OKE IGBO TOWN
The possibility of stating categorically the year
Okeigbo was founded is still remote. The fact of
history handed over from generations to generations
reveal that it will be out of place to suggest a little
time after the founding of Ibadan in 1830 because the
two leading Ife Chiefs Derin and Kugbayigbe and their comrades who founded it were cofounders of Ibadan
in 1930. In the days of yore, all land in Yoruba Country
belonged to Odudua, the ancestral father of all hence
the Common saying all over "ile Odudua". There was
no mark of demarcation of any kind. Descendants of
Odudua, brothers, sons, grandsons, great grandsons etc settled where they thought was most suited to the
cause which prompted their migration from their
original home at Ile-Ife. Itwas only during the British
administration that an attempt had ever been made to
demarcate the kingdom of the Yorubas, This is borne
out in the map of the Yoruba country attached to the History of the Yoruhas by Rev. Samuel Johnson. Okeigbo in an identical situation as many towns in
Yoruba Country was founded from Ife by two Ife
warriors - Derin and Kugbayigbe and other comrades-
in-arms. Those two august personalities were at the
same time prince of the royal houses of the Oni of Ife,
The idea which some people have about the founding of Okeigbo that it was founded from Ife and Ondo is an
erroneous one and cannot stand the test of history. Derin happened to be a renowned warrior during the
inter-tribal warfare which raged fiercely in the Yoruba
Country in those days. After conquering Egba Agbehin
he became a generallissimo(Balogun) under Maye
when Ibadan was founded. When Maye was ousted in
Ibadan in a revolt organised by the Oyos and Egbas in Ihadan in revenge of his tyrannical rule during the
Egba skirmishes, Derin, after a little time, left Ibadan
for ile-Ife. On getting to Ife-ife, he built up,a very
strong army composed of stalwarts whose stock in
trade was to carry out war expeditions in aid of those
who ere being unjustly attacked and were weak. Derin's first war engagement on getting to Ile-lfe was
to lead a war expedition in Isorogi to aid the Ijesha
against their Oyo enemies It was here the army
received an invitation from one Ajibike who was once
an Ifa consultant to Abewela, the Ooni of Ife and then
serving the Osemawe of Ondo in the same capacity to come and save Osemawe from the clutches of his
subjects, the Ondos. Before his appointment as the
Osemawe of Ondo, Arilekolasi used to pay periodical
visits to Ile-lfe the headquarters of his progenitor and
there he came into contact with Ajibike an Egba Prince
of the ruling house of Ademola of Abeokuta Both of them became great friends. When Arilekolasi became
the Osemawe, he chose Ajibike as his Ifa Consultant. On receiving Ajibike's invitation, Derin and his
comrades quickly decided to deflect their army from
Isorogi to Ondo to the utter disappointment of the
Ijeshas who had relied on them to achieve victory in
that war. The spies in persons of Sowo and Astuganga
an oracular Ifa priest with three other soldiers were quickly despatched from lle-lfe to assess the extent of
the strenght of the army required to meet the
challenge posed by the rebellion and the amount of
war lootings and pillages to be derived fr om the
exercise. On the favourable report given by the spies,
the expedition started with the following war titled personalities - Derin Ologbenla, as the generalissimo,
an Ife prince, Kugbagbe the Aare, an Ife prince, Sowo
(Otun) from Egba Owu Abeokuta, Ogunbi from Egba
owu, Adumbu from Origbo, Jarogungbo from Origbo,
Onileowo from Origbo, Kuole from Ile Ife, Ebi from
Ilesa, Esubu from Ofa. The journey from lle-lfe to Ondo was through a thick
jungle uninhabited and exploited by hunters. Although
it was a tedious journey through thick forest, hills,
rivers and streams, Derin's army, 73 in all reached the
present site Okeigbo in the evening where they met
an Ife hunter called Ojege. The army decided to pass the night there. The purpose of Derin's army was first
to explore the possibilities of arranging amicable
settlement between Oba Arilekolasi and his subjects
who had called on him to "sleep" that is, to die. Derin
observed that the hunter met on their arrival was no
where to be seen until the following morning. On being quizzed as to his whereabouts on the previous
night, he was unable to give a satisfactory answer. He
was, therefore suspected of having gone to Ondo to
report the presence of Derm's army marching
towards Ondo. He was there and then beheaded. The
army then moved on to Ondo by way of Odosida a now a street in Ondo at about 5,00 p.m. a distance of
12 miles. It wa a great surprise for them to see that the Ondos
in their hundreds had heavily armed themselves to
rout Derin's army. As it was very unusual for Derin to
be beaten in a situation like the one steering him in
the face, he in his characteristic manner as he did at
Egha Agbehin invoked charm and became unseen to his enemies. He then began to apply his sword in such
