Category: History – General


  • Ibadan Empire had its history started early in 1829 while Oyo Empire was tethered along political cracks and rising infightings. Dissident soldiers vacated in the company of extracts from Ile Ife, Oyo and Ijebu in a manner that smashed through the dangling crisis. The fragmentation arose because the Owu was sacked. Before Lagelu and his sympathisers…

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  • Efunroye Tinubu was an amazon and Lagos merchant of the 19th Century who lent support to military efforts, and thereby became a powerful force in the politics of her time. Efunroye, in Oladipo Yemitan’s account was married to Adele as a prince, who later became king of Lagos, 1835 to 1837. In her natal home…

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  • Efunsetan Aniwura was the 19th Century Ibadan merchant born 1827 circa in Egbaland. Efunsetan began trading as a young woman and later expanded her operations to Ibadan, Badagry Lagos, and Port Novo. By 1860 she had decided Ibadan to be the headquarters of her growing business empire. Her local business was focused on foodstuffs, livestock,…

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  • Eguguoju was the Alaafin who temporarily moved the headquarters of the Oyo Empire to a desert place, Iju Sayan, which he named Oyo Ighoho. Eguguoju was the son of Ofinran, the king who died in Kusu, a place in which Oyo people were encamped on their way back to their city, after the raid by…

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  • Emmanuel Solomon Ajayi was an Ijebu leader, born 1896 in Sagamu. E.S. Ajayi was the son of Ajayi Jegede, a privileged local merchant. Although his father was a Muslim, he was allowed to practice as a Christian for educational purpose. Ajayi was one of the fourteen foundation students of Ijebu Ode Grammar School. Having passed examinations that…

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  • Gberu was the Alaafin of Oyo after Ojigi, the indulgent father who died with his son, and immediate predecessor of Amuniwaiye, the king disgraced because of his affairs with his medicine man’s wife. Gberu hardly performed better than any of these two, for he was recorded as a wicked and superstitious king, whose delight was magic. His…

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  • Ibadan Lights Order was an order in 1941 for the diminution and cessation of lightning in the city of Ibadan during the Second World War. In this order, every outdoor light was required to be obscured that no reflection thereof was visible from the air. Restrictions were announced for vehicles moving within a radius of…

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  • Ilojo Bar; (formerly known as Casa De Fernendez or Olaiya House) built in 1826 stood as the best example of Brazilian style architecture introduced by Africans who regained their freedom from their “Portuguese masters” in Brazil. This historical Lagos building bears striking features with its attractive arches and fine iron works as statue described as…

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  • Jaguna was an Egba military rank that existed prominently in the pre-1827 times. This was before the tribe fell under the influence of the Oyo/Ibadan army under the warlord, Maye who acted like the Field Marshal in the war against the tribe. The Jaguna title is virtually exclusive to the Egba, but it has lost…

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  • Karan was the despotic Alaafin of Oyo whose notoriety earned his name the epigram for which it is today used, “as cruel as Karan”. Appearing to have learnt no lessons from the life of his immediate predecessor, Odarawu, whose reign ended in disgrace, Karan continued in tyranny. Conspiracy thickened against him at Aga Oibo, during…

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