IJESHA KINGDOM- REALIZATION OF PLIGHT AND PREJUDICE!!
This is a caption of the soul based on the sights and sounds from the heart of this widely acclaimed land of legends. I write this piece as a wakeup call to all that are Ijesha at heart and in deed to give a verbatim account of my sojourns to the deepest part of the pristine jungles called Ijesha land. My experiences are nothing to write home about but it behooves me to at least give clarity to some salient observations in this area.
Ijesha people are suffering!! Ijesha land is a shadow of itself!! Ijesha land is not relevant in the scheme of things in Osun State even though it boasts of the largest local government in the State!! What does this mean? Why are we in this situation? What can be done to change the tides of time for our illustrious people? This is the rationale behind this little piece of my soul as I hope you read and make sense of it all while identifying how you can assist in the development of our beloved Ijesha Kingdom!! In my travels that are more like travails, I observed the dastardly state my kinsmen are subjected to live in.
Driving into Ilesha, the first thing that one notices is that the town is stuck in time with most buildings mere relics of a previous colonial era when missionaries walked these parts with educated Ijeshas in their trail. The road networks are beautifully laid out but it is obvious to the naked eye that it has suffered successive years of neglect and lack of maintenance. One sees a few young people hanging around looking for the next so called Chairman to come and drop stipends that will barely feed them for the day. In this lackadaisical environment drunkenness rules as the idle mind remains the devils workshop! As I drive along the central market I cannot help but notice the bustling market with petty traders hawking their wares. I observe the archaic stalls of our peoples while keenly observing the nicer shops that are occupied by the Ibo settlers in these lands.
I begin to wonder why the disparity in apparent wealth!! These observations then drive me into a mental dilemma as I decide to probably take respite in the deeper parts of my constituency.
In this guise, I head to the hearts of Atakumosa East and West local government areas to seek solace in the cool embrace of the jungles from whence we all came. Upon entering these jungles from the Ilerin axis heading towards the headquarters of the Atakumosa East local Government (Iperindo), I drive past hamlets that are referred to as villages; I drive through the archaic town of Odo Ijesha and take a drive towards the heart of the local government. I am lucky to be alive. It is clear that there is no Government in these parts as government is felt based on the impact of their developmental strategies and not on cheap handouts to the peoples of my land.
There are no roads but expanded mud paths that can barely accommodate my saloon car not to think of the Lorries that are meant to ply these agricultural heavens. Iperindo is a village bearing the façade of a township settlement. I am thoroughly disheartened when I observe that commerce is lacking in these parts and the people are hanging around doing nothing. I see the young Okada riders all come out to greet me screaming my name as is characteristic of one seeking a handout. I drop my head forlornly knowing full well that I do not have enough to satisfy their unending requests for more. I stop over at the main palm wine parlor to have a tipple to satisfy my parched throat but realize that their customers go home early due to lack of spending power. I then begin to wonder where everyone is as the town appears deserted. This leads me to my second trip in the same day.
This time around I head for Odogbo where my father once had a large farm in another lifetime. This trip was the most defining moment for me as I then begin to see the beauties of my home land. I then see the reasons why they said the land was flowing with milk and honey. I then see the reasons why the Ijeshas were central to trade in the days of yore. I see the exotic plants hanging freely in its wild habitat.
I think to myself what wonderful homeopathic remedies can be extracted from these beautiful herbs. In these my aimless pursuit for respite I see that the electric poles disappear in the distance as it is now clear that I am now truly in the heart of darkness. Electricity is nowhere near these parts.
It suddenly dawns on me that my people have been living in the same state since the days when Ogedemgbe Agbogungboro of Ijeshaland and his military hordes protected these parts. He passed on in 1910 and may his soul rest in peace! I look into the hills and observe the thick forest that if cultivated could be the lifeblood that builds the great cities of Europe via t he provision of wood. In fact my mind’s eye sees a carpentry industry and a viable forestry protection wild life haven. My mind is jostled back into reality as I am now stuck in a deep gully full of red mud and it takes over 50 of my able bodied entourage to lift my small car out of the mud slides called roads. My journey continues even as I move closer to my consternation.
