‘Here is the birthplace of the grandfather of Herbert Macaulay’

A quest to locate the ancestral home of the acclaimed Nigeria’s father of nationalism, Herbert Macaulay, shared a semblance with Mungo Park’s expedition to discover River Niger. But while the Scottish explorer met his debatable death at New Bussa, in 1806, before reaching his destination, Saturday Tribune’s correspondent weathered the proverbial storm until he reached Ore, a town located about 12 kilometres from the highway that connects Osogbo and Ikirun to Kwara State’s boundary at Ila-Odo.

Herbert Macaulay’s 1946 biographer said his grandfather hailed from a community somewhere in present Osun State. He described the community as ‘Ore Aganju’. Where is that? Unsure of the condition of the road to Ore, our correspondent decided to park his car in Osogbo, the Osun State capital to join an Ikirun-bound public vehicle. The point of departure was a roadside on Obafemi Awolowo Way, a distance to Dugbe Divisional Police Headquarters. It was a smooth drive that did not take more than 40 minutes to get to Ikirun Roundabout which is overlooking the palace of the Akinrun and the town’s central mosque.

Conscious of the fast-running time, he approached a motorcycle for guide to a junction where he had earlier been informed he would connect another commercial motorcycle plying Ikirun-Ore route. In less than 15 minutes, the okada operator made it to the junction and handed him over to a waiting operator who assured him of a safe trip to Ore. A few minutes into the journey, what started like a drizzle turned to a downpour, which forced the trip to a halt.

After about 30 minutes inside a female Good Samaritan’s shop, the journey resumed but on a measured speed because of the slippery surface and winter-like breeze gathered by the motion of the bike. Every thought that Ore was a stone’s throw to Ikirun evaporated. As the biker increased speed, the town was never in sight.

One major community on the route is known as EkoEnde, a serene environment hosting a facility of the Osun State Water Corporation. About 20 minutes’ travel from EkoEnde, a signpost on which “Welcome to Ore” was inscribed was spotted near the road, assuring our correspondent of his final arrival at his destination. A councilor, who is an indigene of Ore, Honourable Tiamiyu Alayande, flanked by a few friends, received our correspondent under a shed near the road.

And so began a walk to the palace of the 82-year-old Olore of Ore, Oba AbdulKareem Oyewole Oyeyemi II.

The Olore’s palace bears no distinct identity as it can safely be taken for a regular residence owned by his subjects. Oba Oyewole was surrounded by his traditional chiefs.

After a formal introduction was done by Alayande, who is also the vice-chairman of Odo-Otin South Local Council Development Area, the reporter asked if the Oba had ever heard that the legendary Herbert Macaulay’s grandfather was from this town.

With all his strength, Oba Oyewole replied: “Here is the birthplace of Ojo Oriare, who gave birth to Babington Macaulay, the father of Herbert Macaulay.” He said every elderly person in the community knew that story. He heard it from his own father. Another indigene of the community interjected that there were visits by certain persons in the 1950s in connection with that family’s history. But, he said, there had been no recent inquiry until the visit by Saturday Tribune.

“In Ore, we may not have any other thing so important and popular but the history that Herbert Macaulay was our son here is enough for us to be proud of. God knows why He chose to create him from our blood here. I am using this opportunity to call on the government to extend the same recognition so far accorded Macaulay to Ore, his town of origin because there has never been a river which flows without a source. Ore is the only root of Herbert Macaulay, and nothing will change that truth in Nigeria’s history,” the oba insisted.

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He revealed further that Herbert Macaulay’s grandfather, Ojo Oriare, came from the same Oyeyemi ruling house, the royal family which produced him as the Olore of Ore in 1979.

“We have four ruling houses in this town. One of them is Oyeyemi ruling house, where I am from. The three other ruling houses are Ajala, Adeyemi and Salako. Ojo Oriare who gave birth to Babington, the grandfather of Herbert Macaulay, came from Oyeyemi ruling house. I will ask them to take you to the remains of the spot where he was born. Our forefathers would have preserved the structure had they seen how important it would be today. But we thank God that Ore is documented as the hometown of Herbert Macaulay.

“If this fact was not documented in a book like the one you mentioned, other towns would probably be laying claim to him and cast a doubt on whatever we might say. This modern life relies more on physical evidence than oral claims. I want to thank those who deemed it fit in their research to corroborate what we know by putting down the name of my town as the root of Herbert Macaulay,” he said.

Shortly after the interview session, our correspondent was led out of the palace to the relics of a place where the Oba said Ojo Oriare was born. It was a plain surface, the size of a standard volleyball court with no physical evidence of having carried a structure.

