Portuguese explorers “discovered’’ Yoruba cities and kingdoms in the 15th century, but cities such as Ile-Ife and Benin, among others had been standing at their present sites for at least 500 years before the Europeans arrived.
Ile-Ife was the first of all Yoruba cities and it remained a city state that had paramount importance to the Yorubas as the original scared city and cradle of basic religions and thought.
Ogotun Ekiti was not left out as it was founded by one of the sons of Oduduwa, the first king to reign and rule in Ile-Ife, a sacred and holy land being the first to be created by Olodumare, Almighty God in Yoruba mythology and belief.
A city or town that is not historically connected to Ile-Ife is not recognized as part of Yoruba land, nor is it regarded as founded by one of the sons of Oduduwa.
Benin Kingdom for example has its root in Ile-Ife; it derived its knowledge of brass casting and Ifa divination directly from Ile-Ife.
Ogotun Ekiti was founded directly by Ojorube, who was the son of Olofin the son of Oduduwa.
All Yoruba towns claim to have originated from Ile-Ife, an ancient city in South West, Nigeria. Black American countries such as Cuba are not left out. Oduduwa is widely accepted as the father of all Yorubas. He gave birth to sons who afterwards founded all Yoruba prominent cities.
One of his sons, Olofin was a beloved son of Oduduwa married to Efidogberibe- the daughter of Araba in Ile-Ife. Araba was a high chief in Ile-Ife.
There were many Oloris (Queens) in the palace. Efidogberibe who was at that time living at Ilode Quarters in Ile-Ife was a ward often sent to Olofin by the Olori. As a result of constant visits to Olofin in his palace and the manner in which she comported herself before Olofin, she caught Ollfin’s fancy.
Nobody dared question the acts of an Oba in Yoruba. Not even the Oloris in the palace could. Efidogberibe, his wife’s handmaiden later became pregnant. Prior to this time, there was drought because it had ceased to rain for the past three years.
Efidogberibe, Olofin’s wife had a baby boy. For the first time in three years, it rained in Ile-Ife the day Efidogberibe gave birth to the boy. In Yoruba setting, children are named after the current event in the land. If a woman dies in the family, the name of the babe will be “Yetunde” meaning “mother has returned”. In the case of a male child, it will be “ Babatunde”-the return of an old man who died in the family.
It was no surprise that Olofin named his newborn son “OJORUBE” as a remit for the rain (OJO) that fell on the day that he was born. The woman actually had two sons for Olofin, the second and younger one being AJIBOGUN the founder of Ilesha, in Osun State, South West Nigeria.
Ojorube grew up a brave and fearless warrior. He was loved by his father as a result of his bravery. The strength of an Oba was, in days past, measured by the bravery of his warriors and how many towns they were able to overrun and take into slavery.
History had it that there was a particular place in the palace where princes were barred from playing. It was at this particular place that Ojorube loved to play. Ojorube, being a brave warrior was given every freedom in the palace. It is a taboo for a king or prince to see the inner side of a crown. The result was that such a king would die mysteriously. To prevent his son from being harmed, Olofin prepared a charm to prevent his son from the wrath of “gods” who watched over these crowns.
Ojorube would be with his father while crowns were being made. This is the reason that in Yoruba land, out of those who migrated from Ile-Ife, it is only the Ologotun that can see the inner structure of a beaded-crown.
The mystery that surrounds this culture cannot be fathomed. The fact remains that no king in Yoruba land sees the inner structure of his crown except Ologotun. This stands till eternity!
Ojorube, a brave warrior usually defended the right side of any war which was considered to be the deadliest and fiercest. He became the commander of the right-hand part of the war. This earned him the name “Olori Ogun Otun” meaning “Commander in chief of the right-hand army” as a result of his exploits on the battlefront.
In all, it was the “Olori Ogun Otun” that is corrupted to Ologotun. In addition, it is Ogun-Otun that is now corrupted to Ogotun. Ologotun grew in fame and was respected by all in the palace. It got to a time, that wherever there was absence of war in Yoruba land. He looked ferocious and potent to foment troubles even in the palace.
A special entrance had to be created for him to gain access to the palace. No other prince shared this entrance with him. All other princes had a common entrance. This was so because his presence could foment trouble. He was greatly feared.
This old entrance remains in Ile-Ife, at the Ooni’s palace till date. When the present Ologotun, Oba Samuel Oladapo Oyebade visited the Ooni’s palace to pay homage as a newly crowned king, all kings present went in through general entrance but Ologotun was made to go in through his ancient door specially made for his ancestors as a result of his ever-ready warrior posture.