a miraculous way, that people began to see heads
and bodies in hundreds lying on the ground, and blood
flowing like water in the streets without seeing the
people applying the cuts. This marvellous exhibition of
war tactics struck great tears in the Ondo army which had no alternative but to capitulate and to flee to
many of their surrounding villages. It was on that day
that Derin earned the appelation of Ologbenla that is,
"the man with devastating cuts". After this wonderful
victory, Aderin left Ondo to pitch his army at Olori-Igbo
seven miles to Ondo. Later his army decided to found a town in memory of their conquest and they chose
the present Okeigbo site where they first passed their
fateful night They named the new settlement Okeigbo
that is "a hill in the bush". It was here that Derin Ologbenla established a fame
thoughout Yorubaland. It was Governor Glover who
finally settled the misunderstanding between Ondo
and okeigbo. When Okeigbo resorted to civil
administration, Prince Kugbaigbe who bore the tittle
Aare then was appointed the head of the town. Next to him was his cousing Prince Derin Balogun
Ologbenla, while he was in this post., he, as a member
of the ruling house in Ile-lfe, was appointed the Ooni
elect of Ife. He was. in fact, the ruler of Ife and
Okeigbo until his death in 1896. During his reign at
Okeigbo many people preferred to live under his umbrella and this boosted the population of Okeigbo. As a result of the great influence which Derin
Qlogbenla wielded in those days, many other
immigrants from Abeokuta, Ijebu, Ifewara, Ilesha, Ofa
etc came to settle in Okeigho, There is a street know
as Ago Ijebu and an area know as Ifewara quarters
up to this day in Okeigbo. Okeigbo as a result became a cosmopolitan town with the Ifes in the majority. As Derin Olugbenla wa fierce in war so was he truly
dedicated in promoting peace in the Yoruba Country in
conjuction with the Alafin of Oyo in those days. The
quorum of any meeting was not formed until his
presence or that of his representative was seen. The grouping of Okeigbo with Ondo Province at the
beginning of the present century for administrative
convenience was the beginning of a rape on our
Independence. The British Government did it for their
convenience. They would not want their District
Officer (D O.) to travel the long distance from Ife to Okeigbo thirty miles away when one was stationed at
Ondo, ten miles away. The Okeigbos are essentially
Ife in customs and traditions and these are quite
noticeable. Rev S. Johnson in his "History of the
Yorubas" wrote in about fifteen different pages about
the importance of Okeigbo in those days See pages 232, 452, 458, 459, 460, 462, 464, 465, 466, 472,
473,476, and 526. Division of okeigbo into two. In population and size of town, Okeigbo was next to
Ondo in the former Ondo Divisional Council. The
planting cocoa as an export crop was introduced and
our farmers worked hard at the planting. They had
and still have varing sizes of cocoa farms We were
the greatest producer of the cocoa in Ondo Division . Roads were built within the town and by 1916 - 1919
Okeigbo - Ondo road was built. Later in the fifties, the
Ife - Okeigbo road was built In March 1931, Okeigbo was divided into two as result
of a broad day robbery, people in Okeigbo who had
their cocoa farms on the Ife side of the River Oni were
taxed but when Oba Adererni ascended the throne of
Ife, he felt the taxes were two high and decided to
send back 50% of what the people paid. He sent the money to the District Officer's office in Ondo. The
payment was grossly mismanaged and when the
people complained, their leaders were jailed and In
reaction, the people decided to move to the other side
of the river Oni. This they did but not all of them went
to settle there. The settlement was named Ifetedo and it is Just a stone-thrown from here. It ts now the
headquarters of the Ife South Local Government
Council. This development was a great drawback on
Okeigbo and it had to struggle to make the two ends
meet. Christianity was introduced into Okeigbo in 1878
and by 1880 the first Primary School was established. Education is certaintly our industry in this town and
many of our sons and daughters are occupying
covetable positions in the civil service, educational
institutions and industries. The first Grammar School
was established in 1957.

Nice information. I love historical informations. Thanks

aaking:
Nice information. I love historical informations. Thanks

I assure you that more will come. The only problem I have is that, when I make a post,the so called anti spam not will ban me and my post will be deleted. I have mailed the super mod on several occasions but nothing was done.

Oke Igbo was the Town in Which Obatala the king of the Ugbo Aborigines sought refuge in when he was at War with Oduduwa and that was in the Tenth Century unless it is another Oke Igbo it could not have been founded in 1830 that is at least Eight Centuries too late