodrome, Attah Ameh actually joined his people in communal labour to cut down trees and clear the land for the proposed aerodrome. Everybody including the Attah himself came to the site with his machete and hoe.

In the presence of everybody, His Royal Highness Attah Ameh Oboni pulled off his flowing gown and started work. His Royal Highness worked till late afternoon and from that day till the construction was completed, he participated fully and his presence acted as a tonic to the people, as the architecture and skyline of Idah were rapidly changing. His actions proved that Attah Ameh was a true leader who cared for his people. Attah Ameh proved that he could balance the winds of change that were spreading throughout the African colonies by accepting and pushing Western education but also preserving local tradition. Although this later led to his fall.

In the same way, the British Monarchy had strict etiquette that must be followed, it’s the same way the Attah of Igala had strict customs that must be followed regardless of the situation. For instance, the Attah Igala does not see a dead body, he does not see a baby that is less than three months old, he does not shake hands with women, and he does not remove his cap in public or in the presence of people. This was the tradition of the Igala people and it must be honored. Unfortunately, some of these laws later set the stage for his fall.

In a particular meeting held in Kaduna which consisted of all paramount traditional rulers in Nigeria and which had the queen of England in attendance, Attah Ameh was forced to violate the forbidden don’ts. Recall that it was forbidden in the Igala culture for an Attah to remove his cap in public but during the meeting, Attah Ameh was told that he had to remove his cap before greeting the Queen. To make matters worse, he also had to shake the hands of the Queen after removing his cap. This meant he would be violating two rules considered abominations. Attah refused. Now, the Queen and the other Northern rulers were angry and threatened to throw him out of the meeting unless he complied. Let’s pause for a moment. Why didn’t the other rulers stand by Attah Ameh? Is it that they were not aware that what he was being asked to do was an abomination for him? It certainly is not possible that they didn’t know. So why would they side with a foreigner against their fellow rulers? It’s baffling. This was the beginning of their betrayal against Attah Ameh.

Seeing that he would be forced to leave the meeting, Attah warned the council of rulers that calamity would befall them for the stance they had taken and so attempted to lift off his cap. As he was about to lift off his cap, a swarm of bees immediately filled the hall where the meeting was to be held. Guess where the bees came from? From the cap of Attah Ameh. The Queen of England as well as other rulers in the meeting ran helter-skelter except the friendly Oba of Benin who was asked by Attah Ameh to go out before he removed his cap. The hall became empty as some were stung by the bees and the meeting ended.According to history, Attah Ameh Oboni was asked to be arrested and handcuffed by the security people, which they did, but the handcuffs fell off his hands. He was later locked up in a room on the instruction of the Northern rulers and guarded by the security personnel but only to find out later by the personnel that he had left the room.

This embarrassment presented the Queen and the rulers of the Northern Kingdom of Nigeria, with a motive to immediately conspire to have Attah Ameh overthrown. Besides this, it seemed the Attah was already getting tougher and uncontrollable, unlike others, so the Queen used the bee incident as an excuse to remove him and find his replacement. They began to look for an opportunity and it came during the Ocho festival.

The Ocho festival is one of the various cultural festivals celebrated by the Igala people. This festival is celebrated before farming starts, and it is the time that Attah Igala prays to God for sufficient rainfall, a bountiful harvest, and success in hunting. It is celebrated in the bush and the venue is called Ere-ocho, where the Attah will hunt until he kills a Buffalo or a strong animal. The community in Idah where Ocho takes place is called Ogo-Efa. He performs a little sacrifice to the ancestors using a fowl in the process, and this was to find out if there will be blessings or problems in the land after the Ocho. As we said, traitors among the Igala people who had connections with other Northern leaders had been working hard to get any evidence either true or false that could be used to remove Attah Ameh from the throne. The blood of the animal used as a sacrifice at Ocho Ground became what they needed to remove him from power.

These traitors wrote a petition to the Queen and some other Northern leaders that Attah Ameh was sacrificing humans during the Ocho festivals. Since they were looking for any means to displace him, judgment was quickly passed that he must be dethroned, even when investigations were not yet concluded. In addition, all the Igala cultural festivals including the Ocho were immediately banned and this remained for almost 63 years until Governor Yahaya Bello unbanned them based on the appeal of the present Attah Igala. Already, before this time, the Oba of Benin who had such friction with the British had already been dethroned and banished from Benin. So, Attah Ameh Oboni knew that at that point, no matter what spiritual approach applied, it can only postpone the evil day as his enemies will never relent until he was removed by them.

And so, Attah Ameh who had been wrongly accused and framed by his enemies, especially those from Igala who wrote the petition against him marking the beginning of his planned dethronement, decided to commit suicide. Unfortunately, after he died, the result of the blood sample which was taken from the Ocho venue and taken to the University of Ibadan for analysis had arrived and it was proved that it was the blood of an animal and not a human. So he was innocent. Attah knew that regardless of the result, his enemies would continue to find ways to remove him from power and so he decided to take the decision from their hands and kill himself. But before he died, it was reported that Attah Ameh made some pronouncements.

He was allegedly quoted to have said that ” the person who wrote the petition against him would have that hand dried up, and that the leader of the gang or petitioners would be buried three times”. And they all came to pass. Attah Ameh committed suicide in a town called Dekina where he proclaimed before he died that Dekina will be popular but its development will not be as much as its popularity. He also said that because Igala was the genesis of his ordeal, there will be disunity among the Igala people until the reign of his blood (son) as Attah, and all Igalas irrespective of their locations would be reunited again. This was the end of Attah Ameh Oboni.

Now imagine if the other leaders stood by him in the first place when he refused to bow before the British Queen. Attah Ameh would have probably lived long enough to do great things for his people. Africa can continue to blame the West for killing its formidable leaders but the truth is, if Africa didn’t give the West a chance, none of that would have happened. This story shows that Africa is its own problem. If African rulers refused to sell their people to the Europeans for mirrors and guns, and they fought against it, there would have been no Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Africa would not have been colonized and exploited for its resources. If Africa continues to sell its people then no progress will be made. There is a need for a change of attitude and perception. It’s time for Africa to stand for itself.