Egba Ake Egba Alake | |
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Coordinates: 7°9′39″N3°20′54″E / 7.16083°N 3.34833°E | |
Country | ![]() |
State | Ogun State |
Egba Ake, otherwise known as Egba Alake, is one of the four sections of Egbaland, the others being Oke-Ona, Gbagura, and the Owu (Ibara is often mentioned as another section; this is part of Yewa historically, not Egba, though it is also located in the present-day Abeokuta geographically). [1]
It is a traditional state which joins with its bordering sections to form something of a high kingship. The Alake of Abeokuta, or Alake of Egbaland, is the traditional ruler of the Egba clan of Yoruba in the city of Abeokuta in southwestern Nigeria. [2]
The Egba Ake section is seen by traditionalists as Abeokuta's aristocracy due to the fact that its principal noblemen, the Omo-Iya-Marun, serve as the kingmakers of the Alake, who must himself also come from this section. [3]
House of Egba Alake | |
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Nigerian royal dynasty ![]() | |
Parent house | Oodua |
Current region | Yorubaland |
Founded | c.1300 (Orile Egba) 1830 (Abeokuta) |
Founder | Ajalake (Orile Egba) Sagbua Okukenun (Abeokuta) |
Current head | Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo III |
Titles | |
Style(s) | Kabiyesi Majesty Royal Highness |
Members | |
Connected families | Odunjo family Vaughan family |
Traditions | Ifá Christianity Islam |
Motto | Awon Egba, Omo Lisabi (Yoruba for "The Egbas, children of Lisabi") |
Cadet branches |
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The Egba people's original homeland in the Egba forest was established by Yoruba migrants from elsewhere. According to The History of the Yorubas by Samuel Johnson, Eso Ikoyi chiefs in the retinue of the first Alake of the Egba joined him in founding a new community - the confederacy of towns that became known as Orile Egba - in the forest after they left the nascent Oyo empire in around the 13th century AD. [4] Orile Egba continued to exist until its destruction during the Yoruba civil war of the 19th century. As a result, many of the leading families of the Egba Ake claim descent from the Eso Ikoyis today.
Abeokuta was founded as a replacement for Orile Egba in around 1830 by the Egbas after the collapse of the Oyo empire during the civil war. The city was founded because of its strong defensive physical position by refugees trying to protect themselves against slave raiders from Dahomey, who were trying to benefit from the war. [5]
Chief Shodeke, the first paramount chief of Abeokuta and the rest of Egbaland, was a member of the Egba Ake section. Using oral traditions of the Alake's claim to membership of Oduduwa's family being superior to that of any of the other Egba kings to cement the section's position, he is said to have allocated the tracts of land that each of the junior sections settled upon following their arrival in the city. The Egba Ake have been the traditional landowners of Egbaland ever since this event. [6]
In 1832, Abeokuta was involved in war with the people of Ijebu Remo, and in 1834 with the Ibadan people. Sporadic fighting continued with the people of Ota (1842), Ado (1844), Ibarapa (1849), Dahomey (1851), Ijebu-Ere (1851), Ijaye (1860–1862) and the Makun War of 1862–1864. [7]
On 18 January 1893, a treaty was signed with the governor and commander-in-chief of the British Lagos Colony for the purpose of trade; the British recognized Egbaland as an independent state. In 1898, the Egba United Government was formed.
In 1904, an agreement was made where the British assumed jurisdiction in certain legal cases, and in the same year, the Alake Gbadebo paid a state visit to England. Over the following years, the British steadily assumed more responsibility for administration while continuing to formally recognize the Egba state. [8] In 1914, the kingdom was incorporated into the newly amalgamated British Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. [9]
In 1949, as a result of agitation by the women's rights leader Chief Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, the Alake Ladapo Ademola was forced to abdicate. He later returned to the throne. [10]
Rulers of the Egba in Abeokuta, who took the title "Alake" in 1854, were: [11]
Start | End | Ruler |
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1829 | 1845 | Shodeke |
1845 | 1846 | Shomoye -Regent (1st time) |
1846 | 1854 | Sagbua Okukenun -Regent |
8 Aug 1854 | 1862 | Okukenun (Sagbua Okukenun) First Alake |
1862 | 1868 | Shomoye -Regent (2nd time) |
28 Nov 1869 | 20 Dec 1877 | Ademola I |
Jan 1879 | 15 Sep 1881 | Oyekan (d. 1881) |
9 Feb 1885 | 27 Jan 1889 | Oluwajin |
18 Sep 1891 | 11 Jun 1898 | Oshokalu |
8 Aug 1898 | 28 May 1920 | Gbadebo I (1854–1920) |
27 Sep 1920 | 27 Dec 1962 | Ladapo Samuel Ademola II (1872–1962) (in exile 1948 – 3 Dec 1950) |
29 Sep 1963 | 26 Oct 1971 | Adeshina Samuel Gbadebo II (1908–1971) |
5 Aug 1972 | 3 Feb 2005 | Samuel Oyebade Mofolorunsho Lipede (1915–2005) |
24 Aug 2005 | Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo III (b. 1943) [12] |
Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. As a Nigerian state, Ogun is the second most industrialised state after Lagos, with a focus on metal processing. It has good road and rail connections to the harbours in Lagos and Lekki. Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1986, lives in Ogun.
