Igbajo

Last updated

Igbajo is a town in the southwest of Nigeria, in the Boluwaduro Local Government Area in Osun State. Igbajo was founded in the 12th century. As of 2015 it had a population of 25,117. The majority of people in Igbajo are ethnically Yoruba. [1]

Contents

It neighbors the cities of Iresi, Ìlá Òràngún, Okemesi, Ada, Iree, Otan-Aiyegbaju, Otan-Ile, Imesi-Ile, Edemosi and Oyan.[ citation needed ] It is located 199 mi or (321 km) southwest of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.[ citation needed ]

Igbajo has 10 village farm settlements which includes: Aragba, Edi-Araromi, Peete, Aiyetoro, Ajegunle, Osoro-Odoka, Kajola, 'Budo Kiriji and Oke Budo.

The Kiriji War, a 16-year-long civil war between the subethnic kingdoms of the Yoruba people, ended in Igbajo. The first secondary school in the region, Kiriji Memorial College, was named in remembrance of the peace treaty.

Africa's first community owned, managed and funded Polytechnic, the Igbajo Polytechnic was founded in Igbajo in 2005.

Tourism

12 important places to visit in Igbajo include :

1.   Okuta Mewa

Okuta Mewa (Ten Rocks) was the spot where those, who later founded different towns, paused during the journey from Ile-Ife. Each of them sat on one rock, hence the name Okuta Mewa (Ten Rocks) to symbolize the event. They sat, discussed, and later dispersed to different directions and locations where they are today.

Igbajo was the only town in history where ten kings had a stop-over on the top of rock before they dispersed and went to establish their respective towns and communities. The kings included the Orangun of Ila; Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti; Alara of Aramoko; Owa of Otan Ayegbaju; Olojudo of Ido-Ekiti; Owalare of Ilare; Onire of Ire-Ekiti; Oloore of Otun-Ekiti and the Owa of Igbajo.

2.   Kiriji War Site

Kiriji War site is located about seven kilometers to the town. Some of the interesting locations at the site are:

Faragbota Tree: Faragbota tree was said to have absorbed thousands of bullets and it is still stands erected on its spot.

Fejewe Stream: Fejewe stream turned to blood following large-scale killings that occurred during the war. The surviving warriors did not have a choice other than to bathe with the polluted water. That was how the name stuck.

The Aare Latosa War Camp: Aare Latosa War Camp was the command post of the commander of the Ibadan Army Aare Ona-Kakanfo, the most skilled, experienced, and senior general in Alaafin's army. He died at the camp located in Igbajo.

3.   Igbajo Public Library

Established in 1968 through communal efforts, the Igbajo Public Library is one of the heartbeats of the community. It provides useful services to the community. It fosters learning. It promotes culture. It provides scope for healthy recreation. It disseminates information to all sections of society.

4.   Ile Oyinbo

Situated at Oluju Hill beside Esile Shrine, the District Officer (DO) lived in the fame Ile Oyinbo. The monument housed the Radio-Vision Infrastructure for Igbajo from 1959 to 1963. IDA is committed to the restoration of the monument.

5.   Igbajo Health Center Green Park

Nurtured by Chief (Mrs) Yetunde Oyewole, the green parks at the Igbajo Health Center is a delight for anyone that visits the community hospital. The green part covers more than 15 acres of land and it spreads from the wards to the residential areas of the health facility.

6.   Elenyina Mountain This is the highest point of the chains of hills that surround Igbajo. It is about 5,000 meters above sea level and maintain about 5 kilometers from Igbajo Township along Koro road.

7.   Igbajo Polytechnic

Established as one of the private Polytechnics in Nigeria in 2005, Igbajo Polytechnic was Africas first community-owned and managed higher institution. It has both an FM station and a TV channel.

8.   Victoria Park & Garden

Victoria Parks and Garden is the largest park and garden in Igbajoland. It covers over 15 acres of land with very rare economic trees. It has various facilities for both young and adult leisure.

9.   Kiriji College Brook

The Kiriji Memorial College famous brook and micro-dam is a great destination because visitors to the brook must descend 39 concrete steps to get to the stream. The brook served as the main source of water supply for students who lived in the college hostel when the boarding system was in place.

