Okeho… Celebrated 100 years of return from old to present settlement and have ancentral Link with Ilaro Olu of Ilaro, in 2021
Oba Kehinde Gbadewole Olugbenle (Asade Agunloye IV); Onjo of Okeho, Oba Rafiu Osuolale Mustapha (Adeitan II) and his Olori Taibat Most revolts or uprisings in Nigeria during the colonial era have, until recently, been dismissed as anti-tax riots by some writers on native administration. Hence, the Iseyin-Okeiho Rising of 1916, the Adubi Rising of 1918 and the Aba Riots of 1929 are regarded as being caused by opposition to taxation in these communities. Okeiho, now called Okeho, one of the major towns in Oke-Ogun, a prominent district in Oyo State, recently celebrated 100 years of return to its current settlement from Okeho Ahoro, where the inhabitants had taken refuge due to incessant raids by slave merchants from Dahomey (now Republic of Benin) and attacks by the Fulani warriors. In a chat with The Guardian at his palace, the traditional ruler, Onjo of Okeho, His Royal Majesty, Oba Rafiu Osuolale Mustapha, Adeitan II, stated that the town, referred to as ‘the food basket of Oyo’ was founded around 1650 by two individuals – Olofin, a skilled hunter and Ojo Oronna, a Prince from Ilaro, who, in about 1680 A.D., had suffered disappointment and humiliation after he was passed over as the new Olu of Ilaro. He said, “History has it that Ojo Oronna left Ilaro in the company of his family and one of his loyalists, Onipẹde, and travelled northwards until they arrived at Omogudu, where the party found suitable for their initial settlement. They farmed and hunted animals for food at Isogun forest and caught fish in Amurugudu River. “However, it turned out that they were not alone in their new domain, as Omogudu was close to Oke Ọlọfin, the abode of another powerful settler named Ọlọfin, who frequented the Isogun forest for game. It was during one of his adventures that he met Ojo Oronna and they became good friends.” According to the monarch, with time, their relationship blossomed and the friendship led to Ọlọfin’s invitation to Ojo Oronna to move his family and subjects closer to Oke Ọlọfin at a location called Ijo, which Oronna accepted and moved from Omogudu to Ijo. He explained that with determination to turn his disappointment to good fortune and excel beyond the imagination of their kith and kin back in Ilaro, Oronna naturally assumed the headship of the new settlement, with Onipẹde, as his right-hand man. Their adventurous and enterprising spirit, as well as good working relationship helped them sustain focus on the future of their new domain. “From the first Ijo, near Oke Ọlọfin, Ojo Oronna moved to a second Ijo near Oke Oleyo,” Mustapha said. “From Oke Ọlẹyọ, they moved again to Ijomu near what became the Rest House. Again from there, they moved to a fourth Ijo at Okeho Ahoro. “Ojo Oronna soon died and there was a period of interregnum led by his friend and loyalist, Onipẹde. Soon, the children were old enough to rule and the rule of primogeniture was adopted for succession to the throne. It was Olujumu that succeeded Ojo Oronna. When Olujumu died, his son, Afolabi, succeeded him, and upon his death, his son, Folarin ascended the throne of Ijo. “Because he was light-complexioned, he was nicknamed Ọbapupa or Babapupa. During his reign, Ijo moved twice — first to Ijomu, the present location of the Rest House, and then, to Ijo at Oke Yaba (Yaba Hill). Also, it was during his reign as king that the Oro Festival was introduced to Okeho. “Folarin lived long on the throne and his reign was also memorable. Rather than die, he disappeared with a chain, the trace of which is said to be visible at Okeho Ahoro (the deserted Okeho) till today. As such a reigning Onjo is required to perform rituals at the sacred site during the annual Oro festival.” Arilesire succeeded Folarin Ọbapupa as the new Onjo of Ijo around 1800, more than 100 years after Ojo Oronna first settled in Omogudu. By this time, Ijo had relocated to Okeho Ahoro and it was there Arileṣire made the historic move of inviting the 10 villages around Ijo to join Ijo and they became amalgamated as one entity. The towns are Alubo, Bode, Igboje, Ijo, Imoba, Isia, Isemi, Oke-Ogun, Ogan, Olele and Pamo. Asiwaju of Okeho, Segun Gbadegesin, a retired professor of Philosophy, Howard University, U.S., in his book, Okeho in History, noted that in the beginning, Okeho did not exist as one entity. Instead, there were eleven villages separated by hills and valleys, each living in solitude and in fear of aggression from greedy land grabbers and heartless enslavers. He said, “The towns came together for security reasons; this is due to the incessant raids by the slave traders from Dahomey (now Republic of Benin) and attacks by the Fulani warriors. The inhabitants of the land could not afford to stay still; they had to move with the times, especially as they struggled to evade the external forces of Dahomey. “Inhabitants of these towns, with the exception of Ijo, which played host to the others, deserted their former settlements, first for fear of the Fulani forces based in Ilorin and later for fear of possible attack on them by Dahomey. Ijo became the host-town largely because its site was provided with natural defence, being in a valley surrounded by high hills and caves. It was, as it were, a fortress town. Each guest-town settled as