Oyo: 420-Year-Old Tortoise ‘Baba’ Dies at Alaafin’s Palace
A tortoise believed to have lived for about 420 years and popularly known as Baba has died at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo in Oyo State.
Baba, regarded as an important relic of the ancient Oyo Kingdom, reportedly died on Monday after falling ill and was subsequently buried.
The Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin, Bode Durojaiye, disclosed this in a statement issued in Ibadan on Thursday.
According to Durojaiye, Baba had been cared for by successive Alaafins and became an enduring part of the palace’s history and cultural heritage.
“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,” the statement quoted Durojaiye as saying.
The palace said oral tradition traced Baba’s origin to Oyo-Ile, the ancient capital of the Oyo Empire, from where it was brought to the present palace in Oyo town.
Over the years, the tortoise reportedly became a tourist attraction, drawing visitors to the palace because of its reputed age and size.
The statement said two palace officials were assigned to care for Baba, adding that the animal was fed with watermelon, corn pap wrapped in leaves and grass.
The palace said Baba fell ill on Monday and stopped eating before eventually dying.
It described the tortoise as more than an animal, saying it had become deeply associated with the history and traditions of the Oyo royal institution.
“While he was alive, Baba was more than a diapsid. He was arguably the oldest living mammal in the world. He was venerated and loved by the people, who turned his abode in the Palace into a tourist point,” the statement said.
The palace added that Baba was believed to have acquired his name because of its extraordinary age, with “Baba” being a Yoruba term of respect commonly associated with an elder or father figure.
It said the tortoise had been inherited by successive Alaafins, who continued to provide for it as part of the palace’s historical relics.
“In Oyo, Baba was regarded as the oldest indigene. It was the Paramount Ruler’s most besotted pet. The Monarch met it in the Palace. Baba was nourished by a succession of kings, who inherited him as part of the relics of their ancestors,” the statement added.
The palace also connected Baba’s significance to traditional Yoruba conceptions of the relationship between the living, the dead and the unborn, drawing a cultural parallel with Wole Soyinka’s play, Death and the King’s Horseman.
It described Baba’s death as the loss of a longstanding companion and a symbolic part of the palace’s oral history.
“Baba fell ill on Monday, just a little sickness and couldn’t eat anymore. Then he died. Just like that.
“He had since been buried. Good night, Baba,” the statement concluded.
