Afonja -The Rise is the story of how the clashes of these two men and the intrigue of the others around them transformed what was a slow decline into a race of the empire towards its collapse. In Afonja - The Rise, we tell their story first as what they were - men and women living their lives, warring, scheming and loving in ways that will be familiar to the reader - beyond their roles as actors in the epic history of the great Oyo empire.