Ibadan! Ibadan! Ibadan, the home of the braves, a haven for the oppressed and the messiah of all Yoruba nations. Ibadanland, the ancient military base, a viable commercial centre and unparallel melting pot of the Yoruba towns is no doubt the largest city in West Africa and the capital city of Oyo State. History has it that the Ibadan story started with the migration of Lagelu ‘Oro Apata Maja’, a war Chief of Ife descent from Atiki compound in Ile-Ife to found Ibadan towards the end of the 16th century. In this vein, the founding fathers of Ibadan like any other Yoruba ancient towns of Akure, Oyo, Ondo, Ogbomoso and Abeokuta conforms to the standard migration history from Ile-Ife. During Lagelu’s rule, according to late Oba I.B Akinyele, there was no Aare Kakanfo until one was installed in 1640 by Alaafin Ajagbo. During the time, raiding for slaves and food was very successful and the population increased rapidly. There were also 74 blacksmith industries and 16 entrances. The settlements then became known as Eba-Odan (meaning near the savannah). This name was given to the settlement by the passers –by because of the settlement location which was between the savannah and the forest belt. Time later reduced the two words of Eba- Odan to Ebadan and finally it became Ibadan. Ibadan is indeed unique in many ways. The first Ibadan, surrounded by Egba settlement, before it broke up probably in the early 18th century before the Lisabi led a massacre of the Ilaris and the eventual libration of the Egbas from Alaafin’s control I 1775. This is to correct the impression that the first Ibadan broke up as a result of an unfortunate accident at an Egungun festival during the reign of Alaafin Sango. Before the death of Lagelu, he and his children left ‘Oke-badan hill’ near Awotan market around the present Eleyele water works and migrated to ‘Ori-iyangi’ now referred to as Oja-Iba named after Basorun Oluyole. The second Ibadan settlements were divided into six neighborhoods namely: (1) Itun Elemo- Aboke’s compound (2) Oke Igbede- Olubadan compound (3) Itun-Lisa- Compounds for Olowu’s first son, (Aremo) (4) Itun Ikasi- Compound for the children of Ikasi, (Lagelu’s nephew fro Ejigbo) (5) Ilaro- Compound for the Prince of Iseri. (6) Oke ati Isale Atan- Communal land. The second Ibadan was surrounded by the following settlements namely: Owu, Ojo, Ika, Ijaiye, Erunmu, Ikija, Ido, Ikogun and many Egba settlements. But soon after, about 1806, another breakup of Ibadan occurred. It was caused by Olowu Akinjobi, who after migrating from devastated Owu kingdom to ruling Ibadan had married the only daughter of the Olubadan. According to the legend, on one of his raids, the Olowu’s warriors were unable to cross the Oba-river until he was persuaded to sacrifice his wife named ‘Nkan Omo Olubadan’. When the Olubadan heard about this, he did not have the courage to fight Olowu alone, so he requested for assistance from the Alake of Abeokuta, the Ooni of Ife, the Awujale of Ijebu-ode and allied Army were also invited. Maye Okunade and Lakanle, an Oyo leader were also part of the team that drove away the Owus from Ibadan. Again, in 1820 Ibadan came alive but that time, it was not by the original founders but by the Allied Army consisting of the Egbas, Ijebus, Ifes and the Oyo veterans. The initial congregation at Ibadan this time around, was along ethnic lines; the numerically superior Ife soldiers and Oyo Yoruba refugees choose Oja-Iba, the Ijebus lived in the South at Isale-Ijebu; the Egbas moved far away from their conquerors and settled at Yeosa. The pattern of these settlements was a clear indication of the existing political cleavages in this war camps. Each group had its own leaders who people looked upon them for authority. As a result of interclass struggle among the settlers, the Egba under the leadership of Sodeke, the Seriki of Egba withdrew in a body from Ibadan to settle in Abeokuta in 1830 followed by the Owus in 1834 after the Gbanamu war. As excuse was found later for an intra-class struggle in 1833 between the Ifes and the Oyo settlers. This later escalated to a full scale war which the Oyo-yoruba won and Ibadan became one since then till today as an Oyo- Yoruba town. It should be noted that a strong government emerged in Ibadan because it continued to engage in warfare and the people who migrated into the city completely identified themselves with the new town. TO BE CONTINUE.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 10:54:51 +0000
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