Ikere Ekiti or simply Ikere is an ancient yoruba town in the present day Ekiti State, southwest Nigeria. The paramount ruler goes by the title OGOGA OF IKERE EKITI. According to oral history, The first ogoga was a prince from Benin who was the heir apparent to the throne in Benin Kingdom as he was the first child on the throne, but this angered the step mother who also had a son eyeing the revered throne. The step mother was looking for a way to eliminate him and this prompted Ogoga,s mother to escape with her two sons namely: Ogoga Agamo and Deji of Akure who is the elder brother but born before their father ascended to the throne. On their way from Benin, they got to the present day Akure and the beaded bracelet(AKUN in yoruba) worn by the Deji got torn and this place was named Akure, i.e AKUN RE(Bead cut) Deji together with their mother decided to settle there but Ogoga, was a brave hunter, he decided to press forward and got to a place near Akure and decided to stay there and this place is named after him AGAMO. there was a day, he was hunting and saw an elephant, he shot at it but the elephant managed to run but he(Ogoga) started trailing the elephant with the blood gushing out from the shot elephant. He later got to a place around State Hospital in Ikere and saw that the elephant had turned to a rock, this rock is shaped like an elephant but that feature might not be vivid nowadays because of the effects of weathering. He was so disappointed and just decided to rest beside the rock. As he waited there, he looked southwestward and saw a smoke and started tracing the smoke and later met an old man. this old man is the olukere (a priest responsible for the traditional rites in the land,) Ogoga was well welcomed by Olukere, this was because, he had seen the sign of royalty in him. Ogoga was given many crowns and beads when leaving with the help of some chiefs. This made olukere to accept him as a companion and the person he could trust. as time passed by, olukere developed much interest in ogoga because he had observed him to be a wise man and very honest. He also observed that Ogoga was very good in dispute resolution and the number of people bringing cases to the Olukere for settlement started increasing by the day and Olukere did not have time to attend to people because was always preoccupied by traditional rituals. out of 365 days in a year, it is only one day that he always had to rest. For this reason, He then asked Ogoga to go and stay at Uro so as to take up the administrative function while the Olukere would continue with traditional assignments. it was the Ogoga that usually travelled for any meeting that concerned the town coupled with his royal regalia and ancestry that usually stood him out, and he was as a result of this officially recognized as the traditional ruler and first oba of Ikere kingdom. Hence, the title, OGOGA OF IKERE. The current Ogoga is HRH oba Adejimi Adu Alagbado. Long Live Ogoga of Ikere! Long live Ikere! Long live Ekiti! Long live Yoruba.Long live Nigeria. (IF any part has been omitted, free free to contribute please)

this story only proves that olukere is the real ruler of Ikere ogoga is more of a prime minister taking up most administrative duties

the British not understanding the politics of Ikere must have elevated ogoga

It does not necessarily connote that olukere is the ruler but He is the first to settle. Kingship is never about who settled first like the case of Benin, ife, Itshekiri etc where migrants came to establish kingdom. In the case of Ife, oduduwa met people there, Yoruba established monarchy in Benin and Benin established monarchy in Itshekiri land. same with Ikere, Kingdom was established by Ogoga.

macof:
this story only proves that olukere is the real ruler of Ikere
ogoga is more of a prime minister taking up most administrative duties


the British not understanding the politics of Ikere must have elevated ogoga

toyinakomolafe:
It does not necessarily connote that olukere is the ruler but He is the first to settle. Kingship is never about who settled first like the case of Benin, ife, Itshekiri etc where migrants came to establish kingdom. In the case of Ife, oduduwa met people there, Yoruba established monarchy in Benin and Benin established monarchy in Itshekiri land. same with Ikere, Kingdom was established by Ogoga.

Egbon, that title "olukere" is very powerful. .. There's a reason the Alaafin is called "Oloyo" and the Ooni "Olufe".. Olubadan

if ogoga established Ikere, two things should have happened
1. the town changes name
2. the olukere will not still be claiming kingship as "olu of Ikere"

in Benin, ife there were civil wars to establish the new dynasties. with itsekiri, there was no king.
Ikere had a king, ogoga would have used military might to usurp authority but no records of such. ..rather he started as a person who assisted the olukere in administrative duties. .while olukere took to spiritual duties
and don't start belittling the role of a traditional spiritual leader..cus Obaship contains both aspects of leadership.

