The creation of Ibadan was circumstantial. The history of Ibadan had long been preserved through oral tradition, but written records indicate that it was established in 1829. Yoruba rebels established ‘Eba Odan’ after the collapse of the Yoruba Empire in the late 18th century. ‘Eba Odan’ means between the forests and the plains, and seven hills surrounded it. It functioned as a sacred area for the fighters who fled the war. Oyo, a mighty empire, ruled a large part of Yoruba land before the establishment of Ibadan. Many fierce, independent warriors emerged from Oyo, such as Bashorun Gaa.
Bashorun Gaa was the head of the Oyo Mesi; he was a feared figure in the kingdom. While on the throne as prime minister between 1750 and 1774, Bashorun Gaa was a classical tyrant ruler. He instrumental in the killing of four kings or forced them to commit suicide (Faleti,1972). Alaafin Labisi 1750 after 17 days on the throne; Alaafin Awonbioju 1750 after 130 days on the throne; Alaafin Agboluaye 1750-1772 (Agboluaje submitted to Bashorun Gaa’s dictation but was later forced to commit suicide under the command of Bashorun Gaa) and also executed Alaafin Majeogbe 1772-1773. He also instructed the murder of the daughter of Alaafin Abiodun and later used the victim for a money ritual. Bashorun Gaa unconstitutionally hijacked all the political power and machinery of the Oyo kingdom.
The elimination of Bashorun Gaa was a difficult task. It cost the old Oyo kingdom a significant amount of human and natural resources. Alaafin Abiodun and Oyo warriors, in collaboration with Aare-Ona-Kaka-N-fo Oyalabi, arrested Gaa. He was tied to a stake at Akesan market, and Alaafin Abiodun ordered that every citizen should cut a pound of flesh from his body and drop it in a huge fire in front of him. He was made to smell the odour of his own flesh. His nose was not allowed to be cut. The remains of his body were later burned in a fire to prevent his reincarnation.
His embarrassing death led to the popular Yoruba saying that “Bi o ba la’ya O si’ka; bi’o ba ri’ku Gaa, O sooto” which means (if you are wicked and pigheaded when you see the death of Gaa, try to be good and speak the truth) Before 1829, Lagelu, the Jagun (commander-in-chief) of Ife and Yoruba’s generalissimo, left Ile Ife with some people from Ife, Oyo and Ijebu to found a new city, at Eba Odan, the first city was destroyed due to an incident at an Egungun (masquerade) festival when an Egungun was accidentally disrobed and mocked by women and children in an open marketplace. In Yorubaland, it was considered impolite for women to make direct eye contact with Egungun. Egungun were considered to be the spirits of the dead forefathers who returned to the earth each year to bless their descendants. When this news reached Sango, the then Alaafin of Oyo, he commanded that Eba-Odan be destroyed for committing such an abominable act.
Lagelu and some of his people fled to a nearby hill for protection (sacred place). On the hill they survived by eating Oro fruit and Igbin (snails); later, they cultivated the land and made corn and millets into pap meals (eko), which they ate with roasted snails. They used the snail shells (Ikarahun Igbin) as makeshift cups to drink the liquefied eko. The ancestral praise (Oriki) of the Ibadan people today includes this eating habit. Later, Lagelu and his people descended from the hill and established another city, Eba’dan, on the same site.
They began to welcome more people to expand. Eba’dan became a refugee centre. Various individuals, including warriors, war escapees, escaped slaves, and those in exile, came from different parts of other Yoruba cities. They developed more flexible laws because of the diverse nature of the people. Ibadan grew into an impressive and sprawling urban centre to such an extent that, by the end of 1829, it dominated the Yorùbá region militarily, politically, and economically. Shortly, Lagelu died, leaving behind politically orientated people and a very stable community. Around 1826/27, Afọnja of Ilorin, who was the Arẹ-Ọna-Kankan-Fo of old Ọyọ Empire, refused to carry out the order of Alaafin, when told to wage war against Iwere-Ile, a Yoruba town in Oyo.
An unresolved rivalry brewed between Alaafin and Afọnja. Afọnja allied with Alimi, the head of Fulani warriors (who are settlers in Ilorin) against Ọyọ, and the Oyo kingdom was destroyed. Unfortunately, Fulani supporters turned against Afonja as well and killed him on the order of Alimi. Ilọrin lost its independence and became a Fulani-controlled territory. Therefore, whenever the Yoruba say Ilorin is Afonja’s city, the Fulani will say it is Alimi’s city. This led to the present saying of ‘Ilorin afonja-Geri a limit. In 1840, the Fulani Caliphate began to raid Ibadan, and Oyo indigenes began to retreat towards Ibadan. A well-developed Ibadan army confronted them and pushed the Fulani back to Ilorin. A few individuals later returned to Oyo to establish a new, weaker Oyo Kingdom, while many others chose to remain in Ibadan.
Ibadan continued to grow economically and politically, becoming a safer zone for all Yoruba people. During this booming era in Ibadan, one of the influential businesswomen was Efunsetan Aniwura, an Egba descendant who became the Iyalode of Ibadan. Efunsetan Aniwura (owner of Gold) was a wealthy business woman at Oja-Oba in Ibadan. She owned lots of landed property and hundreds of slaves. Oral evidence reveals that she owned three large farms, each with at least 100 slaves working on them at a time. She extended credit facilities as a form of support to the various Ibadan warriors (Ajagun’ta) when they went on their military expeditions in 1872.
She had a terrible sense of loss. Her only daughter died in 1860 during childbirth. Therefore, with the stigma of not having a progeny to inherit her legacy, she blamed God for her tragedy and vented anger against her slaves and society, becoming wicked, cruel, and heartless. The market usually identifies her slaves by the cane stripes adorning their bodies. Efunsetan opposed the military expansion of Aare Latoosa and ceased extending credit facilities to Latoosa when Latoosa declared war in 1874 (Osewa, 2005; Ilesanmi, 2010). After returning from the battlefield, Latoosa levied three charges against Efunsetan, which led to a death plot against her around 1874.
In 1893, the Ibadan area became a British Protectorate after a treaty was signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan, with the British Acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton, on August 15. By then, the population of Ibadan had grown to around 120,000, making Ibadan the third most populous city in Africa, after Cairo and Johannesburg. The British developed the new colony to facilitate Ibadan’s commercial activities; it soon grew into the major trading centre that it is today.
