ORAL HISTORICAL TRADITIONS AND POLITICAL INTEGRATION IN IJEBU TUNOE OOUWOl3l UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS I The Ijebu are a subgroup of the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria. In precolonial times they established a single kingdom under the Awujale (the titular head) whose seat of government was the town of Ijebu-Ode. Structurally, the kingdom was composed of geographical divisions, each of which was identified by a name. Some of them were characterized by close socioeconomic and political ties effected through the joint control of a political association, the Pampa society, which coordinated commercial, communal, and military activities in the area.' Three such divisions form the focus of this paper: Ijebu- Igbo, Imusin, and Ago-Iwoye. The British colonial administration engendered a process of politi- cal integration in these three areas as they were each brought under a single ruler; the purpose of this paper is to highlight how Ijebu oral historical traditions were employed to give support to this integrative process., but first, an identification of the areas concerned. II The Ijebu-Igbo area is composed principally of five distinct settle- ments or towns: Okesopin, Ojowo, Atikori, Oke-Agbo, and Japara. Okesopin is accorded primacy as the oldest of the settlements. The term Ijebu-Igbo (forest) is an allusion to the forested nature of this area of Ijebu. The Imusin area, made up of about fifty very small settlements, is subdivided into two geographical groups: the northern group, called 'For the Pampa society and the political structure of the Ijebu kingdom in general see O.T. Oduwobi, "A Historical Study of Administrative and Political Developments in Ijebu, 1892-1960," (Ph.D., University of Lagos, 1995),29-41. History in Africa 27 (2000), 249-259. i" · 250 Tundc Odmoobi Ikatun, and the southern group or Ikasi. The term Imusin means the area of the akee apple ilmu. place or area; Isin: akee apple). The name Iwoye was used for a collection of seven towns which before the nineteenth century occupied the north-central area of Ijebu. As a result of Ijebu and Egba military clashes in the 1830s, the Iwoye were forced to shift their location by about ten kilometers southeastwards, where they established seven new settlements. The new location was called Ago Meleki (i.e., Meleki's camp) after the name of the figure who led the emigrants to the site, but it was changed to Ago-Iwoye in 1946.2 The seven constituent towns of Ago- Iwoye are Ibipe (considered the leading settlement), Isa muro, Idode, Odosinusi, Igan, Imosu, and Irnere. III At the commencement of colonial rule in Ijebu, Ijebu-Igbo, Irnusin, and Ago-Iwoye were, for administrative convenience, turned into po- litical units, as each was brought under a head, designated baale. In Ijebu-Igbo the ruler of Okesopin, a non-hereditary position, was ap- pointed the ex-officio baale of Ijebu-Igbo beca use of the primacy tra- ditionally accorded Okesopin as the earliest inhabited settlement in the area. In Imusin appointment to the post of baale alternated be- tween the two subdivisions of the lltatun and the Ikasi, while in Ago- Iwoye the office rotated among the rulers of the constituent towns of the area. The post of baale was therefore essentially non-hereditary in character. For, while the baale of Irnusin and Ago-Iwoye were ap- pointed on a rotational basis, the ruler of Okesopin, the ex-officio baale of Ijebu-Igbo, was a non-hereditary officeholder. The conversion into political units, through the policy of establish- ing a centralized headship for the erstwhile territorial groups, became gradually reinforced through a process of transforming the central agency into the status of the more prestigious and respected heredi- tary crowned head or oba.' By the end of the 1920s, local agitation for the resuscitation of defunct hereditary titles for the headships of the three areas under consideration in this paper had begun. These were the Orimolusi for Ijebu-Igbo, the Oloko for Imusin, and the Ebumau/e for Ago-Iwoye. A crucial role was played in this process of political integration by the rising educated elite, who viewed such unity as a better means of advancing territorial group interest under the colonial dispensation. They therefore formed associations to champion the cause of their re- "Ir was also usually abbreviarcd as Ago (camp), rhe rerm mostly used in colonial records. This cpjice was filled jrom among the town's senior titleholders. "The obn is rraditionally superior in rank ro the baale. -40 '. Oral Traditions and Political Integration in ljcbu 251 spective areas. These were the Ijebu-Igbo Patriotic Society, Ago Pro- gressive Union, and the Ijebu-Imusin Progress Society, formed respec- tively