Historical & Cultural Links

It is important to mention the historical and cultural link between Erin-Ijesa and Ilesa as regards the Iro and Olumirin. Although, Ilesa is the central and major city in Ijesaland, but significant portion of Ilesa’s royal tradition is owed to Erin-Ijesa.

The story goes thus: An Alaafin of Oyo, sometimes in the 16^th century, sent his pretty barren daughter called Yeyesaro accompanied by her sister Yeyedere to take a sacrifice to Erin-Ijesa after due consultation with Ifa oracle. The sacrifice is to be placed at the foot of Aagba tree in the popular Oyingbo-Mekun market of Erin-Ijesa. Ifa also directed that Yeyesaro should marry the first man whose two eyes first met with hers. The party traced their way to Ilesa and told the Owa (King) of Ilesa, Obarabaralokunesin who then lived at Ibokun of their mission. The Owa accorded them royal welcome and led them to Imo, where he went back having shown them the way to Erin-Ijesa. Upon arrival at Erin-Ijesa, Yeyesaro went straight to perform the ritual at the foot of Aagba tree as directed; and a man called Onisunmbe suddenly emerged and challenged her. The woman narrated her story and mission to him. Onisunmbe could not resist her beauty and royal look; and thereafter invited her and her sister to his house. The woman conceived and bore a male child for Onisunmbe within a short time. Her sister, Yeyedere, thereafter left for Ijebu-Jesa where she got married to the Ogboni (King) of Ijebu-Jesa to whom she too bore a son. Yeyesaro was not quite happy marrying Onisunmbe, a commoner in Erin, unlike her sister that married a king. She therefore left Onisunmbe to marry the Owa of Ilesa, Obarabaralokunesin; where she gave birth to a prince who later became the Owa-Obokun Owaluse of Ilesa. Thus, Owaluse became half-brother to the son of Onisunmbe of Erin-Ijesa. When Onisunmbe died and Owaluse had cause to attend his half-brother father’s burial, he was astonished and dumb-founded by the supernatural performance of Iro priest (Lowabisi) who conducted the ceremony to the extent that he fell into a trance. Upon recovery from trance, he pleaded with his half-brother that whenever he died, Lowabisi should be invited to accord him the type of befitting ceremony he had watched at Erin-Ijesa. He also charged his people that followed him from Ilesa to ensure this was done, and they pledged on oath to do this.

When Owa Obokunobarabaralokunesin died at Ibokun, he was succeeded by Owaluse. But Owari usurped the throne from Owaluse and ruled the Ijesa from his headquarters at Ipole. Owaluse sought refuge in Oyo, his mother’s town, during this period. The Ijesas abhorred Owari’s reign and he was later tricked to commit suicide, and was buried at Ipole. Owaluse was invited from Oyo, after the death of Owari, to become Owa Obokun with his seat of government at Ilesa. He was the second Owa Obokun to govern directly from Ilesa, the first being Owara Okile.

Upon the death of Owaluse, who reigned between 1522 and 1526, his relatives did not accord him the type of burial that he requested; hence tragic and sad events befell Ilesa which ranges from devastating storms that rendered people homeless and maimed, several sudden deaths of both old and young, influential and powerful people; and fear gripped the people. The chiefs went to consult Ifa oracle which confirmed that Owaluse’s relatives failed to fulfill the pledge they made to him. It was at this juncture that it was revealed that the rituals performed at Onisumbe’s burial in Erin-Ijesa should be performed in honour of Owaluse as he once demanded before peace and calm could return to Ilesa. The regent, Chief Obanla of Ilesa, conferred with other chiefs and sent emissaries to the Akinla and requested him to invite Owaluse’s relatives in his domain to perform burial ceremonies of Owaluse to avert further disasters. Lowabisi, the Iro priest, led the Onisunmbe family to perform the rituals and drove out evil spirits and other harmful things in the palace and other strategic places of Ilesa.

History has it that from Owa Obokun Atakunmosa to Owa Obokun Waiye, the tradition was kept and they enjoyed their reigns. After them followed eight successive Owa who either died in Ogboni’s house within three months or shortly after getting to the throne because they set aside the tradition. This caused the Owa, who was a female, a great worry and panic that she inquired why her predecessors’ reign was so short and uneventful. A man in Ogboni’s house told her that her predecessors neglected certain tradition to their perils. She therefore resuscitated the tradition which led to her long reign. That ancient rite and ritual has continued till today as clear evidence of the cultural and historical bond between Erin-Ijesa and Ilesa.

