The brief history of ADO AWAYE and the highlight features that makes AWAYE a wonderful town

The brief history of ADO AWAYE and the highlight features that makes AWAYE a wonderful town

Ado Awaye was founded in 1500 AD. The Alaafin of Oyo’s crown prince, Koyi, who was supposed to become the Alaafin was denied and his younger brother, Onigbogi, took over.

 In anger, he left Oyo with one of his father’s crowns and decided to go and settle in Otta, his mother’s town.

 However, he went through plain grounds until he got foot of the Ado Hill, where he saw a smoke. 

He climbed the mountain and there, he met some escapees from the Dahomey war. Having agreed and discussed with them, they decided to make him King of Ado.

The Alaafin of Oyo’s crown prince, Koyi, who was supposed to become the Alaafin was denied and his younger brother, Onigbogi, took over.

 In anger, he left Oyo with one of his father’s crowns and decided to go and settle in Otta, his mother’s town. 

However, he went through plain grounds until he got foot of the Ado Hill, where he saw a smoke. 

He climbed the mountain and there, he met some escapees from the Dahomey war. Having agreed and discussed with them, they decided to make him King of Ado.

Highlight of features that makes Ado-Awaye a wonderful and exciting town.

The highlight of features that makes Ado-Awaye a wonderful and exciting town.

1. Iyake Lake.

Iyake Lake is the only recognized suspended/hanging lake in Africa – one of the only two in the world after the Hanging Lake in Colorado.

 It has been named as one of the fascinating sites to visit in Nigeria as well as one of the seven wonders of Nigeria. It is said to be bottomless and have swallowed those who have tried to measure its depth.

 Till today, whoever enters the lake never comes out of it. It is said to be the main god of fertility of the Mountain.

 The villagers believe that beneath the lake exists another world that looks like the earth, and whoever transits into that world by diving into the lake will never return.

2. Agbómofúnyàké.

Agbómofúnyàké literally means “collects child and gives to iyake”. This little hole is located just beside the iyake lake. It is believed that, whenever the hole has water in it, whoever puts his leg into it gets dragged to the bottom of iyake lake.

3. Ìyá-Aláró Lake.

It is also one of the numerous lakes on the mountain. The lake was named after an old woman in the Ado-Awaye village, who specializes in dying of clothes. 

It is said that the old woman, known as “Iya Alaro”, worships the lakes and sacrifices to it at specific times during the year.

 The lake is characterized by a gloomy depth which underscores its association with Iya Alaro and its surface and surrounding is bedecked with a lush overgrowth of colourful vegetation.

4. Oke Ishage (Ishage Rock).

Ishage Rock is the bringer of rain for the Ado-Awaye people. It is a large elongated boulder of rock, balanced and standing upright on one of its small edges.

 The fact that this boulder has not fallen off the steep mountain side on which it rests remains a mystery to all. 

Whenever it doesn’t rain and rain is needed, the chief priest goes to the rock, covers the “waist” of the rock with a white cloth, then rain falls for 3-4 days straight.

5. Esè àwon Àgbà.

Esè àwon Àgbà translates to “the footprint of the elders”. It is a cluster of large “footprints” found all over the mountain. It is believed that the gods once walked over the mountain to protect the locals during the time the locals stayed up the mountain.

6. The Elephant Tree.

This is composed of the tangled trunk or root of a fallen tree which dramatically takes the form of the head and trunk of an elephant. The eyes of the elephant are also well represented on the formation. Hikers on the mountain are often tempted to climb the formation and sit on the ‘elephant’s head’ while posing for photos.

7. Esè kan Aiyé Esè kan Òrun.

This is a wide and deep chasm on the mountain which separates one part of the mountain from the other part which hosts the peak of the mountain. Only brave mountain climbers dare cross this valley as the rock slopes steeply along the valley walls.

 Only a narrow, very steep and slippery path across the valley, links the two parts of the mountain.

It is said to be bottomless and have swallowed those who have trie d to measure its depth. Till today, whoever enters the lake never comes out of it. It is said to be the main god of fertility of the Mountain. 

The villagers believe that beneath the lake exists another world that looks like the earth, and whoever transits into that world by diving into the lake will never return to our own world again.

