₦airaland Forum

[size=15pt] Sunni Ali one of the first Hausa kings before the introduction of Islam[/size]

The first historical references date to the time when the area came under Songhay rule during the reign of Sunni Ali (1464–1492). Muhammadu Kanta, a Hausa immigrant from Kuyambana in southern Katsina became de-facto military governor of the Songhay sub-province of Kebbi, and declared his independence in 1516. The Kebbi kingdom was considered one of the Banza Bakwai ("seven bastards" or seven "illegitimate" Hausa states. The rulers of these states traced their lineage to a concubine of the Hausa founding father, Bayajidda, hence the name.

Kebbi became a major power in the region, resisting Songhay attacks, expanding into the Yauri and Nupe lands to the south and defeating attempts by the Bornu Empire to invade and occupy the Hausa states. However, after Kanta's death in 1556 the Hausa states stopped paying tribute, and his son and successor Ahmadu did not attempt to force the issue. By the end of the sixteenth century Kebbi had become a minor kingdom.

[size=15pt]Dan Halima, Usuman Masa, Karari and other Great Hausa/fulani/kanuri warriors in kebbi and sokoto[/size]

In the first half of the century it was the diehards of Gobir and Katsina who caused the Sultans the greatest trouble and anxiety, but in the second half, with the submission of Dan Halima and the founding of Sabon Birni, the pattern changed. Thereafter, as already mentioned, raids from the north fell increasingly on Katsina, Kano, and Zaria Emirates, while the pressure on Zamfara and Sokoto was eased. But so far as Sokoto was concerned, this shift was counterbalanced by the resurgence of Kebbi. By 1875, in fact, the Kebbawa and their allies, the Arewa and Zabermawa, had become a major threat to the strength and stability of the Empire.
In the early days of the jihad, it will be recalled, the Fulani had invaded Kebbi, sacked the capital, and driven out the Chief, Muhammadu Hodi. In his place they had installed their puppet, Usuman Masa, but in the crisis following the defeat at Alwasa he had proved false and had turned against them. After the victory of Gwandu, therefore, they had hunted him down and killed him.
Before the defection of Usuman Masa the Fulani had been disposed to treat the Kebbawa in the same way as the Zamfarawa, assuming that they were friendly unless they showed hostility and ruling them through their own Chiefs. Betrayal had brought disillusionment, however, and Usuman Masa's treachery had caused them to reverse this policy. Thenceforward Kebbi was no longer regarded as an ally but treated instead as a defeated enemy. The towns that resisted were reduced and the Hausa ruling classes, if they had not already fled, were deprived of their offices and titles and replaced by Fulani whose loyalty to the régime could be relied upon 1.
The resistance put up by Muhammadu Hodi in the Zamfara Valley and then by Karari in Argungu and Zazzagawa has already been described in an earlier chapter. It will be recalled that after Karari's death his son Yakubu Nabame had thrown himself on the mercy of the Fulani, that his life had been spared, and that for sixteen years he had lived as an exile at the Court in Sokoto and Wurno. Bello, magnanimous by nature, accorded to him the privileges that befitted his birth and breeding. With the passage of time, moreover, he gradually won the trust of the Fulani so that, when the easy-going and genial Aliyu Babba succeeded as Sultan, he seems to have been treated almost as if he were a member of the family 2.
It was the special trust which Aliyu reposed in him that led in the end to the termination of his banishment. In about the year 1847 the Gobirawa diehards raided the town of Gora in central Sokoto. A Fulani expedition was quickly dispatched to intercept them and with it the Sultan sent his eldest son Umaru, entrusting him, as he was still young and inexperienced, to the special care of Yakubu. In the fighting that followed Yakubu saved Umaru's life and the Sultan, in gratitude, told him to seek whatever favour he pleased. Yakubu begged to be allowed to return to his own country and his wish was granted 3.
Once back among his own people Yakubu, it seems, began to ponder a taunt that had been hurled at him by the Gobirawa at Gora. He should be fighting with them, they had cried, not by the side of his father's murderers. These words gradually became an obsession with him and at length drove him to rebellion 4. In 1849, like his father before him, he suddenly renounced his allegiance and proclaimed himself to be Chief of Kebbi. So ended eighteen years of peace, the longest truce that there was to be in this war.
Yakubu had prepared the ground with care and, as soon as he raised his standard, men from Kebbi, Arewa, and Zaberma thronged to join it. Sokoto and Gwandu were caught unprepared and before their forces could be concentrated they had suffered a number of sharp reverses. The worst blow of all was the sack of the Fulani stronghold of Silame, which guarded the western approach to Sokoto 5. As soon as the news reached the Sultan he gave orders for his army to be mustered.
When the army had assembled Aliyu himself led it down the Rima Valley. By this time Halilu had succeeded Muhamman as Emir of Gwandu and he joined Aliyu to lay siege to Argungu just as Bello and Muhamman had done eighteen years earlier 6. There the parallel ended, however, for the results of the two expeditions were to be very different.
There is no better example than this of what an ineffective Sultan Aliyu was. Because of the excessive trust that he had reposed in Yakubu he had brought about a serious rebellion in the west at a time when he was barely holding his own with the Gobir and Katsina diehards in the north. It was obvious that he must move heaven and earth to scotch this revolt before it gained strength and momentum. To do this he only needed to storm Argungu and recapture Yakubu. But instead his patience gave out or his resolution wavered and, after sustaining the siege for some time, he raised it and marched away 7. In doing so he was acquiescing in the revival of the Hausa State of Kebbi and making the first important surrender of territory that had taken place anywhere except in Bornu since the original conquests. He was also condemning his successors in Sokoto and Gwandu to fifty years of hard and unprofitable fighting.
The resurgent State of Kebbi now bore the shape of a wedge driven into the flank of the Fulani Empire. In the west Arewa, Dandi, and Zaberma formed the broad base of this wedge. In the centre it narrowed down to the four walled towns of Augi, Zazzagawa, Gulma, and Sauwa. And in the cast its heavily armoured tip, the town of Argungu, was inserted into the vulnerable joint between Sokoto and Gwandu. During the five decades of fighting that was to take place along these frontiers each part of the Kebbi wedge was to play its part. Arewa and Zaberma were to supply a steady stream of new recruits. The walled towns in the centre were to provide the necessary defensive stiffening. And Argungu was to serve as the bridgehead for the raids and forays with which the Kebbawa now started harrying the Fulani.
In the course of one of these raids Yakubu. Nabame was mortally wounded and thus became the fourth successive Chief of Kebbi to perish in this contest. To the Fulani, who remembered only the young man spared by Muhamman and befriended by Bello and Aliyu, he was a rebel and a double-dyed traitor. To the Kebbawa, on the other hand, he was an heroic figure, like Wallace or Bruce, who snapped the fetters of servitude and led his people back to dignity and freedom.

