CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
In this work, it is of high importance to shed light
on some information which is paramount to the history of Idofian from the year
1900 till 2016. However, accounts vary on the origin of Idofian, a town in
present day Ifelodun Local Government area of Kwara State. The chapter will
focus on aspects such as the Idofian town, its traditional origin, and land,
economic and cultural organization.
A popular historical account of the Idofian town is
the one that says the land was founded by an Oyo prince known by the Odofian.
He was regarded to be one of the sons of Oloyo (the then sovereign of old Oyo).1 Another version
claims that the town was founded by a man called Ogunrinade Asodebioro Akanmu,
who came to the present site of Idofian for hunting purpose. According to this
claim, he was a professional hunter from Oyo – Ile. Arriving at the land, Asodebioro
built a small hut, known as ‘AGO’ in
Yoruba to which he normally rest every evening after hunting expedition.2 Another version
gave the Idofian town founder’s name to be Ogbangede, who was said to be a
hunter from an unidentified place near Oyo – Ile.3
Right from inception, Idofian town and its people
have been known with appreciable culture. An important aspect of Idofian is its
well established traditional institution with a head known as ‘Baale’. Also, the economic strength of the town has
been in the area of agriculture. The commodities produced include yam, maize,
yam flour, cassava and mostly important, okra. The town was exceptionally known
for the production of Orunla (sliced okra) usually dried and grinded before it
is made into soup. Because of this, the town is often described as “Idofian Ilu
Orunla” meaning town of Orunla production. It is even reflected in their eulogy
(Oriki) which goes in line with it. 4
‘Ti e ba de Idofian ki e ma bere iyawo won,
Ki e bere wipe shey ila won so tabi ko so.
MEANING: When you get to Idofian, do not ask of their
wives, ask them whether they had a good harvest of okro or not.
Traders from places as far as Ogbomosho, Oshogbo,
Abeokuta, and Ibadan and nearby places like Ilorin, Offa, Ajase – Ipo up till
today, come to Idofian town to purchase Orunla (Sliced Okro).5
1.2 AIMS AND
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
It is very clear that the understanding of the past
is indispensible in knowing the present and shaping the future of any
community. Therefore, the primary aim of this essay is to show the level of
interaction that exists within the socio – political history of Idofian and her
neighbors. Also, it is the belief of the writer that history does not deal
solely with political matters alone but rather a multi-faceted discipline which
deals with human origin, settlement, organization, achievements, problems and
experiences and other relative activities in which people were and still
engaged and how in this regard, Idofian and its neighbors have responded to
various internal and external influence over the years.
The essay attempts to examine the type of
relationship that existed between Idofian and her neighbors since the
pre-colonial era with specific reference to their political, economic and
social relations, and the local government reforms which has not been a vocal
point by any historian. Also, this study has tried to find out the fact about
the historical development of Idofian in early nineties (1990’s) till date. In
order to make a contribution to the history of the town and its people,
Reverend Samuel Johnson in his book “History of Yoruba” refers to the entire
town in the east of Oyo as fallen into “Ekun Osi”. Thus, Idofian could be said
to have been in “Ekun Osi” which was one of the four provinces of Oyo Empire.6
Another aim of this research is to show some
economic and socio-cultural developments that have been undertaken by Idofian
people from time immemorial and on this basis, draw the attention of the
government and stakeholders to further help in the development of the town. It
is however worthy to note that some of these developments witnessed are being
done by the people of the town.
1.3 SCOPE OF THE
STUDY
It is believed that, this research work will in no
small measure widen the intellectual horizon of the researcher and others that
come across the project work because the study emphasizes the reasons for
events, means of resolving and possibly, the ways forward in terms of conflicts
resolution and organization, hence, it contributes to the academic knowledge on
the field.
This project is considered significant because it
helps to reconstruct the history of the area with emphasis on political,
economic and social interactions.
1.4 RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS
The methodology used for this work is
inter-disciplinary approach. It is based on variety of sources. The field
research took the form of collecting oral information from individuals. Those
interviewed include elders, priest, traders, educated men and women. Articles
in learned journals with historical themes which are relevant to the present
work have been used. Also, of importance is the use of archival materials as
well as relevant textbooks, papers from local government office. It must be
noted that the texts do not present first hand information but they helped in
historical analysis of the facts gotten from other sources.
However, the researcher faced some limitations in
the process of gathering information for this research work. One of the major
limitations encountered was the non-availability of relevant documents which
could have proved very useful in the writing of the essay. In the course of my
field work, a lot of problems were faced, most of the informants proved
un-cooperative by not giving out relevant information. In actual fact, both
oral data and secondary materials formed the most important source used in the
essay.
1.5 LITERATURE
REVIEW
While conducting this research, secondary materials
have not been extensively used due to the fact that the materials gotten are
not much and inadequate; particularly those that deal directly with the topic
under study which make me almost to rely majorly on oral source.
Reverend Samuel Johnson’s book “History of the Yoruba”
discusses more on how several towns including Idofian were captured by the
forces of Afonja.7
Also, J.T.
Domingo’s book “Iwe Itan Ilu Idofian” gave insight
on the historical development of the people, land and culture including its
traditional origin and the socio-economic activities of the town.8 “The
Oyo Empire (1600-1836)” written
by Robin Law presented me the grace of getting some worthwhile historical facts
to garnish and buttress my points on the Idofian community origin.9
Furthermore, K.V Elphinstones book “Gazetteer
of the Northern provinces of Nigerian” showed the importance of this
work and it explains Ilorin under the colonial rule and discusses a town like
Idofian as a subject of Ilorin. 10
There is also a work on the “Local Government Reforms in
Kwara State” by an anonymous or unknown publisher. The work is on the
impact of the government reforms on the people of Kwara State and the towns
within the state. This book highly assisted me on the reforms of local
government and the impacts on the people of Kwara State.11
The purpose of the 1976 local government reforms was
to ensure prepaid and even development at the local throughout the country and
to ensure local government participation at the grassroots level.12
Another work on the reforms of local government is “The
Local Government reforms” which is written by A.D. Yahaya. The essence
military initiative of this work is that it showed how relevant the military’s
effort towards reconstructing or restricting the nature of local government administration
in Nigeria. Hence, it was used to trace the local government reforms to the
development at the grass root level.13
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