By: Odewole Funmilayo Dorcas
THE ancient city of Ile-Ife, Nigeria is known for its culture, traditions and art. The city was founded around 500 BC by the Yoruba people, a kwa speaking group from South-West Nigeria and Benin.
According to Yoruba mythology, creation of Yoruba race have many sources, some said, the city was created by Oduduwa, while other source said that the Yoruba race was created by Obatala whom Olodunmare was accorded power to create the Universe. The name of Ile-Ife now was known as a place of dispersion meaning “love”.
According to oral tradition, the first ruler of Ife kingdom is said to be the eldest descendant of God from Heaven. Oduduwa established a good and vibrant monarchical system of government which was never witnessed before him in this part of the world. Among the Yorubas, some people called him “Adimula” meaning to cling to whom is to become prosperous.
Therefore, Oduduwa was the first king that formed the dynasty which had order of chronology of ascendancy to the throne. The research into the evolution of a centralized monarchical traditional institution in Ile-Ife seems unique. Unlike what obtained in other kingdoms in Yorubaland where traditional rulership werebuilt around founders i.e. a prince from established kingdoms.
The evolutions of Ife kingdom are with the evolution of monarchical institution in |Ile-Ife.
Reign and migration:
At various other things after the above analysis of the royal exodus of kingship in Ile-Ife, several illustrious personalities who are either princes or princesses and so on, either individually or in group migrated from Ile-Ife for diverse reasons either on hunting adventure or ambitions to establish their own settlement. One of such was Ooni (Queen) Luwo Gbagida.
According to historical record of the past Ooni from palace revealed that Ooni Luwo Gbagida became a first female Ooni of Ife, married to Obaloran, who began her a son called “Adekolatelu”. Ooni Luwo hailed from Owodo royal family of Lafogido ruling house. She was a powerful and principles to the core. During her reign as Ooni, Ile-Ife people witnessed considerable development and high level of hygiene. She led Ife to Ara war and war captives were brought to populate Ife (Fabunmi, 1969).
In history of Ife mythology, Luwo was the 16th Ooni of Ife, when Adekola Telu became an adult, he aspired to become an “OBA” and when her mother Ooni Luwo Gbagida noticed his son’s ambition to become Oba, she quickly gave him gift of crown and other valuable materials of Kingship, she provided some wise men to follow his son in his adventure to discover his own kingdom. Among the wise men that followed Telu on his journey were Bagidigbo and Beku. The crown prince and his men settled at Ogundigbaro. Later, he discovered that the area Ogundigbaro was waterlogged and he left to a place called Erunmu today. Prince Telu in no longer distance time moved again left Erunmu area that always destroys his people farm crops.
Telu, and his people later moved and settled at Igo-orita along Ibadan-Iwo road which at a distance of about 50km from the present Iwo centre. After the demise of Telu, Prince Parin ascended the throne and moved to a new settlement called “IWO”, where he was installed as the first ruler of Iwoaround the 16th century. He reigned for six to seven decades. PARIN divided IWO into four (4) major quarters known as Isale-Oba, Molete, Oke-Adan and Gidigbo.
Iwo town is now situated in the midst of a rich agricultural area, it has a radius of about 32 to 48 km from Ikire-Ile, Kuta, Ile-ogbo, Oluponna and Ogbaagba which has a distance of 45 km from Oyo and Osogbo respectively. Iwo Kingdom has a strong social and cultural ties with Ile-Ife.
Among the socio-cultural values of Luwo in the development of Ile-Ife are the following:Pot-shed pavement – Ooni Luwo was a brave and disciplinarian king who did not promote laziness among her subjects during her reign, she pave street, open space, shrines, temples and important buildings.
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Also, Ooni Luwo according to oral tradition did not want her legs to be smeared with mud while visiting shrines and spiritual places, hence, she ordered the construction of potsherd pavements routes that can still be found today around Ile-Ife especially at the shrines and sacred places which modern technologies can be known as walk-ways that was made with inter-locking ties and to control erosion.
The reign of Luwo disabused the belief that woman cannot govern successfully. Healthwise, her period was pandemic free due to her sanitised environment and the city and several courtyard become part of her architectural heritage.
•Odewole is Principal Assistant Museum Education Officer, National Museum, Ile-Ife.
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