Who Are The Ijebu??
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The origin of the Ijebus has been variously given ; one account makes them spring from the victims offered in sacrifice by the King of Benin to the god of the ocean, hence the term Ijebu from Ije-ibu, i.e., the food of the deep. The Ijebus themselves claim to have descended from Oba-nita, as they say of themselves,” Ogetiele, eru Obanita,” i.e., Ogetiele/ servants of Obanita.
But who was this Oba-nita ? Tradition says he also was a victim of sacrifice by the Olowu or King of Owu. It was said that the Olowu offered in sacrifice a human being where two roads cross ; this was termed ” Ebo-ni-ita,” a sacrifice on the highway, the victim being mangled and left for dead ; he, however, revived at night, and crawled away into the forest, where he subsequently recovered and survived. He lived on fruits, on the chase, and then did a bit of farming. With an access of population, being the oldest man met in those parts, he was regarded as the father, and subsequent generations call him their ancestor, and so the Ijebu tribe was formed, and the term ” Ebonita ” (a sacrifice on the highway) was converted to ” Obanita ” (a king on the highway).
There was really nobody of that name. A forest is still shown near the village of Aha where he is annually worshipped, from whence he was supposed to have ascended into heaven.
It is rather curious that both accounts should have made them descended from victims of human sacrifices. This latter account is reconcilable with the former, which says they are ” the food of the deep,” for the population of which Ebonita was the head may have been largely augmented by the victims of the ocean so as to give the name Ije-ibu to the whole of them.
There are also other important facts and curious coincidences connected with the Ijebus which have strong bearings on this tradition of their origin.
1. Of all the Yoruba tribes, with the exception of the Ifes they were the most addicted to human sacrifices, which they practiced up to 1892 when the country was conquered by the English. The victim also usually offered to ” Obanita ” annually was always a human being, but this was never killed ; he was however, always acted upon in some way or other unknown (by magic arts) that he always became demented, and left to wander about sheepishly in the Aha Forest, until he perished there. This is, no doubt, due to the fact that the ancestor ” Ebonita ” himself, when a victim, was not killed outright.
2. They were, before the conquest, the most exclusive and inhospitable of the whole of the tribes. Very few, if any, outsiders were ever known to have walked through the country with impunity under any circumstance whatever ; not a few of those who attempted to do so were never seen nor heard of any more ! Commercial transactions with outsiders were carried on in the frontier or in the borders of neighbouring towns.
3. And if the latter account of their origin from the Owu victim be the correct one, it is very singular indeed that it was mainly due to the Ijebus with their firearms that the Owns owed their fall and complete annihilation as an independent state to this day. The King of the Ijebus is known as the Awujale. His origin was thus given by authentic tradition, the event with which it is connected having occurred within authentic history :
There were formerly two important towns called Owu Ipole and Iseyin Odo in a district between the Owus and Ifes ; they were settlements from the city of Owu and Iseyin respectively. A quarrel once arose between them on the matter of boundaries, and the dispute having been carried on for many years, developed into an open fight, and both the Olowu and the Owoni of Ife (both being interested parties) were unable to put an end to the strife. Messengers were now sent to the King at Oyo who sent out a special Ilari and a large number of attendants to put an end to the strife. The person of an Ilari being inviolable, he came and settled down between the two contending parties, in the midst of the disputed plot, and thus compelled them to keep, the peace.
The Ilari was named ” Agbejaile or Alajaile ” (an arbiter of landed dispute). This term was subsequently softermed, down to Awujale. This event occurred during the reign of King Jayin.
As it was customary to pay royal honours to the King’s messengers out of courtesy, this Ilari was accorded royal honours in due form, and he remained there permanently and became the King of that region over the Ijebus who up to that time had no tribal ” king ” of their own and rather held themselves aloof from their neighbours. Subsequently he removed to Ode.
The Awujale ranks after the Oyo provincial kings such as the Onikoyi, Olafa, Aresa, Aseyin.
