The Kingdom Within - Tribute to the Ijesha People

Daniel Bankole Afilaka.

Ijesha Kingdom! The heartland of Yoruba emancipation and Land of my ancestors, that land of sprawling hills and thick forests that spill onto the rickety roads hiding a great peoples of valor and reverence. Tracing roots directly to the progenitor of the Yoruba race the Great Oduduwa himself, enterprising as well as industrious; these peoples are my own peoples and it is imperative I write about them as well as their travails in understanding the real issues that affect their stunted development as a great people with enormous potential but seemingly little inertia! I am intrinsically proud to be an Ijesha man from Ilesha and correctly so because I know my heritage and my people. I know the quota contributed by my people to the emergence of this great country called Nigeria. I also know the bitter taste that must encompass any tribe that chooses to be the vanguard of freedom from tyranny and serfdom hence the cross we bear. The cross of consistent neglect and underdevelopment served with a dose of sarcastic malevolence is ours to bear as a people of the royal stock called the Ijesha kingdom. These issues and a range of others is why this article is in order to be written by no other than myself at this juncture in the emerging history of our great Nation.

Ijesha kingdom is situated in the Western part of Nigeria in Osun State bordered to the north by the plains of Imesi and the east by Ile Ife the ancestral origins of the Yorubas. Further west we find the Ekiti enclaves and to the south the spring flowing towns of Eti Oni within the Atakumosa local government area. These local governments are but new creations under the state of Nigeria as Ijesha and its enclaves are reputed to be the oldest and still surviving settlements by the direct descendants of the Oduduwa the father of the Yoruba nation. We then owe it to generations yet unborn to define the way the Ijeshas have fared since the entity called Nigeria has taken its firm roots in nationalistic fervor. I dare say at this point that the Ijesha peoples have been systematically side tracked by various governments of motherland Nigeria and now by the various governments of the Osun state. This issue is not without precedence as the importance and relevance of our great peoples are further eroded from within by undesirable elements that characterize the treachery that is inherent in Yoruba politicking.

Seeing Ilesha the capital of Osun state from a childs eyes was a real eye opener of a town struggling to find its place between been an ancient city of great heritage and a sub-urban town which needs all the infrastructure necessary for economic and socio-political development. The Ijesha Kingdom is obviously stuck in a time capsule of pre-colonial influence. All the “petes’” are from the days of the Missionaries in the region and they can be seen all over the townships. Ilesha been the capital of Ijesha kingdom holds the key to unraveling the issues that must be tackled to ensure the re-emergence of the Ijeshas as a coherent force in Yoruba Land as well as in Nigeria as a whole. Seeing Ilesa as the focus of our renaissance will needless to say be akin to seeing the Universe through a grain of sand or understanding the constituent parts of the great oceans through a drop of sea water. All in all history justifies our pride and fortitude rectifies our actions as we trace our path to hyper development and restoration of the pride we once had in the whole of the land.

In my sojourns in the western hemisphere of the globe I realized that truly great peoples or tribes are bourn out of the explorative nature of its founding fathers as well as the ability to mix freely with foreign ideologies as well as foreign elements. The spirit of the true Ijesha is embedded in this noble pursuit as the founder of our great peoples was an explorer per excellence. Whilst travelling by foot to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to achieve his birthright as a true warrior king to the aboriginal elements that traditionally occupied these territories. His name signifies this “Owa Ajibogun” whilst his exploration of the coast of the Atlantic was aptly signified by his other title “Owa Obokun”. We were born out of greatness and hence it should not come as a surprise to any person of Ijesha extract that feels the urge to attain greatness. It is in our genes to be great as has been proven by numerous great minds that have come out of our peoples. Our seemingly chaotic existence during periods of upheavals should not be mistaken for lack of control but be seen as the zeal of a people expressed in the fervent cries of Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!

