THE rivalry between the Fulani and Afonja descendants over the throne of Ilorin is rooted in history.


While the Fulani rest the case of their claim to the kingship of the ancient town on the fact that the monarch had from the time immemorial been produced by them, the Afonja descendants, who like majority of the people of the town are Yoruba, say since their ancestor founded Ilorin, their claim to the throne ought not to be disputed.
History appears in support of the former's position although the progenitor of the Fulani indigenes of Ilorin, Alimi, was actually a tenant to Afonja.



The death of Afonja and Alimi, however, saw the eldest son of the latter emerging as the first monarch of what was then known as Ilorin.
Historical sources, tracing the story to the 19th Century, said Ilorin of today was founded by Afonja, the then Aare Ona Kakanfo (Generalisimo) to Alaafin of old Oyo (Oyo Ile), who used the town as his military outpost. It was this outpost that he carried out his war expeditions for the Alaafin.


In the usual nomadic wandering, Alimi arrived Ilorin and was hosted by Afonja. Soon after Alimi took Ilorin as his place of abode, a rift broke out between Alaafin and Afonja. When the disagreement reached the climax and the two had to take up arms, Afonja, out of regard for Alimi's spiritual and military prowess, sought his support. Alimi helped in mobilising an army in support of Afonja leading to victory over Alaafin. The defeat led the then Alaafin migrating from old Oyo to the site now called Oyo.


After the war, Alimi became a teacher to Afonja's children as the latter wanted his offsprings to learn the secret of power. When both died, Alimi's son, Abdulsalami, inherited his father's duty of teaching Afonja's children.


When the idea of appointing somebody to head the village came, the eldest child of Afonja wanted to have the position but met opposition from Abdulsalami who had military support from his fellow Fulani kinsmen. Abdulsalami ultimately became the ruler of what is now called Ilorin around 1831.


The issue now is that Afonja's descendants believe that their forefathers were cheated and want a redress. But the Alimi people are claiming that the Afonja people never ruled Ilorin and, as such, no precedent exists to back their position.
Penultimate week's incident was not the first time the Afonja and the Yoruba would attempt to assert their right to Ilorin kingship.


Historical sources said in 1895, the Yoruba rose against the then emir, burnt his palace and killed him. But the revolt did not result in enthronement of a Yoruba king. In 1913, when Lord Lugard administered the northern and southern Nigeria, Yoruba were said to have spearheaded a riot over tax to bring the rulership of the then emir to ridicule. In 1936, the Yoruba, according to sources, also moved to oust Emir Abdulkadir who was banished to Kaduna but got reinstated by the colonial administration.

In 1978, the George Innih administration of Kwara State raised a judicial panel of inquiry to look into the Yoruba agitation.

The Yoruba people reportedly made a case for the merging of Kwara State with the Southwest before the commission while also laying claim to the Ilorin throne. It was said they even claimed antecedent to the throne as they allegedly said Yoruba had produced four obas in Ilorin before the advent of the Fulani. But the Alimi people, in a counter position, claimed there was no known Yoruba king in the town before their forefather mounted the throne.

The report of the panel never saw the light of day while there was also no white paper from government.

A twist to the tussle was the recent petition by three of the six Yoruba chiefs (mogajis) in Ilorin to the State House of Assembly complaining that they had been classified as ungraded by government allegedly at the behest of the emir.

Their non-grading, according to the chiefs, suited the emir, so that there would be no rivalry of any sort from the Yoruba to his authority. Ilorin Descendants Progressive Union (IDPU), formed to protect the interest Ilorin indigenes who are of Fulani extraction, once in its opposition to the upgrading of the chiefs, said dong so would bring them at par with Gambari. But the Afonja Descendants Union (ADU) which came on stream in 1978 to advance the cause of the Yoruba in the town and with Kasumu as its leader would hear none of that. The group is allegedly pressuring the legislature to grade the chiefs.


Another angle to the agitation is the demand for Oya State that will comprise the Yoruba speaking areas of Kwara and Kogi States. The move, it was said, is to pull the rug from under the feet of the emir and end the Fulani rulership of Ilorin.


