A popular Yoruba adage says, "Ìka tó bá sẹ̀, ni ọba ń'gé" which in English translates to "the one that commits offence get punished".
The Yoruba political system believe in the relevance of justice and equity as a vital tool through which the society can be sustained.
The establishment of a township, community, district, province and a society necessitate the need to have a body of legal framework that guides the conduct and actions of people who resides in such society. It is worthy to note that nobody is above this law, and there is a laid down punishment for whoever goes against these laws.
Another adage says "Ìlú tí ò s'ófin, ẹ̀sẹ̀ ò sí níbẹ̀" which translates to the fact that, a society where there's no body of law (a state of lawlessness) guiding her conduct will have nobody punished, people can behave or act the way they like.
The King stand as the Grand commander of the land. He is in-charge of exercising power and punish whoever goes against the law.
Once upon a time, there live a king named Aláyélúwà in the ancient town of Agbọ́tikúyọ̀. This king is wealthy and in his possession are lots of properties, Slaves and valuables.
The king has lots of domestic animals in his royal palace, these animals includes the cat, the cow and the King's horse.
In the olden days, before Motor vehicles are introduced, the King's Horse serve as a means of transportation. The King rides on his horse to events and during festivals.
The King has a slave who is saddled with the responsibility is to take care of the King's Horse, the Cat and the Cow. It is in the usual habit of the King's Horse that whenever it's well fed, it's used to flaunching around the palace.
One day, the Cat told the Cow that they'd better warn the horse to desist from his careless action of jumping around, so it won't get into trouble one day.
The Cow replied, "we will never get punished for his offence, "Ìka tó bá sẹ̀, ni ọba ń'gé" (The one that commits offence, get punished by the King). It added that if the horse commits any offence, the cat cannot get punished for another person's offence.
On a fateful day, The King slave fed the horse and it started it usual careless act. When the horse was jumping around it mistakenly hit the Yèyé Ọba (King's mother) and the king mother died.
The royal family upon hearing the demise of the King's mother arranged for a befitting burial. The King ordered that the cow be killed to serve the guest at the burial ceremony.
Why should the Cow be punished for the Horse's offence?
There were uproar in the palace while the animal requested for equity in Justice. The entire animal represented by the cat wrote to the king telling him to punish who offended since the law of the land says "Ìka tó bá sẹ̀, ni ọba ń'gé" (The hand that offends, will get punished).
The King overruled the request and maintained that the cow need to be killed because it is needed to entertain the guest.
The King also ordered that the Horse be decorated in the royal way to suit his arrival on the day of the burial feast. The Cow get punished while the Horse that offended got decorated.
This tale examine the presence of justice and circumstances that may derailed passing justice to who is due. Equality is absent in a state where all parties are not treated equal in justice. In a sane society, injustice it's abnormal. Infact, one of the characteristics of an underdeveloped nation is injustice.
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