The Ẹgbado, now Yewa, are a subgroup of the Yoruba people and inhabit the eastern area of Ogun West Senatorial District, Ogun State, in south-west Nigeria, Africa. In 1995 they changed their name to the Yewa which comes from the Yewa River which in turn comes from the Yoruba goddess Yewa. Yewa occupy four Local Government Areas, Yewa South, Yewa North, Imeko-Afon, and Ipokia, while the Ado-Odo/Ota LGA forms the fifth Awori part of the senatorial district.
Efunroye Tinubu, born Ẹfúnpọ̀róyè Ọ̀ṣuntinúbú, was a powerful Yoruba female aristocrat, merchant, and slave trader in pre-colonial and colonial Nigeria.
The Egba people are a subgroup of the Yoruba people, an ethnic group of western Nigeria, a majority of whom are from the central part of Ogun State that is Ogun Central Senatorial District.
Oba means "ruler" in the Yoruba and Bini languages. Kings in Yorubaland, a region which is in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, make use of it as a pre-nominal honorific. Examples of Yoruba bearers include Oba Ogunwusi of Ile-Ife, Oba Aladelusi of Akure, and Oba Akiolu of Lagos. An example of a Bini bearer is Oba Ewuare II of Benin.
Chief Suarau Olayiwola Alani Bankole is a Nigerian Egba businessman and chieftain from Ogun State. He was the Chairman of West African Aluminum Products Plc. He holds the Yoruba chieftaincy titles of the Oluwo of Iporo Ake and the Apena of Egbaland.
Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; 77 kilometres (48 mi) north of Lagos by railway, or 130 kilometres (81 mi) by water. As of 2006, Abeokuta and the surrounding area had a population of 449,088.
The Owu sub-ethnicity is a part of the Yoruba people of West Africa. Ago-Owu in Abeokuta is where the Owus are mostly concentrated, however large Owu settlements are found throughout Yorubaland. The Yoruba confederacy of kingdoms extends beyond the boundaries of Nigeria into the Republic of Benin and Togo.
Gbalefa Peninsula is an area of land located south of Abeokuta and north of Lagos city. Gbalefa Peninsula was named after Akindele Gbalefa, the outstanding Owu warrior who led the Owu/Egba war against Ilobi, Ado-Odo and Dahomey.
Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo III is the current Alake of Egba, a clan in Abeokuta, Nigeria. He has ruled since 2 August 2005.
The Alake of Egbaland is the paramount Yoruba king of the Egba, a clan in Abeokuta, Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria. Egba consists of Egba Ake, Owu kingdom, Oke-Ona and Egba Gbagura.
Eso Ikoyi is an aristocratic attribute amongst the Yoruba people which denotes an eminent warrior. It has been used as everything from a chieftaincy title to a part of praise poetry.
Oba Sir Ladapo Samuel Ademola KBE, CMG (1872–1962), also known as Ademola II, was the Alake of Abeokuta from 1920 to 1962. Before he was crowned Alake, Ademola was involved in the affairs of the Egba United Government. As a member of the Egba council, he was a leading participant in negotiations with the Lagos State colonial government in 1889 for the rights to construct railway tracks passing through Egbaland. In 1904 he travelled with Alake Gbadebo to the U.K., where they were received by King Edward VII. He succeeded Oba Gbadebo in 1920 with overwhelming votes from the Egba council.
Iju also known as Iju Oloko [idʒou ɔ:lɔkɔ], is a Nigerian town located in southern Ogun state and about 18 kilometers from Lagos state, a major commercial hub in West Africa. The town is inhabited mostly by Owu and Egba natives whose ancestors settled there between 1842 and 1845.
Samuel Adesina Gbadebo, otherwise known as Gbadebo II, was a Nigerian traditional monarch who held the title of Alake of Egbaland. Prior to becoming Alake, Gbadebo organized agricultural shows in the Western region of Nigeria.
Wasinmi or Wasimi is an Egba town located on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Ewekoro local government of Ogun State. It is a few miles from Abeokuta. It is home to one of the oldest churches in the area, St. Michael's Anglican Church, and home to Odegbami International College and Sports Academy.
Egba Gbagura is one of the five sections of Egbaland, the others being Ake, Oke-Ona, the Owu and Ibara. It is a traditional state which joins with its bordering sections to form something of a high kingship.
Adegboyega Edun was an Egba official. He served as the secretary of the Egba United Government, a colonial-era Yoruba political entity.
Okukenu Sagbua was a Yoruba Egba chief. He was a founding member of the Ogboni of Egbaland, and also served as the first Alake of Egbaland.
Orile Ijaye is a small town located in Akinyele local government, Oyo state, Nigeria. It is about 18 miles from Ibadan, Oyo state capital. This town was re-inhabited in 1895, thirty-two years after it was destroyed due to an intra-ethnic and supremacy war with Ibadan; another military power at that time. In 1895, they named it Orile Ijaye from the original name, Ijaye.