Alááfin Zùlema was nicknamed "Oba Aghake", the Bandit Queen, from her past as thief. No one dared utter that name in her presence, but even higher nobility referred to her that way in passing and informal situations. To the higher nobility, the military class, "Bandit Queen" would gain a new meaning entirely as Zùlema began to instate reform, stealing their land.

After the crisis of the 16th century, the power of the Alááfin had been severely curbed: instead of the Alááfin, a gànà or military leader ruled the Alááshu, elected by eight ofòkù and four orògò who were essentially vassals of the Alááfin. History had taught the Obibo that a degree of centralisation was necessary for Tozàn to exist, mostly in regards to food and water management and the rule of the ofòkù and orògò was much too decentralised. Alááfin Zùlema wanted to restore the power of the Alááfin and do away with the current power balance, but she could not readopt the old system with its provinces and counties and districts, because that was much too centralised for the military nobility to accept it. To get her way, Zùlema had to find a middle ground.

Together with celibate eunuch lawmakers, drafted after holding an exam to refill the multitude of vacant positions in the palace bureaucracy, Zùlema drafted a new structure. The central government in Uwára would regain much of its strength, but instead of dividing Tozàn into weak provinces, there would be five queendoms under the Alááfin, ruled by the military nobility but kept in check by a similar bureaucracy reliant on celibates and eunuchs chosen through standardised exams. Additionally, the queendoms would not have hereditary rulers and instead the Alááfin would appoint a new queen every five years. She could afford to do this, to unseat the reigning nobility, because she had conclusively defeated them all in the field of battle.

The military nobility would further be appeased by not having to pay taxes and they were given a higher status than the non-military nobility. To additionally strengthen her rule, Alááfin Zùlema established social castes among the nobility and in other parts of society to divide the classes of society so none could work together against her. This way, castes had more to gain competing amongst eachother than they could by working together because relations between castes were stigmatised and difficult to maintain. The wealthiest people would always be among the commoners, who would dislike the military nobility for not having to pay taxes, who would be limited in their power by the bureaucratic caste in charge of justice and lawmaking. Zùlema also seperated the faiths from the rest to ensure her influence over them would always exceed that of the nobility.

The five queendoms that were established were:

• Obashu fa Nijaay with its capital of Nijaay.
• Obashu fa Urófo with its capital of Birgatanga.
• Obashu fa Soyofàn with its capital of Tawònì.
• Obashu fa Àìdó-Ifà with its capital of Olòyà.
• Obashu fa Ewo-Ife with its capital of Mbóri.

Map 1 (with infrastructure and cities)
Map 2 (with labels)

The remaining land was near Uwára and controlled directly by the Alááfin.

The military would remain conscription-based, but instead of under the old system the new queens could only maintain their conscripted soldiers for one month without the permission of the Alááfin, so it would be impossible to stage a rebellion with a large army. All officers in the army would be part of the military nobility, appointment of whom was the task of the Gànà, heavily reduced in power. The Gànà continued to serve as military leader, but now as commander in chief of the army during wartime. To check the Gànà, the Alááfin would maintain the Orange Banner under personal command at all times.