Continue Reading

Jalumi War of 1878

The Jalumi war, also known as Ogun Jalumi or Battle of Ikirun was a bloody war fought by Ibadan on the side of Ikirun against the allied forces of Ilorin, Ila, Ekiti and Ijesha on November 1, 1878 in the northeastern part of modern day Osun State.

The Jalumi war was among the devastating civil wars that plagued the Yoruba nation in the 19th century. 

Others are, Osogbo war, Ekiti parapo/Kiriji war, Ibadan-Ijaye war e.t.c. In June 1878, Ikirun, a town in modern day Osun State, called for the help of Ibadan to join her in fighting the armies of Ekiti, Ijesha, Ila and the Fulanis of Ilorin who had laid siege on Ikirun.

 Ibadan was unable to send her armies immediately because they went on an expedition to Meko, a town in modern day Ogun State.

When the armies returned on October 14, 1878, they were instantly dispatched to Ikirun under the command of Balogun Ajayi Ogboriefon who was ordered to reach Ikirun within five days.

Ibadan armies marched to Ikirun but had a tough time crossing the Oba and Osun rivers because it was rainy season and the rivers were full. 

Many Ibadan soldiers drowned while crossing the two rivers. 

The allied forces of Ekiti and Ijesha, (ekiti parapo) Ila-Orangun and Ilorin had chased the Ikirun armies to their town walls and were gradually winning the war.

On the 31st of October, 1878, Balogun Ogboriefon eventually arrived Ikirun with his soldiers. 

He saw the condition of Ikirun and immediately began planning and working. He shared command with a co-warrior named Osi Ilori.

 The rebel forces attacked Ikirun in three groups.

 The Ilorins under Ajia attacked from the northeast; Ogunmodede and Ayimoro led the Ijesha armies and attacked from the east and camped in the town of Iba, while the Ekitis under Fabunmi Okemesi and the Ilas under Prince Adeyala lurked nearby.

The battle began on November 1st, 1878. The rebelling forces advanced on Ikirun.

 Osi Ilori took his army towards the east to fight the advancing Ijeshas while Balogun Ogboriefon fought the Ilorins, Ilas and Ekitis.

 The Ijeshas defeated Osi Ilori and his soldiers and captured him alive. The survivors retreated to the walls of Ikirun and reported their defeat to Balogun Obgoriefon who quickly attacked and tactically defeated the Ijesha force. 

He then returned to his previous position fighting the Ilorins.

 Ogboriefon successfully defeated the Ilorins and drove them out of their camp, but he was too late, Osi Ilori had already been killed.

He completed the victory by defeating the Ilas and Ekitis. 

Ibadan soldiers chased the Ilorin survivors to Inisa, a town between Ofa and Ikirun.

 When news reached the people of Ofa that the Ilorins were retreating towards Inisa, they cut the bridge across the Otin River in the rear and left the retreating Fulanis of Ilorin devastated. 

The Fulanis were pushed into the river by the Ibadans and drowned en masse; thus the war was named Jalumi which literally means “drown in the river“.

Hence the 1878 Battle of Ikirun was also called Battle of waterloo

.After the war, Ibadan armies stationed in Ikirun but left after an agreement between Ikirun and Ibadan. 

This birthed the statement “Kí ogun ó tó kúrò ní Ìkìrun, ọ̀rọ̀ ló tẹ́lẹ̀” which means “Before warriors left Ikirun, there were some discussions/agreement”.

A water cannon monument marking the end of the Jalumi war is located at Odo Otin River bank in Inisa till today.

References-

* Johnson, Samuel; The History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate [Accessed 2017-07-19]

* Omipidan, Teslim; OldNaija; Historical wars in Yorubaland []

* Smith, Sydney, Robert; “Kingdoms of the Yoruba”; 3rd ed.; 1987; University of Wisconsin Press [Accessed 2017-07-18]

Continue Reading

Osogbo War of 1840

Osogbo War of 1840

After the Fulanis systematically captured and made Ilorin their territory, they sacked the old Oyo Empire in 1835/1636. 

They were still not satisfied with their victory; they wished to extend their rule deep into the heart of Yoruba land.

 Thus in 1840, they set to capture Osogbo, a Yoruba town. 

The Fulanis, under the command of Ali, the Hausa balogun of Ilorin, laid siege on Osogbo.

When the king of Osogbo realized that the Ilorins were too strong for the Osogbo army, he summoned the Ibadans for help. 

