The Èkìtì Towns and the Pẹ̀lúpẹ̀lú

Èkìtì is the clearest Yoruba case of a political form that is not a kingdom. It is a country of many small kingdoms, each with its own crowned ọba, none of them paramount over the others, in hill country where a single conquering power could never operate cheaply. The name itself is generally derived from ilẹ̀ olókìtì, the land of hills.

The number sixteen attaches to Èkìtì in the phrase Aládemẹ́rìndínlógún, owner of sixteen crowns or the sixteen crowned ones, and the council in which those crowns meet is the pẹ̀lúpẹ̀lú 1. The most important single fact about that council is that it is not ancient. It was convened by the British in 1900, and knowing that changes how everything about Èkìtì political organisation should be read.

The pẹ̀lúpẹ̀lú

The word. Pẹ̀lúpẹ̀lú is an Èkìtì word meaning call the lords, call the lords, from pe olú 1.

The origin, precisely. Sixteen Èkìtì ọba met at Òkè-Ìmọ̀ in Ilésà, now in Ọ̀ṣun State, convened by the British as colonial administration began, in 1900. The meeting was chaired by its convener, Major Reeve-Tucker, with an Ìjẹ̀bú man named Gbangbalasa interpreting. Reeve-Tucker had toured the country from October 1899 to February 1900 before establishing it, and the Oore of Ọ̀tùn was made President. When the Èkìtì Superior Native Authority was amended in 1946 and established in 1947, the Oore was again its first President 2.

That is a colonial institution and it should be described as one. What it formalised, however, was real: a set of independent crowns that had already acted together militarily in the Èkìtìparapọ̀ from 1878, and which needed a single body to deal with British administration. Indirect rule required a council; Èkìtì supplied one; the council then acquired the authority of tradition.

The named attendees at the 1900 meeting were the Ajẹrò of Ìjẹ̀rọ̀ (Ọba Okeruku), the Oore of Ọ̀tùn (Ọba Adifala), the Olójùdó (Odundun), the Elékọlé (Agbabiojusanmo), the Aláàyè of Efọ̀n (Ọba Atewogboye), the Olọ́jaòkè of Ìmèsì-Ìgbòdó (Ọba Aniyeboye) and the Ògògà of Ìkẹ́rẹ́ (Ọba Alowolodu); the Arìnjalẹ̀ sent a representative, being under detention, and the Atta of Ayédé and the Baálẹ̀ of Èmùrẹ̀ attended as observers 2.

The sixteen, in three versions

The roster is not stable and the three versions in circulation should be given as three.

The 1900 list: Oore of Ọ̀tùn, Ẹ̀wì of Adó-Èkìtì, Ọ̀wá of Obbo, Ajẹrò of Ìjẹ̀rọ̀, Alárá of Aramoko, Déjì of Àkúrẹ́, Aláyé of Efọ̀n, Arìnjalẹ̀ of Ìsẹ̀, Olójùdó of Ìdó, Olóyè of Òyè, Ológotun of Ògótùn, Ògògà of Ìkẹ́rẹ́, Ọ̀wá Ọ̀ọ̀yẹ of Òkèmèsì, Onítàjí of Ìtàjí, Onísàn of Ìṣàn, Atta of Ayédé 2.

An older four-and-twelve scheme: four supreme, the Owore of Ọ̀tùn, Ajẹrò of Ìjẹ̀rọ̀, Elẹ́wì of Adó and Elékọlé of Ìkọ̀lé; and twelve others, Alárá of Aramoko, Aláyé of Efọ̀n, Ajanpanda of Àkúrẹ́, Alágotun of Ògótùn, Olójùdó of Ìdó, Atta of Ayédé, Olọ́jaòkè of Ìgbòdó, Olóyè of Òyè, Olómùwo of Omuwo, Onírè of Ire, Arìnjalẹ̀ of Ìsẹ̀ and Onítàjí of Ìtàjí 3. Note the Àkúrẹ́ title given here as Ajanpanda rather than Déjì.

The modern roster: Ajẹrò of Ìjẹ̀rọ̀, Alárá of Aramoko, Ẹ̀wì of Adó, Ògògà of Ìkẹ́rẹ́, Olómùo of Òmùọ, Attah of Ayédé, Olóyè of Òyè, Arìnjalẹ̀ of Ìsẹ̀, Ológotun of Ògótùn, Onítàjí of Ìtàjí, Elémùrẹ̀ of Èmùrẹ̀, Aláàyè of Efọ̀n, Ọ̀wá Ọ̀ọ̀yẹ of Òkèmèsì, Olójùdó of Ìdó Faboro, Elékọlé of Ìkọ̀lé, Onísàn of Ìṣàn 4.

