ADO-ODO HISTORY AND CULTURE

 THE HISTORY, PEOPLE, CULTURE AND TRADITION OF OKE-ODAN, SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA (1780-2023) BY PRINCE DAPO ODUNFA - A CRITIQUE The author established that Oke Odan was founded in 1780 by different groups, namely exiles and refugees from Egba-Dahomean wars. He dealt with the impacts of Owiwi war and the pre-emptive Egba military offensive of survival against her peaceful Egbado (Yewa) and Awori corridors of Ado, Ota among others The author identified Eyo, Ilaro, Ilobi and Erinja quarters as major constituents of Oke Odan. He also identified six different schools of thought on the origin of Oke-Odan including pro-Ado strand which he attributed to Ipokia Intelligence Report which stated that Oke Odan emerged on Ado Odo Kingdom territories. He dismissed this premise on the ground that the Kuoye Ajalangba elements that fled to Ado Odo had returned to Oke Odan. The author dismissed the claim of Ilobi Erinja communities as the foremost groups that founded Oke Odan on the ground that the...

 UPDATE ON MISSING GAPS IN PROFESSOR BANJI AKINTOYE NARRATIVES ON AWORI SUB CREED OF YORUBA RACE IN NIGERIA The History of Aworis (by Abiodun Adeosun, (Apapa : Robinson Publishers Ltd.,1997), stated that Ota is one of several Awori towns with premium on Ota.  In 1997, the Aworis of Lagos and Ogun States combined efforts to present a Memorandum for the unification of all Aworis in Lagos State to redress marginalization arising from balkanization into Lagos and Ogun states. A proactive Awori Group named "Awori Laa" as a socio-cultural association led by the late Prof. Babatunde Fafunwa of blessed memory. It alluded to the history of Ado-Odo particularly her triumphant exploits during the Egba Dahomean wars of ex vassal Kingdoms liberation from yoke of Oyo imperial authority in the 19th century. The Egba-Ota-Ado war account was used extensively to debunk Ẹ̀gbá conquest theory of the Aworis that was submitted to the Committee on State, Local Government Creation and Bo...

 This perhaps explains the foundation regarding how Oduduwa and Obatala got to Ado.      There were  several civil wars in Ife over several decades. Three of them stand out because Oduduwa was an active participant. The third one would lead to Obatala, his main adversary losing his greatest lieutenant and war general, Obameri.  Obameri joining Oduduwa would be the turning point of Ife administration and abolition of the confederate system which Obatala was its chairman.  Following the abolition, Obatala and his group were decimated and forced to move from the Ife metropolis to Ideta Oko. Adding to their woes was an outbreak of smallpox which reduced their numbers even further.   Oduduwa would go on to display the leadership that won the hearts of men like Obameri by bringing Obatala's group back to the metropolis and making Obatala the head of priests or Chief Priest.  The last war of supremacy between Obatala and Oduduwa leading to the ...

HISTORY OF ADO-ODO IN BRIEF Ado-Odo is the metropolitan headquarters of the ancient kingdom of Ado renowned as the ancient fortress of age-long traditional practices of Ifa (Ado n'ile Ifa), the Oduduwa/Obatala temple with a theocratic set - up. Oodu'a is regarded as the mother of all deities in the world. All of these made Ado an inviolate territory in Western Yoruba land the same status accorded Ile-Ife as "father figure" in Yoruba land. Unlike the other kingdoms which had a taste of bitter pill in the fratricidal wars that ravaged the entire Yoruba land in the nineteenth century, Ado stands out as an unconquered sanctuary city-state throughout the period till date. A documented legend concerning the origin of Ado was the account of A. B. Ellis (1894, 1970) that "Oduduwa was once walking alone in the forest when she met a hunter, who was so handsome that the ardent temperament of the goddess at once took fire. The advances which she made to him, were favourably ...

EREKITI AND ADO KINGDOMS, AWORILAND: AN X RAY OF TWO BEADED OLOFIN CROWNS Erekiti is an ancient Yoruba enclave of Awori pedigree rooted in Ado Ife, popularly called Addo by the British in the past and renowned as Ado-Odo today. The earliest founders of Ado Kingdom include the legendary figures: Onitako, Onirunmi Ekun Jagude, Alamuwa, Ojona (Bajomu), Iya Agbe Odua, Omarun, Olomu and many other titular heads. Ado Kingdom as stated in archival documents strongly reveal that the Ados were foremost Awori nationality, who left ancient Ile Ife around 1050AD with stopover in various places including precinct of present Ondo state. ONITAKO led the group which included an Ife Prince called Omo Olofin, Olu Ile Idada, who according to tradition passed on during migration and his child, Princess Adegba Esibi, popularised as Oloja had the upper hand to her father's beaded crown and sword as the first Oba of Ado (Olofin Omo Olu Ile Idada, Omo Alade Ile Ife). The reign of Oba Adegba Esibi was a co...

BRIEF HISTORY OF ADO-ODO AND LIST OF HER OBAS   Ado-Odo is the traditional seat of the ancient Awori Kingdoms. Ado is renowned as an ancient fortress of age-long traditional practices of Ifa – the Yoruba deity of wisdom and the Oduduwa (OOdua) Temple. Among the Yorubas, Oodua is regarded as the mother of all deities in the world. All of these and more made Ado to stand out as an unconquered sanctuary of the Western Yoruba district during the fratricidal wars in Yoruba land, particularly in the nineteenth century until the advent of the Europeans.   Ado Kingdom as presently constituted is inhabited by Aworis and Yewas of Ishaga, Imasayi, Ibooro, Ketu, Eguns (Ogu), Oyos, Ijebus, Egbas and non-Yoruba elements particularly the Hausa, Igbo, Ijaw and others. Nobody could say precisely when the kingdom was founded. Ado probably evolved from the events which historians dated around eleventh century when the instinct for survival, prestige and adventure forced people out of Ile-Ife, th...