We the Ijeshas all share a common trait that must be highlighted. This trait is one of non capitulation whatever the odds faced by us. We are always ready for a fight and our unrelenting vigour in the face of adversity is what has earned us the infamous “agidi ijesha” {resilience} title. The Ijeshas will stand up to oppression as shown during the 16 years war fought and led by the Ijeshas in conjunction with the Ekitis against the tyranny of the Ibadan war hordes in the 18^th century. We have always stood up for the oppressed as proven by our punitive support of the Action Group during the fiasco of the 1^st and 2^nd republics. Is it then a surprise that we are always perceived as the thorn in the flesh of the despotic governments of both the Federal and State governments? Ijeshas are the only peoples I know in Nigeria that will not be fooled into serfdom or sycophancy by the trappings of ill gotten wealth of bad intentioned political big wigs. We have suffered and are still suffering because of our defiance of the oligarchic power structures and we know that with time the true progressives of the Ijeshas will prevail over the tyranny of the overlords.

Shall we then call these legacies of the past as legacies of woe for the people or are we to re-evaluate our position in the new order of politics in Nigeria? We need to shed the Yobbish culture attributed to Ijesha youths during periods of political turmoil and stem the destructive tendencies of our own nature so as to create an environment where development can thrive. Ijesha Kingdom is land of the free to the Yoruba race akin to the Liberty accorded all in the United States of America. This is inherent in the nascent history which states that there are no real Ijeshas but that we all are descendants of wanderers that settled in this land of milk and honey. This land of wild game and flowing streams is what made us stay in the comfort of the prehistoric African jungles. The hills give a good shade whilst the game and springs provide natural sources of food and drink. With all these in abundance one would expect the typical Ijesha man to stay at home and be content with his lot but nay! Our spirit seeks new lands to be conquered and our innate being seeks to spread the spirit of the Ijesha far and wide. Anywhere we lay our head and set up trading posts we call home. Our forbearers are reputed to always have an Ijesha Union wherever they may be on the face of the earth. These unions contribute to the heartland of the Ijesha and collectively should endeavor to address the issues at home from afar. It is not new this concept of “Ijesha parapo” {Ijesha unity} as in the late 19^th century Ijeshas in Lagos supplied their compatriots with sophisticated weapons to pursue the resistance to the tyrannical rule of the Oyo empire.

The Ijesha kingdom has within it various resources of note and it must be stated clearly here that we have Gold in our lands. I was shocked to find that the Gold deposits in Iperindo an enclave in Ijesha kingdom was not listed as part of the mineral deposits in the Nigerian solid minerals department. Shocking as this may sound it is common knowledge amongst our peoples that the government has a shoot-at-sight policy with regards to the land cordoned off for gold prospecting. There is foul play somewhere in the horizon and we as Ijeshas must be ready to take the bull by its horn when the need arises. Since my sojourn abroad, no new road or infrastructure of note has been erected in our great cities, numbering over 200; simply because we did not agree with the re-election of the governor of the state, hence our peoples are subjected to underdevelopment of the highest order! We know that vindictive politicking is one of the misnomers in Nigerian politics however if systematically pursued over a considerate period of time our people will face dire consequences for their democratic ideals. This is what I call the “Osun syndrome” as IBB having promised us the capital of Osun state reverted and delivered us into the hands of the government in Oshogbo. We are now serfs to the whims of the people that sit on their high horses in the capital whilst we are left to fend for ourselves; through the incessant and historical trades in food produce that are associated with our entrepreneurial nature as merchants.

If this is the case and the state does not deem it fit to reconcile its political responsibilities with its obligations to the peoples of Ijesha kingdom, we the vanguard of the oppressed must once again raise our banners of freedom through the development of enterprise amongst our peoples and the world at large. This is essentially a clarion call to all the “Ijesha parapo’s” all over the globe to begin a coordinated effort at making Ilesha the defacto financial capital of Osun State whilst acknowledging that we the Ijeshas constitute 17% of the entire population of Osun state. We have vast human as well as material resources and the spirit of adventure that precipitated our ancestral existence must once again be called upon to guide us through the lonely marches of freedom from economic and infrastructural serfdom as served on us by the powers that be. May the spirit of “Obokun” guide us through our travails; as we hail the Ijeshas to awaken the kingdom within their ethereal souls that can not be touched by man but directed only by providence.  Obokun agbe wa ooooo!!!

Daniel Bankole Afilaka.