The Yoruba people of Ilorin are not alone in the struggle. The pan-Yoruba meeting which took place in Ibadan last year demanded restructuring of Kwara State such that Ilorin would be grouped with the Southwest. Analysts interpreted this to mean that the parley did not believe that any emir had any business on Ilorin throne.

http://www.ilorin.info/fullnews.php?id=10472

Cletus77:
.

guy edit your post.

Keep on exposing afonja desendants for the traitors they are

Joel3:
guy edit your post.

i don't remember posting dat

Soyinka don talk am say na fools plenty pass among the youths and they all come from a particular region... how shameful

keep up the good work. I just hope you find joy later on

Opakan2:
Soyinka don talk am say na fools plenty pass among the youths and they all come from a particular region... how shameful

keep up the good work. I just hope you find joy later on

serious why is it hard for SW to look at Fulani and tell them to their face to release their throne.

chai hahahah.

Opakan2:
Soyinka don talk am say na fools plenty pass among the youths and they all come from a particular region... how shameful

keep up the good work. I just hope you find joy later on

Nobody takes demented double mouth soyinka serious anymore

Please tell us how the name of your town was changed to Oyigbo from Obigbo, how your mothers ad fathers were driven away from their homes with pestles in PH and how your land was ceded to the North through Benue!!!

superstar1:
Please tell us how the name of your town was changed to Oyigbo and Obigbo!!!

Is Oyigbo a Fulani footstool like Ilorin.

Rayhutar:

Is Oyigbo a Fulani footstool like Ilorin.

Ode, a minority group rechristened the name of your town, thereby wiping away history and identity within a twinkle of an eye and you are here salivating over Ilorin.

See your life.

I think the best way to resolve this debacle is to have two monarchs in ilorin just as there is in Epe(oba and oloja of epe land). The fulani's being responsible to the Emir while the Afonja‘s are responsible to the Oba of Ilorin.

Any which way Kwara is a Yorubaland but forever a northern state.

yoruba is their general language in kwara , am yet to see an hausa man who's an indigene of kwara.

FriendChoice:
Any which way Kwara is a Yorubaland but forever a northern state.

Thank God you accept it is a yorubaland. And its a North central state because it's according to federal government geo-political system and doesn't not in anyway make it an Hausa or Fulani state. See Benue state as well.

Joel3:
THE rivalry between the Fulani and Afonja descendants over the throne of Ilorin is rooted in history.


While the Fulani rest the case of their claim to the kingship of the ancient town on the fact that the monarch had from the time immemorial been produced by them, the Afonja descendants, who like majority of the people of the town are Yoruba, say since their ancestor founded Ilorin, their claim to the throne ought not to be disputed.
History appears in support of the former's position although the progenitor of the Fulani indigenes of Ilorin, Alimi, was actually a tenant to Afonja.



The death of Afonja and Alimi, however, saw the eldest son of the latter emerging as the first monarch of what was then known as Ilorin.
Historical sources, tracing the story to the 19th Century, said Ilorin of today was founded by Afonja, the then Aare Ona Kakanfo (Generalisimo) to Alaafin of old Oyo (Oyo Ile), who used the town as his military outpost. It was this outpost that he carried out his war expeditions for the Alaafin. In the usual nomadic wandering, Alimi arrived Ilorin and was hosted by Afonja. Soon after Alimi took Ilorin as his place of abode, a rift broke out between Alaafin and Afonja. When the disagreement reached the climax and the two had to take up arms, Afonja, out of regard for Alimi's spiritual and military prowess, sought his support. Alimi helped in mobilising an army in support of Afonja leading to victory over Alaafin. The defeat led the then Alaafin migrating from old Oyo to the site now called Oyo.


After the war, Alimi became a teacher to Afonja's children as the latter wanted his offsprings to learn the secret of power. When both died, Alimi's son, Abdulsalami, inherited his father's duty of teaching Afonja's children.


