Focus Heritage

  AGEMO        The Ijebu people are the ‘omo alagemo merindinlogun” (children of the sixteen Agemo masquerades).  The Agemo Deity is one of the traditional festivals that unite the Ijebu annually. It is celebrated between the month of July and August when the Agemo priests converged at Ijebu-Ode to offer prayers, sacrifice and felicitate with one another for witnessing another year. The 16 Agemo come out every July and they all meet at Ijebu-Ode before moving to Agbala Imosan, for parts of the rites. The Agemo of Ijebu-Isiwo is the LEADER of all AGEMO in IJEBU LAND. Women are forbidden from seeing the Agemo on their way to Ijebu-Ode. A public announcement is made on radio and television to inform everyone the exact time Agemo will be moving.  There are sixteen prominent Agemo masquerades of Ijebuland who have priestly duties along with dancing at Agbala Imosan and Ijebu Ode. The Agemo are:  Tami (Odogbolu), Olumoro (Imoro), Serefusi (Ig...

 In 1891, the Ijebu tribe, dwelling between 50 and 60 miles north-east of Lagos on the Magbon river, set a blockade on the trade route from the interior into Lagos, which was a crown colony, and charged customs dues which served as their income. The Awujale, the traditional ruler of Ijebu, closed down the Ejirin market, cutting off Lagos from a source of up-country trade.  Colonel F.C. Scott C.B. led the roughly 450-man British expeditionary force in what is also known as the Battle of Imagbon. The skipper and his crew, which included a few carriers, sailed along the Lagos Lagoon on May 12 before landing at Epe. They recruited an additional 186 soldiers when they arrived in Lekki. 8,000 men with outdated firearms were enlisted to oppose the British on the Ijebu side. The Brits struggled to enter the interior of the Ijebu kingdom because they underestimated the Ijebus' fighting skills. The British took and set ablaze four Ijebu-held villages on the first day of combat, inflicti...

 According to tradition, the names "AJEBU" and "OLODE", who were prominent as leaders of the early settlers and founders of the town, were combined to form the name "Ijebu-Ode." According to legend, "OLODE" was related to "OLU-IWA", the first ruler of Ijebu. It is difficult to say for sure which of them—"AJEBU" and "OLODE"—came first, but according to history, Ajebu, Olode, and Ajana met on this territory, which at the time was unoccupied and covered in a dense forest. To establish the precise location on which each person should set up residence, they visited the Ifa Oracle. Ajebu was instructed by the Oracle to travel to and make his home in a location now known as "IMEPE". "OLODE" and "AJEBU" will stay in the same location together known today as "ITA AJANA"  A tomb built by Ajebu's relatives at Imepe, close to Oyingbo market on the Ejinrin Road, still stands as a memori...