Wasinmi or Wasimi (Yoruba: Wasinmi) 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.[1]
The name Wasinmi comes from the phrase in the Yoruba language, wá sinmi, which means come and rest. It was shortened to Wasinmi,[2] and it was founded between the years 1845-1880.[3] It started as a small farming settlement for mostly Egba people of Abeokuta. When the town of Abeokuta was founded in 1830, there were many waves of migrants from all over Yorubaland that arrived in Abeokuta. This included Owu refugees from the Owu-Ibadan Wars, Saros from Sierra Leone that returned after being kidnapped and taken into slavery, and Christian missionaries. Though the area was occupied by Egba Alake people from Abeokuta already from Egba Erunbe, Igbore, Ijeun, Igbein etc populating several villages and nearby farmsteads, Wasinmi served them all as a market place due to its geographical centrality and a meeting point for all Egba stock than a permanent place of residence. As the market grew in size, it became a major attraction for farmers everywhere, including Ijebu and Ijesha farmers and traders who later settled down in nearby villages for ease of transportation of goods and trade. Many men then sought to settle famimlies and establish plantations and farms nearby, these consisted several ethnics including Egbado, Gbagura, Owu and Oke-Ona stock of the Egba ethnics. Wasinmi equally served as a cheaper produce market to Abeokuta and environs as Abeokuta became increasingly urbane. Such produce that were unavailable in the mostly urban town of Abeokuta were available in affordable prices at Wasinmi. As the migrations continued the market grew into a burstling town and the need for religious divergence also manifested. Early Christians facing persecution and seeking newlands to practice their faiths found Wasinmi a place of choice, though the influence of the powerful Ogboni groups persisted under the superintendence of the Iledi at Ijumo Ologboni, which served as the custodian of tradition across the length and breath of the vastlands on the outskirts of Abeokuta extending far out into Iro, Ifo and Isheri. Certain groups of people, who also included Muslims and Christians seeking a separate place to practice their faith, planted churches and mosques. The Catholic Church, the African Church etc all sought to minister to the usual market crowds and the inhabitants of the fastly developing and fledgling town. The foundation of the new town, Wasinmi, was therefore laid. The multi-ethnics of the Egba Alake, Gbagura, Owu, and Oke-Ona continued to rule the town rotationally till date. Wasinmi is immediately bounded by four villages, namely; Sodeji, Village, Erunbe Village, Arigbajo Village and part of Wasinmi Olose Village.
Administrative Style: The first Baale of Wasinmi was installed around 1892 by a joint administrative style similar to what existed in Abeokuta. The founding fathers agreed to a rotational governance and administrative style which unanimously united all the villages and gave them hope. In recent history, about 10 decades ago and under the rotational administration, the Egba Alake stock provided Baale Epeolu, succeeded by Baale Oshola also of Egba Alake stock, , he was succeeded by an Ijesha man, who was then the oldest man in the town, his tenure was succeeded by Baale Akintunde of the Owu stock, followed by Baale Adeaga, also of Owu stock. Baale Abiola was the first Egba Oke-Ona to administer the town and was succeeded by Baale Babatunde Oshuntogun, through whom the Baaleship was upgraded to a coronet monarchical system under the Part 2 Obaship of Ogun State. Oba Babatunde Oshuntogun, the Oniwasinmi of Wasinmi joined his ancestors on Monday, the 13th day of December, 2021. Wasinmi continues to thrive and has become an economic and trading post, holding immensely potentialities for the good people of Ogun State. Agriculture however remains the mainstay of the economy of the town.[3][4] Wasinmi as a township was built by the joint efforts of all Egba Sons and Daughters; Egba Ake, Gbagura, Owu and Oke-Ona Egba, though it is possible they were among the 72 townships that revolted against the Egba Gbagura and joined the Oke-Ona, but we will not lend ourselves to conjectures.[5]
In the early 1900s, the British administration built a train station in the village, which was a major site of the Adubi War in 1918, also known as the Egba Uprising. St. Michael's Anglican Church was the first church built in the village by newly converted natives, most likely in c. 1920.
St. Michael's Anglican Church, one of the oldest Anglican churches in Wasimi.
Odafin Odegbami (c. 1842-1934), ancestor to Amos Tutuola, the Ogunbiyi family, and Odegbami family (including Segun Odegbami and Wole Odegbami) which are very prominent and influential families in Wasinmi, was a spiritual leader and appointed administrator as detailed in Tutuola's book The Palm Wine Drinkard, and was most likely one of the founders of Wasinmi. Other notable and influential families include the family of Chief Jamaes Ifayanran Enitan, the Oluawo of Iledi Ogboni which administers traditional religion and governance over several villages and towns including Ijumo Ologboni, Gbangba, Tepona, Jguna, Jibode, Ilaho, Onibontuje, Ajade, Loti and several surrounding villages. He was the father of Elijah Olumide Enitan and ancestor to Olukayode Enitan (Senior Advocate of Nigeria), Olusola Solomon Enitan; an Estate Surveyor and Valuer of repute. Wasinmi is gradually growing into a mix use commercial precinct with industries and factories cropping up across the land. An integrated farm, TeeHigh Farms is located in Wasinmi.
Sections
Each small group of clans in Wasinmi has their own section, each with a unique name. Four of these sections are Wasinmi Igbó,[2] Wasinmi Oríle, Wasinmi Alaafia, and Wasinmi Ọlọṣẹ.
Future
The Ogun State government has started construction to build an international airport in Wasimi. The airport was meant to be finished in March 2019,[6] but President Buhari has continued to commission the former governor's projects.[7] Many local Wasinmi farmers were angry at the confiscation of land and were given monetary compensations.[citation needed]
Amos Tutuola was a Nigerian writer who wrote books based in part on Yoruba folk-tales.
Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the west. Abeokuta is both Ogun State's capital and most populous city; other important cities in the state include Ijebu Ode, the royal capital of the Ijebu Kingdom, and Sagamu, Nigeria's leading kola nut grower. Ogun state is covered predominantly by rain forest and has wooden savanna in the northwest. Ogun State had a total population of 3,751,140 residents as of 2006, making Ogun State the 16th most populated state in Nigeria In terms of landmass, Ogun State is the 24th largest State in Nigeria with land area of 16,762 kilometer square.
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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.
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 of West Africa. 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.
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.
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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.
Egba Ake, otherwise known as Egba Alake, is one of the five sections of Egbaland, the others being Oke-Ona, Gbagura, the Owu and Ibara. 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.
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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.
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