President Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858-January 1919) was the 26th president of the United States. He served from 1901 to 1909. When asked to rein in his 19-year-old daughter, Alice, whose conducts had become so embarrassing to the people, the man known as TR, had this to say: ‘I can do one of two things. I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice Roosevelt. I cannot possibly do both.’
Children of the mighty and most powerful, in some instances, are pains to their parents. Yoruba sociology of parenting categorises children based on their behaviours in the public. There are some children regarded as àkóìgbà, which refers to the category of children who are patently impervious to correction. An àkóìgbà child, though well-brought up, remains an outcast in behaviour. He or she behaves in manners that negate the home training given from the cradle.
The second categorisation is the àbíìkó or àbíìpabé children. These are the ones whose antisocial behaviours can be excused because the fault lies with poor parenting. An àbíìkó or àbíìpabé child receives no home training and as such, has nothing going on for him or her in terms of good upbringing. In the real street lingo, they are called born throwey (born and throw away).
There are some known as omo òwúrò alé. Children in this category are the ones who were given the normal proper family training but, along the line, abandoned those lofty morals due to bad influence and adopted behaviours that conflict with their family. The beauty of an omo òwúrò alé is that timely intervention can save the situation and bring them back on track.
The worst category is the omo pàpànlagi. Those in this typology are lost, completely – nothing can change them. They attach no importance to family values and have no sense of shame. When an omo pàpànlagi exhibits his or her characters in the public place, the opprobrium is always on the family. Unfortunately, the majority of members of his or her family are of good accounts, good characters and enviable dispositions. The question is: how does an omo pàpànlagi acquire the bad behaviour?
When a child displays any character that indicates an error in his or her upbringing, the African society has a way of correcting that. In most cases, the reaction of those who experience the detestable character is to send the unruly child back home. This method, I dare posit, is common in Yorubaland where the saying: Òde la ti únkó omo tí kò ní èkó (a bad child receives lessons in good conduct from outsiders) holds sway.
Back to Alice Roosevelt. Two biographers, Colin McEvoy and Tyler Piccotti, in a July 23, 2025, piece titled: Hunter Biden and the 8 Most Problematic Presidential Children of All Time, say of Alice thus: ‘Although her actions might seem harmless by today’s standards, Alice Roosevelt was such an unconventional woman during her day that she repeatedly made headlines and caused headaches for her father Theodore Roosevelt.. Alice smoked and swore in public, which was practically unheard of among female socialites at the time. She also attended and placed bets at horse races and took her pet snake to parties. Before William Howard Taft became president, Alice buried a voodoo doll of Taft’s wife, Nellie, in the White House front yard, earning herself a ban from the nation’s capital.’
Alice was so notorious that she featured again in another article by the Newsweek, The Most Problematic Presidential Children, published a year earlier on June 13, 2024. That notoriety by Alice informed why Americans called on their president to do something about the behaviour of his daughter, and he quipped the opening quote.
Nigeria has its fair share of Alice Roosevelt. Noemie Emery, on June 25, 2003, details misbehaviours of the children of the mighty and powerful in Why Have So Many Presidents’ Kids Gone Wrong? A reading of the portraits of the children mentioned in the piece will resonate with what Nigerians have experienced in the hands of spoilt brats of their leaders. Something close to Emery’s piece occurred the penultimate week in Edo State.
What played out in the sacred palace of the Oba of Benin, last Thursday, between the Benin monarch, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Ewuare II, and the self-imposed Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Mrs. Folasade Ojo-Tinubu, daughter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, calls for sober reflection.
Every society defines its own structure. The Benin people of Edo State are a peculiar lot. When our elders say how we behave here is a taboo in another land (bí a ti únse níbí, èèwò ibòmíì), they probably have the Benin people in mind.
That is exactly what the Benin sovereign, Oba Ewuare II, did to Mrs. Folasade Ojo-Tinubu when she came calling to the Benin Palace with the misadventure of Iyaloja of all Edo Markets.
The uniqueness of the Benin Palace lies more in the carriage of the oba. The Omo N’Oba is the epitome of the culture, tradition and custom of the Benin people. In him, the people find their essence. His personage speaks royalty in all ramifications. Thus, what one can do and get away with in many palaces will no doubt attract severe sanctions if done in the Omo N’Oba’s palace.
If there is any Black nation that still holds to its foundational culture, give it to Benin. Everything in the ancient city, and by its people, revolves around the monarch. He, like the modern-day executive president, is the fountain of honour. The Omo N’Oba owns every inch of Benin land. He creates dukedoms and appoints Dukes to oversee them in trust. He is the law, the judge and jailer!
The Benin palace operates a new level of protocol. For instance, the Omo N’Oba does not wait for anybody. The oba, hailed as Umogun, determines who he sees. And when he sits in his court, the entire kingdom bows in deference. In any of his court sessions, he determines the proceedings. He appoints who to talk and dictates what to say. Benin palace functionaries, at any time, can read the body language of the oba and act accordingly.