Not only that, the drumming often “speaks’’ in turn of who is coming into the palace. When it was the turn of Ologotun, it spoke “Ologotun de-ero’’ meaning “Let there be peace at Ologotun’s presence“. This means that his presence is always of war. The drummers do drum to calm his nerves. He was presented a staff of office as the insignia of an army general. His staff of office is referred to as “Opa Isegun” (staff of victory).
This staff of office brought from Ile-Ife is now in the present Ogotun Ekiti and is being worshipped every year by the indigenes of the town. It will be very wrong to play down the importance of Ogotun in the history of Yoruba.
As a result of old age and great wars Olofin had fought and won, he became ill and went blind. All efforts to make him see again proved abortive. At last, the oracle was consulted. An oracle is a traditional, divine revealer of hidden and secret things. Though oracle divination it is possible to know and be directed on some knotty issues and other secrets that may not be naturally discernible.
In Yoruba land, an Ifa priest is always in this office to consult oracle for the palace on a daily basis. History has it that no king would venture out without consultation with Ifa oracle on any subject in the town. An Ifa priest was brought in to consult the Ifa oracle and proffer solution to Olofin’s blindness.
The Ifa oracle revealed that, it was only sea water mixed with other items that was capable of healing Olofin. The seawater was not present anywhere except in “Eko” (The present Lagos). The distance and difficulties attached to this adventure scared all. None of his children would dare such a dangerous adventure. At last, the younger brother of Ojorube (Ajibogun) volunteered to get the water from Eko not minding the danger inherent. The journey took him several months. He returned with the water eventually.
Meanwhile, while he was away, Olofin thought he would not survive the terrible illness. He invited all his sons to a meeting where he asked them to share all his properties; advised them to find their ways with a view to founding their respective settlements. Ojorube did the sharing of crowns among his brothers. The sharing took place at Odebanifon: now called Ile Nla in the present Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
Thereafter the sons of Olofin scattered abroad without leaving any crown for Ajibogun their brother who was away to bring sea water for the healing of their father. Ajibogun returned with the sea water which was used to cure Olofin’s blindness. He could see again. Olofin in gratitude gave Ajibogun a sword that was found in the palace. He was told to fight any of the princes he could overtake with it.
Eventually, he found one of his brother. With the sword, he cut off the frills of his crown and killed him. Ajibogun took the crown. This explains why the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland does not use a crown with frills. Ajibogun is the founder of Ijesha kingdom!
As soon as Olofin could see again, he observed that Ojorube, the Ologotun left his staff of victory behind, he commanded a servant to take the sword and run after him his sword.
It must be noted here that the name “Ogbolu” is the general name of all the descendants of Araba who happened to be Ojorube’s maternal grandfather.
The servant caught up with Ojorube at Idado in Ilesa. He was not allowed to return to Ile-Ife instead he was asked to join forces with Ojorube.
Before Ojorube left Ile-Ife, he was married to a woman by name Oluwatusin. She had two children: Aridesukun and Agbemole, the third being in conception. As a general of the army, he employed strategic measures not to have all his family around him; he ordered his first son Aridesukun and his wife to go in a different direction in company of some of his soldiers while he himself, Agbemole and other soldiers went in another direction. This would be trait of a good commander-in-chief.
At Efon Alaaye, Oluwatusin and her son took time to rest; she later fell into child labour. This labour might be referred to as a “forced labour’’ as a result of long trekking without adequate care and proper medication. There were several cases of high mortality rate as a result of the crude method of child delivery of those days.
The woman soon died after the birth of her third child. This was also regarded as taboo; as a result, she was ordered to be buried in an isolated bush where nobody dared enter. The bush was “Igbo Olua” or “Igboro”.
History had it that at the burial place, water came out of her mouth and that it was the water that became the fountain of the present River Owena. The river is highly revered and worshiped in Ogotun Ekiti. Not only that, there is a town till today, named after the same river in Ondo State. That is the boundary between Osun and Ondo States, Nigeria.
It may be recalled that one of the reasons why Ojorube divided his camp was for safe keep, but he found himself to be wrong after all. Aridesekun and his company with the baby continued their journey. They finally came to Ipole and settled there. He conquered the original settlers and crowned himself. Ojorube unaware of what had transpired got to Ipole only to meet his son as Oba. To him, this was a betrayal of trust, in anger he banished his son- Aridesekun to Iloda. He eventually made himself the king being the rightful owner of the crown.