By: Abikoye Olufemi
.
The origin of the Ijebus has been variously given ; one account makes them spring from the victims offered in sacrifice by the King of Benin to the god of the ocean, hence the term Ijebu from Ije-ibu, i.e., the food of the deep. The Ijebus themselves claim to have descended from Oba-nita, as they say of themselves,” Ogetiele, eru Obanita,” i.e., Ogetiele/ servants of Obanita.
But who was this Oba-nita ? Tradition says he also was a victim of sacrifice by the Olowu or King of Owu. It was said that the Olowu offered in sacrifice a human being where two roads cross ; this was termed ” Ebo-ni-ita,” a sacrifice on the highway, the victim being mangled and left for dead ; he, however, revived at night, and crawled away into the forest, where he subsequently recovered and survived. He lived on fruits, on the chase, and then did a bit of farming. With an access of population, being the oldest man met in those parts, he was regarded as the father, and subsequent generations call him their ancestor, and so the Ijebu tribe was formed, and the term ” Ebonita ” (a sacrifice on the highway) was converted to ” Obanita ” (a king on the highway).
There was really nobody of that name. A forest is still shown near the village of Aha where he is annually worshipped, from whence he was supposed to have ascended into heaven.
It is rather curious that both accounts should have made them descended from victims of human sacrifices. This latter account is reconcilable with the former, which says they are ” the food of the deep,” for the population of which Ebonita was the head may have been largely augmented by the victims of the ocean so as to give the name Ije-ibu to the whole of them.
There are also other important facts and curious coincidences connected with the Ijebus which have strong bearings on this tradition of their origin.
1. Of all the Yoruba tribes, with the exception of the Ifes they were the most addicted to human sacrifices, which they practiced up to 1892 when the country was conquered by the English. The victim also usually offered to ” Obanita ” annually was always a human being, but this was never killed ; he was however, always acted upon in some way or other unknown (by magic arts) that he always became demented, and left to wander about sheepishly in the Aha Forest, until he perished there. This is, no doubt, due to the fact that the ancestor ” Ebonita ” himself, when a victim, was not killed outright.
2. They were, before the conquest, the most exclusive and inhospitable of the whole of the tribes. Very few, if any, outsiders were ever known to have walked through the country with impunity under any circumstance whatever ; not a few of those who attempted to do so were never seen nor heard of any more ! Commercial transactions with outsiders were carried on in the frontier or in the borders of neighbouring towns.
3. And if the latter account of their origin from the Owu victim be the correct one, it is very singular indeed that it was mainly due to the Ijebus with their firearms that the Owns owed their fall and complete annihilation as an independent state to this day. The King of the Ijebus is known as the Awujale. His origin was thus given by authentic tradition, the event with which it is connected having occurred within authentic history :
There were formerly two important towns called Owu Ipole and Iseyin Odo in a district between the Owus and Ifes ; they were settlements from the city of Owu and Iseyin respectively. A quarrel once arose between them on the matter of boundaries, and the dispute having been carried on for many years, developed into an open fight, and both the Olowu and the Owoni of Ife (both being interested parties) were unable to put an end to the strife. Messengers were now sent to the King at Oyo who sent out a special Ilari and a large number of attendants to put an end to the strife. The person of an Ilari being inviolable, he came and settled down between the two contending parties, in the midst of the disputed plot, and thus compelled them to keep, the peace.
The Ilari was named ” Agbejaile or Alajaile ” (an arbiter of landed dispute). This term was subsequently softermed, down to Awujale. This event occurred during the reign of King Jayin.
As it was customary to pay royal honours to the King’s messengers out of courtesy, this Ilari was accorded royal honours in due form, and he remained there permanently and became the King of that region over the Ijebus who up to that time had no tribal ” king ” of their own and rather held themselves aloof from their neighbours. Subsequently he removed to Ode.
The Awujale ranks after the Oyo provincial kings such as the Onikoyi, Olafa, Aresa, Aseyin.
By: Abikoye Olufemi
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