Èkìtì tradition holds that the Alárá, Ajẹrò and Ọ̀ràngún are uterine brothers, and separately that the Alárá and Ajẹrò are sons of Ifá, that is of Àgbọnnìrègún 5. Both formulations circulate; they are claims of seniority as much as genealogy.

Still contested

The council is a live legal matter. In 2020 the sixteen pẹ̀lúpẹ̀lú ọba sued the Ẹkìtì State governor over his appointment of the Alawe of Ìlàwẹ̀-Èkìtì as chairman of the state traditional council, arguing that the chairmanship must rotate every two years among the Aládemẹ́rìndínlógún alone, and the Aláàfin of Ọ̀yọ́ wrote to the governor on 12 March 2020 warning against treating the institution lightly 67.

The dispute reaches into the roster itself. At least one published list of Èkìtì paramount rulers names the Olúkèrè of Ìkẹ́rẹ́ rather than the Ògògà 8, which is the Ìkẹ́rẹ́ dispute treated below appearing at the level of the confederation.

Adó-Èkìtì

Ruler. The Ẹ̀wì of Adó, also styled Ẹlẹ́wì. Status. Capital of Ẹkìtì State, created on 1 October 1996; 2006 census figures between 308,621 and 313,690, with a 2022 estimate of 469,700 over 293 square kilometres 9.

Founding. The founder was a prince of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ named Àwàmarò, the restless one, son of Biritikolu. He left Ifẹ̀ with Ọ̀rànmíyàn and travelled by way of Ita Orogun and the Benin forests; after disputes the two parties separated and the Ẹ̀wì's people moved west through Utamodi, Oke Papa, to Udoani and Agbado 10.

The Ulesun conquest. Àwàmarò settled at Oke Ibon, now Odo Ijigbo, then conquered the existing Ulesun community and displaced its ruler, the Elesun; Ulesun was renamed Adó, or Adó-Ẹ̀wì 10. The pre-conquest hierarchy under the Elesun ran Odolofin as second in command, then Asao, Elegemo, Alamoji, Olisinla, Olulero and Olookori, and the Elesun presided over satellite towns including Ukere, that is Ìkẹ́rẹ́, Isinla and Ulamoji 10.

The Elegemo kept his post as chief priest and custodian of Iwemo Ògún 10, and that survival is the diagnostic detail. A conquering dynasty that retains the defeated priesthood is a dynasty that could take the political office but not the ritual one, and the same pattern appears at Ifẹ̀ with Ọbàtálá and at Ìkẹ́rẹ́ with the Olúkèrè.

The Ẹ̀wì's own warrior chiefs were the Akogun at Irona, the Oloja Ese at Oke Ese, the Eleyinmi at Okeyinmi and the Egbedi at Orereowu; the quarters are Idolofin, Okelaja, Udemo and Okeyinmi 10.

The dynastic list, as published, runs Ata (1444–71), Owakunrugbon (1471–90), Owamuaran (1490–1511), Yeyenirewu as regent (1511–52), Obakunrin (1552–74), Eleyo-Okun (1574–99), Afigbogbo Ara Soyi (1599–1630), Gberubioya (1630–96), Idagunmodo (1696–1710), Okinbaloye Aritawekun (1710–22), Amono Ola (1722–62), Afunbiowo (1762–81), Akulojuorun (1781–1808), Aroloye (1808–36), Ali Atewogboye (1836–85), Ajimudaoro Aladesanmi I (1886–1910), Adewumi Agunsoye (1910–36), Daniel Anirare Aladesanmi II (1937–83), Samuel Adeyemi George-Adelabu I (1984–88), and Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe Aladesanmi III from 1990 10.

Two things to flag. The list begins at 1444 while the Udiroko festival is dated to Àwàmarò's reign around 1310, a gap of over a century that the sources do not reconcile 1011. And Ali Atewogboye, reigning 1836 to 1885, was a Muslim ruler 10, which is worth noting as evidence that Islam reached the Èkìtì royal houses in the mid-nineteenth century.

Ruling houses. Ẹ̀wì Gberubioya divided the dynasty into three houses, Owaroloye or Aroloye, Atewogboye and Arutawekun 10.

