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 18th
century. We have always stood up for the oppressed as proven by our
punitive support of the Action Group during the fiasco of the 1st and 2nd
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 19th 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!!!
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