When the idea of appointing somebody to head the village came, the eldest child of Afonja wanted to have the position but met opposition from Abdulsalami who had military support from his fellow Fulani kinsmen. Abdulsalami ultimately became the ruler of what is now called Ilorin around 1831.


The issue now is that Afonja's descendants believe that their forefathers were cheated and want a redress. But the Alimi people are claiming that the Afonja people never ruled Ilorin and, as such, no precedent exists to back their position.
Penultimate week's incident was not the first time the Afonja and the Yoruba would attempt to assert their right to Ilorin kingship.


Historical sources said in 1895, the Yoruba rose against the then emir, burnt his palace and killed him. But the revolt did not result in enthronement of a Yoruba king. In 1913, when Lord Lugard administered the northern and southern Nigeria, Yoruba were said to have spearheaded a riot over tax to bring the rulership of the then emir to ridicule. In 1936, the Yoruba, according to sources, also moved to oust Emir Abdulkadir who was banished to Kaduna but got reinstated by the colonial administration.

In 1978, the George Innih administration of Kwara State raised a judicial panel of inquiry to look into the Yoruba agitation.

The Yoruba people reportedly made a case for the merging of Kwara State with the Southwest before the commission while also laying claim to the Ilorin throne. It was said they even claimed antecedent to the throne as they allegedly said Yoruba had produced four obas in Ilorin before the advent of the Fulani. But the Alimi people, in a counter position, claimed there was no known Yoruba king in the town before their forefather mounted the throne.

The report of the panel never saw the light of day while there was also no white paper from government.

A twist to the tussle was the recent petition by three of the six Yoruba chiefs (mogajis) in Ilorin to the State House of Assembly complaining that they had been classified as ungraded by government allegedly at the behest of the emir.

Their non-grading, according to the chiefs, suited the emir, so that there would be no rivalry of any sort from the Yoruba to his authority. Ilorin Descendants Progressive Union (IDPU), formed to protect the interest Ilorin indigenes who are of Fulani extraction, once in its opposition to the upgrading of the chiefs, said dong so would bring them at par with Gambari. But the Afonja Descendants Union (ADU) which came on stream in 1978 to advance the cause of the Yoruba in the town and with Kasumu as its leader would hear none of that. The group is allegedly pressuring the legislature to grade the chiefs.


Another angle to the agitation is the demand for Oya State that will comprise the Yoruba speaking areas of Kwara and Kogi States. The move, it was said, is to pull the rug from under the feet of the emir and end the Fulani rulership of Ilorin.


The Yoruba people of Ilorin are not alone in the struggle. The pan-Yoruba meeting which took place in Ibadan last year demanded restructuring of Kwara State such that Ilorin would be grouped with the Southwest. Analysts interpreted this to mean that the parley did not believe that any emir had any business on Ilorin throne.

http://www.ilorin.info/fullnews.php?id=10472

It is good to note that Oyo Ile is 30 miles north of Ilorin. The remnants of Afonja have tried for years to shift the attention of Oduduwa crap to Ile Ife.

Rilwayne001:


Thank God you accept it is a yorubaland. And its a North central state because it's according to federal government geo-political system and doesn't not in anyway make it an Hausa or Fulani state. See Benue state as well.

Did I say it's Hausaland oga Rilwan? But it's a northern state. Even Benue too. Kwara belongs to northern Nigeria with headquarters in Kaduna.

FriendChoice:


Did I say it's Hausaland oga Rilwan? But it's a northern state. Even Benue too. Kwara belongs to northern Nigeria with headquarters in Kaduna .

I really don't understand what you mean by the bolded, kindly lay more emphasis on it. By North, do you mean the geo-political zone? If not, explain what you mean. And elaborate on the headquarters in Kaduna, what headquarters

Rilwayne001:


I really don't understand what you mean by the bolded, kindly lay more emphasis on it. By North, do you mean the geo-political zone? If not, explain what you mean. And elaborate on the headquarters in Kaduna, what headquarters

You know the headquarter in other words the capital of northern Nigeria is Kaduna state. Hope you're aware?

