Ilogbo Ekiti Elites organise homecoming reception for Aina

Ilogbo Ekiti Elites organise homecoming reception for Aina

Ilogbo-Ekiti is one of the towns in Ido-Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State, it has many feats which have added many feathers to her cap as an outstanding town.

Founded by some of the grand children of Oduduwa, led by Okunbobua, who jointly migrated from Ile-Ife, around 14th century. Ilogbo began as a local military camp and had its establishment coinciding with the institution of Islamic Hausa Kingdom in Northern Nigeria.

Monarch of the community, Oba  Edward Ajayi, (JP), the Owa of Ilogbo kingdom, said llogbo was formerly called Ulogbooro, meaning a town flourishing with wealth, and this attests to the town's current wealth in human and material resources.

He told a brief history of the town in a recent chat during the 36th edition of the celebration of Ilogbo Day: "As descendants of Oduduwa,  Ilogbo people could trace their root to Ile-Ife. 

The town began as a military camp in the early 14th century. Its establishment coincided with the institution of Islamic Hausa Kingdom in Northern part of Nigeria. 

"The town, which was initially known as Ulugbooro came to existence when modern Nigeria was full of individually distinct ethnic kingdoms. 

"Okunbobua, popularly known as Ejemu was the direct son of Owa Obokun of Ijesha who was also the son of Oduduwa.

" According to history, Okunbobua was the first person to migrate to Ilogbo. He was a prince and a son of Owa of Ilesha and when his father died, Okunbobua (Ejemu) and his two brothers argued on who will be crowned as a king. In the name of peace, Ejemu left Ilesha with few friends and Okere.

"After a few days in the forest, the group settled at Ipole "Oke -Ona" and the place became their first settlement. At Ipole , Ejemu was there for many years before he could meet Olotin- a great hunter who later helped Ejemu to persuade Omo Oye - a prince from Osun to settle down at Ipole. Omo Oye was made the king and the dynasty remains the ruling house in Ilogbo since then. Olotin also won another soul of passer-by (Odofin) to settle down with them and Ejemu agreed to made him second in command while he took third position and Enurin, who migrated from Ikole took the number four position. 

"In the administration of Ilogbo- Ekiti, Owa is the head. The town has three permanent house chiefs namely : Odofin, Ejemu and Enurin. Odofin is the head of Odofin's dynasty, Ejemu is the head of Ebi Mije and Enurin is the head of Enurin's descendants. The additional three are rotational high chiefs which are : Eisinkin, Eisaya and Eisaba. The three  additional chiefs increased number of high chiefs to six and these chiefs were known as Iwara Mefa (the kingmakers). 

Ilogbo -Ekiti is one of the towns in Ido/Osi Local Government. The meaning of Ilogbo is a town that flourish formerly known as Ulugbooro," he said.

An important feature of the Ilogbo Day Celebration is the Homecoming reception organised by the Ilogbo Elites, chaired by Dr. Jola Awosusi, and supported by other associations such as Egbe Omo Ilogbo- the umbrella  of all age groups and associations in the town.

At the occasion, illustrious sons and daughters of the town were recognised. One of them, Thaddeus Aina, is a former member of the Federal House of Representatives. He was given a grand reception for successful completion of his tenure and equally honoured for bringing huge development to the town.

 

Ilogbo has other feats which has placed the town on the world map. According to the Chairman, Committee for Homecoming event, Dr. Awosusi, of the many sons and daughters who have made Ilogbo proud nationally and globally are Honourable Aina, Honourable Adetunji Orisalade who was a former Deputy Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Prof. Tayo Olutoye, said to be Nigeria's first Professor of Yoruba Language and her son, a United States of America (U.S.A) based Nigerian Surgeon, Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye, who achieved a great medical feat by removing and unborn child from the mother's womb and did a surgery for her and later returned the child to the womb of the woman who delivered her after 32 weeks.

Apart from having world renown indigenes, Ilogbo also boasts of rich cultural practices and heritage. Among these cultural practices and traditions according to the town's monarch, is a taboo that guides against craving for quick riches. Explaining this tradition, the Owa of Ilogbo said : "It is an abomination for the indigenes to engage in money ritual. The consequence is that anybody who does this will die without tasting the wealth.

" Our other taboos include the fact that , you don't  call a cat Ologbo but Ologinni, you don't carry the complete of plantain of banana or palm kernel around the town and you cannot ride horse across the main town. The natural resources in the town are grand stone and partial gold.

"The most popular traditional festival in Ilogbo is Olua festival and it attracts tourists and traditionalists from Cuba, United Kingdom and America. The new Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi Eniitan is always coming to the town during Olua festival.  He was here recently.

"Tourist attractions in Ilogbo-Ekiti include : Alaorosaba cave at Ipole,   Erandu, a similitude of Olosunta Ikere and Kitikiti. Also, we have Ope Oloriyeye, a spiritual palm tree with many fronts heads. We also have streams with certain spiritual powers, they include Ogidigbi Oniranyin, a healing stream and her gentle compatriot, Isune. We are also blessed in agriculture. We produce mostly yam,  cassava, maize and some other things," he said.  

Oba Ajayi also explained why the town honoured her indigenes who have contributed immensely to the progress of Ilogbo: "Thaddeus Akinola Aina is a gift from God for Ilogbo-Ekiti. I am happy and well well pleased for the honour bestowed on him. He is a man of honour. He is our pride in Ilogbo -Ekiti.

Well, I congratulate them all for what is happening today. It is a great lesson for everyone of them so that when the opportunity arises they should use it very well to serve their town so that they will be well-known. They should do good in their own time so that they will be remembered for it. We also want to urge the state government to help tarr Usi-Ilogbo Road and provide jobs for the unemployed youths."

Speaking with newsmen on the occasion of the honour bestowed on him, Aina who is also a former Chairman of Ido-Osi LGA, said: "I thank God I was able to construct some developmental projects in this town and in my constituencies. I have to my credit almost fifty bore-holes in my constituency, about five bore-holes in Ilogbo-Ekiti and two authorised bore-holes, I sponsored the training of many on skill acquisition, I have some schools in the constituency,  bought transformers in the constituency and built modern town hall. 

I feel delighted and elated. I am happy and grateful to God that I lived to see this," he said.