Oyo Kingdom’s 420-Year-Old Tortoise Dies

Baba, who died last Monday after a brief illness, has been buried.

Confirming the death, the Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin, Bode Durojaiye, said Baba was more than just a pet to the Palace.

He said ““In Oyo, Baba was regarded as the oldest indigene. It was the Alaafin’s most besotted pet.

“The incumbent Paramount Ruler met it in the Palace, as Baba was nourished by a succession of kings who inherited him as part of the relics of their ancestors.

“Baba was more than a turtle in status. He represented a part of the oral history of the Yoruba race. Now, the Alaafin has lost an ageless companion”, he said

Durojaiye disclosed that oral history confirmed Baba was brought from Oyo-Ile, the old Oyo Empire, to the present Palace in Oyo town, where two Palace officials were assigned to look after his well-being.

“Baba ate watermelon, corn pap wrapped in and grass. He was a tourist attraction as many people trooped into the Palace to see and experience Baba due to its age and strength.

“Strong and friendly, Baba was the reason many people trooped to the ancient Palace in its days.”

He also drew a cultural parallel, saying,“In the early 1970s, when Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka wrote his play, ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’, he embalmed a portion of Yoruba culture which suggests that there is a connection between the world of the living, the world of the dead and the world of the unborn.

“But in Oyo, outside Soyinka’s play, one king’s tortoise who connected all three worlds defied these odds to become the oldest animal in Yorubaland.

“On Monday, Baba fell ill, just a little sickness and couldn’t eat anymore. Then he died. Just like that”, he said

Durojaiye added that His Imperial Majesty, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, plans to preserve the remains to give Baba the chance to remain for another century.