Charles Phillips was the 19th Century Head of the Church Missionary Society in Ondo, whose parents were Yoruba Sierra Leonean returnee. At Ijaiye Charles’s father, known by same name, was a church catechist. Charles Phillip, born in 1847 to Egba parents is remembered for his effort in negotiating a truce as an emissary of the…
Igbe is a monotheist religion existing among the Urhobo people of southern Nigeria. It was founded by Ubiesha Etarakpo, a mystic from Kokori in Delta State. Precepts of this movement, which has been argued by scholars to be non-syncretic, is claimed to be in the service of Owheya, called the supreme divine being. For lack…
Ubiesha Etarakpo of Kokori was the founder of the Igbe religion, a monotheist expression of faith that gained considerable followership among the Urhobo people of Nigeria from the 19th Century. As a trader of bangles made of elephant tusks, Ubiesha travelled to many parts of the Benin Empire, but after suffering an ill heath took…
William Dappa Pepple was the king of Bonny, between 1835 and 1866, who called the Christian faith in 1864 to Bonny, thereby pioneering the Niger Delta pastorate of the Anglican Church. Born in 1817 in a long lineage of Bonny kings, in a dynasty that was started in the late 17th Century by Perekule, a…
Yam is a tuberous root vegetable rich in carbohydrates. Though the edible underground grown tubers of this perennial vine crop is starchy, they contain dietary fiber which qualifies it as low glycemic index food. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of yam, export accounting for over 70 percent of total world output. Unlike some of…
Ilesha is a town in Osun state, a little over 100 kilometers from Ibadan, and historically populated by the Ijesa people, a subgroup of the Yoruba who were one of the earliest migrants from ancestral home at Ile-Ife. Ilesha, meaning in one account, ile ti a sa, translating as “the home that we choose” is…
Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, popularly known as Olu Jacobs was born in 11th July 1942 in Abeokuta Ogun State to Egba- Alake parents. Olu’s love for the Arts started at an early age, but his parents were adamantly against it, his father especially. This however, did not deter him from pursuing his longlife dream of becoming…
Funmi Aragbaiye, music evangelist, was born and bred in Ondo State. The gospel artiste, in her own account, answered the call of God to minister through songs. Funmi grew up in a strictly conservative home, with a mother who lying, or mixing with opposite sex, or failing in school unkindly. As a school girl, she…