10. Oja-Olua and Orogun Meji

Among the physical features of Igbajo, there are some mysterious stones along Oke Edi route. There are Oja-Olua and Orogun Meji and three long snakes. Oja-Olua is the long wrapper-like tie (IGBAJA) in the form of rock at Oriba. Orogun Meji is the two stones resembling two women presumed to be wives of one man in the olden days turned to stone after a quarrel.

11.   Oroke Shrine

Oroke Shrine hosts the annual Oroke Festival holding in May. The festival brings together the ruling houses with a view to celebrating their progenitors by killing a cow which is shared among them under a lively atmosphere.

Members of the royal families are accompanied to the shrine by drummers who spice up the occasion with music and panegyrics in a spectacle that provokes nostalgia of Igbajo of old.

12.   Tungba FM

Located at the former Nitel transmission building, Eyidin hill, Tungba FM is Igbajo's premier radio station. Privately held by Prince Gbolahan Odo, Tungba 90.3 FM is an entertainment station with a focus on the cultural renaissance of Yoruba tradition and history.

History

Igbajo comes from the root word gbajo, as in Agbajo Eniya meaning “assembly of people”. It is said to have been founded in 300 CE by a prince of Yorubaland who was a son of Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Yoruba. [2] It is well known as being the theater of the Kiriji War (also known as the Ekiti–Parapo War) of the late 1800s.

Igbajo is said to have been the meeting place of ten monarchs as they traveled to found their respective kingdoms. Before departing they erected ten still-extant stone markers to commemorate their meeting. The kings included the Ọ̀ràngún of Ila, the Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti, the Alara of Aramoko, the Owa of Otan Ayegbaju, the Olojudo of Ido-Ekiti, the Owalare of Ilare, the Onire of Ire-Ekiti, the Oloore of Otun-Ekiti and the Owa of Igbajo. [2]

The monarchs of Igbajo are known by the title of Owa of Igbajo. Oba Olufemi Fasade Akeran IV became the last Owa in 1990. He died in December 2020 at the age of 81. [3]

Short story of Igbajo by a native

Economy

The inhabitants engage in a mix of professions. Farming thrives because their land is fertile. Igbajo has a quarry industry that mines precious stones. [4] Tourist destinations include Eleyinla Mountain, Obalara, Oluajo, Aruka, Oke Agere, old ile Oyinbo and Oku- Mewa at Ija-Oke.

The people prosper in the timber and plank business in Mokola, a district in Ibadan to which they migrated thanks to their friendly relationship with Ibadan people. [5]

Historical sites

Faragbota Tree Relics

The Faragbota tree is rumored to have protected the Igbajo and Ibadan armies during war by absorbing bullets from their adversaries when they hid behind it. [6]

Aare Latosa War Camp

The Aare Latosa War Camp was the command post of the commander of the Ibadan Army Aare Ona-Kakanfo, the most skilled, experienced and senior general in Alaafin's army. He died at the camp located in Igbajo. [7] [8] As a result, the coronation rites of Aare Ona-Kakanfo were conducted in Igbajo. The present Aare Ona-Kakanfo is Chief Gani Adams.

Peace Treaty Site

On this site the warring factions signed a treaty that ended 400 years of war within the Yoruba Nation. The treaty was signed on September 23, 1886. It was facilitated by British emissaries and made symbolic by inserting the signed agreement into a bottle and then burying it. The words of the agreement were further inscribed in stone. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oyo Empire</span> Former empire in present-day Benin and Nigeria

The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day southern Benin and western Nigeria. The empire grew to become the largest Yoruba-speaking state through the organizational and administrative efforts of the Yoruba people, trade, as well as the military use of cavalry. The Oyo Empire was one of the most politically important states in Western Africa from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, and held sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin on its west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ekiti State</span> State of Nigeria

Ekiti State is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the northeast by Kogi State, to the south and southeast by Ondo State, and to the west by Osun State. Named for the Ekiti people—the Yoruba subgroup that make up the majority of the state's population—Ekiti State was formed from a part of Ondo State in 1996 and has its capital as the city of Ado-Ekiti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilesa</span> City in Osun state

Ilesa is a historic city located in the Osun State, southwest Nigeria; it is also the name of a historic kingdom centred on that town. The state is ruled by a monarch bearing the title of the Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland. The state of Ilesa consisted of Ilesa itself and a number of smaller surrounding cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osun State</span> State of Nigeria

Osun State, occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun State and to the west by Oyo State. Named for the River Osun—a vital river which flows through the state—the state was formed from the southeast of Oyo State on 27 August 1991 and has its capital as the city of Osogbo.