As I drive past half naked children coming from the farms I observe that they are all bare footed and are all walking the long distance so as to avoid the need to spend in this predominantly agrarian population. I wonder if trade by barter still worked in these parts as everyone appears to be a farmer and all but a few take these food stocks to the Atakumosa markets to sell wholesale so as to generate funds. My mind’s eye sees a food processing and storage center where our people can store, process and produce food items for export to the Nigerian populace in Diaspora or even better feed the whole of West Africa from these same pristine jungles.
Once again my reverie is interrupted by the amount of deserted villages I see in these parts as all the workers have moved to town seeking the ever elusive greener pastures where one doesn’t need the hoe to till the soil to feed. I cry in my heart as I ponder on the real reasons why my people will leave their God given wealth (Good lands and all its resources) to pursue man made industries that are epileptic due to an unstable power supply. Thank God!! This village is at least occupied. I take a break to have a chat with the inhabitants only to find out that they are from Benue state and they work the cocoa farms for the ancestral owners of the land. I think to myself about the cocoa cooperatives that once thrived in these parts during the days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo when it was widely said that
“Ise agbe ni ise ile wa.. eni ko sise ama jale”.
I drove on with my entourage and realized that for every mile I drove I come across an average of three hamlets with a vibrant and predominantly Oyo population. I wonder where all my kinsmen were and then it dawned on me that Ijesha land is not only for Ijeshas anymore but for all those that till these soils and feed of the earth.
These jungles had a lot of people living in them and yet with little to no productivity to add to the collective productivity of the region. I thank my stars that our lands were not yet overtaken by complete strangers even as I negotiate a different road to the expected route.
I head towards Itagumodi where it is acclaimed that the Ijeshas prehistoric gold exists in ounces. I see the king and hail his subjects. They recognize me from my Chieftaincy beads around my neck and pray fervently for the wishes of my heart to be actualized. I am truly humbled by their entreaties but utterly disturbed at the fact that this gold town looked more like a ghost town! This was the last straw for me.
I told my entourage to sit down with the king and hear his travails. We implored him to educate us on the issues in these parts and why this once great tribe appeared to be a shadow of its own past glories! He explained it all and I saw reason in all that was said. I thanked him and decided that I had to cut my journey short as night was fast approaching. I realized that for every problem identified in my head during my brief six hour foray into the jungles the solutions should have been obvious even to a new born charlatan! I also realized that a journey that should have taken me less than three hours to complete took me almost half a day as the roads infrastructure was nonexistent. I drove to points where the only way to proceed was by foot and yet these places were homes to a lot of inhabitants.
It is now clear to me the reasons why our lands are what they are and why we have been left behind in the state, national and ultimately global development. It is now crystal-clear that for all to be well with us we would need to accost the people in Government to request for positive change. I realized that our lands have been neglected to rot in the past eight years due to our supposed support for the opposition. I realized that I had to make a move. I decided to accost the administrative leaders of these areas to query their nonchalant attitude to governance only to find out to my surprise that they all lived in Oshogbo, the closest thing to civilization in Osun State.
I decided to speak with someone in authority to give me insights into the real issues and I was told point blank. “An Ijesha man is more manageable when in chains than when free” he stated.
The threat posed by the emancipation of the Ijesha from the shackles of poverty is the worst nightmare to the powers that be in the land. I then realized that these jungles are our heritage, these lands are our wealth!! These people our stronghold!! I decided that the jungles must be exploited and replenished, the land must be tilled and cultivated on a commercial scale and the people enlightened of the ills of the moment so as to regain the true spirit of Obokun in our midsts. I reckoned that the journey into the heart of Ijesha land had left me a changed person as I now realize the plight of my peoples even amid the prejudice of the leaders towards the followership.
The children of our sole ancestor "Owa Ajibogun" have experienced enough poverty!! Our time for success is long overdue!! Let us add our little quota in whichever way possible so that we can relive the days when Ijesha Kingdom was known specifically for industry, trade and development!
Obokun a gbe a o!!
Author:
Chief Daniel Bankole Afilaka
“Bobagunwa of Atorin Ijesha land”
OPA KAN, IJESHA KAN!!!!
(c) Nov 2010
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