All northern state pledge alliance to the headquarter even during Northern premier. Kwara is under North during regional government.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Region,_Nigeria

FriendChoice:

You know the headquarter in other words the capital of northern Nigeria is Kaduna state. Hope you're aware?All northern state pledge alliance to the headquarter even during Northern premier. Kwara is under North during regional government.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Region,_Nigeria

Na you sabi

Rilwayne001:



Na you sabi

And any developments that involves north, Kwara is involved. Search 4 crude in Benue by northern governors, building of 500mw solar in the 3 northern region. They held their meetings in Kaduna chaired by governor shatima as the chairman of the Northern Governors.


Take heart. Kwara belong to us

FriendChoice:


And any developments that involves north, Kwara is involved. Search 4 crude in Benue by northern governors, building of 500mw solar in the 3 northern region. They held their meetings in Kaduna chaired by governor shatima as the chairman of the Northern Governors.


Take heart. Kwara belong to us

Okay

FriendChoice:


And any developments that involves north, Kwara is involved. Search 4 crude in Benue by northern governors, building of 500mw solar in the 3 northern region. They held their meetings in Kaduna chaired by governor shatima as the chairman of the Northern Governors.


Take heart. Kwara belong to us

Lol, do you know why it was agreed that kwara should be in the north central?

Dont you think yorubas are benefiting in having one of their states in the north central geo political zone?

Bukola saraki, a Yoruba man is being reffered to as a northerner, today a Yoruba man is the Senate president based on that arrangement

Many yorubas in ilorin have access to ahmadu Bello university today because they agreed to be in the north central zone.

Dr olushola saraki was a wise man

omofunaab:


Lol, do you know why it was agreed that kwara should be in the north central?

Do you think yorubas are benefiting in having one of their states in the north central geo political zone?

Bukola saraki, a Yoruba man is being reffered to as a northerner, today a Yoruba man is the Senate president based on that arrangement

Many yorubas in ilorin have access to ahmadu Bello university today because they agreed to be in the north central zone.

Dr olushola saraki was a wise man

Yes it's a nice idea. It is not a bad thing, not only Abu Zaria but across the northern universities. Beside that many tribes can be found in northern universities not necessarily Yoruba.

There are 2 different things: a Northerner and a Hausa.

Yes Saraki is a Northerner.

FriendChoice:


Yes it's a nice idea. It is not a bad thing, not only Abu Zaria but across the northern universities. Beside that many tribes can be found in northern universities not necessarily Yoruba.

There are 2 different things: a Northerner and a Hausa.

Yes Saraki is a Northerner.

Yes saraki is a Yoruba northerner just like Dino melaye and lai Mohammed

omofunaab:


Yes saraki is a Yoruba northerner just like Dino melaye and lai Mohammed

Lol. You're yet to really understand what he said and meant. Glossing over it at present will only shock you when it matters most. You have a slim chance of ever getting back Illorin to mainstream Yorubaland. Very slim chance at present. Go back and read his previous posts clearly.

Yujin:

Lol. You're yet to really understand what he said and meant. Glossing over it at present will only shock you when it matters most. You have a slim chance of ever getting back Illorin to mainstream Yorubaland. Very slim chance at present. Go back and read his previous posts clearly.

That's none of my business, there are just about two or three local government in kwara which doesn't belongs to the yorubas.. .kwara elders took the decision to be in the north central zone. .They had their reasons for that. It's not as if they were forced by the fulanis.

And nobody is trying to get kwara into mainstream yorubaland, if they decide to be part of south west , then fine.. But believe me it's better they are in the north central zone, because they have more to gain there than in the south west.

omofunaab:



That's none of my business, there are just about two or three local government in kwara which doesn't belongs to the yorubas.. .kwara elders took the decision to be in the north central zone. .They had their reasons for that. It's not as if they were forced by the fulanis.

And nobody is trying to get kwara into mainstream yorubaland, if they decide to be part of south west , then fine.. But believe me it's better they are in the north central zone, because they have more to gain there than in the south west.

