A tortoise known as Baba, which the Alaafin’s Palace in Oyo said had lived for about 420 years, has died after a brief illness.
The ancient tortoise reportedly died on Monday after falling ill and stopping eating. The palace later buried Baba within its premises.
The Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin of Oyo, Bode Durojaiye, announced the death in a statement issued in Ibadan on Thursday.
According to the palace, Baba was more than a palace pet, having become part of the oral history and cultural heritage associated with the Yoruba people and the ancient Oyo Kingdom.
Durojaiye said oral history traced Baba’s origin to Oyo-Ile, the ancient capital of the old Oyo Empire, from where the tortoise was reportedly brought to the present-day palace in Oyo town.
The tortoise was said to have been cared for by successive Alaafins and inherited as part of the historical relics associated with the palace.
The palace also said Baba became a notable attraction for visitors, with people travelling to the palace to see the tortoise because of its reported age, size and unusual history.
Two palace officials were reportedly assigned to care for Baba. Its diet included watermelon, corn pap wrapped in leaves and grass.
The palace described Baba as an “ageless companion” to the Alaafin institution and said its reported longevity enabled it to become a symbol of continuity between different generations of the Oyo Kingdom.
“In Oyo, Baba was regarded as the oldest indigene. It was the Alaafin’s most cherished pet. The monarch met it in the palace, while Baba was nourished by a succession of kings,” the palace said.
The name Baba, meaning “father” in Yoruba, was reportedly adopted because of the respect attached to the tortoise’s supposed age.
The palace said Baba fell ill on Monday and stopped eating before dying later that day.
“Baba fell ill on Monday, just a little sickness and couldn’t eat anymore. Then, he died. Just like that,” the statement said.
Baba’s reported age, however, has not been independently verified. Reports indicate that the 420-year figure is based on palace oral history rather than a documented birth record or scientific age determination.
Nevertheless, the death has drawn attention to the tortoise’s longstanding cultural significance at the Alaafin’s Palace and its role as a living link to stories surrounding the old Oyo Empire.
The palace also connected Baba’s symbolic importance with Yoruba cultural beliefs concerning the relationship between the living, the dead and the unborn, referencing Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman.
With Baba’s death, the Alaafin’s Palace has lost an unusual historical attraction that, according to the palace, had survived generations of monarchs and become an enduring part of Oyo’s oral tradition and heritage.
**Goodnight, Baba.**