Yakubu was succeeded by his brother, Yusufu Mainasara, and the war went on 8. The main battlefield was the flood plain of the Rima River, which hereabout is three or four miles wide. During the height of the rains it becomes a broad sheet of water, but in the dry season, when the floods have gone, it dries out into a flat, treeless expanse of clay, clothed in coarse grass or thorn-scrub and cut up at intervals by the shifting channels of the river. The Kebbi fortresses of Augi, Gulma, and Sauwa were all situated on the edge of this flood-plain and looked across it to Fulani fortresses on the other side. During the campaigning season it became a no-man's land across which the war was fought.
Here, in 1859, the Kebbawa suffered yet another set-back.
Mainassara was in Argungu when a message was brought to him
saying that the Fulani had launched a surprise attack on Gulma. He immediately sprang to arms and, accompanied by such men as he had been able to collect, set out to ride across the valley, but on the way he and his party were ambushed by a superior Gwandu force and he was killed. His head was cut off and taken back to Gwandu town, where it was fixed over the main gate 9. He thus became the last of the five Chiefs of Kebbi who fell in this war.
Haliru had recently succeeded his elder brother Halilu as Emir of Gwandu and for him this was a great triumph. In the following year, however, he was to suffer an identical fate. For a reason which has never been clearly explained, he then decided to by-pass the Kebbi towns that stood in the front line and attack a remote place of secondary importance called Karakara, which lay far to the west. The Kebbawa, however, seem to have got wind of this plan. At any rate, they had time to prepare an ambush and Haliru, falling into their trap, was surrounded and killed. His head, like his victim's, was then cut off and borne back to Argungu 10.
The new Chief of Kebbi, Muhammadu Ware, did not live long to enjoy his triumph. On his early death he was succeeded by Abdullahi Toga, another son of Karari. At first this change made little difference, but in 1867, when Ahmadu Rufa'i became Sultan in Sokoto, the political scene was suddenly transformed.
Ahmadu Rufa'i, who was a son of Shehu, was an elderly man when he was elected. Being pious and retiring by nature, he had already been passed over three times when Aliyu Babba, Ahmadu Zaruku, and Aliyu Karami, who all belonged to the next generation, had been made Sultan before him. During their reigns he had lived at Silame and had only just escaped when the place had been sacked by the Kebbawa. Indeed, if tradition is to be believed, he had lost members of his family and household during the fighting 11.
These experiences, in other men, might have engendered a thirst for revenge. In Ahmadu Rufa'i, however, they had the opposite effect. As has already been mentioned, he had the perception to see that there were only two ways of dealing with the rebellion in Kebbi: either to crush it or else to accept it as a fact. Being a man of peace, he chose the second course.
In 1867, therefore, Ahmadu Rufa'i and Abdullahi Toga made a treaty of peace. Under its terms the Fulani recognized the independence of Kebbi and agreed that all the territory that the Kebbawa had recovered was to remain in their hands 12. This treaty, though it represented an important success for the Kebbawa, was by no means a triumph for them. While confirming them in the possession of Argungu and most of the territory beyond the river, it nevertheless left the Fulani as masters of much more than half of their erstwhile State.
The peace, which is known to history as the Peace of Toga, lasted from 1867 to 1875. It marked the end of another stage in the war and, apart from the eighteen years when Yakubu Nabame was either a fugitive or an exile, was the only period during the whole century when there was a real pause in this bitter struggle.
The Peace of Toga came to an end in 1875 because the people of the Kebbi town of Fanna in the Lower Rima Valley, on account of some now forgotten quarrel with Argungu, decided to transfer their allegiance to Gwandu. The Emir agreed to their doing so, but the Kebbawa construed the action as a breach of the treaty and by way of reprisal seized ten thousand head of Fulani cattle. This naturally provoked retaliation from the Fulani and hostilities began again 13.
In the early stages of its resumption the war centred upon the town of Giru, which stood opposite Fanna on the east side of the Lower Rima Valley. Sarkin Shiko, its ruler, declared for Argungu and defied the Emir of Gwandu, now Mustafa, to do his worst. The Fulani's first attack failed and so Mustafa summoned reinforcements from Nupe. When these arrived Giru was invested and, after a four-month siege, captured 14.
The fact that the Gwandu Fulani were unable to take a small town like Giru without the help of their vassals showed how far their power had already declined. The truth was that, ever since Abdullahi's death, the theory of their status being equal to Sokoto's had been little more than a polite fiction. The resurgence of Kebbi exposed the limitations to Gwandu's power and at the same time drastically reduced the base from which it was exercised 15.
After the fall of Giru the focus of the war moved north to the Argungu-Gwandu sector. The Kebbawa launched a major assault on Ambursa, but failed to take it and the Fulani were no more successful when they attacked Gulma.
In the main, however, it was a war of forays and ambushes rather than sieges and pitched battles. It threw up its own champions, such as the Zarumin Kola of Gwandu, the Galadima Dan Waje of Kebbi, and the Magaji Jan Borodo, who fought first for one side and then for the other 16. Being constantly engaged on a relatively narrow front, the contestants came to know the methods and tactics of their adversaries and were always striving to outwit and overreach one another.
It was, in fact, a moss trooper's war and it bears many striking resemblances to the border warfare of the English and Scots. If anything, however, it was even more bloody and relentless. The rank and file might surrender and hope to purchase their lives with their liberty, but for men of quality there was no question of quarter or ransom. Those who were unhorsed settled themselves on their outspread shields in the posture of prayer, as Karari and Mainasara had done, and with their rosaries in their hands stoically waited for their enemies to dispatch them.

The last phase of this struggle between the Fulani and Kebbawa was dominated by Sama'ila, the son of Yakubu Nabame. He was born in 1842 at the time when his father was an exile in Sokoto. As a small boy of seven or eight he must have been present at the siege of Argungu and he grew up in a soldier's world of patrols and raids.
In stature Sama'ila was not unusually tall, but his frame, with broad shoulders and deep chest, was exceptionally lithe and powerful. He took great pride in the profession of arms and from his youth he trained himself in the use of every weapon, being especially deadly, it is said, with the javelin. Moreover, he studied to harden himself so that he never betrayed pain or fear. As a soldier, in fact, he matched great natural gifts with ruthlessness and dedication. But there was more to him than just this. He also had a strong personality, which was made more formidable by the fact that he was by nature rather taciturn and morose, and as he matured he showed outstanding gifts of leadership 17. Most important of all, he possessed a flair for guerilla warfare that amounted almost to genius.

In Sokoto, in the meantime, the peace-loving Sultan Ahmadu Rufa'i had died in 1873. According to the tradition of alternation, it had still been the turn of the house of Atiku to provide a successor, but again they had failed to produce a suitable candidate. The succession had therefore gone in turn to two sons of Bello, first to Abubakr na Rabah and then, on his death in 1877, to Mu'azu. When he in turn had died in 1881, the claims of the Atikawa had again been passed over and Umaru, the eldest of Bello's grandsons, had been appointed Sultan.
This Umaru, now a man of fifty-seven, was the same son of Aliyu Babba whose life had been saved by Yakubu Nabame thirty-three years earlier in the fight at Gora. He had not forgotten his debt and when he succeeded he at once sent an embassy to Argungu, where Toga was still Chief, proposing peace. But unfortunately the war party, led by the renegade Fulani, Jan Borodo, was in the ascendant there and so the Fulani overtures were rejected 18.
Having failed to make peace, the new Sultan decided to mount an expedition against Argungu, which was now the recognized capital of Kebbi as well as being its bridgehead on the east bank of the Rima. Command was entrusted to an experienced but ageing freedman called Sarkin Lifidi Lefau 19. This time the Kebbawa did not shut themselves up in the town, as they had on both previous occasions, but decided to risk a battle in the open. For the first time command of the whole Kebbi army was given to Sama'ila. It was a great opportunity, which he seized with both hands. The Fulani forces were intercepted near Argungu and, according to tradition, it was a javelin hurled by Sama'ila himself that brought the Fulani commander down and turned the tide of the battle. Certainly, Lefau was killed and his army routed 20.
For Sama'ila this victory came at a most opportune moment. In the following year the old Chief Toga died and he was elected to succeed. Endowed now with supreme military and political power, he soon began to display his genius for this kind of warfare.
The remarkable run of successes that Sama'ila achieved between 1883 and 1903 was based on accurate intelligence and good tactics. In the collection of intelligence, to which he devoted infinite pains, he was far ahead of any of his contemporaries. In his tactics he relied mainly on surprise and shock. By riding out of Argungu at nightfall he could get into position by first light on the following day for an attack on almost any town in northern Gwandu or southwestern Sokoto, and this is what he normally did.
As Sama'ila's list of victories grew, so the superstitions that clustered about him multiplied. His famous bay was said to be no horse but a jinn and he himself was reputed to be able to change himself at will into an animal so that he could reconnoitre the towns which he proposed to attack. As a shrewd commander he played on the fears that his name inspired and often intimidated his enemies into flight or surrender. If a town opened its gates he contented himself with carrying off the booty and captives that he wanted and forbore from sacking or burning it. If it resisted, however, he delivered it up to fire and the sword 21.
In the space of twenty years Sama'ila is said to have captured ninety Fulani towns and villages 22. Probably, a majority of these were mall places protected only by stockades, but many must have been walled towns and among them there were certainly a few real fortresses such as Gande, Shagari, Kajiji, and Aliero 23. All the countryside lying within reach of Argungu was ravaged by him and when the British arrived in 1903 they were appalled at the havoc that he had wrought. Here is the report of Burdon, the first Resident of Sokoto Province.