Tradition also has it that Owa does not drink water from Erin-Ijesa. Therefore, when in early 1930’s the Regional Government decided to provide pipe-borne water for Ilesa with Erin-Ijesa waterfalls as the source of supply, the Owa of Ilesa objected to the plan because it was against the traditional belief of his area. The source was later changed to Efon Alaiye.

The Ipetu-Ijesa people hailed from Idanre. Their ancestor, Baba Ode, came to the Akinla ofErin-Ijesa to request for a piece of land on which to settle through Gbado, a hunter, who allotted land to people on Akinla’s order. This man – Gbado – brought Baba Ode on an Oduduwa’s festival day. Baba Ode came to Akinla with a gift of antelope and begged him (the Akinla) for permission to settle on his land. This was repeated several times on similar festivities. The Akinla, who was convinced of the genuine intention of Baba Ode to settle gave him a piece of land on which to do this and from then on started to refer to Baba Ode as ‘Apetu bo Oduduwa’ which means supplier of antelope for the worship of Oodua. No sooner did Baba Ode settle his people that he started building a city wall. This got to the notice of the Akinla who ordered him to demolish the wall and move further away from him (Akinla), hence the Ipetu – cognomen ‘Ipetu Alaro-Odo, Olodi a mo nu’ meaning the Ipetu people who migrated from Aro Odo and who wasted their efforts in putting up a city wall that was later demolished by themselves – obviously on the orders of the Akinla. The Ipetu people appealed for leniency before they were permitted by the Akinla to settle on the land later.

Oba Akinla Ayeni, Okin Oloro, ascended the throne of Erin-Ijesa in 1884 as the 23^rd Akinla ofErin-Ijesa and he reigned for 55 years. He was a famous and respected herbalist within his immediate domain and beyond. In the course of his reign, his subjects were dissatisfied with the old Beaded Crown brought from Ile-Ife, worn over and over by his predecessors, which made it look outdated. This made Akinla Ayeni to procure another one that was even more beautiful than that of Owa Obokun of Ijesaland. Learning of that, the Owa Atayero who was on Ilesa throne at that time arranged the arrest of Oba Akinla Ayeni, seized the crown and kept him incommunicado in his palace at Ilesa in 1904. His crime was that he was wearing a beaded crown that was more imposing and historic than the one won by the Owa of Ilesa, the paramount and all-powerful ruler of Ilesa. When unusual happenings started to surface in the town, the Owa in collaboration with the powers that be had to send Oba Akinla Ayeni into exile at Ilobu. At Ilobu too, strange occurrences were being noticed by the populace of the town, and he was finally sent down to Alaafin Ladigbolu of Oyo. History has it that the then Apetu of Ipetu-Ijesa too was simultaneously banished to Oyo on the basis of certain offences allegedly committed.

While in Oyo, Oba Akinla Ayeni’s proficiency in herbal medical practice was discovered when he solved couple of medical problems for Oba Ladigbolu. It was that discovery that prevented the Alaafin from releasing him in good time for he made him (the Akinla) his personal physician. He was also a traditional birth attendant and traditional gynaecologist. Hence, during his sojourn in Alaafin’s palace in Oyo, he became famous and respected by helping to deliver many women of childbirth and helped to save their lives. He was set free and allowed to return to his kingdom having delivered an Alaafin’s wife of childbirth, having being in labor for several days. Oba Akinla Ayeni spent a total of seven years in exile before his release. His send-off events became so profound in the history of the palace that it was recorded in Yoruba ABD Olope Book in this way: “Akinlade nlo si ilu re”, meaning the crowned Akinla is leaving for his hometown. The crown seized by Owa Atayero was not released to Erin-Ijesa throne until 1955 during the reign of Oba Akinla Gbadamosi.

The terms “Erin-Odo” (now Erin-Ijesa) and “Erin-Oke” were commonly adopted by the subjects of Akinla unconsciously. They were originally mere geographical expressions signifying the nature of the landscape; partly plain and partly hilly of Erin. The hilly part was called Erin-Oke, oke being the Yoruba word for either a hill or a height; and the plain part was called Erin-Odo, odo or isale being the Yoruba word for a slope or a valley. Thus, Erin-Oke means that part of Erin town which is on a hill, while Erin-Odo means another part of the same town which is in a valley or on a plain. The founder of Erin, Akinla, led all to the present site.

