Imeko : A Neglected Ancient Town with Rich History.

IN 1891, what is known as Yewaland in Ogun
State today cut across every section where
Yewa river starts, into the lagoon: that is, from
Imeko District down to Idogo in Ilaro area, and
from Idogo to Ado to Badagry into the lagoon.
From Badagry down to Imeko and up to Oke
Ile, Ijio, Oyo State was called the Western
District of Lagos Colony or Meko District: that
is the macro Meko District with Meko as the
administrative headquarters, between 1891
and 1905.

In 1906, the first amalgamation of the
Southern part of Nigeria came up: the colony
of Lagos; the Western District of Lagos
Colony; the Western Protectorate (that’s the
remaining part of the Yorubaland); the Niger
Delta Protectorate and the Eastern
Protectorate were merged together to form the
Southern Colony of Nigeria, which later
became the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria.
This was divided into three provinces:
Western, Central and Eastern. The Western
Province which was the whole Yorubaland was
divided into 11 and a half: Lagos, Epe,
Ikorodu, Badagry, Ijebu Ode, Meko, Egba, Ilesa,
Ondo, Oyo, Ibadan and Osogbo Sub-District.
That is the ordinance and the gazzet. This is
the medium Meko District.

There was another restructuting in 1914: the
amalgamation to form Nigeria, thereby having
Southern and Northern Protectorate. The new
restructuring came with the issue of division,
and the early provinces were re-divided,
thereby having the Western Province which
was earlier divided into 11 and a half as:
Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode, Ondo, Oyo and Ibadan,
with Lagos as the capital. Divisions were
thereafter created.

In Abeokuta Province, Meko (that had been the
headquarters of a district), Egba and Badagry
districts (which was removed from the old
Badagry District with some other towns there
to join Lagos) and the remaining part of
Badagry District (Ado Odo, Ilaro, Ipokia and
Ayetoro) were merged and called Meko
Division.

At a point, the Colonial Masters had a meeting
at Joga to restructure and develop the
divisions. At the meeting, because the
Onimeko’s stool was highly revered and
powerful, it was expected that after the
European leaders had spoken, the Onimeko
should make his submissions, however, the
then Onimeko, One Durodolu Oyesusi (Akanku
I), had joined his ansestors, hence a vacuum.
Meanwhile, the Imeko people had told the
Europeans that they had chosen one of the
children of Oba Oyesusi as the monarch, but
he was absent at the meeting. As a result, the
Olu Ilaro at that time, then spoke on behalf of
the Obas in the land.

The Olu Ilaro in his speech then asked for all
the landmark institutions that were peculiar to
Imeko around the area, apart from Badagry,
such as district court; police quarters; prison
yard; custom (the custom headquarters now
at Idi Iroko was moved from Imeko in 1909);
telegraph (Ijebu Ode, Shagamu, Abeokuta and
Imeko were the only towns that had telegraph
then), and the British Cotton Growers
Association headquarters (because the soil of
Imeko was said to be second to none in the
world in growing cotton). When division was
created in 1914, the headquarters was moved
from Imeko to Ilaro.

The division was again divided into 11 district,
which still maintained Meko as a district
(which became the micro Meko). The district
included: Meko, Ajilete, Ajilete Oke-Odan,
Igbesa, Ilaro, Ayetoro, Ipokia and Ado Odo
district, among others.

And that marked the beginning of neglect
regression of the once great Imeko! The town,
which was well reckoned with by the great
Britain (as the Onimeko and his chiefs were
being updated by any development in the
Great Britain, as such, when the King of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Irelandand of Hanover, George Augustus
Frederick, George IV, died June 26th 1830
and when George Frederick Ernest Albert,
George V, was to be installed June 22nd,
1911, the Onimeko and his chiefs were
informed respectively), could be said to now
live in the shadow of itself!

The regression was further propelled by the
Onimeko, Oba Adegbola, who succeeded Oba
Oyesusi. Oba Adegbola wasn’t friendly with
the Europeans. It took the involvement of
Seriki Abass from Badagry to successfully
dethron Oba Adegbola.

In the 1940s, the first secondary school was
to be established in Imeko, because there had
been a primary school, Westliern Mission
Infantry Class and Primary Class, in the town
since 1900, it was diverted to Ogbe in
Abeokuta.

As if Imeko had not suffered retrogradion
enough, the advent of politics later made
Imeko’s oblivion became deeper with the
Action Group and National Council of Nigeria
and the Cameroons (NCNC), as the town was
in the opposition party. As a result, the Action
Group made all the heads of the villages
(Baales) under Imeko substantial kings. And
due to the low level of western education
literacy of the then Onimeko, the Baale-made-
kings could claims some of the belongings of
Imeko, which thus created series of issues for
the present Onimeko, His Royal Majesty, Oba
Benjamin Oyeditan Olanite (Akanku IV).
It is of note that the Akanku I and his chiefs
left three forest reserves in August 25th, 1908
which were recorded in the gazzet: Meko one
forest reserve, called Omododosi; Meko two
forest reserve, Abafon; Meko three forest
reserve, Oha. While the son of Oba Durodolu,
Oba Okunade Durosinmi Oyekan (Akanku II)
became king in 1926 and also left a forest
reserve, Forest Reserve Extension.