Throughout the whole distance from Shagari to Ambursa, all round Gwandu and north-east to within twenty miles of Sokoto, I was much impressed by the devastation wrought by the Kebbawa, much of it within the last eight years. The country is strewn with the ruins of towns 24.
There is no doubt that during the last two decades of the century the Kebbawa, under the inspired leadership of Sama'ila, not only held their own but took the war to the Fulani. Gwandu suffered most, but Sokoto, too, was distracted and weakened. Moreover, these events took place at the very time when, as we shall see in the next chapter, the approach of Rabeh from the east and the British from the south made it imperative for the Sultans to be strong and vigilant. For this reason, even though the Kebbi wars were fought in a restricted theatre and on a limited scale, they nevertheless played an important part in determining the fate of the Empire.

http://amanaonline.com/Sokoto/sokoto_18.htm

King or Shehu Ali III of borno, little is known about him he ruled from (1750–1791)

[size=15pt]Abu Bakr Atiku was the brother of Muhammed Bello and the third sultan of sokoto[/size]

Abu Bakr Atiku (1782–1842) was sultan of the Sokoto Caliphate or Fulani Empire from 26 October 1837 until November 1842. He was the brother of Muhammed Bello.

[size=15pt] son of Usman dan Folio and second sultan of sokoto[/size]

Muhammed Bello (reigned 1815 - 1837) (Arabic: محمد بلو‎) was the son and aide of Usman dan Fodio. He became the second Sultan of Sokoto following his father's 1815 retirement from the throne. Bello faced early challenges from dissident leaders such as 'Abd al-Salam, and rivalries between the key families of his father's jihad. Bello soon consolidated his rule by granting land and power to these leading Fulani families. He is also the brain behind the city of Sokoto. After the success of the Fulani jihad, Muhammed Bello wanted to build a new city to mirror the Islamic faith and to present a stable instead of pastoral image of Fulani's. In 1809, the building of Sokoto started, mosques were strategically placed in different corners of the city for easy accessibility and some houses where constructed with Islamic architectural patterns. He also facilitated and encouraged the building of new towns, especially in the western region of the caliphate.
One of Bello's daughters married future Toucouleur jihadist El Hadj Umar Tall.

“The contract with Muslim leaders (a’ima) is only annulled when the objectives of leadership has been rendered null and void, like apostasy, recognized madness, or when the leader has been made a war captive or imprisoned and there is no hope of him being freed, likewise by a sickness which causes the leader to forget knowledge, by blindness, deafness or muteness, or when he removes himself due to his inability to establish the welfare of the Muslims…”.
Scholarship

Muhammed Bello is probably the foremost Hausaland writer on Islamic in the entire pre-colonial period.”. Many of his writings have been collected .

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great site to visit as well

http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Nigeria_native.html

[size=15pt]Nafata of Gobir the hausa king when Hausaland was without Islam[/size]

Sultan Nafata of Gobir (r.1797–98), one of a series of rulers of the small Hausa state, today in northern Nigeria. Best remembered for his opposition to Fulani Islamic reformer Usman dan Fodio, who later led a popular uprising against the Gobir rulers, and established the Sokoto Caliphate

[size=15pt]Usman dan Folio the Great Jihadist that introduced Islam to Hausa, Yoruba, Nupe etc[/size]

Shaihu Usman dan Fodio (Arabic: عثمان بن فودي ، عثمان دان فوديو‎), born Usuman ɓii Foduye, (also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio, Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye, or Shehu Usman dan Fodio, 1754–1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1809, a religious teacher, writer and Islamic promoter. Dan Fodio was one of a class of urbanized ethnic Fulani living in the Hausa States in what is today northern Nigeria. A teacher of the Maliki school of law and the Qadiriyyah order of Sufism, he lived in the city-state of Gobir until 1802 when, motivated by his reformist ideas and under increased repression by local authorities, he led his followers into exile. This exile began a political and social revolution which spread from Gobir throughout modern Nigeria and Cameroon, and was echoed in an ethnicly Fula-led Jihad movement across West Africa. Dan Fodio declined much of the pomp of rulership, and while developing contacts with religious reformists and Jihad leaders across Africa, he soon passed actual leadership of the Sokoto state to his son, Muhammed Bello.
Dan Fodio wrote more than a hundred books concerning religion, government, culture and society. He developed a critique of existing African Muslim elites for what he saw as their greed, paganism, or violation of the standards of Sharia law, and heavy taxation. He encouraged literacy and scholarship, including for women, and several of his daughters emerged as scholars and writers. His writings and sayings continue to be much quoted today, and is often affectionately referred to as Shehu in Nigeria. Some followers consider dan Fodio to have been a Mujaddid, a divinely inspired "reformer of Islam".[2]
Dan Fodio's uprising is a major episode of a movement described as the Fulani (Peul) hegemonies in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It followed the jihads successfully waged in Fuuta-Ɓundu, Fuuta-Jalon and Fuuta-Tooro between 1650 and 1750, which led to the creation of those three islamic states. In his turn, Shehu inspired a number of later West African jihads, including those of Masina Empire founder Seku Amadu, Toucouleur Empire founder El Hadj Umar Tall (who married one of dan Fodio's granddaughters), and Adamawa Emirate founder Modibo Adama.

Training

Dan Fodio was well-educated in classical Islamic science, philosophy and theology and became a revered religious thinker. His teacher, Jibril ibn 'Umar, argued that it was the duty and within the power of religious movements to establish the ideal society free from oppression and vice. His teacher was a North African Muslim alim who gave his apprentice a broader perspective of the Muslim reformist ideas in other parts of the Muslim world. Dan Fodio used his influence to secure approval to create a religious community in his hometown of Degel that would, dan Fodio hoped, be a model town. He stayed there for 20 years, writing, teaching and preaching.
In 1802, the ruler of Gobir and one of dan Fodio's students, Yunfa turned against him, revoking Degel's autonomy and attempting to assassinate dan Fodio. Dan Fodio and his followers fled into the western grasslands of Gudu where they turned for help to the local Fulani nomads. In his book Tanbih al-ikhwan ’ala ahwal al-Sudan (“Concerning the Government of Our Country and Neighboring Countries in the Sudan”) Usman wrote: “The government of a country is the government of its king without question. If the king is a Muslim, his land is Muslim; if he is an Unbeliever, his land is a land of Unbelievers. In these circumstances it is obligatory for anyone to leave it for another country”.[3] Usman did exactly this when he left Gobir in 1802. After that, Yunfa turned for aid to the other leaders of the Hausa states, warning them that dan Fodio could trigger a widespread jihad.[4]
[edit]The Fulani War