All Yoruba towns claim to have an Ipole. Ipole is simply referred to as the first settlement before the eventual final settlement in their present location. A town without an Ipole is either a slave or subjugate in Yoruba reckoning.
At Ipole, Ojorube met two herbalists; the first was an Ifa priest while the second one was a physician. Ojorube consulted them to take care of his infant motherless baby and ensure his survival.
To save their necks from the sword of the awesome king, the Ifa priest said “Orunlomoniaye” (Orunmoye) meaning “Only the heaven can determine who will survive”. The physician on his part said “Orisaniojeniku” (Sajiku) meaning “only God can sustain him”.
True enough, the child did not die. He grew up in his father’s premises on a special diet and fed fat. For that reason he was named Arijelakodioba” which today is “Arijodi” meaning “He that feeds fat in the king’s palace”.
There are two stories but one thing was certain Ogotun did have an “Ipole” their initial settlement.
At one time during their stay at Ipole, Ojorube having banished his first son to Ita Iloda on a charge of treason and treachery determined to celebrate an important festival. Ojorube’s company had grown in number. He enjoyed hospitality and was well respected.
As a result of this festival, the Oba of Edo Bini sent his emissaries to celebrate with them. During the festival, the woman, out of joy, started to sing in a way to show off and their songs indicated that they were a special breed and superior to each ladies including the Binis.
The song sparked off bitterness and rivalry. An emissary who felt his insulted committed suicide.
When the Oba of Bini heard of this, and, being a powerful and dreadful king, he infested Ogotun land with earthworm (Ekolo). The earthworms were seen in all things. Even their cooking pots were not left out!
Ojorube had to consult with Ifa priests who would divine what the solution might be. At the consultation, Ifa revealed that the only solution was to leave Ipole and settle somewhere else.
Where to? Ifa directed them to prepare a cow with charms that would go ahead of them. Their new settlement would be where the cow stopped and died. The divination was obeyed. The cow was prepared for the journey hoping to get to their “Canaan land”. The people soon got tired of the endless journey, decided to kill the cow at Idi Asedo somewhere in the present location of the town and they eventually settled where the cow died.
Ojorube adopted the tittle Ologotun” being his name at Ile-Ife as the right hand man Olofin. He thus named his new settlement “Ogun Otun” “Ogotun”.
There was general unrest and fear of insecurity among the people at Ipole. An herbalist consulted the oracle on their behalf. As usual, Ifa oracle prescribed items to be offered to appease the god as a result of the earthworm infestation of the land. Among those items was a human being who must be a non-native and must have hunch back. Incidentally, the oracle consultant was a non-native and had hunchback. The people conspired to offer him as a result of his divination. Other items were gathered. The hole into which the items would be buried was dug preparing for the sacrifice.
Unlike Isaac in the Bible, the unsuspecting consultant inquired about the human being for sacrifice. He was told it would be brought when the time was ripe for it. Not suspecting any danger, he continued his work. Eventually the Ifa priest ended up being pushed into the hole and was buried alive with other materials. The people felt elated and thought all would be well having satisfied the wish of the oracle only to wake up the second day to discover their nightmare. The place had been infested with earthworm in water, soup, food and everywhere.
Again, they consulted Ifa oracle which advised them to leave Ipole. They were to prepare a horse metaphysically to lead the exodus from Ipole to a place where it would stop. That was to be their new abode. They were instructed only to settle when the horse ceased to move.
As a result of their usual intrigue, some got tired and disgusted, therefore decided to put an end to their wanderings day and night.
They pulled off some nerves from the horse’s leg so that the horse could no longer move. They finally settled at the point which they called Idi-ases-do-si meaning “a point where we have just settled’’. It is the present Idi Asedo.
Ojorube adopted the name Ologotun of Ogotun Ekiti being the tittle he was called by his father Olofin as his right commander-in-chief of his army. During the colonial era, Ogotun-Ekiti was one of sixteen native authorities that made up Ekiti District; was later broken into many District Councils. Ogotun Ekiti Southern District Council with the headquarter in Ikere Ekiti.
Later, more local governments were created and Ogotun Ekiti found herself in Ekiti South West Local Government with headquarter in Ilawe-Ekiti. During the colonial era Ologotun of Ogotun Ekiti was one of sixteen (16) prominent crowned Obas in the whole Ekiti land.
Ogotun Ekiti is a cosmopolitan town with 24 villages and settlement. Farmers from Oyo, Kwara, Osun, Kogi, Delta, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Akwa-Ibom state among others have settled on Ogotun land. The traditional occupation of Ogotun women is mat-weaving.
©2024 Created by Kolade Chris
