It is unfortunate that more spotlight is not given to how Yoruba fought back and recovered ILORIN from the descendants of Alimi. Until the British rewarded the descendants of Alimi for their loyalty on their way out.

This important event must be taught in Primary Schools in the West.

Ilorin's last King was Aeere Ona kakanfo Afonja who embraced Islam and seperated from Oyo Empire to form an Islamic Emirates of Ilorin where the highest Imam or Emir leads the people

King Afonja was the last king, Alimi's son Abdullah was the first Emir

However, at home in Ilorin itself, a proper Emirate could not develop. The powerful Yoruba war chiefs wanted to re-establish the traditional Yoruba political system whereby the chiefs in a kingdom select their king. The Emirs resisted. By 1895, the chiefs were winning the contest grandly – a situation which forced the Emir Momoh to commit suicide after setting his palace on fire. The victorious chiefs then installed Sulaiman as Emir. This was the situation when the forces of the British Royal Niger Company came and conquered Ilorin in 1897.

In the years that followed, it was the British that established Ilorin as a full-fledged emirate, making the Ilorin Emir like the Emirs of Hausaland. The Emir then took advantage of that to establish all sorts of Emirate-type control over Ibolo and northern

https://thirdestate.org.ng/historical-facts-about-ilorin-and-kwara-yoruba/