Usman dan Fodio was proclaimed Amir al-Muminin or Commander of the Faithful in Gudu. This made him political as well as religious leader, giving him the authority to declare and pursue a jihad, raise an army and become its commander. A widespread uprising began in Hausaland. This uprising was largely composed of the Fulani, who held a powerful military advantage with their cavalry. It was also widely supported by the Hausa peasantry who felt over-taxed and oppressed by their rulers. Usuman started the jihad against Gobir in 1804.
The Fulani communication during the war was carried along trade routes and rivers draining to the Niger-Benue valley, as well as the delta and the lagoons. The call for jihad did not only reach other Hausa states such as Kano, Katsina and Zaria but also Borno, Gombe, Adamawa, Nupe and Ilorin. These were all places with major or minor groups of Fulani alims.
After only a few short years of the Fulani War, dan Fodio found himself in command of the largest state in Africa, the Fulani Empire. His son Muhammed Bello and his brother Abdullahi carried out the jihad and took care of the administration. Dan Fodio worked to establish an efficient government grounded in Islamic law. After 1811, Usman retired and continued writing about the righteous conduct of the Muslim belief. After his death in 1817, his son, Muhammed Bello, succeeded his as amir al-mu’minin and became the ruler of the Sokoto Caliphate, which was the biggest state south of the Sahara at that time. Usman’s brother Abdullahi was given the title emir of Gwandu, and he was placed in charge of the Western Emirates, Nupe and Ilorin. Thus, all Hausa states, parts of Nupe, Ilorin and Fulani outposts in Bauchi and Adamawa were all ruled by a single politico-religious system. From the time of Usman dan Fodio there were twelve caliphs, until the British conquest at the beginning of the twentieth century.
[edit]Religious and political impact

Many of the Fulani led by Usman dan Fodio were unhappy that the rulers of the Hausa states were mingling Islam with aspects of the traditional regional religion. Usuman created a theocratic state with a stricter interpretation of Islam. In Tanbih al-ikhwan ’ala ahwal al-Sudan, he wrote: “As for the sultans, they are undoubtedly unbelievers, even though they may profess the religion of Islam, because they practice polytheistic rituals and turn people away from the path of God and raise the flag of worldly kingdom above the banner of Islam. All this is unbelief according to the consensus of opinions.”[5]
In Islam outside the Arab World, David Westerlund wrote: “The jihad resulted in a federal theocratic state, with extensive autonomy for emirates, recognizing the spiritual authority of the caliph or the sultan of Sokoto.”[6]
Usman addressed in his books what he saw as the flaws and demerits of the African non-Muslim or nominally Muslim rulers. Some of the accusations made by him were corruption on various levels of the administration along with injustice regarding ordinary people's rights. Usman also criticized the heavy taxation and obstruction created in the business and trade of the Hausa states by the legal system.

[size=15pt]Yunfa the hausa king when Hausaland was without Islam[/size]

Yunfa (r. 1801 - 1808) was a king of the Hausa city-state of Gobir in what is now Nigeria. He is particularly remembered for his conflict with Islamic reformer Usman dan Fodio.
Nephew and designated heir of Bawa, Yunfa appears to have been taught by Fulani religious leader Usman dan Fodio as a young man. Though dan Fodio helped Yunfa succeed Nafata to the throne in 1801, the two soon came into conflict over dan Fodio's proposed religious reforms. Fearing dan Fodio's growing power, Yunfa summoned him and attempted to assassinate him in person; however, Yunfa's pistol backfired and wounded him in the hand. The following year, Yunfa expelled dan Fodio and his followers from their hometown of Degel.
Dan Fodio soon called for help from other Fulani nomad groups, and declared himself the imam of a new caliphate in jihad against Gobir. A widespread uprising soon began across Hausaland, and in 1804, Yunfa appealed to rulers of neighboring city-states for aid. In December of that year, Yunfa won a major victory in the Battle of Tsuntua, in which Dan Fodio's forces were said to have lost 2,000 men, 200 of whom knew the Koran by heart.
However, dan Fodio soon launched a successful campaign against Kebbi and established a permanent base at Gwandu. In October 1808, the jihadists seized the Gobir capital of Alkalawa and killed Yunfa.

[size=15pt]Nana Asma’u[/size]


Nana Asma’u (full name: Nana Asma’u bint Shehu Usman dan Fodiyo, Arabic: نانا أسماء بنت عثمان فودي‎; 1793–1864) was a princess, poet, teacher, and daughter of the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Usman dan Fodio. She remains a revered figure in northern Nigeria. Nana Asma’u is held up by some as an example of education and independence of women possible under Islam, and by others as a precursor to modern feminism in Africa.

Biography

Nana Asma’u was born some eleven years before the Fulani War, and was named after Asma bint Abi Bakr, a companion of the Muslim Prophet. The daughter of the Sufi-inspired and Fulɓe-led Sokoto Caliphate's founder and half sister of its second leader, she outlived most of the founding generation of the Caliphate, making her an important source of guidance to its later rulers. From 1805, members of the Caliph's family came to great prominence, including the Caliph’s female relatives. While Nana Asma’u became the most prominent, her sisters Myram and Fatima, and the Caliph's wives Aisha and Hawwa played major literary and political roles in the new state. Like her father, she was educated in Qur'anic studies, and placed a high value upon universal education. As exemplars of the Qadiriyyah Sufi school, the dan Fodio and his followers stressed the sharing of knowledge, especially that of the Sunnah, the example of the prophet Muhammad. To learn without teaching, they thought, was sterile and empty. Thus Nana Asma’u was devoted, in particular, to the education of the Muslim women. Like most of the rest of her family, she became a prolific author.
Writer and counselor

Well educated in the classics of the Arab and Classical world, and well versed in four languages (Arabic, the Fula language, Hausa and Tamacheq Tuareg), Nana Asma’u had a public reputation as a leading scholar in the most influential Muslim state in West Africa, which gave her the opportunity to correspond broadly.[1] She witnessed many of the wars of the Fulani War and wrote about her experiences in a prose narrative Wakar Gewaye "The Journey". As the Sokoto Caliphate began as a cultural and religious revolutionary movement, the writings of its leaders held a special place by which later generations, both rulers and ruled, could measure their society. She became a counselor to her brother when he took the Caliphate, and is recorded writing instructions to governors and debating with the scholars of foreign princes.
[edit]Poet

Amongst her over 60 surviving works written over 40 years, Nana Asma’u left behind a large body of poetry in Arabic, the Fula language and Hausa, all written in the Arabic script. Many of these are historical narratives, but they also include elegies, laments, and admonitions. Her poems of guidance became tools for teaching the founding principles of the Caliphate. Asma'u also collaborated closely with Muhammad Bello, the second Caliph. Her works include and expand upon the dan Fodio's strong emphasis on women leaders and women's rights within the community ideals of the Sunnah and Islamic law.[2]
[edit]Women's education

Others of her surviving written works are related to Islamic education: for much of her adult life she was responsible for women's religious education. Starting around 1830, she created a cadre of women teachers (jajis) who traveled throughout the Caliphate educating women in the students' homes. In turn, each of these jajis in turn used Nana Asma’u's and other Sufi scholars writings, usually through recited mnemonics and poetry, to train corps of learned women, called the ’yan-taru, or “those who congregate together, the sisterhood.” To each jaji she bestowed a malfa (a hat and traditional ceremonial symbol of office of the pagan Bori priestesses in Gobir) tied with a red turban. The jajis became, thus, symbols of the new state, the new order, and of Islamic learning even outside women's community.[3] In part this educational project began as a way to integrate newly conquered pagan captives into a Muslim ruling class. It expanded, though, to include the poor and rural, training teachers who traveled across the sprawling Caliphate.
Contemporary legacy

Nana Asma’u continued legacy rests not just on her literary work and role in defining the values of the Sokoto state. Today in Northern Nigeria, Islamic women's organisation, schools, and meeting halls are commonly named for her. She re-entered the debate on the role of women in Islam in the 20th century, as her legacy has been carried by Islamic scholars and immigrants to Europe and its academic debates.[4] The republishing and translation of her works has brought added attention to the purely literary value of her prose and poems.