a separate quarter in the enlarged town, which was named Okeiho.” According to Gbadegesin, as a miniature ‘confederation’ or ‘federation,’ each guest-town retained its own machinery of government, but with an overall head. “At the time of their coming together, what mattered most to them was security,” he said. “It was, therefore, not considered necessary or expedient to argue about the precedence of the head chiefs of the former towns in the government of the new town. “Each guest-town recognised the head chief of the host-town, the Onjo of Ijo, as the head of the ‘confederating or federal’ town. However, while the Onjo was recognised as the first among equals in the administration of the new town, the former heads of the other 10 villages, who now became chiefs or Baale of the new quarters, along the line, became resentful of the newly acquired authority of the Onjo over them.” The Guardian gathered that from the founding of Ijo by Ojo Oronna around 1680 A.D. through the reigns of Olújùmú, Afolabi, Folarin, Arilesire, Ajibola Olalegan, and Adeniyi Egunjobi, there was no major crisis. But with the colonial invasion during the reign of Etihanlu, Labiyi, Adeola, Adeitan Olupe, and Owolabi Olukitibi, Okeho experienced internal kingship crisis until 1916, when Onjo Owolabi Olukitibi was gruesomely murdered. The incident was a revolt against forced labour, strange customs and conventions introduced by the colonial administration. The Colonial Administrator, Captain Ross ordered the people of Okeho, a confederation in Oyo North Senatorial District, to move to the old site, Okeho Ile that they left during the fear of the Fulani and Diahomey invasions for Okeho Ahoro. Onjo Olayiwola Obatumo led the community back to its original site in 1917 and he reigned peacefully till 1941. Toriola, his son, succeeded him in 1941 and reigned till 1946. Onjo Bello Ladokun ascended the throne in 1946 and reined till 1974. Onjo Ereola Adedeji succeeded Bello Ladokun in 1975 and reigned till 1983, when Onjo Yakubu O. Sunmonu succeeded him in 1997 and reigned till 1999. The current Onjo, HRM Oba Rafiu Osuolale Mustapha, Adeitan II, ascended the throne on May 25, 2003. While speaking on the centenary celebration of the exodus, Chairman Publicity Committee, Lekan Salaudeen, said, “The time was auspicious; our forefathers were compelled by Captain Ross, to relocate to the original settlement. This was after a bloody civil disorder on October 19, 1916. “After the riot was quelled, the people of Okeho started returning to the present location (the original settlement) and by early 1917, they had fully resettled. As a community, we believe the occasion calls for celebration because we have lived together for 100 years at the present location without threat from internal or external sources.” The celebration, which spanned nine days, held from October 20 – 28 with various activities, including visit to the old site, cultural display, people’s parliament, football match, lecture, symposium, merit awards and conferment of chieftaincy tittles. The highpoint of the celebration was the launch of a book, Okeho in History by the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, authored by Gbadegesin. According to him, “The celebration is not just about entertainment; it is a platform to project the image of Okeho in the consciousness of the people within and outside the community and to rekindle the bond of friendship and communality that has always existed among our people.” Surrounded by mountains and hills, including Eti-Igun, Oke-Olofin, Akasube, Biayin, Okofori, Meseole and Obaapa, all which can be transformed to economic value in terms of tourism, Okeho is inhabited by settlers from Ilaro, Oyo, Tapa, Ondo and Ife. The Okeho Dam, which was developed under the Oyo North Agric Development Project (ONADEP) and constructed by the Oyo State Agric Development Project (OYSADEP), with a capacity of 0.818 m cm was conceived to meet the water needs of the eight communities in the Oke-Ogun district. However, the dam has been overtaken by bush. What I saw in Ipebi —Onjo of Okeho Okeho, the headquarters of Kajola Local Government Council of Oyo State is marking its 100th year in its present location. The Onjo of Okeho, Oba Rafiu Mustapha, shed more light on the origin and growth of the Oke-Ogun town. How did Okeho come into being? Okeho came into being in 1680. The history of the town is about the relocation of a prince from Ilaro, known as Ojo Oronna. He came down from Ilaro after he contested the Olu of Ilaro stool but lost to his younger brother. He felt he needed to resettle elsewhere. So, he left Ilaro in the company with some high chiefs, including Jagun, Mogaji, Balogun and others, who had wanted him to become the Olu of Ilaro. They supported him to the end of the matter and followed him on his journey. Where exactly did they settle in the town? The place is called Omogudu. Omogudu is along Isemile road. It is about 32 Kilometres to the place we call Rest House, which housed the colonial officers. I have to make a clarification at this juncture because it is important to do so to avoid distortion. We cannot establish who first settled here between Ojo Oronna and his people on one hand and Olofin on the other hand. Who is Olofin? Olofin was an hunter. This is what happened. One day Ojo Oronna, who was a farmer, sighted a