Hello folks,
Going to enter the dark side with this topic. Afonja is a very controversial figure. He gets a lot of flack for his rebellion and for losing Ilorin to the Fulani in 1826.
I don’t think he deserves that much hate or scorn, although he had his failings. The Alaafins of Oyo were the most powerful rulers in what is now Southwestern Nigeria. But there were already cracks in the edifice more than 50 years before Afonja’s rebellion.
Bashorun Gaa, of the Oyomesi, is another controversial figure. He deposed and forced to suicide several Alaafins (namely Labisi, Awonbioju, Agboluaje and Majeogbe)and must have enjoyed some kind of popular support to get away with all the despotism that he was accused of, until he had to deal with Alaafin Abiodun.
Besides, Oyo which was the suzerain of Dahomey, through which it controlled several slave ports and received tribute would lose it, following Gaha’s and Abiodun’s death, most likely during Alaafin Aole’s rule.
Alaafin Aole was not cut from the same cloth as Alaafin Abiodun. Samuel Johnson’s History gives a glimpse of the tyrannical nature of his rule:
[b]None of Abiodun's numerous children succeeded him on the throne. Aole, a tall and handsome. Prince, a cousin of the late King was elected in his stead. But unfortunately, his reign was a very unhappy one; it marked the commencement of the decline of the nation until it terminated in the tragic, end of the fifth King after him. The cup of iniquity of the nation was full; cruelty, usurpation, and treachery were rife, especially in the capital; and the provinces were groaning under the yoke of oppression. Confiscation and slavery for the slightest offence became matters of daily occurrence, and the tyranny, exactions, and lawlessness of the Princes and other members of the royal family, were simply insupportable. Oaths were no more taken in the name of the gods, who were now considered too lenient and indifferent; but rather in the name of the King who was more dreaded. “Ida Oba ni yio je mi” (May the King's sword destroy me) was the new form of oath!
Aole was unfoitunately saddled with the ill fate of the nation, as the following ditty commonly sung would show :—[/b]
“Laiye Abiodun I'afi igba won 'wo. Laiye Aole I'adi adikalè”
(In Abiodun's reign money we weighed by bushels. [Lit. With calabashes.] In Aole's reign, we packed up to flee).
From the same author, we know that his first expedition was against the Baale of Apomu. The previous Alaafin, Abiodun, had sent orders to the Ooni of Ife, to increase security at Apomu because many of his subjects were abducted and enslaved while going to that market. The Ooni, ordered his vassal, the Baale of Apomu to act accordingly and this is how the new Alaafin Aole and the Baale became enemies, according to Samuel Johnson:
“Aole who was then a private man used to trade in these parts with a friend who was also his attendant; and on one occasion, he bartered away his friend for merchandise! So faithless and heartless were the princes in those days. The Ijebus were actually taking him away when it was reported to the Bale of Apomu that an Oyo man was being sold away. Fortunately for the man by the prompt action of the Bale he was rescued at a certain spot named Apata Odaju (the rock of the heartless), perhaps so named from this circumstance, and brought before the Bale. Investigation soon showed who the slave-dealer was; but as Aole was and Akeyo (Prince) and could not more severely be dealt with, in order that justice may not miscarry, he was ordered by the Bale to be severely flogged. This was the reason why Aole now named the Bale of Apomu as his enemy.”
Long story short, the Baale sought the protection of the Ooni against the Alaafin and since the Ooni could not protect him, he committed suicide.
It could have ended there, but Alaafin Aole also considered the Aare Ona Kakanfo Afonja as his enemy and wanted him dead. In order to cause his demise, the Alaafin and the Oyomesi ordered Afonja to take Iwere, “place fortified by nature and by art, and impregnable to the simple weapons of those days, and as the Kakanfo by the oaths of his office must either conquer within three months or die, and Iwere is impregnable, he will have no other alternative, but as in honour bound to make away with himself”.

So, Afonja wouldn’t have rebelled and the fate of Ilorin might have been very different if an unjust ruler did not try to cause the downfall of the commander of his military forces?
Well, we know that Afonja rebelled, made Ilorin his base and allied with Solagberu and Shehu Alimi to fight off the wrath of the Alaafin before taking the offensive and contributing to the downfall of Old Oyo. And it could have been avoided if Alaafin Aole was not so hard on removing all his perceived rivals.

I do not mean to paint Afonja as a very wise or exemplary ruler; he certainly had his failings: alienating Solagberu of Oke Suna, and his high-handedness against his lieutenants who were warning him against the jamaat. But does he deserve all the flack for his rebellion and the downfall of Old Oyo. The seeds were already there in mid-18th century with the rivalries between the Bashorun Gaha and the Alaafins, and later Alafin Aole’s lack of wisdom.

What do you think?

Intricacies of History.
Yorubas widely see him as a betrayer...... Because he turned his back on his own in quest for power.
Personally, I just see everything as normal events of history- the traditional ruler of Ilorin may not be called an Oba, but I see no 'real' problems there since everything there is quintessentially Yoruba 100%. A 'figure head'

afonja was neither a bad person nor the cause of the collapse of the oyo empire... AFONJA was simple stupid for trusting and hosting a fulani preacher...who converted his entire solders and ilorin residents to islam b4 killing afonja in a palace coup.

tobtap:
afonja was neither a bad person nor the cause of the collapse of the oyo empire... AFONJA was simple stupid for trusting and hosting a fulani preacher...who converted his entire solders and ilorin residents to islam b4 killing afonja in a palace coup.

Would you agree that he was between a rock and a hard place and was trying to maneuver in a very tight corner?
I don't think he was stupid. No stupid man could maneuver as he did. He just overplayed his hand

GorkoSusaay:

Would you agree that he was between a rock and a hard place and was trying to maneuver in a very tight corner?
I don't think he was stupid. No stupid man could maneuver as he did. He just overplayed his hand

i must agree with you...he overplayed his luck