[size=15pt]Balogun Bello Kuku of ijebuland[/size]

was an liberal and accomplished Ijebu warrior and businessman who was involved in major events concerning war and peace in Ijebuland during the latter part of the nineteenth century. He was also a controversial figure to some Ijebus especially during the state's conflict with Ibadan.
Kuku, an Ijebu man originally enjoyed commercial success in Ibadan selling arms in an age of war and iron, and had a good working relationship with the then Ijebu military leader, Balogun Onafowokan and the Awujale, Fidipote. However, during the Ekitiparapo war, the Ijebu leadership took an anti-Ibadan stand and and as a war chief, he had to join in the war and support this anti-Ibadan policy led by the Awujale Fidipote. However, the Awujale whose major policy was a blockade of the major trade routes from Ibadan to Lagos had to contend with the growing power and importance of prominent military chiefs who controlled arms, among those were the Balogun Onafowakan and Seriki Kuku, later Balogun. Both Ijebu chiefs led by Kuku sought diplomatic approaches to Ibadan during the Ekiti parapo war and were sometimes sympathetic to Ibadan, they also wanted top relax the economic blockade against Ibadan.
An alliance of Ijebu traders and military personnel opposed to the blockade later led to the deposition of Fidipote.
Between 1886-1892, Kuku found himself at variance with popuar sentiments in Ijebu. By the time, the colonial authorities had annexed Lagos and were seeking means to promote legitimate trade between the coast and the hinterland, a situation supported by Ibadan and Kuku. However, the Ijebu traders and leadership policy was the control of the trade routes between the coast and Ibadan and Oyo and exclujding strangers from profiting in their land. Kuku during the period was seen as a saboteur to the monopolistic role in the trade with Lagos and was later exiled to Ibadan.

[size=15pt]Ogbeyan the founder of Ogbia kingdom[/size]

Ogbia kingdom is founded by Ogbeyan who originated from Benin. His two sons namely Okoroma and Oloi ventured into the present site of Ogbia kingdom, after the death of their father.

Later the two children hosted other immigrants namely Obutoru, Tarabiri, Oboloma, and other miscellaneous groups to constitute sic major ethnic groups in Ogbia kingdom.

There are Oloi group, Okoroma, Tarakiri, Oboloma, Obutoru, and the miscellaneous group called Odinade.

Otoi group consists of the following villages; Oloibiri, Otnabo, Otuogidi, Otabi, Otakeme, Otuogidi, Omorokeni, Emeyal I, Emeyal II, Otuaseiga, Elebele, Otuoke, Otuaba, Ewoi and also Otuedi.

On the other hand the Okoroma villages are; Otuabagi, Kolo I, Kolo II, Kolo III, Imirigi, Otuagire II, Emadike, Owoma, Otuakpein, Otnaganagu, Okiri, Ologoghe, Aidyasara, Owuebu, Otuogori, Otwagire I and Otuokpoti.

The Taraki group migrated from Diobin area in Southern Ijaw. The villages are; Okodi, Ologi, and Ayakoro.

The Oboloma group came from Oboloma in Nembe. The villages are Oruma dn Ibelebiri. The Obutoru came from the deserted town of Obutoru in Akassa Koloama area. The villages is Epebu. The Odinade group immigrated from different points to the deserted Ebela kingdom. The villages are Opunde Emakaka, Akipelai and Idema. All these groups are loyal to Ogbeyan as the founder of Ogbia kingdom.

Traditionally, the Ogbai man is an agriculturalist women are farmers practicing subsistence system of farming while the men are palm cutters. Fishing is not a major occupation of the Ogbia man. During the era of the slave trade, the Ogbia man mostly the Chiefs were capturing slaves in their respective domains and selling them to the Nembe traders who in-turn sold them to the white-men. As a result of this slave trade business, the people settle in hideout in the forest to avoid raiding of the buyers. Hence Ogbia kingdom is having scattered settlement.

With the abolition of the slave trade and establishment of the Oil trade, the Ogbia man fully participated in the trade. They were middle men between the oil producers and the whitte-men. Nembe middle men who ventured into Ogbia had serious confrontations with the Ogbia Chiefs and middlemen.

As a follow up, Ogbia middlemen also purchased canons and arms from the white-men at Bonney, Brass and Akassa. Such confrontations however led to series of wars with the Nembe middlemen. Prominent among them were the wars between the Nembe middlemen and Opume, Oloibiri, Okiki and Amyama respectively. These wars led to the desertion of towns like Otuobhuom and Otuaki. Unlike the Okoroma district unit, Ogbia kingdom was not colonized by the Nembe forces; only that Nembe influence affected some of the village in Oloibiri group.

http://www.ijawpeople.org/books/about-us/kingdoms/ogbia-kingdom

[size=15pt]Oke Nnachi the First son of one of the founders of Igbo Arochukwu [/size]

Osim Nnubi was slain in Oror city state making it the capital of Arochukwu. In Obinkita the remaining Ibibio warriors became prisoners and were judged and that is why the city state is the holder of the Ikeji festival. But at the end of the war, Osim and Kakpokpo were dead. In order to honor Osim's legacy, his brother Akuma was crowned the first EzeAro (king). After his death, Nnachi's descendants took the throne starting with his first son Oke Nnachi. The Arochukwu kingdom, was founded

Oke Nnachi was the son of Nnachi and possibly introduced the idea of bring Akpa troops to help the Eze Agwu, Nnachi clan, and Obong Okon Ita rebels during the Aro-Ibibio Wars. After the short dynasty of Osim and Akuma Nnubi of Akuma, Oke Nnachi became king of Arochukwu. His descendants still retain the throne.

Andre Uweh:
Alh Uche: May the peace of our Lord be with You.

Amin Amen

and you too my brother

[size=15pt]Akpan Okon the last obong(king)[/size]

Akpan Okon was the last Obong (king) of Obong Okon Ita around 1690-1720. He was overthrown by his brother Kakpokpo Okon with the support of groups such as the Eze Agwu, Nnachi Ipia, and the Nnubi dynasty in the final phases of the Aro-Ibibio Wars. Akpan Okon's defeat was very significant and crucial to the alliance. The alliance between the Eze Agwu lineage and his ambitious brother Kakpokpo sealed his fate, defeated Obong Okon Ita, and laid the foundation of the Arochukwu kingdom.

[size=15pt]Another foundering father of igbo Arochukwu Nnachi Ipia[/size]

Nnachi is the one of the founding fathers of the city of Arochukwu, one of the largest cities in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. During the conclusion of the 17th century, he was a Dibia (priest-doctor) from the Edda group near Afikpo. The Eze Agwu clan led by King Agwu Inobia in the Aro region called on Nnachi for help during the Aro-Ibibio Wars. Unable to break the stalemate in the favor of Eze Agwu, Nnachi called some allies from the east of the Cross River known as the Akpa people. Akuma and Osim Nnubi led the Akpa people into the Aro region and collaborated with Igbo forces (and Ibibio rebels) to defeat the Obong Okon Ita kingdom. Though Osim died, Akuma survived and became the first EzeAro. After his death, Nnachi's descendants took over the throne starting his son, Oke Nnachi. They are the ruling clan of the Aro people.

[size=15pt]Kakpokpo Okon ibibio prince from the Obong Okon Ita Kingdom[/size]

Kakpokpo Okon was an Ibibio prince from the Obong Okon Ita Kingdom around 1690-1720. He was the son of the marriage between the king and a Igbo woman from the Eze Agwu lineage. Kakpokpo Okon lead a successful coup against his brother Akpan Okon the Obong (king) with the support of the Eze Agwu, Nnachi, and the Nnubi dynasty in the final phases of the Aro-Ibibio Wars. Despite the fact that the coup was successful, Kakpokpo Okon was killed in combat.

[size=15pt] Two brothers Prince Osim and Akuma Nnubi of Akpa cross river state[/size]

Osim and Akuma Nnubi were brothers and merchant princes of the Akpa people from the east of the Cross River in the late 17th century. The Akpa people were trading allies with the Eze Agwu and Nnachi clans of the Igbo. When Nnachi called them to assist the Igbos in the Aro-Ibibio wars, they answered. Leading their people, they allied with the Igbo groups to defeat the Ibibio. Osim died and his brother Akuma became the new Arochukwu kingdom's first EzeAro or king.