Of significance was the fact that before our correspondent’s journey to Ore, a prominent indigene of the town, who is currently a lecturer at one of the universities in Osun State, had, at an informal gathering, casually dropped a clue on Ore as the root of Herbert Macaulay. Without any air, he made the all-important disclosure and moved on to another topic.

In the same vein, Alayande, who is representing Ward 6 comprising Ore and Agbeye, corroborated Oba Oyewole’s claim and affirmed its authenticity, which according to him, cannot be controverted by anyone. Even though the grass-roots politician did not own a copy of the book, Life History of Herbert Macaulay, which revealed the status of his hometown in the nation’s history, he explained that he had seen a copy and made effort to have his own.

“It is funny and almost unbelievable that despite the fact that I studied History in the university, I never saw the book until lately when somebody drew my attention to it at a time I least expected. Herbert Macaulay is our blood, and that is enough for us to be proud of in the comity of important towns in the country. I have taken you to the compound and I hope you are satisfied with what you saw. Ore is an ancient town with a rich history, which we are always happy to tell,” he said.

The Olore went further to tell the history of his town. He revealed how Alayemore, the fourth Ooni of Ife, gave birth to a set of triplets, all of whom left Ile-Ife to found their respective towns. The triplets were the Oludo of Ido-Osun, the Olore of Ore and the Aakosin of Ekosin. The Olore recalled that their mother was barred from Ile-Ife first to a place known as Erunwa and later to Igbo-Igbin.

“It was from Igbo-Igbin that the triplets left for Ido-Osun with their crowns because they were of royal blood. After arriving in Ido-Osun and settling down, the Olore and the Aakosin left Oludo and migrated northward to Ore. After a while, the Aakosin too moved further north and settled in a place we call Ekosin today. That is the long and short of the history of the triplets which became Obas in Yorubaland. You can see that we have a unique history. There exists harmonious relationship among the three of us. We maintain what you may call a cordial relationship as children who were born from the same womb at the same time,” he said.

It was learnt that Ore is made up of about 13 compounds, all of which coexist and work for the progress of the town, according to their capacity. The compounds include the four ruling houses and Eesa, Obasale, Onilu, Ojomu, Jagun, Alawe, Ojuawo, Osolo, Ogala and Oluode.

Why was the town called Ore Aganju? The Oba explained that Aganju is synonymous with Ore. He said he was a king and warrior who fought different battles in defence of the town.

“Aganju later left the town and disappeared into the earth, leaving the people with the instruction to always alert him when faced with a threat of external hostility. Aganju’s palace still stands some meters away from the market, while the month of March is dedicated to his remembrance and celebration by the entire people of Ore.

“We don’t joke with Odun Aganju. It is a cultural event which brings the sons and daughters of Ore together in a peaceful atmosphere. We usually perform some rites and offer prayers for our ancestors and ourselves, including generations yet unborn. We don’t skip this festival because of its spiritual importance to us,” he stated.

Oba Oyewole also disclosed that due to challenges of development, especially the Fulani wars in that age, some families from Ore are today found in towns such as Osogbo, Aagbaa, Ilorin and several other towns far and near. But some of those families still keep the ties with their original homes in Ore.

“You can see why I am passionate about this Herbert Macaulay issue. His descendants wherever they are should also come back home and reunite with us. To God be the glory, our children too are not doing badly in the town. They should come out and identify with their root. We may not be as big as other places but we are also presentable, law-abiding and peaceful. Ore is a naturally accommodating town where security of life and property is intact. There are different groups coexisting peacefully with us here. Here in Ore, we live together because we were all from Ile-Ife. There is intermarriage among us such that we look after one another’s property. Again, Ore shall welcome Herbert Macaulay’s descendants whenever they decide to trace their root,” he noted.

The Olore is not done with his requests; the state of infrastructural facilities in his town was also daily giving him sleeplessness, especially after a visit to younger towns with better social amenities. He said the greatest achievement his 40-year reign had recorded was peace among his subjects. He lamented what he called the successive administrations’ indifference to the development of the town, despite his people’s unwavering faithfulness to government.

He, however, expressed optimism that the Governor Gboyega Oyetola-led government would look the direction of Ore and accommodate the town in its developmental programmes.

“Despite all we have suffered, my mind is telling me that Governor Oyetola would answer our calls for development. We need higher institutions of learning where students from different towns would come and live with us here. The presence of higher institutions brings rapid development to hosting towns more than any other thing. We have stable security in place even though we don’t have a police station here. We are friendly and open to visitors,” he said.