Chapter I
The Kakanfo
Every hotel has a name. This one carries a title — and a title, in Yorubaland, is not a decoration.
The Name
Aare Ona Kakanfo
In the old Oyo Empire the Aare Ona Kakanfo was the generalissimo: the supreme commander of the Yoruba armies, appointed by the Alaafin of Oyo himself. The title was never inherited. It was granted, to one man at a time, and rarely.
It carried a hard rule. An Eso — a war captain of that order — could not be wounded in the back. To be struck from behind meant he had turned, and turning was the one thing the office did not allow. Every wound had to be in front.
There are no wars to command now, and the title has become a title of advocacy: its holder speaks for Yorubaland rather than marching for it. What survives is the standard. Granted rarely. Never inherited. Never carried backwards.
The House
Ilé Kakanfo
The house opened in October 1988, on a quiet street off the Ring Road, in a part of Ibadan that has stayed residential while the rest of the city grew loud around it. It has not moved since.
Ninety-five rooms across five classes. Four halls and a boardroom, the largest of them seating over a thousand. Two kitchens, a bar in a bamboo garden, a pool and a treatment room. Certified to ISO 9001:2008, which is a way of saying that the standard is written down and audited rather than merely intended.
Seventy minutes from Lagos: close enough for a morning meeting, far enough to forget the road.