rising smoke at some distance. He then decided to trace the smoke. That was how he met Olofin. They became friends and lived happily as neighbours. That was the situation, the peaceful situation until the Dahomey and Fulani Jihadwars between 1800 and 1820 forced many communities to flee to different places. At the end of the day, we had 10 communities co-existing here. The name then was not Okeho, it was Ojio and Ojo Oronna was the ruler. The new communities accepted the authority of Onjo because of his royal blood and his sense of administration. But the new arrangement, after the new communities came, was that head of each settlers governed the town together. These communities are Olele, Bonje, Ishia, Ogan, IsaleAlubo, OkeOgun, Imoba, Isemi-Okeho and the host town Ijo. That was the situation until the OnjoArilesere called heads of those communities together to form what is now Okeho. Then other communities turned to quarters. How many Onjo had so far reigned since inception? I am the eighteenth after 20 years of interregnum, which God helped us to resolve when I was installed. Can you tell us the number of ruling houses in Okeho? We have only two ruling houses. One, Adeniyi and two, Etielu ruling houses. I am from Adeniyi ruling house. How many princes showed interest on the stool? We were 10 contestants. It must be a keen contest then? It was not really. I was unanimously selected. You must be popular than your co-contestants before the process? How should I answer that question? What I should say in that regard is that I was known for my love for the town. Despite the distance of my work place, I would always connect with home and what happen in the town. I think, this was one of the things the kingmakers looked into during selection. The lesson therein is that we must always identify with our towns, no matter the situation. Our home is our home. What were you doing before you became the Onjo? I was an officer of the Nigerian Customs Service. I was Deputy Superintendent of Customs serving in Katsina State Command. My last post was at Gongola border of Nigeria and Niger. That was where I was serving the issue of succession came in 2003. And as a qualified prince, I did not have a choice than to heed the call. Your job at the border must be demanding, are you not missing your days up there? I cannot say I miss those days. Progress and development of my town are more important to me than any other thing. What I am doing now is service to my town, which I am very happy to be doing on a daily basis. This service should be uppermost in the mind of every prince. I am happy to be back and serving my people as their royal father. There should be no reason to regret serving one’s father’s land. I am comfortable being here after having served the nation. After you were picked as the next Onjo, what happened? The next thing was movement to Opara House where I spent the next 17 days. Is that the Ipebi? Yes. That was where I was taken through all the rudiments of the throne. I was tutored on a lot of things I would not have known. We did a lot of rites for the peace and progress of the town. We also did some rites on my personal security on the throne. There was no secrecy in those rites. They are obligations that must be performed by every Oba-elect as custom and tradition require. In the last 10 years of your reign, what changes has Okeho witnessed? In the last 10 years, I give glory to God for making me a catalyst of development. One, the town has expanded tremendously. In fact, Okeho is not what it used to be again. As the headquarters of Kajola Local Government, we have lived up to that status. In Oke-Ogun here, we are a major town where people from outside the state like to settle. We have about 30 secondary schools now. Oyo State Government has also given us satellite campus of the college of health, science and technology. The college has started operation on a temporary site now. The road from Iseyin down here is fairly good but terminated few kilometres to the town. What is the problem? I should also ask you to ask why the work did not enter the town. That one is even better. If you go to the road leading to Iganna, you will sympathize with us. That road is the worst anybody can think of. It gives my people and Iganna people serious problem in transporting their goods. It is just nine miles but it is not a good experience for anybody. I am appealing to the government to look into it. If the road is fixed and tarred up to the border, it is shorter to Benin Republic than taking Ibadan-Lagos route. We also appeal to government to give us a university. I mentioned it at the commissioning of the Technical University in Ibadan few months ago. I hope the governor would one day consider it. We are due for it. Also, we want our dam to be upgraded to serve the people with pipe borne water. You said the town was founded in 1680, why are you now celebrating centennial anniversary? Centennial anniversary is symbolic to the history of Okeho because it was in January 1917 that the people were forced to relocate back to this present site. Let me make it clear here. OjoOronna moved from Omogudu to Ojomu near the Oleyo River. That was the second Ijo. The third Ijo was very close to the present Rest House called Bareke while the fourth Ijo was in old Okeho-Iganna road. That was where the name Okeho was invented