Ibadan immediately sent some auxiliaries to Osogbo under the command of Obele alias Mobitan, and Alade Abimpagun. 

As this force could not stop the Ilorins, another contingent was sent to Osogbo under a more experienced leader.

 But still the Ilorins won every battle and gained more ground.

When Ibadan realized that the Ilorins were becoming more threatening to Yoruba land, they sent a large and stronger force under Balogun Oderinlo to crush the intruding forces and Jammas of Ilorin. 

When Oderinlo and his men arrived at the battlefield, they realized that things had gone worse than they thought. 

They could not show their faces in the open field for the fear of the Ilorin horses, and for about 20 days after their arrival at Osogbo, they could not fight outside the town thickets.

 Oderinlo suggested that Elepo, a brave Ibadan warrior was badly needed at the war-front. 

Elepo had been rejected by the war-chiefs of Ibadan for his actions at the late Agbamaja expedition.

As soon as the message from Oderinlo reached Ibadan, the Bashorun wished he could send Elepo to Osogbo but could not go against the wish of other war-chiefs.

 The Bashorun gave Elepo a cow to worship his god, Ori, and pray for the victory of Ibadan at the war-front.

At the war-front, the Ibadan could not attack the Ilorins during the day because Osogbo was practically in a plain and the Ilorin horses might have advantage of them with disastrous results. 

They decided to attack at dusk when the Ilorins would no longer be able to use their horses. About 2:pm, the well prepared Ibadan army left the gate of Osogbo for the battlefield.

They were to keep a strict watch and arrest anyone suspected to be a spy. 

About a mile from the Ilorin camp, they halted and arranged the order of the attack.

 The Osogbo army and the earlier auxiliaries were to handle the center of the battlefield, chiefs Abitiko and Labuju were to command the right wing, Balogun Oderinlo with the rest of the Ibadan war-chiefs were to form the left wing of the army.

 The Ilorin camp was then attacked at midnight. The watchword was “Elo ni owo odo?” (How much is the ferry fare?). 

The reason this watchword was chosen was because the river Osun had to be crossed in entering Osogbo from the south, and anyone who could not tell this was likely to be an enemy.

Stampede engulfed the Ilorin camp as the Ibadan army set it on fire. The Ilorins could not offer the slightest resistance; they were smoked with the gun powder of the Ibadan guns.

 This attack was a success for the Ibadan. Some Ilorin war-chiefs were captured in the attack.

 Prominent ones were:

Jimba the head slave of the Emir;

One of the sons of Ali the commander in chief;

Chief Lateju;

Ajikobo the Yoruba Balogun of Ilorin

The first two were released while the latter two, being Yoruba by birth, were regarded as traitors and were executed.

 This was a huge victory for the whole of Yoruba land.

 After the Osogbo victory, Ibokun, an Ijesa town not far from Osogbo was taken by the Ibadans for being an ally of Ilorin.

References:

Johnson, Samuel; The History of the Yorubas; Lagos; CSS Limited; 1921; pg. 80-81

Continue Reading

1941 pics of Conference of Yoruba OBAs

One of a large group of images centered around a conference of Obas held at Itoro Hall, Ijebu-Ode, in 1941, Oni of Ife, Ginuwa II the Olu of Itsekiri and Yoruba Kings.  etc".

Date : 1941. 

Photographer : Cordwell, J. M.

Location : Ijebu Itoro Hall.

Continue Reading

The Most Powerful Women in the Palace of Alafin of OYO

The old dynasty dates back to the old Oyo Empire which with Aláàfin as the emperor.

However, there are powerful women who controls the kingdom. They include among others:

1. Iyamode: Iyamode is the only person in the entire world the Aláàfin is permitted to kneel down before. He kneels before no one else except Iyamode. Iyamode occupies a role deeply respected that the king call her ‘Baba’ (father).

Whenever the Aláàfin goes on his knees before this powerful woman, she also returns the salutation by going down on her knees but never recline on her elbows while doing so as this is the custom of women in saluting their superiors. She resides outside of the palace and she is the superior of the celibates living in Bara (the royal mausoleum). 

Once a woman becomes Iyamode, she becomes celibate and stays away from sex for life. She is one of the most senior priestess inside the Aláàfin’s royal court.

