He listens to them and ensures they understand that he is not immune from the plague that decimated the country. Here, Odewale displays good leadership qualities. It seems as though he isn’t doing anything. People bring their grievances, pain, and grief to the King. The land is ravaged by disease and death. Odewale has ruled Kutuje Land for eleven years in peace and prosperity. Odewale, Ojuola, and their four children are two boys and two daughters.

Odewale marries Abero and inherits Ojuola as his wife.

The people of Kutuje recognize his bravery and elect Odewale to be their King in recognition. Odewale, the Ogundele-Mobike son, rescues Kutuje from the clutches of the Ikolu marauders. He launches an attack on Ikolu Land and conquers its inhabitants to seize their lands for Kutuje. Kutuje Land is saved by an unknown member of the Ijekun Yemoja tribe. Ikolu’s people ransack Kutuje Land, doing iniquitous acts to its citizens. His kingdom is plunged into chaos and crisis. Thirty-two years after the birth of the child that would kill and marry his father, King Adetusa dies a brutal death. They would soon forget about the child who died in the evil grove. This was a consolation for Obatala, the god of creation. Ojuola and King Adetusa have another child two years later. The boy’s feet are tied with cowries, and he is to be sacrificed to the gods. Gbonka, the Ogun priest’s special messenger, takes the boy to the evil forest to prevent this. He will marry his mother and kill his father. To predict their son’s future, they use Baba Fakunle’s service, an able but blind Ifa priest, to guide them in keeping with Yoruba customs.ĭivination shows that the Gods have cursed the boy. The parents bring their newborn child to Ogun, the god of iron, on the ninth day after his birth for blessings from the Ogun priest. King Adetusa of Kutuje Land and Ojuola, his wife, are happy to announce their newborn son, their first child. This proves that the play’s events occurred in an era of zero European presence and submerging civilizations in the hinterland Yoruba lands. The cowry is their currency of the transaction. They believe in Yoruba deities, and they act according to these beliefs. When necessary, they can also be warriors. Kutuje’s people are mainly farmers and hunters. Intimate readers of Yoruba towns such as Oyo, Ife, and Ede are also provided with flashback techniques and snippets of conversation.

The play’s major action takes place in Kutuje Palace’s precinct. Kutuje Land in the pre-colonial period is the setting for the play.

The gods are not to blame ola rotimi