[size=15pt]Agwu Inobia or Eze Agwu the man that was the founding father of igbo Arochukwu[/size]

Agwu Inobia or Eze Agwu was one of the founding fathers of the city of Arochukwu, the third largest city in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. He was the descendant of Nna Uru (a immigrant from the Igbo heartland to the Obong Okon Ita area) and king of the Eze Agwu clan centered in their capital the Amanagwu city-state. As new settlers, the Eze Agwu clan was resisted by the regional power Obong Okon Ita which led to the start of the Aro-Ibibio Wars. The war initially became a stalemate. Both sides arranged a marriage between the king of Obong Okon Ita and a women from the Eze Agwu clan in an attempt for a peaceful coexistence. The marriage eventually failed to bring peace but eventually played a decisive role in the war.
King Agwu Inobia invited Priest Nnachi from the Edda group near Afikpo to help him break the stalemate and win the war. When he arrived, Nnachi and Eze Agwu allied with prince Kakpokpo Okon of the Ibibio kingdom of Obong Okon Ita. Kakpokpo Okon was the son of the marriage between the Igbo women of the King of Obong Okon Ita. The Eze Agwu/Nnachi faction decided to help Kakpokpo attempt to overthrow his brother king Akpan Okon and the coup was heavily resisted. Nnachi called on an Eastern Cross river group known as the Akpa for help. The Akpa are said to have possessed guns and are credited for introducing the weapon to the region. Princes Osim and Akuma Nnubi led Akpa soldiers to help fight against the Ibibios. The alliance between Eze Agwu, Nnachi, Kakpokpo Okon, and the Akpa eventually defeated the Obong Okon Ita forces (1690–1720) under the leadership of Osim Nnubi. As a result of the Aro-Ibibio Wars, the alliance formed the Arochukwu kingdom. Akuma Nnubi was appointed king of Arochukwu in the place of his brother Osim Nnubi who died during the end of the war. Prince Kakpokpo Okon died and the Ulu Okon dynasty was assimilated into the Eze Agwu lineage. The Amanagwu was incorporated as the first of the 19 city-states of Arochukwu and Eze Agwu became one of the three lineages of Arochukwu.

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=676411.msg8400146#msg8400146 date=1306444385]i'm not sure, since i personally havent heard it spoken much.

a lot of itsekiris speak yoruba.

but i know the names sound yoruba and people have told me the dialect also sounds yoruba.

but since they're delta, i'm sure they probably have words from there too.[/quote]oh thanks for the help

i think jason should help here

Kobojunkie:

money nna meee

@ obiagu1, is this ur business plan

ezeagu:
Getting paaaaaid!

u can say that again

thank u uncle jona

Desola:
She is from Ogun state and her maiden name is: Oluremi Ikesebiala. Check out her bio here: www.believeinremitinubu.com/1/biography

thanks

Barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan returned the budget to them for reduction the National Assembly yesterday approved a harmonized estimate of N4.484 trillion for the 2011 fiscal year.

The lawmakers also okayed the proposed N1.5billion for ex-Biafran leader, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu and other Biafran soldiers who were pardoned by the federal government.

There was another N27 billion for rehabilitation of the ex-militants in the Niger Delta.



President Goodluck Jonathan had requested the National Assembly to cut down the budget from the N4.9 trillion passed by the parliament to N4.407 trillion.

With the passage of the N4.484 trillion budget, the Senate has added N77billion to the budget for the 2011 fiscal year.

But the Senate President David Mark in a remark yesterday however asked the executive arm of government to ensure full implementation of the 2011 budget. Mark had earlier warned that the National Assembly would not accept any excuses from the executive for non performance.

He said: "I will like to thank you for this expeditious amendment, and I will also urge the executive to ensure the budget passed by the National Assembly."

Of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, the total sum of N4,484,736,648,992 trillion Out of this, N417,824,288,743, is for statutory transfers; N495,096, 682,115 only is for debt service; N2,425,065,124,967, is for recurrent (non debt) expenditure while the balance of N1,146,750,553,167 is for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending on the 31st day of December 2011.

The lawmakers also increased the bench mark for the fiscal estimate from $64 per barrel of crude oil to $75 at a projected 2.3 million crude oil production per day by the federal government.

Exchange rate was fixed at N150 to $1 while the joint venture production was put at $5.4billion.

Out of the N2.425 trillion recurrent budget Defence has the highest allocation of N309, 783 billion followed by Education, N304, 670 billion. The Police got N296, 569 billion; Health, N202, 458 billion and Ministry of Interior received N135, 182 billion. A total of N154.746 billion is approved for pensions and gratuity.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201105260439.html

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=676411.msg8400046#msg8400046 date=1306443129]@ alj harem


as far as i know, itsekiri give their kids names from their own language, not yoruba.

The names will sound yoruba though.[/quote]ok thanks tpia

but you as a yoruba can u understand itsekiri language

[size=15pt]Obi Eze Chima[/size]

Obi Eze Chima being the first King of Onitsha(16th centrury)

History

The history of Onitsha is said to have begun with the migration of its people from the Benin Empire towards the end of early part of the 16th century as a result of a wave of unrest, war and displacement unleashed by the Islamic movement from North Africa. One version said that it was during their passage through the outskirts of Ile-Ife that they acquired the name Onitsha, a corruption of Orisha Udo.

Another version has it that their migration to East of the Niger has to do with a misunderstanding that arose between the Onitsha family and Oba Esigie (1404-1550), following the slighting of their shrine, Udo, by the Oba. According to the legend, it was customary for newly installed Oba to pay homage to all important shrines in the Benin Kingdom by slaughtering a cow in the shrines enclave. But Oba Esigie is said to have refused to do this at the Onitsha people’s Udo-Shrine, hence the quarrel and the migration down towards the River Niger area and across it.

Ukpabi disagrees with the Oba Esigie angle and posits that the misunderstanding and migration was rather as a result of “a fight over a farmland. These other people fighting over farmland with the others and interest started coming. And because of interest, bitterness ensued and the two brothers decided to go their separate ways. One said, no, ‘I will now leave you, I’m going to Ado N’Idu.’ ‘Ado’ means border. ‘I will leave you and go and settle down on my own. I’m no longer going to be with you.’ That’s the issue. So, the two brothers had to separate.”

Onitsha, capital of Igbo Kingdom
The immigrant settlers from Benin were said to have been helped by the Igalas to cross the river to settle in Onitsha in the 16th century, which was originally called Ado N’Idu. It soon became the capital of an Igbo Kingdom. In 1857, British traders in palm oil established a permanent station in the city, and Christian missionaries soon followed, headed by Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther (a Yoruba) and Reverend John Taylor (an Igbo).
In 1884, Onitsha became part of a British protectorate. The British colonial government and Christian missionaries penetrated most of Igboland to set up their administration, schools and churches through the river port at Onitsha.

Historically, Onitsha became an important trading port for the Royal Niger Company in the mid-1850s. Following the abolition of slavery, trade in palm kernels and other cash crops boomed around this river port. Immigrants from the hinterland were drawn to the emerging boom town as did the British traders who settled there and coordinated the palm oil and cash crops trade.

Colonial relics and post-colonial architectural wonders
Areas bordering Old Market, New Market Roads, Upper Market Road, Modebe Avenue, Iboku, Old Cemetry, Old Hospital, Mbanugo St, Emejulu St, Obi Street, Benjamin St, Court, Enugu Road, Awka Road, Egerton, etc are known as Whitemen Quarters, so-called because the white colonial masters who first settled in Onitsha, used to live here. And, even till today, the white colonial style of buildings such as you see at Yaba, Ebute Metta and Central Lagos, can be seen existing, side by side, with the new, on these streets.