2. Obagunte: She represents the Aláàfin in the Ogboni fraternity and enter Ogboni chamber on all occasion and at will.

3. Eni Oja: She is the head of all the Eshu worshippers in Oyo and she is in charge of the king’s market.

4. Iya Naso: The Aláàfin of Oyo is worshipped as the living incarnation of the Sango, the god of thunder. 

Inside the palace, the Aláàfin has a private place where he worships Sango. Iya Naso’s is in charge of this spiritual room. She has to do with Sango Worship generally and she’s the one responsible for everything linked to it. The worship and rituals.

5. Iya Kere: Iya Kere is the person who places the crown on the head of the king at the coronation. 

She is the only one in charge of the treasures and paraphernalia Of the Oyo kingdom, including the crowns. Iya Kere is also the mother of all illari (male and female eunuchs) who are kept in the palace with half their heads shaved off).

 Iya Kere exercises full power over the feudal heads like Aseyin, Oluwo and Soun of Ogbomoso. Once she assumes the office, she remains a celibate for life.

6. Iya Oba: Iya Oba is the official mother of the king.

 After the demise of the Queen mother, any other lady of the palace is then made the Iya Oba and she is one who plays the role of a biological mother to him. 

Iya Oba is the third person in the room when the Alaafin and Bashorun worship the Orun in the month of September every year. Iya Oba is the fedual head of the Bashorun.

7. Iya Monari: it is the role of Iya Monari to execute by strangling any Sango worshipper who has been condemned to death. 

Sango worshippers condemned to capital punishment cannot be killed by the sword. She is also the second-in-command and assistant to Iya Naso.

8. Iya-Fin-Iku: She is Alaafins devotee to the Sango mysteries. It’s the normal practice for all Sango worshippers to devote one of their children to the worship of Sango and that is the role Iya-Fin-Iku fulfills for the Aláàfin.

 She is also in charge of the Sango ram which is allowed to go everywhere and around the market without anyone molesting it and the ram can also eat with impunity anything it so desire from traders.

9. Iya Lagbo: She is the mother of the crown prince (Aremo) in a case where the mother of the crown prince (Aremo) is deceased, then another woman is promoted to that office and she becomes the mother of the crown prince (Aremo). Iyalagbon enjoys massive Influence and privileges and controls a portion of the kingdom. 

The Alaafin’s agunmu (medicinal powders) and agbo (concoctions) are placed in the care of Iya lagbo, the king’s private attendant who is in charge of his private pharmacy.

10. Aare Oriite: She is the Aláàfin’s personal attendant. It the Aare-Oriite who sees to it that the royal meals and royal bed is properly made. She also makes sure that the royal chambers are neatly arranged when an Aláàfin is enthroned, it is the Aare-Oriite who places the umbrella over his head as a canopy and she is constantly by the side of the Aláàfin to see to his needs.

These influential and powerful women communicate with the spiritual realm and guide every single step of the Aláàfin and they encourage and support him during periods of challenges and defend him from all forms of evil both physical and spiritual.

 They educate him on what he can eat and what is forbidden for him to touch. They are the ubiquitous brains behind the kingdom.

As only a mother can give birth to a son, only the great mothers can make a king.

Continue Reading

1950 Picture of egungun from Owo

Egungun from Owo. 

1950s. 

Owo people can help us with the name of this Egungun and the story behind it.

 It came out in the night in this occasion.

Credit: Historical Africa Yorùbá

Continue Reading

THROWBACK Pictures: University of Ifè Graduation Day In 1976

THROWBACK: University of Ifè Graduation 🎓 Day, 1976

That's the same Rolls Royce still standing at the school national museum

Source: Yoruba times on twitter 

Continue Reading

Brief history of ODA

Umologbe the founder of Ogbe is said to be one of the sons of Oduduwa, the founder of lle-lfe, which according to Yoruba mythology was the centre of the universe. 

Umologbe was a prominent and brave hunter as well as a hard-working farmer. As a hunter, he had as part of his traveling kits, guns, a relic crown, amulets for all purposes, and deity known as “Eegun Ogbe”, which was said to be the origin of Masquerade in Oda till date. 

Annually Asodeboyede would send certain things including ram to be sacrificed to “Eegun Ogbe”. 

This shows that there had been an age-long relationship between Oda and Akure.

