Ijebu Ode: Ancient town with a new vibe

Awujale of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Paramount ruler of Ijebu land.

This article is about the central town of Ijebu-land, Ijebu-ode, Ogun state. Read the article below...

Schools, banks, filling stations, workshops and a host of other thriving businesses – you would lose count of them all making your way into the city. Characterised by neatly laid out roads and streets linking each other, movement within and around the area is almost seamless. With a unique architectural landscape that draws its root from the colonial times, Ijebu Ode serenades you with its rich blend of old and modern buildings from every angle.

Nearly double its previous population of around 222,653, according to the 2006 National Population Census, the city has shaken off its early and turbulent beginnings to emerge as one of the main commercial hubs in Nigeria today. Currently the second largest city in Ogun State, after Abeokuta – the capital, Ijebu Ode is home to dozens of booming businesses expanding in size and outlook by the day.

“Until I moved to Ijebu Ode from Ibadan two years ago, I used to think that it was just a small rural town where there weren’t much economic activities taking place,” James Okeugo, a dealer in electronic home appliances, said. “I realised I was wrong when I eventually moved here and saw that it was a town bigger than I ever imagined,” he continued. “Business here is not bad. Even with the recession, we still make good sales at the end of every week. Life here is not as bad as I initially thought,” he added, as he walked into his shop to attend to a customer.

Like many cities across the country that have had a bitter taste of poor power supply over the years, the town is beginning to prosper in this regard, allowing small businesses dependent on electricity to flourish. Welders, fashion designers and owners of barbing and hair dressing salons – the situation favours everybody.

“Even though there is need for things to improve, we still enjoy power supply of around 15 hours every day,” Goke Banjo, a barbing salon operator in the Obalende area of the city, said. “There are days we don’t even need to put on our generators as a result of the improved power supply in this area. It is really helping our businesses a lot,” he revealed.

During a trip round major parts of Ijebu Ode by our correspondent earlier in the week, residents, who called on the state and federal governments to build more infrastructure like roads, drainage systems, potable water and low-cost housing estates, attributed most of the development the city had witnessed in recent times to the purposeful leadership of the Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona. Under the monarch, and through the selfless contribution of prominent indigenes of the area, Ijebu Ode has made significant progress in almost every aspect, according to the people.

“The Awujale has indeed used his influence and goodwill to attract a lot of meaningful developments into Ijebu Ode and in fact the entire Ijebuland since he ascended the throne,” Olisa of Ijebu Ode and second in command to the Awujale, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Adesanya, told Saturday PUNCH. “Government has done well for this town over the years but it is the vision and efforts of the Awujale in particular that has mostly seen to the growth and continuous expansion of the area along economic and social lines.

“For those who don’t know, Ijebu Ode has been in existence for over 1000 years, going through different stages of development in the process. The Ijebus are one of the most educated people in Nigeria, producing so many prominent persons in the country.

“Even though all the villages and hamlets in Ijebuland are now fully developed into towns of their own with smaller traditional rulers who are still under the Awujale, there is still a deep sense of communism among the people wherever you visit. Everybody watches over the next person, that is why the town is witnessing increased development in recent times,” he said.

Aminat Lawal, a mother of three who runs a small canteen on Abeokuta Road, another part of the city, told Saturday PUNCH that the construction of public water in many parts of the town by the government will go a long way in easing the pains currently experienced by many households.
According to her, the water source available to many of them is built through community effort, insisting that it is largely inadequate and making life tough for them.

“I know that the Ogun State Government is doing its best to improve the state but one of the areas we want them to urgently intervene in Ijebu Ode is to provide us with enough public water. The water we fetch in the neighbourhood where I live was done through community effort; if we have more of such, it will go a long way in helping us, especially somebody like me who sell cooked food. Apart from this, living and doing business in this city has been good,” she said.

Lanre Omidina, a community leader in the town, told Saturday PUNCH that under the Awujale, Ijebu Ode has witnessed tremendous peace – something he says has translated into economic and infrastructural growth in recent years.

“The Awujale is a peace-loving man; he has brought that to play in the administration of not just Ijebu Ode but the entire Ijebu kingdom as a whole. This is something we are proud of and are not ready to trade for anything else in this world. The peace and calmness in this town can be felt by even visitors,” he said.

At the moment, there are about 39 public primary schools, 14 public junior secondary schools, 13 public senior secondary schools, 110 approved private nursery and primary schools and 22 approved private secondary schools in the town alone, according to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. This is apart from the presence of some notable tertiary institutions in the community.

“Our children have good schools to attend here no matter the income level of the parents,” Seun Ogunkoya, a mother of three, said. “My children attend public school and I am happy to let you know that they are not doing badly if you decide to compare them with those in private schools. Like in the vicinity where we live, there are schools all around us, that is why you would hardly see any child here in Ijebu Ode not attending school,” she added.

While the city might have attracted more migrants to itself as a result of its peaceful nature, economic and educational potentials, it is one of its biggest cultural ceremonies – the Ojude Oba Festival, that has grown its popularity tremendously in recent years, interestingly.

