In this scene in Soyinka's play, Elesin, the king's horseman, vows to keep his pledge to commit suicide now that the King is dead, as is the custom among the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

ELESIN: My rein is loosened.
I am master of my Fate. When the hour comes
Watch me dance along the narrowing path
Glazed by the soles of my great precursors.
My soul is eager. I shall not turn aside.
WOMEN: You will not delay?
ELESIN: Where the storm pleases, and when, it directs 
The giants of the forest. When friendship summons
Is when the true comrade goes.
WOMEN: Nothing will hold you back?
ELESIN: Nothing. What! Has no one told you yet?
I go to keep my friend and master company. (p. 14)

Killing yourself when your king dies? That seems like a pretty crazy thing to do, right? Well, this was one of the customs among the Yoruba people in Nigeria before the British arrived. Of course, the British thought this custom was barbaric, and they tried to put an end to it. That's what Soyinka's play is all about.

Elesin valorizing this custom here. Elesin chooses to follow the king into death out of "friendship." He goes to "keep [his] friend and master company." By pointing up the positive values that underpin this custom—friendship and loyalty—Elesin's words show how this custom may not be so barbaric, after all. It is, simply, the way Elesin understands how to be the best and truest friend he can be.

Elesin uses several proverbs here. For example: "Where the storm pleases, and when, it directs / The giants of the forest." Elesin isn't just exalting the custom of following the king into death, he's also using language that comes from indigenous culture. By recalling indigenous culture in this way, Elesin's mode of speaking also seems to valorize indigenous language and culture. Even if we don't understand or like the custom portrayed in the play, the fact that it is presented as an important indigenous custom forces us to take it seriously and at least try to understand it.