The site of Erin-Oke was originally settled as a quarter of Erin by Onitafa. He was a great hunter who accompanied Akinla from Ile-Ife; and he established his own quarter near Oyigbo-Mekun market and assumed the title of Babaloja (overseer of the market). He was required to give part of the tolls collected at the market as well as part of his game as hunter to Akinla. This obligation, Onitafa considered rather burdensome, more so as people often reported him whenever he failed to truthfully render account to Akinla. He thereafter took permission from the Akinla to go a little distance to the nearby hilltop in Erin kingdom to give him better opportunities to practice his hunting profession. But in actual fact, it was in protest against acts which he regarded as exploitative against him by the Akinla. Akinla then allowed Onitafa to leave for the hilltop and to set up a new quarter, which he named as Itafa after himself, Onitafa. He was soon joined by Obelu and some people from mainland Erin; and Itafa soon became significant settlement demographically speaking, although for all practical purposes Itafa was regarded and administered as part of Erin with Akinla as the sovereign head. Onitafa will usually send gifts of animals and food items to Akinla.

However, the present division in jurisdiction dated back to 18^th century during the reign of the 19^th Akinla, Aladekomo Ajamojuonakan II (1723-1769).         Akinla Aladekomo was married to a woman named Omogaja who was from Odo, a neighboring town. Omogaja used to frequent Erin market before her marriage to Akinla Aladekomo to trade in kolanuts. This marriage did not produce any child for a long time until Ifa oracle was consulted and a prescription was made for her.       Omogaja became pregnant and gave birth to a son as predicted by Ifa oracle. Though the Akinla was not convinced of the paternity, he was prevailed upon to accept the child as traditionally every child born in the kingdom was regarded as the Akinla’s children. This Akinla became popularly known as Aladekomo, that is, the king that rejected a child. The child was named Adase from the expression Ifa-ti-a-da-se (Ifa’s prediction has come true); this was shortened to Ada.

Ada grew up to be a tough man of questionable character who committed lot of atrocities two of which are worth mentioning. Firstly, Ada was having an amorous affair with one of his father’s wives known as Omolere, a daughter of Alaaye (king) of Efon-Alaaye. This was an unpardonable offence under Yoruba custom; but since Akinla had no concrete evidence, he could not bring the full weight of the law to bear on either his wife or son. This culminated in Ada being driven out of the palace by his father, and he took refuge with Chief Loye.  Secondly, Ada continued to perpetrate various abominable acts. An Owu lady (daughter of Olowu of Owu) who had been coming to sell clothes at Erin market all the way from Owu (near Abeokuta) suddenly got missing. This nearly caused a major war because the Olowu (king) of Owu, who sent an emissary to the Akinla to ensure that his daughter was found become implacable. However, consultation with Ifa oracle revealed that the lady was alive but in captivity somewhere in Erin. The Akinla promised to execute whoever kidnapped the lady. Akinla only got to know that it was his estranged son that abducted the lady on the day that the lady was delivered of a baby. Akinla was determined to fulfill his promise, but he was prevailed upon by Babaloja Onitafa and Loye, who were two of his high ranking advisers to spare Ada.

Having realized that Ada atrocities had risen to the brim, Akinla thought that the only alternative to executing him was to banish him from Erin in order to prevent further provocations. Ada took to his heels and ran to Itafa before the Akinla’s plan could materialize. This made Akinla to curse him saying “Ada ko ni lua” (Ada will not prosper). At Itafa, Ada became a guest of Aratan, one of Akinla’s herbalists, Elejua of Iro-Odo and the Onitafa. The three elderly men later pleaded for leniency on Ada’s behalf with the Akinla who was then persuaded to reverse the curse he had placed on Ada. He did reverse it when he said “Ada a lua” (may Ada prosper).

To the chagrin of Babaloja Onitafa and Aratan, their guest gradually usurped their powers and prerogatives. The fact is that Babaloja, the head of Itafa quarter, had little time for administrative matters as he was often away hunting. Hence, Ada who was very ambitious began to settle disputes within and between families in the absence of Babaloja. The Itafa community, having discovered this trait of leadership instinct in Ada, approached Akinla to make him a head over them.      The Akinla consented to the request following several appeals from prominent and respectable people after an undertaking was made to the effect that Ada would be of good behaviour not only to the Akinla (his father and suzerain) but to other people far and near especially the neighboring communities with whom Akinla shared common boundaries. Itafa community subsequently became known as Erin-Oke and its ruler took the title Alua, which was a direct opposite of the curse that Akinla Aladekomo placed on Ada, that is, Ada a lua (may Ada prosper). The first Alua of Erin-Oke, Ada, gave birth to three sons (Orunde, Ajila and Oyibo-Oke) which constitute the three ruling houses in Erin-Oke. No Alua will be properly installed without the consent of Akinla, and until he had paid a homage and obeisance to the Akinla who would then place him on his laps to bless him. The Alua was granted the right to wear beaded crown in 1980. In his application for permission to wear beaded crown, he supported his application with history repeating the well-known history that it was the Akinla that made the Alua Oba and emphasized that Erin-Oke was derived from Erin-Ijesa and founded by Akinla Yeye Aye, the first daughter of Oduduwa. In other words, the geographical area known as Erin-Oke and Erin-Ijesa was formerly an exclusive empire of the Akinla of Erin-Itadogun (now Erin-Ijesa), and that Akinla carved out part of his empire for his son who later became the king (Alua) of that portion.

