A Tale of Two Kingdoms: Francisland and Opoboland

by Ahmed Olayinka Sule, CFA and Kojo Solomon

13 October 2010

Once upon a time, there lived in the Kingdom of Opoboland a

powerful King called King Kofi. He had three beautiful daughters
called Jumoke, Sarala and Tamila. The King was very fond and
protective of his daughters.

One Sunday evening while sitting on the veranda of his palace, Kofi
called his three daughters and said “Daughters, I have a very
important announcement to make.”

The daughter were concerned and Sarala said “What is it daddy?

Hope everything is okay?”

“Not really,” King Kofi replied. “I have just received a report

warning me that the mighty King Francis of Francisland and his
invading army are coming over to our territory to attack us.”

“But why should you be bothered?” Jumoke interjected “after all

your Kingdom extends to hundreds of miles and you have a mighty
army that can withstand any invading army from any part of the
world.”

Smiling, Kofi answered “Jumoke, I admire your optimism, but I am

afraid,” placing his hands on Tamila’s shoulders, he said “King
Francis lives across the ocean, he has the most powerful navy in the
whole world and has the most sophisticated weapons the world has
ever seen.” Looking dejected, Kofi exclaimed “it is all over!”

Meanwhile, 3,100 miles away from the Kingdom of Opoboland, King

Francis was addressing his troops. The naval force numbering
around ten thousand stood with rapt attention listening to every
word of the King.

With his baritone voice, King Francis yelled, “The time has come,
the hour is near. Go to the Kingdom of Opoboland and conquer the
Kingdom. Take the three beautiful daughters of the King and bring
them over to my Kingdom,“ Looking at the worried and puzzled
faces of some of his troops, King Francis continued “this should be
an easy task. Afterall, the people of Opoboland are inferior, they are
animals, and are not intelligent enough to withstand us. We are
superior and we should not allow these barbarians to govern
themselves, as they are incapable of doing so. If any of you feels
guilty for what you are about to do, please leave the battleship
now,” With a clenched fist, King Francis said “however, remember
that the people of the Opoboland Kingdom are two legged savages
with brains far nearer to the animal world. Though are they are not
beasts, but certainly they are not quite human either. “

After King Francis finished his speech, the troop shouted in one
accord “Long Live King Francis, Long live Francisland, Francisland
rules the waves!”

The Naval fleet then left the shores of the Kingdom of Francis for
the three-month journey to Opoboland.

On a raining afternoon in September, the mighty Naval Fleet of

Francisland landed in Opoboland. The superior naval force of
Francisland, destroyed the Kingdom of Opobo, leaving a trail of
sorrow, tears and blood in the Kingdom. All the artifacts in
Opoboland including a sculpture of the King’s mother were stolen.
King Kofi was captured and all the treasures of the palace were
looted and shipped back to Francisland. Most of the men and
healthy children in Opoboland were taken as slaves to work in
various plantations in different parts of the Kingdom of Francisland.
The three princesses were raped and taken onto the ship to become
mistresses to King Francis. King Kofi was deposed and the invading
soldiers took the 105-carat diamond stone engraved on his crown
away. King Kofi was then taken to the outskirts of Opoboland and
sent on exile never to be seen again.

King Francis then sent an administrator from Francisland to rule

over Opoboland. Several months later, other administrators were
sent from Francisland to plunder the rich resources available in
Opoboland. Minerals such as gold, zinc, cooper, diamond etc were
shipped out of Opoboland and used to develop the Kingdom of
Francisland. The people of Opoboland were deprived of their dignity
and had to bear the agony and shame of living as third class
citizens in their homeland, while their captured brothers and sister
worked as slaves in far away places.

One Hundred Years Later

The people of Opobo, who were fed up with the one hundred year
oppression by the people of Francisland began an insurrection,
which resulted in the new King of Francisland handing over the
conquered territory back to the people of Opoboland. The
Opoboians later appointed a King (the first king in a hundred years)
and began to take control of their affairs.
The Opobians thought that once they were able to take control of
their Kingdom, everything would be okay. Unfortunately, they later
realised that the legacy of the 100-year occupation by the
administrators from Francisland had left them worse off. However
as they were resilient people, they continued to work hard to
rebuild their Kingdom.

Back to reality

If you have got this far, we would like to say a big thank you for
reading the story up to this stage.

A couple of questions:

When one considers the plight of the people of Opoboland:

Does it make sense for the people of Opoboland to participate in a

sporting event created from the ashes of Francisland’s 100-year
occupation of Opobo?

Does it make sense for the current King of Opoboland to attend an

inter-governmental forum created from the ashes of Francisland’s
100-year occupation of Opobo?

Does it make sense for the people of Opoboland to take pride in the
fact that they were former colonies of the Kingdom of Francisland
despite the terror caused during Francisland’s 100-year occupation
of Opobo?

Is it unreasonable for the people of Opoboland to demand an official

apology from the current rulers of Francisland for the pain, indignity
and oppression inflicted on the people of Opoboland during
Francisland’s 100-year occupation of Opobo?

We believe that in a post-colonial world, a critical appraisal of the

legacy of colonialism is necessary.

Regards

Ahmed Sule, CFA Kojo Solomon

suleaos@gmail.com KojoSolomon@googlemail.com