The annual celebration staged three days after the Muslim holiday – Eid-el-kabir – known in local parlance as Ileya, to honour the paramount ruler of the entire kingdom, has endeared and engraved Ijebu Ode into the hearts of millions around the world. Apart from Ijebu sons and daughters who travel from within and outside Nigeria to grace the occasion, countless others from different races and locations equally find their way into the ancient town to partake in the glamour and sparkle that has become the lot of the annual fanfare these days.

“The Ojude Oba Festival is something I look forward to each year and don’t want to miss regardless of where I might be at that time of the year,” Tomiwa Edun, a cinematographer based in Huston, Texas, United States, told our correspondent earlier in the week.

Edun is in Ijebu Ode at the moment to cover the conferment of traditional titles on some prominent indigenes of the town on Saturday by the Awujale. They are Giwa Yusuf, Prof. Olu Akeusola, Alhaji Adegboyega Adesoye and his wife, Folashade. He said African cultural practices was a big hit among white people especially Americans in particular.

“The whites love the African culture especially Yoruba traditional practices. For example, whenever they watch the recording I make of the Ojude Oba Festival, they are fascinated and want to learn more about it. This is evident by the number of white people who travel all the way to Ijebu Ode every year to be part of this historic and culturally-rich ceremony,” he said.

Apart from the highly revered Ojude Oba Festival, there are handful other important social events lined up each year to reinforce and promote the rich cultural heritage of the people of the city. Though much of Ijebu Ode subscribes to Islam and Christianity today, many of the traditional ceremonies like the Ojowu, Osun and Agemo festivals remain popular among the locals.

“These festivals are part of our heritage as a people,” Oba Adeoye pointed out. “It is a fact that idol worshipping has reduced significantly in this land since the Awujale came into the saddle. Though we still have very few traditional worshippers in this community, the majority are Muslims and Christians who respect each other’s beliefs. So, each of these festivals is acknowledged and celebrated accordingly by the people each year,” he said.

Aside its annual dose of cultural ceremonies, the city also, as a result of its unique history, boasts of pockets of historic sites that record large visits from tourists all round the week. At Obanta, one of such places for example, the atmosphere and sight spoke volumes of how much people have come to embrace nature, when our correspondent visited.

One young man, Femi Akinsanya, and his long-time girlfriend – Sade, held on tightly to each other by the side of a red Toyota saloon car on the afternoon our correspondent visited. Giggling and tapping each other gently at intervals, the lovers paid only little attention to the happenings around them. Aided by a serene atmosphere scented by the soft, rhythmic whistling of birds sitting atop the gigantic tree under which they were – the location was the perfect setting to reignite their five-year-old relationship.

But the two were not alone on this day – they were among scores of lovers and individuals held spellbound by the natural and scenic beauty of Obanta whose compound also houses the Itoro Hall, and Alhaja Salamotu Kuku Memorial Library.

“I and Sade come here often to relax and take some great photographs whenever we have the time to do so,” Akinsanya, a business owner, told our correspondent. “Since I moved from Ibadan to Ijebu Ode last year, I have found life here quite peaceful and easy. As a social person who loves nature, the coolness and serenity of this park got my attention from the first time I came across this place. It is one of my favourite relaxation spots in the whole of this town today,” he said.

Basit Quadri, another regular to this part of the city, told Saturday PUNCH that he hardly misses a week without coming to relax and spend some quality time with his wife and children under the coolness of the gigantic tree inside the expansive compound.

He said doing so was one of the ways he and his family bonded and keep themselves up to date with the rich cultural heritage of Ijebu Ode.

“The moment you step into this compound, you automatically begin to feel like wanting to learn one or two new things about this great town. Elders often come here to interact with younger people and share some historic tales with them. It is for this reason I mostly enjoy visiting this place,” he said.

Adegboyega, who is to be made Otunba Gbaderogun of Ijebu and is the son of late philanthropist and former chieftain of the defunct Action Group, Alhaji Fasansi Adesoye – the Balogun of Ijebuland between 1951 and 1961, promised to continue to work towards the development of the town on every front including developing its tourism potentials.

“I am happy to be considered for this honour among the people of Ijebuland. My father was a very prominent man in the entire Ijebuland during his days. I hope to keep his legacy alive in contributing to the development of the entire kingdom.

“Ijebu Ode is rich in culture and tradition, housing some important and historic places of interest. Together with the rest of prominent sons and daughters of this town, I will do all I can to make the area a preferred tourist destination in the not too distant future,” he said.

Within the family compound of the Adesoyes for example, sits two items capable of attracting visitors from all around the world. At a corner of the vast garage within the premises is a rare Pontiac car once owned and driven by only three people in the whole of Nigeria – late Tafawa Balewa, Festus Okotie-Eboh and Adesoye himself. It was a ride reserved for only royals and the super-rich at the time.

Also, the generator that supplied electricity for the first time to any home in the entire Ijebuland is also safely lodged at a section of the compound.

Tourism enthusiast, Frank Idoko, says these and many more historic items scattered all across the city could be turned into a money-spinner for Ijebu Ode and its people if properly packaged.

Source: Punch Newspapers