Another unique nature of the Benin palace is the way different guests to the ancient palace are treated differently. Beyond the general courtesy extended to guests, the issues to be discussed determine how the king reacts. For issues of less importance, the Omo N’Oba does not speak directly. Especially when it has to do with the tradition of the Benin Kingdom, the palace does not place a premium on the personality of the guest. For the oba and his subject, it is Benin tradition before any other thing.
When the oba prays, he calls on God and the ancestors – because without the tradition, there is no kingdom. Therefore, when anyone approaches the palace with any alien tradition different from that handed over by the ancestors, the palace does not spare any effort at setting the record straight.
One of the traditions of the Benin people is that when the oba speaks on any matter, his words become law. No one fights the palace and becomes popular. Whatever the Oba of Benin hates, becomes abhorrent to the entire Benin. Whoever clashes with the oba becomes an enemy of the entire kingdom.
Once a person is declared the enemy of the palace, Oghionba, the person immediately becomes a pariah. No Benin son or daughter associates with anyone who has a score to settle with the Uku Akpolokpolo! This is an unwritten code that has passed from generation to generation. There is nothing to show that such will change soon. This is one of the lessons any guest to the palace must learn and understand before venturing to the sacred ground where the Oduma (Lion) of Benin Kingdom resides. ‘Civilisation’ has not succeeded in changing that order!
Albert Lekan Oyeleye, a professor of English Language, taught Pragmatics, Semantics and Discourse Analysis at the University of Ibadan. In his Truth Condition seminar class a few years ago, he posited that meanings are in binary oppositions of plus or minus. He added that when words are spoken, they carry meanings that are not of surface values, called ‘Deep Structure’ in that branch of Linguistics. ‘Deep Structure’ meaning states that one must consider all the variables to be able to arrive at the intended meaning of any spoken word.
When the Omo N’Oba looked at the president’s daughter last Thursday, and said: ‘You are in Benin, the home of culture. We have our culture here,’ my mind raced to Oyeleye’s ‘Deep Structure’ and the binary opposition of meaning. I asked: what was the deep structure implicature of the statement?
If, without being speculative, one applies Oyeleye’s Truth Condition, can one successfully submit that what the Benin monarch told the president’s daughter is: in case you have no culture where you come from, here in Benin, we have our culture? This semantic implicature is further amplified by the next question Oba Ewuare II asked Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu thus: ‘Do you know the role of Iyeki in Benin culture?’
But more importantly, and still in the realms of Pragmatics, when the oba considered the response from the self-styled Iyaloja General of Nigeria, the next step the Benin monarch took, indicated clearly that the issue in discourse is of no importance – indeed an aberration in Benin Kingdom. He simply directed a chief to educate the woman on how Benin runs its market system. ‘Iyaloja is a bit alien to us here in Benin. I have discussed this matter with my chiefs and those who are knowledgeable’, the Omo N’Oba said, and directed Chief Osaro Idah, the Obazelu of Benin, to educate Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu.
Those who were physically present during the encounter recalled that the Benin monarch was visibly angry – justifiably so. Ever since the encounter, there have been series of activities in Benin City surrounding the issue of Iyaloja of all Edo Markets. The debate in town centres on the misadventure of Mrs. Folasade Ojo-Tinubu to impose on the ancient kingdom of Benin, a strange market structure that makes an individual the head of all markets in Edo State.
In a daring move, Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu had, earlier, before coming to the palace, inaugurated one Pastor Josephine Ibhaguezejele. as the Iyaloja of all markets in Edo State. She did that at the Festival Hall of the Edo State Government House. The Benin Palace had the information in disbelief. It was after the ‘installation’, that the president’s daughter ventured into the sacred palace ground to ask the Omo N’Oba to rally support for Josephine Ibhaguezejele. Sacrilege!
Naturally, such a stranger-than-fiction position would infuriate the palace which had in 2024, kicked against such an anomaly. What gave the Iyaloja General of Nigeria the boldness to go ahead and do what she did? What height of bravado propelled her to visit the palace to ask the Omo N’Oba to rally support for the new Iyaloja of all Edo Markets?
When the Omo N’Oba asked if Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu understood the concept of Iyeki, what the oba was saying was that Edo markets are not without leaders. The only difference is that while, for instance, Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu could transmute from being an Iyaloja of Lagos to Iyaloja General of Nigeria, no such position exists in Benin, nay the entire Edo State.
According to Benin culture which Oba Ewuare II lectured the president’s daughter on, no single market leader can control another market in Benin. The oba was emphatic when he told Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu that ‘Iyaloja is a bitalien to us here in Benin. I have discussed this matter with my chiefs and those who are knowledgeable.’