Udiroko. Adó's traditional new year, established under Àwàmarò around 1310, also called Olorunborun, thanksgiving to Ọlọ́run, and named for the great ìrókò tree at the Ẹ̀wì's palace under which people converge 11. The rites include pounded yam with egusi and undiluted palm wine beforehand, the presentation of walnuts and kola to the Ẹ̀wì by the warlords, martial displays, the Ẹ̀wì's address setting out the year's aspirations and budget, and a closing blessing, the ìwúre 11. It is held annually on 28 August.

The address setting out a budget is worth pausing on. A festival at which the ruler publicly states the coming year's plan and its costs is a working political institution, not only a ritual one.

Historical role. Adó expanded over four centuries, subjugating Ìkẹ́rẹ́, Ìgbara-Òdò, Ògótùn, Aramoko, Erio and Erijiyan; Ìbàdàn sacked many Adó communities in 1873 10. It now hosts Ẹkìtì State University, Afe Babalola University and the Federal Polytechnic Adó-Èkìtì 9.

Ìkẹ́rẹ́-Èkìtì and a genuinely contested stool

Status. Ikere local government area, 202 square kilometres, population 147,255 in 2006, with the hills Olóṣuntá and Òròlé 12.

Two founding traditions

The Olúkèrè, aboriginal version. Three settler clans, Ila, Olowu and Odo-Oja, cleared the land and found it full of squirrels, òkéré, naming it Ile Okere, hence Ìkẹ́rẹ́. Aladeselu, from Uselu near Benin, was the first prominent settler and consulted Ifá before establishing himself. The Olúkèrè title derives from Oloje, protégé of the herbalist Olosu or Oloshumeta, who became chief priest of Olóṣuntá; Oloje cultivated a plant called ukerekere, hence bàbá olúkerekere, hence Olúkèrè 13.

The Ògògà, Benin version. Ògògà Agamo, brother to the Déjì of Àkúrẹ́, arrived after a prophecy that a royal outsider would become king. He hunted an elephant near the Ota-murajoerin rock, consulted Oloje, lived seven years in Aladeselu's house and then became the first Ògògà, backed by Benin royal descent, which the tradition credits with Ìkẹ́rẹ́ never having been conquered in war 13.

The dispute and its partial resolution

The Ògògà's position is that all laws, documents and official gazettes of the old Western Region recognise only the Ògògà as traditional ruler of Ìkẹ́rẹ́. He concedes that his forebear met the Olúkèrè on the ground, but holds that the Olúkèrè stool is a priesthood attached to the Olóṣuntá festival, and that he as a Benin prince established the monarchy 14.

The Olúkèrè's position is that his dynasty runs back hundreds of years and predates the Ògògà, his progenitors having founded Ìkẹ́rẹ́ before the paramount ruler arrived 15.

Successive governments withheld recognition until 8 October 2021, when the Fayemi administration, acting on the report of the chieftaincy review commission led by Justice Jide Aladejana, granted the Odo-Oja community autonomous status and recognised the Olúkèrè as an ọba 14. Ìkẹ́rẹ́ princes had formally opposed this in December 2018 16.

The current holders are Ògògà Ọba Samuel Adéjìmí Adu Alagbado, Agrilala II, crowned 2015 and twenty-seventh in the Ògògà list, installed as thirteenth chairman of the Ẹkìtì State Council of Traditional Rulers; and Olúkèrè Ọba Ganiyu Ayọ̀délé Obasoyin, Okomolese II, from 2013, about the thirtieth holder 1715.

The ritual fact at the heart of it. The Olóṣuntá festival is a nine-day observance for the protector deity residing in Olóṣuntá hill, credited with healing, curing barrenness and protection. It opens with Ùjẹ̀rọ̀ in the palace, the king going into seclusion for seven days beforehand, and during it the Olúkèrè visits the graves of all past ọba and invokes their spirits to pray for the new king 1813. Erepopo is the new king's rite of passage at Aladeselu's house 13.

That is the dispute in its purest form. The office the Ògògà describes as a mere priesthood performs the rite that makes the Ògògà's kingship efficacious. Both claims are internally consistent and the ritual arrangement supports both readings at once, which is why the argument has not ended.

Art. Olówè of Ìsẹ̀, about 1873 to about 1938, carved the celebrated palace door and lintel ensemble for the Ògògà. It was selected for the Nigerian pavilion at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 and afterwards acquired by the British Museum 19. Olówè is the best-documented individual Yoruba sculptor of his period and the Ìkẹ́rẹ́ door is his best-known work; its acquisition history is a standard case in the debate about African objects in British collections.

