In Ìbàdàn any indigene can become the King as long as you can become the Mogaji of your compound which can qualify you into either the ọtun Olubadan (Civil Line) or Balógun of Ìbàdàn (Military Line) and then become a prospective Olubadan of Ìbàdàn.
Ìbàdàn leadership titles are not hereditary, and there used to be no official residence of the Olubadan until when an official palace was built in the 80’s during the reign of Oba Yesufu Aṣankẹ, Previous traditional rulers ruled from their private homes.
The first man to hold the title Olú Ìbàdàn was Lágelú- Òrò Àpáta-Májà, a prominent Ilé-ifẹ̀ Chief and powerful warrior from Ìlàrẹ́ ward. In his Ìdáfá (Divinity consultation), he got the Odù Ọ̀sẹ́ meji (the corpus of luck) which predicted abundant success for him . Lágelú left Ifẹ with his family and soldiers on an expedition to Igbo-Ipara where he settled and displayed his bravery by defending his new abode against external aggressions. Lágelú made Igbo-Ipara a place of attraction to traders and passers-by who started calling the settlement “Ẹ̀bá-Ọ̀dàn” meaning a place between the forests and the savannah. The name gradually metamorphosed into Ìbàdàn.
Lágelú’s Ìbàdàn once went into extinction because a masquerade was unmasked at one of their festivals and the women and children who had always believed that masquerades are dead ancestors who return to earth once in a year now see that it is usually a man wearing costumes who represent the spirit of the ancestors. Ìbàdàn women started laughing at the event and it traveled to the ears of Aláàfin Agboluaje who rallied some other Yorùbá towns that Ìbàdàn must be destroyed for revealing an age long secret (Ìbàdàn ti b’awo jẹ́). Ìbàdàn was destroyed, but the old Lagelu and a few of his children and soldiers ( about 12 of them) escaped into the Ẹlẹ́yẹlê hills where they reorganized and started to grow in numbers and started running short of food, they could only get Oro fruit ( African Mango), snails and maize to feed on. This earned them the praise poetry of Ìbàdàn ọmọ a j’òro sùn, ọmọ a j’ẹ̀gbín yó, ọmọ a fi ìkarahun f’ọ́kọ mu ( Ìbàdàn who feeds on Oro as supper, who is well fed with snails and uses the shells to to serve pap). Lágelú used his good luck and aura for rallying people together to rebuild Ìbàdàn that it surpassed the former one, he organized the town into clans and appointed chiefs to administer them.
Years later, Ìbàdàn became the most dominant force in entire Yorùbá land after the fall of Ọyọ Empire, producing great warriors and statesmen like Ààrẹ Oluyẹdun, Lakanle, Iba Oluyọle, Baalẹ Orowusi, Baalẹ Olugbode, Baalẹ Opeagbe, Balogun Ibikunle, Baṣọrun, Ogunmọla, Balogun Akere etc. Ògèdèǹgbé Agbógungbórò the great Ìjèṣà warrior was also trained at Ìbàdàn.
On the staff of office of Olúbàdàn, you’ll see motifs of Divinity board with Ose meji, Snail, Shell, Oro fruit (African Mango), Calabash of destiny (Igbá Ìwà) , Lion and a Gong.
As Ọba Rasheed Olawọlu Ladoja is crowned the 44th Olúbàdàn today, I am wishing him the strength, resilience and luck of the founding fathers. Kí Adé pẹ́ lórí, kí bàtà pẹ́ lẹ́sẹ̀. Kábíyèsí o 👑
Túndé Ọláoyè
(Filmmaker/Culture Enthusiast)