Umologbe was said to have had a brief spell alongside Asodeboyede at Oritagun in Akure, before he left and finally settled at Ogbe, a large expanse of land with few aboriginal settlers who lived in scattered huts. 

Asodeboyede had earlier moved southwards under the leadership of Olojada also known as Umologbe, a prominent and skilful hunter and they reached a point of about six kilometers away from the present location of Akure and settled there. 

On one of the hunting expeditions which they usually embarked on collectively, Asodeboyede also known as ‘Omo Ekun” shot and killed an elephant.

 He immediately remembered his Ifa Oracle’s prediction before leaving Igbo Oye. It was at this stage that Umologbe left Asodeboyede and founded Ogbe.

Ogbe was said to mean quarters or places for the princes.

 There were about sixteen aboriginal villages surrounding Ogbe which was then a centre of attraction in the region. So also, there were various tribes that engaged in war with the Akures and the Ogbe people. 

Such tribes include among others the Idanres, Owos, and the Binis. The town was intermittently ravaged owing to different wars such as Ipata wars. During the period, war was an inevitable phenomenon and as such, all the traditional rulers in Ogbe always put up a brave defense of the Ogbe territory.

Many of the wars were won and some were lost due to different factors. However, there was a very tough war that shook the Ogbe city and its territory during the reign of Oba Opamudasuan. 

This was called ‘Ogun a ja mose lo”, this was supposed to mean a war whereby the enemies are given a tough resistance or tough fight. 

The classification was meant to make the traditional heads get well prepared and protect the Ogbe city and give its territories sound protection. However, the Oba of Ogbe at the time, Opamudasuan had a contrary translation of the preparatory message, which was sent by Ooni of Ile-lfe.

He consulted with his Army generals and they resolved that since the war was to be fought with their legs on firm land, a heap of wet mud, that is, beaten earth that would take Ogbe warriors were stationed round the city with their legs inside the wet mud. 

Opamudasuan has not completed the preparations for the war when he got words that the Aburu warriors were already approaching Ogbe. All the warriors were armed with weapons and the traditional ruler together with his war generals‘ stucked their legs into the beaten earth and waited in that position for war.

When Aburu warriors from Benin got to Ogbe and met the warriors in a motionless position inside the mud, they were killed in their hundreds and defeated. If the preparation had not “cemented” the Ogbe fighters to a spot, they would have escaped, regrouped to reclaim the City.

 By this single mistake, Oba Opamudasuan lost his life and all the glories of the ancient city of Ogbe. Thereafter, Seven other Obas emerged after Opamudasuan with Oba Agbedere a female the last traditional head of Ogbe.

When Ogbe fell around 1764, young men who were not recruited for the war and who saw the destruction of their ancestral home, escaped to Oda with the surviving women and children. 

The people of Oda received the Ogbe people who were the inhabitants of their headquarters and were ready to be in peaceful co-existence with them.

 Oda was initially conceived as a refugee camp for the Ogbe people until their surviving men were strong enough to re-build their ancestral home. 

Some of Ogbe people who were outside the community at the time Aburu war was on chose to settle in the places they were, for instance, Akure at the time they heard the news.

During the movement of Ogbe people to Oda, the Moses of the exodus was Prince Ausi. While escaping from the invaders, he had a cap on his head known as “Fila Ojukoba” meaning invisible cap, and this made it impossible for anybody to see him and his entourage. 

Prince Ausi later became Olojoda the traditional ruler at Oda because of his status at Ogbe. 

He got married to a famous woman named Ekusolatan, who was famous because she was credited with importing the Alaojo festival to Oda from Eku, whose location remained unknown to the inhabitants of the town till date.

Prince Ausi bore children named Olumadeji, Adegboye, Olokunolu and Erumola.

 Olumadeji the eldest son was appointed by his father, Prince Ausi to oversee llekun as the Elekun of llekun (a vassal chieftaincy under the Olojada). 

His four children constitute the ruling houses in Oda till present. Ilekun – ‘Ile Ekun’ (land of tiger), was an outpost settlement of Oda. 

This settlement as at that time was under incessant attack by tigers and other dangerous wild beasts. 

The prowess of Prince Ausi in defending llekun was the reason why he was made Elekun.

There are three ruling houses in Oda, and they are:-

1. Olumadeji

2. Adegboye

3. Okunbadejo

Continue Reading