The Alaafin’s Palace in Oyo State is mourning the death of Baba, a tortoise believed to have lived for about 420 years and become one of the palace’s most treasured historical relics.
Baba reportedly died on Monday after falling ill and was subsequently buried, bringing an end to what the palace described as a centuries-old presence that had survived through the reigns of successive Alaafins.
The Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin, Bode Durojaiye, announced the death in a statement issued in Ibadan on Thursday.
According to the palace, Baba was more than an animal because he represented part of the oral history and cultural heritage associated with the Yoruba people.
Oral history reportedly traces Baba’s origin to Oyo-Ile, the ancient capital of the Oyo Empire, from where the tortoise was brought to the present Alaafin’s Palace in Oyo town.
Over the years, Baba became a familiar attraction at the historic palace, drawing visitors who wanted to see the tortoise because of its reported extraordinary age and size.
The palace said two officials were responsible for caring for Baba and feeding him with watermelon, corn pap wrapped in leaves and grass.
Baba reportedly became ill on Monday and stopped eating before eventually dying, according to the palace statement.
The palace described the tortoise as a longstanding companion of successive Alaafins, with each monarch inheriting Baba alongside other relics associated with the ancient kingdom.
The name Baba was reportedly adopted because nobody could call the tortoise by its original name, while the title also reflected the perception of the animal as an extremely old male creature.
During his lifetime, Baba became so popular that his presence at the palace attracted crowds and turned his location into a notable point of interest for visitors to Oyo.
The palace said Baba was regarded in Oyo as the oldest indigene and described him as a cherished pet of the Paramount Ruler who had been nourished by generations of kings.
The statement also connected Baba’s symbolic importance to Yoruba cultural beliefs concerning the relationship between the living, the dead and the unborn.
In making that connection, the palace referenced Wole Soyinka’s celebrated play, Death and the King’s Horseman, which explores themes surrounding Yoruba traditions, mortality and the relationship between different generations.
Baba’s reported age made the tortoise an unusual living link to the history of the old Oyo Empire, even though the 420-year age claim is based on palace oral history rather than a documented scientific age assessment.
His story also illustrates how animals can become embedded in the cultural memory of historic institutions, particularly when generations of people encounter the same animal as part of a longstanding tradition.
For residents and visitors familiar with the Alaafin’s Palace, Baba was therefore more than a tourist attraction, as his presence had become intertwined with stories about Oyo’s royal heritage and the continuity of the ancient kingdom.
The palace’s account suggests that successive rulers treated Baba as part of the heritage handed down from previous generations, strengthening his symbolic connection to the institution of the Alaafin.
His death consequently marks the end of a remarkable chapter in the palace’s living history and the loss of an animal that had become deeply associated with Oyo’s royal tradition.
Although Baba is gone, the stories surrounding his extraordinary reported lifespan and his place at the Alaafin’s Palace are likely to remain part of the cultural memory attached to one of Nigeria’s historic kingdoms.
The palace concluded its tribute to the tortoise with a simple farewell, announcing that Baba had been buried after falling ill and could no longer eat.
For a creature that reportedly witnessed generations of Oyo’s royal history, the final farewell marked the closing of an extraordinary chapter at the ancient palace.