The concept of Iyeki, a pure traditional position, according to Chief Idah who spoke on behalf of the oba, is different from the social and cosmetic Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu parades. What the Benin palace told the president’s daughter could pass for an inaugural lecture on cultural diversity.
While anyone without a single store in any market can become Iyaloja General in the culture that produces the like of Ojo-Tinubu, in Benin, and the entire Edo State, no single individual can lord it over other market women in different markets in the state.
More importantly, too, while it is possible for President Tinubu’s daughter to turn the Iyaloja chieftaincy title to a family affair and transmute from being Iyaloja of Lagos, the position formerly held by the late Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, to becoming Iyaloja General of Nigeria, in Benin, an Iyeki (market leader) is the representative of the Oba of Benin in any Benin market. The occupier of that position also carries out some assigned duty for the oba in the market.
This is why Chief Idah, speaking for the oba, tutored Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu: ‘Iyaloja is alien to us here in Benin. Every Iyeki has a special relationship with the palace. Are you aware of that? Do you know that every Iyeki has a cultural role to perform inside every market?
‘The Oba does not interfere so long as the Iyeki does what is expected of her in the shrine of a particular market on behalf of the Oba. We are not going to say much, except to explain to you the concept of Iyeki in Benin. Iyeki is independent in every market, like the Oba Market, Ogiso Market, and others. The traders select their leaders from within the market. The Iyekis do more than the role of coordinating traders. There are certain shrines in all the markets. They play certain roles on behalf of the palace. After their selection, they bring the person to the palace for confirmation.
‘The novelty of a general Iyeki is alien to Benin custom and tradition. We just believe the Iyaloja is your socio-cultural thing, like you have other clubs. It is not in our culture to have a general Iyeki. Iyeki is particular to each market. No one has the right to control another in a different market. The Iyeki in Oba Market has no role to play in Ogiso Market. The Oba established the market for all in the society.’
Let us go back to Alice Roosevelt. Why would President Tinubu’s daughter flout Benin culture? I ask this question because on April 30, 2024, she had written a letter to Oba Ewuare II, asking him to provide all necessary support for Pastor Isi Ibhaguezejele, as her appointed Iyaloja of all Edo markets.
In the letter, Mrs. Ojo-Tinubu did not just introduce herself as the Iyaloja General of Nigeria but also as: ‘.the First Daughter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR).’ You may wish to ask as I did, what is the import of that family background in a letter seeking support for a venture? What was she trying to tell the oba? Then she went ahead to say:
‘With greatest sense of responsibility and utmost regard to our Royal Father, His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Ewuare II, The Oba of Benin, I humbly write to introduce PASTOR MRS JOSEPHINE ISI IBHAGUEZEJELE as the Edo State lyeki-Elect.
‘With the development, it is her responsibility to see to the day-to-day affairs of the traders in the state (Edo State).Your Majesty, I humbly request that you give your daughter every necessary backing to succeed in this great and noble assignment as I look forward to your fatherly blessing for her to be fruitful in her newly assigned responsibilities.’
Expectedly, the letter, when it became a public document, generated a lot of heat in Benin. All daughters and sons of the Benin Kingdom, at home and in the Diaspora, rose in its condemnation. The agitation was heavy such that the president’s daughter backtracked.
The prevailing situation in Edo State then was not favourable. That was the period Governor Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was holding sway. There was no way the self-imposed Iyaloja General of Nigeria could have appointed a stooge in the state.
But after the September 21, 2024, gubernatorial election which produced the current Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mrs. Folasade Ojo-Tinubu got her confidence back. Her father’s political party is the ruling party in the state. The rumours of the installation of Pastor Josephine Isi Ibhaguezejele as Iyaloja of Edo markets gained traction. But many did not believe that the venture would be revisited so much so that the Omo N’Oba had earlier rejected it.
Now the president’s daughter has installed an Iyaloja for Edo Markets, with the full support of the Coordinator, Office of Edo State First Lady, Mrs. Edesili Okpebholo-Anani and possibly the Edo State Government’s tacit support as implied in the use of the Government House Festival Hall. In contrast, Oba Ewuare II, Oba of Benin, who by tradition and custom, determines what happens in his kingdom, has said that such a position is alien to Benin tradition. The die is cast! Who blinks first? Who shifts ground: the Benin tradition or the position of ‘the First Daughter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR)?’
This is where President Tinubu should act. As the father of the Iyaloja General of Nigeria, and as an elder, President Tinubu must tutor his daughter that it is not every cloth that the chameleon imitates. The president must act fast before people begin to ask questions that will interrogate his parenting method for his children.
President Tinubu, this time, cannot speak the way TR spoke when asked to caution his recalcitrant Alice. Tinubu, I submit here without hesitation, must be President of Nigeria and control Folasade at the same time. Unlike TR, our PBAT must ‘possibly do both.’ This is the Toro (half Kobo) I have to loan to the President.