in 1922, 1926, and 1932. Through these associations, members of the educated elite were involved in the agitation for the resuscita- tion of hereditary titles for paramount headship in their respective ar- eas. As one of their number later reminisced: After the advent of the British, certain significance and prominence were accorded to crowned chiefs and villages and towns under them, with the result that many areas formerly having no crowned chiefs did all things possible to get crowns.' The principal medium for the establishment or advancement of claims was oral historical traditions. But as A.I Asiwaju has observed (much on the same lines as the preceding quotation): In the era of European rule, particularly British rule, when govern- ment often based most of its decisions over local claims upon the evi- dence of traditional history, a good proportion of the data presented tended to be manipulated deliberately. The Indirect Rule policy com- mitted the British to giving high regard to African customs and tradi- tions, which were unwritten. At the same time, British rule acceler- ated the establishment of a market-oriented economy and accentu- ated the rate at which customary positions, particularly political of- fices, were being monetized. It is for this reason that the era of British Indirect Rule in Yorubaland, as elsewhere in Africa, has generally proved over-productive of political myths and legends about which the historian must be careful.' It is on this note of warning that, in the next section, an attempt is made to examine the authenticity of oral historical traditions em- ployed to support the movement for the resuscitation of defunct titles. IV Of the three titles in question, two-the Orimolusi and Oloko-have variants of the same tradition. The two versions, which deal with early Ijebu history, will be highlighted and examined alongside other relevant ones in chronological order. The Ebumau/e, the third title, will then be discussed. In 1906 a British colonial officer at Ijebu-Ode, citing "Native tra- dition" on the arrival in Ijebu from Ile-Ife of Obanta, the legendary founder of the Ijebu kingdom, stated: 4D.A. Odurayo, An Introspection into the History of Ije[JII-III1/1sin (Iicbu-Irnusin, 1978),16. 'A.I. Asiwajlf,'''Political Motivation and Oral Historical Traditions in Africa: The Case of Yoruba CrownSlf1900-1960," Africa}6(1976), 114. 252 Tuudc Cduioobi The town of Ijebu-Ode is said to have been founded by 3 brothers who came from lIe-lfe and from two of them the town takes its name, Ajebu and Olode." The third founder-ancestor named Osi, was described as the ruler but was forced to abdicate in favour of Obanta ... said to be the eldest son of the Oni of lfe.? The local historian D.O Epega, writing in 1919, also reported this tradition, but added that the displaced Osi (rendered in the alterna- tive form, Osin) sought to immortalize his name. This he did by utter- ing on imprecation to the effect that peace would elude the reign of any future successor to the throne who failed to be conferred with au- thority in his name. It thus became the practice to salute a newly- elected Awujale with chants of "owa Osi," (Osi's authority) at coro- nation.. x Another version of the tradition is contained in the historical ac- count of the origins of Ijebu-Igbo and the Orimolusi title published in 1927.9 Osi, according to this story, had two sons. The elder of the two, Onayelu, was a hunter who operated in the area which subse- quently became known as Ijebu-Igbo. While in the forest one day, Onayelu received news of his father's death. As the heir apparent, he hastened home, only to discover that his junior brother-whose name is unstated in the account-had seized the throne. Disappointed at be- ing thus wrongly deprived of his rights, he accused the usurper thus: lu/o (iran oye si mi (literally, "you have denied me of my title"). Thereafter Onayelu's brother was nicknamed Of iran, (abbreviated from Onayelu's statement) to signify his act of usurpation. J() Onayelu, the story continues, was persuaded by the chiefs to re- turn to his hunting forest and establish a permanent settlement over which he would be the ruler. For this purpose, he was given a share of the royal regalia. Onayelu resigned himself to his fate with the follow- ing statement: Ori ni 0 mo enti yio ni asiki (one would come into "National Archives, Ibadan (NAI) IjeProf. 912, Letter Book, 1904-1908, W. Stanley Hem," A Report on the District of Ijebu-Ode for the New Civil Service List," 1 October 1906. 7Ibid. "D.O. Epega , lure Itan Ijebu ati muon IlII tniran (A History of Ijebu and Some Other Towns) (2d cd.: Lagos, 1934), 11. I have not been able to lay hands 011 the 1919 edi- tion. 'J.A.B. Osinyemi, S.A.Banjo, and 1.0.