The First Female Ruler of L’Eko by OLUWATOFUNMI LAWAL

The First Female Ruler of L’Eko by Oluwatofunmi Lawal

Retold by Ariellah Offor 

One day, Oba Akinjobi was entering his palace when his daughter princess Funmilola joined him. He was worried because he was getting old and did not know who would be the next king after him. Although he had a son, his heir, prince Kunle had always been found among the bad gangs in the village of L’Eko. When he got to his throne, he was looking worried and called Olori Semipe, his queen who asked him what he had been worrying about.  She suggested that he should call Baba the oldest and wisest man in the village for answers. When Baba arrived, Oba Akinjobi told him all his problems. Baba thought of what to do until he thought of the trials of prince Kunle. Baba told the king about the trials of prince Kunle and said “If he succeeds, he will become king but if he doesn’t, we will have to think of a better plan.” Oba Akinjobi thanked baba with ten tubers of yam and a gallon of palm wine.

There was a woman named Iya Mofe. She had a husband named Baba Mofe. Iya Mofe told her husband to steal from the King, but baba Mofe decided to be a trust worthy worker to the king. So, Iya Mofe called Moyo, the King’s Chief. Iya Mofe gave Moyo something to put in Olori Semipe’s milk. when Olori Semipe drank her milk, she died.

When the trials of prince Kunle came, they served prince Kunle with his favourite food to eat. Then, he saw a woman almost starving to death and he just gobbled up his food. The next test was that prince, Kunle saw some men beating some ladies and then he joined the men in beating the ladies. Last of all, the test was when some people were gossiping about Prince Kunle becoming king after Oba Akinjobi. He started rejoicing and went to tell all his friends. Prince Kunle had failed the test and was taken to prison. Oba Akinjobi called Baba and told him that Prince Kunle had failed the test. Then, Baba thought and thought and thought, then said, “Why don’t we do the trials of Princess Funmilola.”

The day came for the trial of Princess Funmilola. She was given the exact same test that Prince Kunle had done

But she did the exact opposite of what Prince Kunle had done and passed the test. The things Princess Funmilola did were: she was given some food and when she saw a woman almost starving to death, she gave her food to the starving woman. She also saw some men beating up some ladies, then she beat up all the men that were beating up the ladies. After that, she heard some people gossiping about her becoming queen then, she started crying and said “All I want is my mother back”. Oba Akinjobi was happy that Princess Funmilola had passed the test. He started to congratulate her and told her she was going to become the first female ruler of L’Eko. Princess Funmilola was still sad because she missed her mother. The day finally came and the people were ready to swear in a worthy ruler, Princess Olori Funmilola.

Ariellah Offor is an 8-year-old pupil of Corona School Victoria Island. This piece is her submission for the Jordan Hill September 2019 Writing Challenge.