Ìkọ̀lé-Èkìtì

The Elékọlé of Ìkọ̀lé is also paramount ruler of the Egbeoba kingdom, a confederation of twenty-four state-recognised ọba. Modern Egbeoba was formed between 1900 and 1920, when outlying forest settlements were drawn into a conurbation under Elékọlé Adeleye I, a retired schoolteacher 20. Ikole local government area covers 321 square kilometres with a population of 168,436 in 2006 20. The current Elékọlé is Ọba Adewumi Fasiku, who returned to the palace after nearly five years abroad for medical treatment, having travelled in August 2021 21.

A confederation formed in the twentieth century under a retired schoolteacher is a useful corrective to the assumption that Yoruba traditional structures are all pre-colonial. Èkìtì political arrangements were still being made in living memory.

Ọ̀tùn-Èkìtì and the Mọ̀bà

Ruler. The Oore, sometimes Òòrẹ̀, of Ọ̀tùn.

Tradition. The Oore led his people out of Okun-Moba, the Moba sea, in the present Lagos coastal area around 1500 CE, carrying a golden jug, Ago Ide, of water, together with beads and a beaded crown, settling successively at Moba near Mushin, at Ilé-Ifẹ̀, at Àkúrẹ́, at Oke Olodun and at Ipole before Ọ̀tùn. The Ọ̀tùn people displaced the Aaye people, and the Mọ̀bà confederacy chiefs resettled around Ọ̀tùn as the major kingdom 2.

Mọ̀bà local government area has its headquarters at Ọ̀tùn, covers 199 square kilometres with 146,496 people in 2006, and includes Ọ̀tùn, Ikun, Osun, Erinmope, Igogo and Osan; its sites include the Ero dam at Ikun, the Oore's monumental palace at Ọ̀tùn, the Eyemojo grave at Osan and Egi hill at Igogo 22.

The Oore's seniority claim and the Ifẹ̀ counter-position

This is a serious dispute and both sides should be given.

The Oore's claim. The Oore cured Odùduwà's blindness with water from Okun Moba, and Odùduwà called him olóore mi, my benefactor, which is the source of the name. By tradition the Oore is the first ọba informed of an Ọ̀ọ̀ni's death and announces it to other Yoruba ọba; Ọ̀tùn tradition further claims that the Oore performed the burial rituals for Odùduwà and participates in installing a new Ọ̀ọ̀ni. Governor Samuel Rowe recorded in 1883 that the Oore was the principal among a hundred and thirty-two Èkìtì kings. The Oore signed the Kiriji peace treaties of 3 July and 29 September 1886, was President of the Èkìtì Council of Ọba from 1900 and first President of the Èkìtì Superior Native Authority in 1947, and holds certificates of honour from 1886, 1900 and 1947 2.

The Ifẹ̀ counter-position. The Ilé-Ifẹ̀ Traditional Council, sixteen kingmakers in two groups, the Ihare or Agba Ife and the Modewa, working with the Isoro chiefs, holds exclusive authority to announce an Ọ̀ọ̀ni's death and to conduct the installation 23.

The 1903 gazette. The Government Gazette of 28 February 1903, presented by Ọ̀ọ̀ni Adelekan Olubuse I, listed twenty-one kingdoms deriving crowns directly from Ifẹ̀. Its Èkìtì and eastern entries were the Ajẹrò of Ìjẹ̀rọ̀ at three, the Ọṣemawè of Ondó at four, the Aláàyè of Efọ̀n at six, the Olósì of Òsì at seven, the Elékọlé of Ìkọ̀lé at nine, the Ẹ̀wì of Adó at ten, the Ọba of Adó, that is Benin, at twelve, the Alárá of Ara at thirteen, the Olójùdó of Ìdó at sixteen, the Oore of Ọ̀tùn at seventeen and the Ọlọ́wọ̀ of Ọ̀wọ̀ at nineteen 24.

Note the structure of that argument. The Oore appears on the Ifẹ̀ list, which Ifẹ̀ reads as evidence of derivation from Ifẹ̀ and therefore of subordination. Ọ̀tùn does not deny the connection; it inverts the direction, making the Oore the benefactor rather than the beneficiary.

Efọ̀n-Aláàyè

Ruler. The Aláàyè, or Aláyé, of Efọ̀n.