The Ìgbómìnà are a subgroup of the Yoruba ethnic group, which originates from the north central and southwest Nigeria. They speak a dialect also called Ìgbómìnà or Igbonna, classified among the Central Yoruba of the three major Yoruba dialectical areas. The Ìgbómìnà spread across what is now southern Kwara State and northern Osun State. Peripheral areas of the dialectical region have some similarities to the adjoining Ekiti, Ijesha and Oyo dialects.

Òkè-Ìlá Òràngún is an ancient city in southwestern Nigeria that was capital of the middle-age Igbomina-Yoruba city-state of the same name.

Ìsèdó is an ancient Igbomina kingdom in northeastern Yorubaland of Nigeria. Ìsẹ̀dó was founded as a new city-state several centuries ago by Ọba'lumọ, a Prince of the ancient Oba civilization. Ìsẹ̀dó is fully known and called "Ìsẹ̀dó-Olúmọ̀" using its founder-king's name as an identifier suffix. Ọba'lumọ, emigrated from the ancient Ọ̀bà civilization in northeastern Yorubaland.

The Obalúmo is a royal personage, a traditional monarch amongst the Igbomina clan of the Yorubas of West Africa. The earliest manifestation of his title dates back to the 12th century at the latest, making him a ruler of relative significance in the intricate chiefly hierarchy of the tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okemesi</span> Semi-urban in Ekiti, Nigeria

Okemesi-Ekiti is the local Government Headquarters of Okemesi/Idoile Local Government of Ekiti State, Nigeria, whose headquarters is the Ekiti town of Okemesi. Its population according to 2006 population census is 56,000 residents.

Itapa Ekiti is a town in Ekiti State, Nigeria, of which the Owatapa is the ruler. Itapa is one of the goddesses worshipped at Ife. Her festival, known as Utaale, is held for a period of thirty days and she has been worshipped by Ooni and his people till today.

Ikoro-Ekiti is a town in the Ijero Local Government area of Ekiti State, south west Nigeria. It is also known as Eso Obe and is one of the oldest towns in Ekiti land. It was politically subsumed under the paramountry of Ijero, the Ijero Native Authority, the Ijero District, which has now become Ijero Local Government. Historic facts have it that, the present Ikoro-Ekiti is a conglomeration of sixteen settlements dating from the eighteenth century and originally settled by Olugona who gave Oluse of Isedo the functional powers due to his old age. Today, Ikoro-Ekiti, has two main Quarters: Oke-Oja and Odokoro with many streets, is a large town noted for production of cocoa, kola nut, timber and palm fruit. In fact, the town was a major contributor of the products to the socio-economic development of the old western Nigeria. Ikoro-Ekiti has modern facilities and the people have a high degree of hospitality. Moreover, the people are very resourceful, with many of the indigene holding positions in many areas of human endeavors across the globe. The traditional head of the town is called the Olukoro of Ikoro-Ekiti, a first class king in the Ekiti State Traditional Council. The present king, His Royal Majesty Oba Olanrewaju Adebanji Adeleye is the 15th Olukoro. He ascended the throne in 2008 after twenty four years of an interregnum in the kingship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fredrick Kúmókụn Adédeji Haastrup</span> Owa Obokun of Ilesa and Ijesaland

Fredrick Kúmókụn Adédeji Haastrup was born in the 19th century into the family of a member of the ancient Bilaro Royal house of Iléṣa. It is one of the four ruling families of Ileṣa and has been, since the reign of Owá Ọbọkun Atakumosa 900 years ago. After his reign, accession to the throne was passed, in turn, between his four sons, a system that continues to date: accession is rotated between four ruling families in Ijéṣaland. Following Kúmókụn's reign, the Bilárọ family adopted the name Ajímọkọ Haastrup. Whilst the Bilágbayọ adopted the surname Adesuyi.

