Inisa was founded many centuries
ago by Ooku, a brave prince and
warrior from Offa-Eesun, a small
but historic settlement near Ofa in
the present Kwara State.

Ofa-Eesun herself was founded by a
prince of the Alaafin royal dynasty
of old Oyo.

From this historical
link with Ofa, the Princes and
Princesses of Inisa are commonly
referred to as “OMO MOJO” while
people of Inisa are generally
referred to as “Inisa – Oyemojo”
the word “OYEMOJO’ is a
combination of two words
(names), “OYE and MOJO”. One
refers to the paternal parentage
and the other to the maternal
parentage of Ooku, the founder of
Inisa.

Ofa-Eesun was later destroyed
during the Nupe incursions into
the Northern Yorubaland in the
17th century. The Ofa-Eesun
people subsequently moved en
masse to found the present Ofa
town. Ooku contested the throne
of Ofa and lost.

The Beginning
The chieftaincy dispute coupled
with some related domestic
problems caused Ooku to migrate
from Ofa-Eesun.

He was said to
be childless at that time of his life.
He had to consult Ifa Oracle for
the solution of his problems. The
Oracle directed him to move away
from his family and homestead to
find solutions to his problems.

The Oracle also informed him that
there were two important gods in
his ancestral or family lineage i.e.
Obatala and Ogun, and that the
two gods must be accorded
respect and veneration. As a result
of the Ifa predictions, Ooku moved
out away from his people and
founded a new abode now known
and called Inisa.

When he arrived at his new abode,
he sat under a tree at a place now
known as Popo in the town.

Having reached the spot and as
he sat under a tree to rest, he
found sixteen (16) snails around
the area.

He interpreted the
incidence of the snails as a
fulfillment of an aspect of the Ifa
Oracle divination. He eventually
chose the spot as the location of
Obatala shrine. Snails are favorite
meat of the Obatala god. He
eventually became a committed
devotee of Obatala god.

He began to keep all his belongings
including the fried meat of his
preys around the shrine and
dedicating all his possessions to
the Obatala god and its shrine. It
was from this act of complete
devotion that the word Inisa (Ini-
orisa) which later became the
name of the town emerged. The
Obatala god became the most
important god of the people, and
its festival, the most important
festival in the town.

Another tradition, however, states
that the name, Inisa came into
being as a direct consequence of
the actions of Ooku’s
descendants. They were said to
have caused the unification of the
other smaller and neighboring
communities (settlements) around
their own and galvanized same
into a polity known as Inisa. It
was in the course of knitting
together of the diverse
possessions into a unit that the
settlement came to be known as
INISA that is to say in Yoruba -
“INI-ti –A-SAJO”.

The Building Blocks With time,
other immigrants came to join the
sprawling settlement. Some of the
early immigrants were settled not
too near or too far from Popo
area.

Among the early immigrants
were the Subokun group from
Mogun quarters of Ile-Ife, the
Oluode group from Aran-Orin who
were later joined by Eesa
Tannomo family from Ilemona.
Other immigrants include the Oke-
Iponrin from Iresadu, the Oke-
Omo from old Oyo.

The Oke-Ogun
group migrated from Ilota in the
present Kwara state and they
settled first at Okua before a
smaller detachment of the
pioneering settlers at Okua finally
ended up at Inisa. The Oke-Ogun
group led by Olugbokun and
Melemuku was settled at Oke-
Ogun area at Inisa by Oriola
Fasikun, the then ruler of the
town. Today, Inisa is made up
several family counds, sharing
common bond. It is often said,
that there is hardly any individual
in Inisa who is not related to
another one way or the other.
Below, we present the family
compounds that constitute Inisa:
FAMILY COMPOUNDS IN INISA
OLUNISA WARD
1 Adegbite 2 Agbajana 3 Agbenla/
baba onilu 4 Akingbola 5
Akolegbaro 6 Ariwo ola 7 Aro Ayan
bioloja 8 Arolodo 9 Atabinti 10
Balogun 11 Idi-opele 12 Idi-otin
13 Jagun Oyedele 14 Oba Agbaosi
15 Onireke 16 Osolo 17 Oluawo
Onifa 18 Oyedele 19 Oyotedo 20
Sole 21 Taka Taka/Baale Akinyin
22 Oba Agbaosi Kupelete
EESA WARD
1 Alagbede Teru 2 Alapo 3
Arewuyo 4 Arina 5 Eesa
Adegboye/Okunlola 6 Elejin 7
Elemo 8 Jagun Ogbalola 9 Jawo
10 Oba Olarionye 11 Olorisa Oko
12 Oluode 13 Osaana 14 Paja 15
Popo/Fasikun 16 Subokun OSI
BAALE ODE
1 Alagbaa 2 Abede 3 Aganna/
Oluawo Isegun 4 Aibio/Ajamoreba
5 Ali Olodo 6 Arin Oje 7 Areoye 8
Afilaka 9 Arilegba Ajelesi 10 Baale
Sango 11 Eesa Obihun 12 Gbagi
13 Isale Ako 14 Jalugun 15
Ogunjide 16 Oguntoyinbo 17 Ola-
Oloro 18 Olejaorin 19 Oloro 20
Onira 21 Ore 22 Oya 23 Sese
OLUKOTUN WARD
1 Asuramu 2. Arogun 3 Ajala 4
Baale Okeogun 5 Baba Elesin 6
Eesorun 7 Idi-ita 8 Laro 9 Oba-
Otepola 10 Oluwuru 11 Olugbede
12 Olutokun OTUN BAALE ODE
1 Ademokun 2 Baale Agbede 3
Baale Okeayan 4 Elebu 5 Erorinmo
6 Ikupolowo 7 Onikan 8 Olerede 9
Oluku 10 Sango Ogba aga
It is worthy of note that there are
several satellites of these
compounds in many locations in
Inisa. This is commonly referred
to in Inisa as fo‘le mo
The War Exploits Inisa had been
from time immemorial, a warrior
community. She was deeply
involved in the struggle for the
survival of Yoruba race during the
period of internecine wars and
particularly, during the onslaught
and incursions of the Fulani into
Yorubaland in the 19th Century.
Inisa people participated actively
in the series of the wars. They
fought in the Osogbo was of 1840,
the Jalumi war of 1878, the Ofa
war (1886- 1890) and the Daparu
war. The Ofa war resulted from the
desire of Ilorin-fulani to avenge
their defeat at the Jalumi on Ofa
and the neighboring towns. They
laid siege on Ofa for several years
before Ofa was eventually sacked
around 1890. The Daparu war
resulted from the sack and fall of
Ofa. The Fulani now desired to
sack all the towns and villages
between Ofa and Osogbo and
bring them under the rule of the
Fulani of Ilorin. They continued to
attack, raid and wage wars on the
people. Only Inisa was brave and
courageous enough to face the
Fulani forces, as the other towns
and villages were deserted,
seeking refuge at Ibadan war
camp at Ikirun.