Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Kwara oba traces root to Ile-Ife, visits Ooni

By Funsho Akinwale
15 July 2017   |   2:49 am
The people of Ekan Meje Kingdom in Oke Ero Council of Kwara State recently consolidated their history when leaders of the community, led by the paramount ruler, Oba Michael Adeyemi, visited Ile-Ife, Osun State to pay homage to the Ooni, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi.

The people of Ekan Meje Kingdom in Oke Ero Council of Kwara State recently consolidated their history when leaders of the community, led by the paramount ruler, Oba Michael Adeyemi, visited Ile-Ife, Osun State to pay homage to the Ooni, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi.

Ekan Meje, located on Kwara’s border with Ekiti and Osun states, was founded some centuries ago by their ancestors who migrated from Ile-Ife, regarded as the cradle of the Yoruba race and civilisation.

An elated Oba Adeyemi explained to the media at the palace that the visit was a great homecoming for his people, who have been looking forward to a great day like that.

He thanked the Ooni for the warm reception and the community leaders for the logistics of the trip.Oba Ogunwusi, who took the visitors to the ancestral site of their forefathers before the migration, thanked the delegation for the historic visit and promised to visit Ekan very soon.

He also took the visiting Oba round his palace and some important sites around. Tradition has it that Elekan and his uncle, Oore of Otun, emerged from the Okun Moba (Moba Sea) in the present coastal area of Lagos with a calabash containing water in his hand, beads around his neck and a beaded crown on his head. Some of the places they passed through after Ile-Ife included Akure, Oke Olodun, and Ipole before moving to the present site over 400 years ago.

It is also recorded by tradition that the migration of Oore, Elekan and their people from one location to the other, as stated above, was not due to conquest at war or threat to internal security of his people, as Otun and Ekan were never conquered by any community or subjugated under any kingdom of old. Meanwhile, the people of Ekan-Meje have renewed their appealed to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed to elevate the Elekan of Eka-Meje to a First Class Oba.

0 Comments