The fact remained that there was no demarcation of the area granted to the Alua as the Akinla owned all the land encompassing Erin-Odo (now known as Erin-Ijesa) and Erin-Oke. But the Alua was only permitted to exercise authority over some areas of the town. Some of the places granted to the Alua then were Oke Iro, Itare, Ilabi, Ijugbin, Erindu, Ijisun, Onikoko-mefa, Oke Aka, Odo Arin, Erinjigun, Okokeepa, Alumo, Oke-Osun, Igbo-Aare and Oke-Omi.

Again, up till today, when a new Akinla is to be chosen, the responsibility for selection process lies with fourteen kingmakers, seven of whom are from Erin-Oke. This confirms that the two areas are no strangers at all nor have they ever been construed as two separate places under disparate suzerains.

Omo-Ijesa migrated from Ajogburugbe in Efon Alaye (now in Ekiti State) after incurring the wrath of the monarch of the ancient kingdom. The community appealed to the then Akinla of Erin-Ijesa to accommodate them. In the spirit of brotherhood, the then Akinla gave them the opportunity to stay on his land.  The Akinla did not give them a separate land; but sent them to his grandfather (Adegbuji) who settled them as customary tenants. The two communities lived together in peace and harmony until late 1960s when Omo=Ijesa people decided to move about five kilometers further away from the land voluntarily given to them by Erin-Ijesa as tenants. However, the new site was still part of Erin-Ijesa domain. Hence, Omo-Ijesa people in the current location are still tenants of Akinla of Erin-Ijesa. Their present settlement is the boundary between Erin-Ijesa and Erinmo-Ijesa, a neighbouring community to the former. It is on record that Omo-Ijesa people are in their sixth place of sojourn since it started migrating from one place to the other over 200 years ago.

 In 1974, Chief Ezekiel Oladimeji Ogundipe (Risa of Omo-Ijesa) on behalf of himself and Omo-Ijesa Community initiated a court action against Erin-Ijesa Community. In the suit, Omo-Ijesa community claimed to be the owner of a parcel of land wherein they are tenants. However, he lost the case right from the High Court to Supreme Court of Nigeria and costs were awarded in favor of Erin-Ijesa community in various courts. High Court judgement delivered in Ilesa by Justice Babalakin on Friday 2^nd of December 1977; Court of Appeal judgement delivered in Ibadan by Justice Uche Omo on Monday, 27^th of June 1983; and Supreme Court judgement delivered in Lagos by Hon Justice Saidu Kawu on Friday, 22^nd January 1988 refers.

 After various interventions, a letter ref SEC/3/10/282 dated 6^th August 1997 was written by C. O. Lufadeju, Director-General Pol. Sec & Permanent Secretary for Secretary to the State Government of Osun State to Oba S. A. Adeosun, the Akinla of Erin-Ijesa. The letter affirmed that Erin-Ijesa was the rightful and bonafide owner of the land and Omo-Ijesa community are ready to pay traditional tribute (Isakole) to Erin-Ijesa if they are allowed to regain part of the plantation of cocoa and kola. Oba S. A.Adeosun responded with a letter dated 14^th of August 1997 and he consequently ceded part of the said land to Omo-Ijesa community on humanitarian grounds and for the sake of peace.

Notwithstanding the magnanimity by the people of Erin-Ijesa, the Omo-Ijesa community unleashed various terror attacks on Erin-Ijesa people. They machete them, killed some, made away with motorcycles, burnt churches, mosques, school, houses and villages.

 The last of the efforts is the Osun Truth and Reconciliation Commission (OSTRC) headed by Hon. Justice Samson Odemwingbie Uwaifo (a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria) set up in 2011 by the government of His Excellency, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola (Ref. OSTRC 413/2011). Though nothing has been heard about the recommendation of Osun Truth and Reconciliation Commission (OSTRC), the people of Erin-Ijesa  as  magnanimous victors are however willing to part with some portion of her land to Omo-Ijesa to allow peace to reign. We are waiting for the state government to expedite the implementation of peaceful resolution before the issue again degenerates to another communal clash.