In 1938 all the heads of the villages under
Imeko who have been crowned kings were
mandated to pay tributary tax to the Onimeko
being their heads.

Even during the creation of local government
issues in the 1930s, whereby the old Egbado
North and South were created, Meko was not
considered as a local government, until 1996
when Imeko/Afon local government was
created. It is of note that Afon was a village
under Imeko then.

According to the population results, released
by the Europeans in 1909, Imeko was 5,000;
Idofa 600; Ijohun 400 and Ijale-Ketu was 300,
while results considered all others towns as
“ordinary villages.”

Oba Olanite whle in a chat with journalists in
his house in Imeko, recently said: “There were
lots of anomalies against Imeko. For instance,
due to lack of records, when states were
being created, yet another land that belong to
Imeko, Waasimi, was claimed for Oyo State.
Not quit long when the Alake of Egba, Oba
Adedotun Aremu (Gbadebo III) saw the gazzet
with me, he was surprised and exclaimed:
‘How come the then mighty Imeko now this
backward!'”

The monarch expressed concerns that “all the
villages that was made town because we were
in the opposition now have four wards, two
wards respectively, while Imeko has just one
ward. Imeko did have four political wards
according to the quarters of the town: Imeko
Oke-Ola, Imeko Isale; Imeko Batugbo and
Imeko Mayehun.”

Tourism attractions:
According to the Oba Olanite, the landscape of
the historical Imeko town is dotted with
enviable tourism assets, explaining that the
town itself is a tourist attraction, being a town
that enjoyed huge European patronage, with
great history, and its special soil which is
second to none in cotton plantation, among
others. Other tourist sites in the town include: Oke Amule, where people hide during the Franco-Dahomean War between 1892 and January1894; the tomb of the founder of CelestialChurch of Christ (CCC), Rev. Samuel BiléhouJoseph Oshoffa; tomb of a foreign Traveling Commissioner, Captain Vere De Creghiton, who died of maleria in 1899 (where Nigerian Armies always pay him homage every year); Osuru Streem Water (was a water fall before the rock collapsed); Osunle, which the state government promised to develop since 20 years ago; Ogunndoko; Ogbun Aseere; Iyabe
Jerry Turnel, which has layers and steps into a
path that leads to Igbaleaye in Benin
Republics; Erinfu Waters; and Aroketu, just to
mention a few.

“The Meko forest reserves were to be made
game reserves, but they have become
criminals haven due to government’s neglect.
People from Republic of Benin are just freely
entering the forest reserves now and
destroying things.

“Imeko is the pilgrimage centre for members
of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC). The
church holds two major events in the town
every year, yet the road that leads to Imeko is
so narrow and a large part of it is bad.
“Being a boarder community, all the federal
security agencies are present here and the
Customs make good revenue for the
government herein, yet we have been so
neglected as though we are not part of the
country.

“As a boarder community, closer to Benin
Republic, but without any security
headquarters, the town has become a sure
escape route for miscreants,” Oba Olanite
disclosed.

The Onimeko while decrying the neglect of
government, both at the state and the federal
levels, among the 11 and a half headquarters
the Europeans formed far prior independence,
said the town was at par with Ijebu, Egba and
Abeokuta.

Imeko, according to Oba Olanite, described the
towns where federal high court should be
located enjoined the state and the federal
government to come to the aid of the
community. We don’t have tertiary institutions,
neither do we have technical education
institutions.

“Imeko has great potentials of being the pride
of Nigeria if well attended, even if just at the
pace of development with the towns it used to
rank with.

“We have land. We once gave 4,000 acres of
land given to the then Western Region
government, now taken over by Oodua Group
of Company. We have had series of meetings
with the Group Managing Director, and he
promised to come and do something about it,
but the promise has remained rhetorical.
“Our land is the best for cotton, tomatoes and
maize plantation, while our people, who are
predominantly farmers, are willing to explore
these, if only they would be encouraged and
mobilised by the government. And this, has a
huge potential of turning around the economy
of not only Ogun State, but Nigeria at large.
“It was during the late General Sani Abacha
government, with President Muhammadu
Buhari as the Chairman, Petroleum Trust Fund
(PTF) that the two federal roads, which are the
only good roads we have, was done.

“Ogun State still has another 232 acres of
land, which the government earmarked for
Leadership Development Institutions since late
1970s, nothing has been done on it. The state
still has land for housing corporation since
1976, yet, nothing is done with the land,” Oba
Olanite submitted.

#COPIED

Their business as usual

TAO11