But much more modern exotic architectural wonders exist in places like the G.R.A and “33” Housing Estates. Sunday Sun understands that SCityGate Real Estate Ltd, located on Mike Ilodibe Crescent and which specializes in building ultra-modern architectural structures, makes such building wonders happen for interested clients. In 1965, a bridge was built across the Niger River to replace the ferry crossing. Today, plans are said to be underway to build the Second Niger Bridge.
Onitsha is made up of three groups of people, Ukpabi reveals. The first is the Edos, the Ezechima’s team. The second, Igalas. They were the people that were fishing at the Niger by the time Onitsha people came to settle there. The third, the Igbos who are very close to the Niger and had integrated with them. These three groups make up what is today known as Onitsha.”

“Their tradition is blended with the three peoples, first the Edos, second the Igalas”, Ukpabi says. “In fact, in the past, there were some villages in Onitsha that spoke Igala. And they are made up of two villages. They are still in Onitsha. Onitsha is made up of nine villages. Two out of the nine are purely the Igalas: Ogbodu and Obigboru. So, that is how Onitsha people came to be.

“The ones with Edo influence are the monarchy itself. That’s the Eze Chima, that is the ruling villages. They are four in number. Umueze Aroli, Okebunabu (which include Umudei and Ogbabu) and Olosi. The present Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Achebe is the 21st Obi of Onitsha.”
Inter-marriages, says Ukpabi, have long existed between the Igalas and the Edos. “The people our ancestors met fishing at the bank of the River Niger were purely Igallas. They were following the Niger all the way from their place to Onitsha. So, they don’t normally come to the upper land. They remain there. They have their buildings in their canoes. So, we attracted them into coming to the hinterland. We started intermarrying with them. One of the outstanding monarchs of Onitsha, Obi Eze Aroli, the mother, Enubi, is from Igala.”

http://www.edoworld.net/History_of_Onitsha.html

zstranger:
^^

I am not surprised. I have never seen a Yoruba woman that beautiful.

Most Yoruba women look fat and ugly like Tpiah and Jenifa!

zstranger ha!!!

did u know this before

is Mrs Oluremi Tinubu itsekiri by birth ?

although i have found some articles

http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/index.php?topic=22509.290;wap2

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/07/j-o-s-ayomike%E2%80%99s-focus-on-itsekiri-at-a-book-party/

[size=15pt]ADAMU Orisa the man that started eyo festival, first oba of Lagos and the great connection between bini and yoruba in Lagos[/size]

ADAMU Orisa was introduced to Lagos by Ejilu and Malaki brothers to Olugbani, the Olori to Oba Ado. Oba Ado was the first ruler of Lagos to have his seat of government at Iga Iduganran.

One source stated that Ejilu and Malaki first visited Lagos during the funeral of Oba Ado and as their contribution to the funeral, they brought their set of Adamu Orisas (that is, Adamu, Oniko and Ologeda) to take part in the funeral rites.

History had it that Oniko was first brought to Lagos, because it was reputed to have spiritual powers like, the Elegbara of Esu, as well as those of Ogun (God of Iron) and, therefore, capable of driving away all evil spirits and forces on their routes.

Ologede came next because it is also a representative of Elegbara, sharing powers as stated above with Oniko. However, in the hierarchy of Adamu Orisa cult, the Oniko takes precedence.

Adimu Orisa or Adamu Orisa, Orisa for short was the last to be brought to Lagos, but, however, was regarded as being more sacred than the other two and the eldest.

In the early days, the Adimu was usually kept in a boat on the Lagoon to parade the fore-shore for people to view and pay homage. It was at this stage of its history that it acquired the appellation of Orisa Oko.

The order upon which three Orisas were brought to Lagos has since been the order of their outing on each, Adamu Orisa play day. It is a taboo for Adimu to come out without due notification that Oniko and Ologede have paraded the streets, and visiting the various shrines in the early hours of an Adamu Orisa Day.

In fact, it has become a practice for the Oniko and Ologedo to call at the conclave of Adimu which today is at Ita-Ado on their return or homeward journey which usually is around 5 or 5.30 in the morning. At the conclave, the Orisas would be received by the elders of the Adimu Cult where prayers and necessary rituals would be exchanged.

It is necessary to state, for the avoidance of doubt, that what Ejilu and Malaki introduced or brought to Lagos were the three Orisas (that is, Adimu, Oniko and Ologede) excluding the Eyo, the masquerade, that wears the flowing gown (Agbada) with an over flowing cloth, carrying the Opambata stick.

The name Adimu Orisa or Adamu Orisas

The name Adimu simply means one with blocked nasal passage (with blocked nose) while Adamu suggests obstructed nose. But the names are applied to suit each occasion, if you have an Adimu, then you can pick the voice when it speaks. But if you have the Adamu, then it does not speak of himself but by demonstration or through the aide de-camp, is the Laba (bag of mystical powers) bearer.

The other Orisas while retaining their district name and characteristics became identified with the name Adamu Orisa.

Awo-Opa

It is also an historical fact that Ejilu and Malaki established an "Irele," conclave of Awo Opa cult at Idunmagbo which is known as Irele Oke Ipa or Irele Ita Ado.

It is interesting to note that the story of Awo Opa and its brother Egungun is stated in Ife in the Odu Okanran-Ogunda and its origin is tied to the very, very early Oyo settlement. Evidence of contact with Oyo by Ejilu and Malaki would be seen when we examine the Igbo songs for the Orisas.

It is not certain if they were the first set of people to introduce Awo-Opa to Lagos. The Onikoyi Chieftaincy Family claimed that their ancestor, one Adeyemi, a former Onikoyi at Ikoyi, Ile in old Oyo, who migrated to Lagos at the time of Olofin brought Awo-Opa to Lagos. However, it is to be noted that the Eletu Awo owned the Irele Ishagbe which is regarded as the headquarters of Awo-Opa in the whole of Lagos State.

Two other Lagos chiefs, the Modile and Onisemo, both Ogalado chiefs owned and maintained an Irele each. Namely, Irele Offin at Olowogbowo in Lagos and Irele Agege Omi at Pedro Village, Shomolu. It is to be observed that the Ijebus, particularly within the Lagoon area have adopted the Awo Opa and today it appears as if Awo-Opa originated from the Ijebus. The involvement of the Awo-Opa Cult in the Adamu Orisa plays shall be mentioned later in this article.

Camping the Orisas

It was the belief in the ancient time that the dress, the head carvings and all instruments for the staging of the Orisas should not be kept within dwelling houses or within urban communities.

Therefore, it was the practice to create camp for them in villages of scheduled places to protect their sacredness. History had it that the Orisas were kept at places like Ibefun, Oke Ipa and even near Iperu. It was, therefore, common in the past for people to say that Eyo was coming from Oke-Ipa or at the close of Eyo Day, people would say Eyo, was going to take a boat to Iperu.

I have already mentioned the fact that the Irele, Awo Opa's Cult House established by Ejilu and Malaki is still called Irele Okepa up till today. Oke-Ipa is a village across the Lagoon beyong Ikoyi. It was as a result of lodging the Adimu in various places for safe keeping that you have it today at Ita Ado, though it is stated that there is a blood relationship through marriage with the Abegede group.

In fact, the Adimu was once kept with a Chief Olumegbon. The fact, therefore, remains that keeping the Orisas in any particular place does not change its ownership or origin.

The origin and family of Ejilu and Malaki and the Orisas Ejilu Malaki and Olugbani their sister were said to have come to Lagos from Benin at the time of Oba Ado.

The descendants of Ejilu and Malaki subscribed to the above history as a result of their testimony at the inquiry into the Onilogbale Chieftaincy. The second opinion as advocated by the late Chief Aminu Kosoko is that they (that is, Ejilu and Malaki came from Ibefun to Lagos to ask for their sister Olugbani. It is, however, to be noted that Benin Influence covered a larger area of the Water side, the Lagoon Area of Lagos State.

Benin influence has been noted in Ikorodu, Baiyeku, Ibefun and a host of towns and villages within Lagos State.

