Category: History
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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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Joseph Odeleye Fadahunsi was born 1901 in Ilesha. As an Ijesha NCNC elder statesman, he replaced Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife as governor of the Western Region in 1 January 1963. His subsequent invitation of Ladoke Akintola to form a new government sparked violence that signaled the end of the Nigerian first republic. Fadahunsi…
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Landuji Oshodi, known as Oshodi Tapa, was a powerful chief and war minister of King Kosoko of Lagos. Oshodi Tapa was born 1780 to a Nupe royal family, though he was recorded by some colonial sources to be of Egba origin apparently due to his early Yorubanization. There has also been an account that Oshodi…
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Benjamin Adekunle; nicknamed Black Scorpion, was a soldier who served during the Nigerian Civil War as commander of the 35,000 man strong marine commando. As a man of flamboyant, outspoken and temperamental personality, he was deservedly surrounded by myths. Without formal approval from the army headquarters, he had bequeathed with a fierce name, the Third…
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Ashipa whose leadership lasted between the years 1600 and 1630 is regarded as the founder of the Lagos dynasty. He is believed by some to be a son of Oba Overami II of Benin but others assert he was an Ijebu from Ibefun. Ashipa by this account had achieved prominence with his noble acts of…
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Losii Osokale was the Egba chief from Ake, commissioned by Maye, the head of the Oyo-Ijebu-Ife coalition that subdued the Egba people prior to their migration to Abeokuta, to determine the dexterity of Egba’s intention to find a new settlement after the alienation of their villages. Losii was to do this by splitting and casting the…