By Dare Olawin
The Lukotun Parakoyi of Ibara Kingdom, Chief Mutiu Ayinde, has faulted the claim by an Egba chief that Ijemo people owns Ibara land in Abeokuta.
Chief Ayinde said the claim was unfounded and must be disregarded in order not to distort history.
He made this known during an exclusive interview with Egba News. He said no Ijemo indigene could confront Ibara and lay such claims.
It would be recalled that the Nlado of Ijemo and Jaguna of Egba, Chief Oluyinka Kufile, has, during the centenary of Ijemo Massacre, claimed that almost all the important landmarks in Egba, including Ibara, belonged to Ijemo.
This assertion did not go down well with the people of Ibara, on behalf of who Chief Ayinde said the reverse should be the case whenever it comes to an issue of such importance.
He delved into history to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ijemo does not own Ibara.
"It is clear that when Ijemo and Itoko first came to Egba, they arrived at Ibara Orile in Lafa's palace, that is Lafa- the first. If you follow the road that goes to Rounder, Soyoye road, that place where they sell cows, that was where they settled at. There is a stream that Ijemo people used to drink from, they call it 'Odo-Ijemo'- it is still there till today.
"Later on, Lafa called his relatives, that is, the Ilewos and the Isagas to deliberate on whether the strangers (Ijemo and Itoko) with him should be allowed to stay there or be allowed to move forward to occupy some other portions of their land. They decided to take them somewhere else, and that was when Lafa brought Ijemo and Itoko people to Olumo.
"When they got there, of course they met someone at Olumo and that was Adagbamalese Ibarapa. He had a farm settlement at Olumo then. You will observe that Ijemo and Itoko share the same boundary. It is because they had settled here before other Egbas.
"Everywhere they call Egba today in all the six local governments, the only king that was on the throne then was Lafa at Orile Ibara. This was because Ibara migrated like others from Ile-Ife to settle here and they didn't just settle down here, it was Ifa that ordered them to do so. They came with an ancient crown, Ifa and Aje. He explained.
Chief Ayinde also pointed out that other places after Ogun River does not belong to Egba. He said: "Even Egba leaders know that after Odo Ogun, there is no more Egba land; once we pass Ogun River, every other place there does not belong to Egba. Those places occupied by Egba people; the likes of Gbagura and others were acquired by them for farming from Ibara."
Asked why Ibara was not one of the sections of Egba, he retorted that Ibaras were different from Egbas. "Something is clear, if I want to claim Egba indigeneship, listen to my dialect or intonation, does it sound like that of an Egba person? Look at the tribal mark on my face, does it look like that of Egba? No! We have been here before they came. How can we now say we are Egba? We can't forgo our identity." he replied.
He added that Ibara people are of Yewa origin, adding that "if you dig deep to the root of the Ibaras, if you look at their customs and traditions, you will see it conforms with what we have in Yewa. He noted that in spite of the differences, the unity that had been existing between Ibara and Egba had never been truncated.
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