Founding. Traditionally around 1200 CE by Ọbalùfọ̀n Aláyémọrẹ, who appears in the Ifẹ̀ king list as third, or in some versions fifth, Ọ̀ọ̀ni and a descendant of Odùduwà. On this account he is the only known king to have reigned over two kingdoms, founding Efọ̀n after vacating the Ifẹ̀ throne 25.

That is a strong claim and it links Efọ̀n directly to the Ifẹ̀ figure credited elsewhere with the unification of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ and with the introduction of bronze casting. Whether Efọ̀n's Ọbalùfọ̀n and Ifẹ̀'s are the same person is not established and cannot be from the available material.

Three ruling houses rotate, Ogbenuote, Obologun and Asemojo, and six high chiefs govern the major quarters; the current holder is Ọba Emmanuel Aladejare Agunsoye II, forty-sixth Aláàyè 25. Efon local government area covers 232 square kilometres with 86,941 people in 2006, was formally established on 4 December 1996, and its cash crops are kola, cocoa and palm 26.

Efọ̀n is a noted woodcarving centre, and Agbọnbíọ̀fẹ́ of Efọ̀n-Aláàyè ranks among the distinguished Yoruba sculptors 25. Its festival is Olookun, the new yam 27.

The Èkìtìparapọ̀ and the Kiriji war

Dates. 30 July 1877 to 14 March 1893, about sixteen years. The name comes from the onomatopoeia of cannon fire, ki-ri-ji 28.

Cause. Ìbàdàn's expansion after Ọ̀yọ́'s collapse and the abuses of its ajẹ̀lẹ̀, the resident administrators, including forced marriages, rape and excessive levies 28.

Trigger. Fabunmi of Òkèmèsì, about 1849 to 1903, killed an ajẹ̀lẹ̀ and his men in 1878 after they molested his wife Falola at a shrine festival. He organised the confederacy and was confirmed Balógun of the confederates, and in 1880 voluntarily surrendered leadership to Ògèdèngbé. He was briefly king of Imesi-ile from 1902 to 1903 29.

Command. Ògèdèngbé of Ilésà, Sèrìkí and commander-in-chief from 1879 30. The alliance drew in Ìjẹ̀ṣà, the Èkìtì confederacy, Àkókó, Yagba, Ìgbómìnà, Ìjẹ̀bú, Ẹ̀gbá and Ifẹ̀ 28.

The Lagos supply line. The Èkìtìparapọ̀ Society of Lagos, formed around 1876 of returnees from Sierra Leone, Brazil and the Americas, including the Lagos merchant Labinjo, together with Gureje, Haastrup and Doherty, procured Snider, Martini-Henry and Winchester rifles and cannon and shipped them by the Ondó road to Imesi-Ipole, bypassing Ìbàdàn's blockade, and raised a rifle corps that inflicted heavy casualties in the mid-1880s 31. Snider rifles outranged Dane guns and enabled trench warfare 31.

This is the decisive material fact of the war and it deserves emphasis. A diaspora of Yoruba returnees at Lagos, men who had been enslaved and freed, financed and armed the eastern coalition, and the resulting technological asymmetry stalemated the largest army in Yorubaland. The Kiriji war is fought with rifles bought by the Atlantic diaspora.

Turning points. Aàrẹ Látòósìsà died at the Ìgbàjọ camp on 31 August 1885; the confederate rifle-corps leader Alfred Labinjo was mortally wounded on 13 July 1885 31.

Peace. A treaty was made at Imesi-ile on 23 September 1886, brokered by Special Commissioner H. Higgins and Oliver Smiths, at which Ògèdèngbé and Ìbàdàn's Balógun Osungbekun swore eternal friendship. Fighting nonetheless persisted, and the final camps dispersed on 14 March 1893 after Captain Bower's intervention. Estimated strengths were seventy-five to a hundred and five thousand confederates against about a hundred and eighty thousand for Ìbàdàn 2831.

The war's real outcome was neither side's victory but British arbitration, and from arbitration to administration was a short step.

Benin and the eastern edge

By the late sixteenth century Benin forces penetrated as far as Ọ̀tùn in northern Èkìtì. Most kingdoms submitted peacefully and then ignored the terms given the distance, and Àkúrẹ́ was Benin's main trade base in the area. Before the nineteenth century, Èkìtì and the other eastern Yoruba kingdoms were drawn more towards the centre of Benin than towards the centre of Yoruba civilisation 32.

That orientation is the reason Ìkẹ́rẹ́'s Ògògà claims Benin descent and Adó's founder travelled through the Benin forests. Èkìtì faces two ways, and its own traditions say so.