Ejilu is said to have died without chidren while Malaki had two sons and one daughter. They were Kulugbe (male) Olasoru (male) and Ibiye-Oroye, The following Igbe song attest to the history:

Mo mi lo gbo itan fun a wa Itan Ile Ejilu, Oji Mala, O bi Kulegbe Iba Adamu O bi Olasoru o to enia O fi Ibiya - roya fi mo Ifanu On ni noe Iye Abgemi Ogbe. The song can be translated as follows: Let me bring forth to you the history.

The history of Ejilu family. He begot Kulugbe, Father of Adamu. He begot Olasoru who became great. He had Ibiye - roye as the last issue. Ibiye-roye married the Oba of Ibefun and begot Ogunmade for the Oba. The Oba of Ibefun thus became the father-in-law to the Ejilu family and the Lagos Royal House through Eralu Kuti. Part of the Oriki for the Ogunmade family states:-

Omo Ibefun, Abe be Joye Omo Olowojoye meji ogbe iketa ha enu.

The above is a clear proof that the Ogunmades belonged to the Royal House of Ibefun while being part of the Ejilu Malaki family. Today, the various Orisas are kept by descendants or relations of Ejilu, Malaki and Olugbani. Oniko is kept by the Onigemo family who are descendants of Adamu or Sogbo. The Ologede is maintained by the people of Erelu Olugbani (Olori to Oba Ado) at Idunmagbo.

The Adimu is maintained by the Abegede group of the Olorogun Igbesodi or Olorogun-Ntebo and the Ita Ado Group who are also descendants of an Akarigbara Chieftaincy. It is claimed that Chief Kebo or Olorogun-Atebo, brought Adimu and Esu from Benin to Lagos. The Akinshiku, the titular hard of the Adimu Cult is usually appointed from the Abegede Group. The Adimu is called, Mole Ejilu, Mole Malaki. The Oniko is called Mole Ejilu, Mole Malaki, Egungun Onigemo. The Ologede is called Mole Ejilu, Mole Malaki Egungun Olugbani.

Agere as an Orisa

Agere was created an Orisa in the present century. It ranks last on the list of Orisas. It is, indeed, a modern edition to the play. One Bante Seda is said to be the first Agere.

Inclusion Of Eyo

The Adamu Orisa play continued in Lagos after Ita establishment with the three Orisas as the only set of masquerades.

In order to protect the Orisas and control the surging crowd the idea of the Eyo in white flowing robes (Agbada) was conceived.

With the approval of the Oba, the idea was implemented and a number of Eyos in white Agbadas came out on the Adamu Orisa Day at the Oba's Palace and six each were allocated to each Orisa for its security. The Eyo Group became known in later years as Eyo Oba, Eyo Oniloba or Eyo Alakoto Pupa.

The Eyo group thus became the fore-runner of all Eyos and was made the leader and Police with a carrier of "Loba", a bag containing mystical powers of juju to enable the group punish both Eyos and individuals who might break the rules and regulations governing the Adamu Orisa Cult and play.

After sometime, the Orisas and later the chiefs were granted permission to constitute a group of Eyos in their conclave of palaces.

Thus, you have Eyo Adimu, Eyo Oniko, Eyo Ologede and for the chiefs you have Eyo Eletu-Odibo. Eyo Ojore, and Eyo Egbe etc.

From the above, it clear that Eyo Laba is the fore-runner of all Eyo groups and hence it is right to call the group the "Olori Eyo." It has to be stated that the Eyo Laba Group is attached to the Akala Cult and most of the leaders of the group in the past belonged to the cult.

The Adimu Cult has some interaction with the Osugbo Cult due to the involvement of late Apena Ajasa, who held the offices of Akinshiku, the Apena of the Osugbo Cult and that of Olorogun-Atabo, all at the same time.

The origin of Eyo

To which tribe or ethnic group does Eyo or Adamu Orisa play belong?

In answering the above question, one has to examine the history of Ejilu and Malaki and other related matters in order to come to a fair conclusion.

The origin of Malaki and Ejilu is a bit confused, some said Benin, some said Ibefun. Previous writers have advanced different origins to it. Talbars in his book The People of Southern Nigeria described "Eyo as Ijebu Juju." But Rev. J. Olumide Lucas in his book The Religion of The Yorubas stated that the cult of Adamu Orisa is peculiar to the Aworis. Another author Rev. Johnson in his book The History of the Yorubas disposed that Eyo was an initiation of Egungun seen at Oyo.

From a document collected from the National Archives titled Report from Yesufu Agoro, The Head of the Family of Agoro Ogebi Eletu-Iwasha descendent dated November 3, 1937, at page three of the document the following were recorded as Item 10: "Abudu Karimu Docemo and Bakare Jose went to Oba Falolu at Iga-Idunganran to request for their grand-mother father's masquerade, Adimu, from Apena's people to return it to them. Adimu and Esu are brought by Chief Kebo from Benin to Lagos."

Abudu Karimu Docemo mentioned above is likely to be a member of the Dosunmu Family at Abegede while Bakare Jose was a former Chief Eletu-Iwase of Lagos. In considering the subject matter, it is essential to consider, the principal actors or participants of the Adamu Orisa Play and their origin. The Abegede and Ita Ado group belonged to the Benin class of chieftaincy, the Akarigberes. They belonged to the following: Olorogun Igbeaodi, Olorogun Atebo, Olorun Agan.

However, it is necessary to consider the contents of the "Igbe" songs that are used in glorifying the Orisas and Ejilu and Malaki over the years on each Adamu Orisa Day.

The Igbe runs thus: Imalaki won ki saiye Ijaiye ejilu sa yato Eyin gbo o , 2ce Iyee, o moo lo si oyo Ajaka Oyo Ajako o, On rohun mu bo si irele O fi akala mawo mesi ikole On lo nse oniko, eleyo Eyin iba gbajo kato, ti ito a ho, E do ri iwo kodo si irele Omo wewe abese lo ma leko A i kowo lo si oja lara agba

In the the Igbe song quoted above, the story is related of how, Malaki and Ejilu, were performing wonders and how one of their stock visited Oyo Ajaka (that is, the ancient Oyo where Sango reigned as king) and he brought something back to the 'Irele,' the conclave of Awo-Opa Cult.

He thereafter initiated the Akala Court into the secrecy of the new thing brought from Oyo. He was the link or delegate that brought Eyo. Finally, the song says, let all co-operate for the success and all initiates should gather at the Irele conclave of Awo-Opa.

From the above, one can see some basis for Rev. Johnson's assertion that Eyo was an imitation of the Egungun made at Oyo. The sticking similarity between the Egungun Baba-lago, and Eyo cannot be over looked. It is pertinent to refer to the history of Elegba at Iddo on the Lagos Mainland as typical example. History has it that Opeoluwa, An Ogalade chief consulted Ifa and suggest to Olofin to worship Elegbara.

There is a popular Elegbara shrine at Iworo in Awori area and the Iworo people were contacted and Opeoluwa and Olofina people were initiated into the cult and granted permission to establish an Elegbara shrine and grove at Iddo. As a result of this history, it has become a custom to sing the following Elegba song for the first Elegbara masquerade that would appear at the grove to dance.

Eku lo koko njade (2ce) Alara Omo won ni Iworo Eku lo koko njade.

Meaning: Rat is usually the first to come out

The wonder-one, child of Iworo. The song is, therefore, a testimony to the history of Elegba as stated above. In answering the question which I posed, my answer is that Eyo and Adamu Orisa play belonged to the Ekos. Although it may be a mixture of the Esu from Benin, the Awo-Opa, the Akala.

It is Eko's creation, it has no parallel, anywhere in Yoruba land. There is no trace of Eyo in Ijebuland, not even Ibefun. The Ijebus are noted for Agemo, Oro and Eluku. The main purpose of this writing is to remove the impression created in the mind of many people by past writers and commentators on the subject ascribing the foundation of Eyo to the Ijebus. The Lagos Island Council should resuscitate its special committee on the history of Lagos to examine the aspect relating to Eyo.

http://lagosmegacityproject.com/historyoflagos.html