If you read through my point, there was no place i said Ogoga established ikere, I only made references to those point, in history, there was no and there is no any record of Olukere being seen as an oba. have you ever wondered why Alakure is not the paramount ruler of Akure, where as that stool exists in Akure. Im not here to belittle any stool. Just to say our history the way it it and not to twist it. Thanks.

macof:

Egbon, that title "olukere" is very powerful. .. There's a reason the Alaafin is called "Oloyo" and the Ooni "Olufe".. Olubadan

if ogoga established Ikere, two things should have happened
1. the town changes name
2. the olukere will not still be claiming kingship as "olu of Ikere"

in Benin, ife there were civil wars to establish the new dynasties. with itsekiri, there was no king.
Ikere had a king, ogoga would have used military might to usurp authority but no records of such. ..rather he started as a person who assisted the olukere in administrative duties. .while olukere took to spiritual duties
and don't start belittling the role of a traditional spiritual leader..cus Obaship contains both aspects of leadership.

toyinakomolafe:
If you read through my point, there was no place i said Ogoga established ikere, I only made references to those point, in history, there was no and there is no any record of Olukere being seen as an oba. have you ever wondered why Alakure is not the paramount ruler of Akure, where as that stool exists in Akure. Im not here to belittle any stool. Just to say our history the way it it and not to twist it. Thanks.

waoh! is there really An "alakure" different from the Deji? I've read something like that but I took it as a reference to Deji. ...There's Igbo Alakure a sacred forest for the seclusion of a new Deji so I assumed Alakure is another title like Ajaponda which the Deji also goes by

Alakure also exists in Akure and the title is different from Deji. According to history, Alakure had been in Akure before Deji.

macof:

waoh! is there really An "alakure" different from the Deji? I've read something like that but I took it as a reference to Deji. ...There's Igbo Alakure a sacred forest for the seclusion of a new Deji so I assumed Alakure is another title like Ajaponda which the Deji also goes by

In Ikere they have Benin legacies but Benin legacies are Ife in origin also as the name of the city was changed from an Edo name to a Yoruba name and only Yoruba used as lingua franca. The Europeans who settled in Benin learnt Yoruba and there was a Portuguese who wrote Benin language down as Umale okun mabia mabia, a prayer he said Benin people do pouring wine omn the ground which he said means Umale Okun I beg you. This is Yoruba language as all speakers can see not Edo. The old Benin were Yoruboid speakers but nowadays they use their local language. Oba Atakunmosa of Ijesa who introduced the Deji title in Akure spent over 60 years in Benin. The Benin of the past were just another Yoruba sub nation like Ijesa, Ijebu and etc and the language they spoke will be similar to Ilaje and Itsekiri. It is the Benin of nowadays that are now Edoid. The old Ife Benin established Yoruboid speaking outposts all over Ago Onibode is one now rendered Agenebode, Ogba land, Onitsha and etc were also out posts and a part of Lagos island but all those people controlling those places in the past spoke a Yoruboid dialect. They are not really same as today's Benin people in identity since the Benin of nowadays place themselves above Ife origin unlike other Yoruba who agree on Ife origin even as far as Togo and Ghana including ethnic groups who do not speak Yoruba.

So when people claim origin from Benin. They should rnder it properly as Ife Ibinu which is Benin's real name, a defunct Ife successor states that was headquartered in Benin city and that was fully Yoruba in identity not Edo.

There were Edoid state in the past like Igodomigodo and others built by Urhobo, Esan and etc in the far past when even the Yoruba spoke Akokoid tongues but they definitely far preceded Benin or Ife Ibinu which was fully Yoruba in identity.

One thing is that the Edoid groups, Nupoid and etc have been there as far back as any group and the languages are probably more original to this area since unlike Yoruboid tongues they are not similar to ancient Egyptian but that the Yoruba changed language from their Akoko tongues do not make them less of who they are. If we start speaking only English today while maintaining our stories, it does not change the validity of those stories.

So the Ogoga, Obi Onitsha, Oba Ogba land and etc are descendants of Ife Ibinu people like Owomika (Eweka) like the Oba of Benin but the people who are Yoruba are more representative of Owomika than those who now have other identities. It is why I say the Olu of Warri is more representative of the old Benin empire than the Oba of Benin in all respects. They still speak the language and they regularly worship Umale okun.