This is a list of the royal titles of Yoruba monarchs. It is not in the order of seniority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ekiti people</span>

The Ekiti people are one of the largest historical subgroups of the larger Yoruba people of West Africa, located in Nigeria. They are classified as a Central Yoruba group, alongside the Ijesha, Igbomina, Yagba and Ifes. Ekiti State is populated exclusively by Ekiti people; however, it is but a segment of the historic territorial domain of Ekiti-speaking groups, which historically included towns in Ondo State such as Akure, Ilara-Mokin, Ijare, and Igbara-oke. Ogbagi, Irun, Ese, Oyin, Igasi, Afin and Eriti in the Akoko region, as well as some towns in Kwara State, are also culturally Ekiti, although belong in other states today.

The Yoruba Revolutionary Wars, otherwise known as the Yoruba Civil Wars, were a series of conflicts that engulfed the Yoruba-speaking areas of West Africa in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Robin Law summarizes the causes of the wars as the disintegration of the old Oyo Empire after the death of Alaafin Abiodun in 1789 and a resurgence of long-standing quarrels between the provincial chiefs over various issues. The root of the first disagreements can be traced to the feud between two noble houses; Laderin, based in Ilorin, and Yamba, based in the capital at Oyo-Ile. The conflict was also exacerbated by a Muslim slave rebellion led by a Fulani Muslim cleric, Shehu Alimi, and sponsored by the Aare Ona Kakanfo, Afonja, a descendant of Laderin, the founder of Ilorin, in 1817.

The Kiriji War, also known as the Ekiti–Parapo War, was a 16-year-long civil war between the subethnic kingdoms of the Yoruba people, specifically divided between the Western Yoruba, which was mainly the Ibadan and Oyo-speaking Yorubas, and the Eastern Yoruba, who were the Ekiti people, Ijesha, Ijebu people, and others.

Imesi-ile is an ancient town in the northeastern part of the Obokun Local Government in Osun State, Nigeria. In the 19th century, this town was the epicenter of the Jalumi and the Kiriji wars among the Yoruba nations, and the foundation of peace among all warring Yoruba kingdoms, in Nigeria. The town is about one-hour drive from Ilesa; and less than an-hour drive from Osogbo, Osun state capital. It is located on an extremely high hill and almost entirely surrounded by mountains. Because of its unique location and its natural hills and caves within the mountains covering several miles; it was an easy choice for protections during wars in the historic past.

Fabunmi of Okemesi born Prince Fábùnmi Ìṣọ̀lá, also known as Orara l'ada, was a Yoruba warlord, chief and ultimately king. He was known to have singlehandedly triggered the longest civil war in Nigeria - the Kiriji War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ogedengbe of Ilesa</span> Yoruba chief and warrior in Yorubaland

Ogedengbe of Ilesa also known as Sàráíbí Agbógungbọ́rọ̀, Ògèdèngbé Agbógungbọ́rọ̀ , or Ògèdèngbé Agbógun Gbórò was a Yoruba chief and warrior in Yorubaland, part of present-day Nigeria, who served as the Seriki (commander-in-chief) during the Kiriji War (1877-1893) against Ibadan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aare Latoosa of Ibadan</span>

Obadoke Latoosa Oyatoosa, but more commonly referred to as Latoosa, and later Mohammed Obadoke Latoosa, was a Yoruba General, Warlord, and Chief who was the Aare Ona Kakanfo of the Oyo Empire, the ruler of the self proclaimed Ibadan Empire, and the commander and leader of the Western forces of Ibadan during the Kiriji War from 1877 to his death in 1885.

References

  1. "City facts Igbajo".
  2. 1 2 "Extract of the founding of Igbajo and its people".
  3. "Owa in council confirms Oba Fasade Owa of Igbabajos Demise". The Vanguard.
  4. "Kijiri War 2". The Sun.
  5. "Unity meets industry Igbajo people built Century Old Plank Business in Ibadan". The Tribune.
  6. "Igbajo beyond Kiriji Peace Treaty". The Tribune.
  7. "We will make Aare Latosa Site a tomb a tourist site". National Insight.
  8. "Yoruba Nation Mark 134th Anniversary of Kiriji War". The Daily Trust.
  9. "Kiriji War site landmark peace cynosure-peace". The Osun Defender.