Ok. Hear this altruism from me today and mark it some where. Though Fulanis may have a legitimate case for Illorin through the well known history of the city but what about the other full fledged Yoruba towns in Kwara State? You stand the risk of losing all of them. That's what he was saying to you. You mentioned that your elders chose to be in the north, do you have any proof of that? The history I know is that of the british conquest of Illorin. The Emir at the time have lost his army and was captured made reference to Sokoto and not Oyo. That was why the British zoned them to the north.
Finally, as at today Yorubas in the north are just like any other minority tribe there. They have but two options only if they must remain alive. Figure it out if you can. Its a sorry situation as we all can see the truth but can't do anything since those involved can't come out straight.

Yujin:

Ok. Hear this altruism from me today and mark it some where. Though Fulanis may have a legitimate case for Illorin through the well known history of the city but what about the other full fledged Yoruba towns in Kwara State? You stand the risk of losing all of them. That's what he was saying to you. You mentioned that your elders chose to be in the north, do you have any proof of that? The history I know is that of the british conquest of Illorin. The Emir at the time have lost his army and was captured made reference to Sokoto and not Oyo. That was why the British zoned them to the north.
Finally, as at today Yorubas in the north are just like any other minority tribe there. They have but two options only if they must remain alive. Figure it out if you can. Its a sorry situation as we all can see the truth but can't do anything since those involved can't come out straight.

Lol, kwara state is a Yoruba land in the north central zone.. Fmr governor Mohammed lawal was yoruba, Dr Bukola saraki Yoruba, current governor too.. Even the kingmakers in the ilorin emirate are yorubas. I.e the mogajis,baloguns

If i may ask, have you been to kwara before?

omofunaab:



Lol, kwara state is a Yoruba land in the north central zone.. Fmr governor Mohammed lawal was yoruba, Dr Bukola saraki Yoruba, current governor too.. Even the kingmakers in the ilorin emirate are yorubas. I.e the mogajis,baloguns

If i may ask, have you been to kwara before?

You still do not understand what I'm saying. No one doubts all this but when the chips are down they will cease to be Yorubas if they must live. Just like majority of the minorities of the north, conform or get slaughtered. That's the message. Kindly go back and read his comments, you will see how revealing it is. I hope you remember Late Olusola Saraki claimed Fulani ancestry. He understands better. When I say you guys still have a slim chance to get back Illorin and its adjoining towns, I know what I'm talking about but it will only be if you are willing to take more risk. Bukola Saraki will any day any time abandon any Yoruba gathering for Hausa/fulanis call just for the sake of relevance. You're yet to understand the level of politics I'm talking about.

Yujin:

You still do not understand what I'm saying. No one doubts all this but when the chips are down they will cease to be Yorubas if they must live. Just like majority of the minorities of the north, conform or get slaughtered. That's the message. Kindly go back and read his comments, you will see how revealing it is. I hope you remember Late Olusola Saraki claimed Fulani ancestry. He understands better. When I say you guys still have a slim chance to get back Illorin and its adjoining towns, I know what I'm talking about but it will only be if you are willing to take more risk. Bukola Saraki will any day any time abandon any Yoruba gathering for Hausa/fulanis call just for the sake of relevance. You're yet to understand the level of politics I'm talking about.

Are you aware that, the yoruba folks in ilorin once sacked the emir and he was exiled to kaduna?
But for the intervention of the colonial masters.

I have told you, kwara state is in north central for political reasons.

Even the title of emir is political, just to deceive northerners that they are the same.

The kingmakers in ilorin are yorubas, the mogajis, the baloguns.

Bukola won't have been Senate president if kwara state is in south west. everything is politics.

Or are you saying the likes of Pasuma, Bishop David oyedepo ,kunle afolayan, femi adebayo, Tony tetuila ,ayinla kollington etc will deny being yoruba?

You need to visit kwara and see for yourself.

Kwara is yoruba land with yoruba installing a ceremonial emir just to make the Northerner feel they are one