Ilorin The Journey So Far

Ilorin Will Not Be Intimidated Into Silence

As the world progresses in 2026, it is unfortunate that some individuals driven by personal or political motives are being sponsored to sow division and chaos particularly targeting Ilorin and its people.

We ask: Where are the Yoruba elders? Are they observing in silence or have they chosen to enjoy the spectacle? Is there no voice of reason to call their youth to order?

When Muslims in the Southwest proposed the establishment of *Sharia Courts* within the bounds of the Nigerian constitution the idea was immediately attacked and dismissed. It was labeled a Fulani agenda, a threat to Yoruba identity, and shut down without meaningful dialogue.

Now that ILORIN people say they do not want the Egun festival in their town suddenly everyone remembers we are in a secular state, and the rights to cultural expression are paraded as sacrosanct. Why didn’t those same principles apply when Southwest Muslims were denied their religious rights?

The hypocrisy is glaring. Meanwhile, social media influencers like Bennylee, Tani Olorun, Asayorubatv, and Ayekooto continue to amplify provocative narratives knowing fully well the tensions they’re fueling. Yet selective outrage blinds many from seeing the real danger.

Let it be known clearly:

Ilorin is a city rooted in Islamic tradition. Just as you have a right to preserve your culture we have the right to defend our own values. If the Yoruba elite refuse to rein in these provocateurs, Ilorin elders and youth alike will not sit idly by. We will respond firmly, intellectually, and if necessary, forcefully to any attempt to undermine the dignity of our people.

For the record, we are least concerned with how you treat your own Muslims in the Southwest. But know this: if you won’t respect our values in Ilorin your opinions will carry no weight here.

We are not looking for conflict, but we will not accept provocation either.

THE YORUBANESS AND YORUBALESS OF ILORIN
By: Alh Oba Abdulkadir La'aro ✍️

This piece is inspired by the rash of online attacks on Ilorin people about our beloginness to the Yoruba race or not. It is not a new conversations but one that some people would like to perpetuate only a version of the historical reality of Ilorin.

It is not uncommon for an Ilorin person living in parts of Yoruba land to be accosted with the question,is Ilorin Yoruba? If your answer is in affirmative,your inquisitor would not relent. He would ask, why are you being ruled by Fulani. From there you see that the interest is not borne out of any confusion of what Ilorin is but in pursuit of an historical loss of Ilorin.

For an Ilorin person, there is no loss but gain to the struggle of all people of Ilorin for the establishment and sustainance of a community guided by the tenents of Islam.

The victory of the Muslims in Ilorin prompted the migration waves of more Yoruba,Hausa,Fulani, and others to Ilorin.

For all Yoruba person that migrated to Ilorin post Alimi period, the motivation was solely the opportunity to have a community of Muslims free from the early persecutions in their various abode.

The argument about Ilorin not being yoruba is not about territorial ownvership. It is based on evolutionary fact whereby Ilorin was conquered by collections of Muslims who are Fulani, Yoruba, Hausa, Suwa-Arabs,and others.

Historically,the land now called Ilorin has been inhabited by people of Baruba descent which is the reason we have the Baruba quarters in Ilorin till today. That was before the arrival of Yoruba like Ojo Isekuse and later the grandfather of Afonja who all settled around Idiape near Baruba area.

As at the time of Afonja there were other settlements around the area that constitutes Ilorin today. There was the Oke Sunna community inhabited by Muslims who are not Yoruba but people from Mali, Bornu and other areas. The place is called Oke Sunna in acknowledgement of their being Muslims.

There was also the Hausa community who settled at a place now referred to as Gambari area headed by a prince from Zamfara area. There was also the Fulani settlement around the place now referred to as Ori Oke or Ago headed by a man called Alfardi corrupted by Yoruba to Olufadi.

All these communities were autonomous and known to one and other prior to the arrival of Sheik Saliu Janta later known as Sheik Alimi. The appellation 'Alim' meaning knowledgeable, was given to the founder of Ilorin Emirate by the Muslims at Oke Sunna when he had scholarly encounters with them in acknowledgment of his superior Islamic erudition.

The arrival of Sheik Alimi and subsequent defeat of Afonja changed the equation about Ilorin.

Henceforth, Ilorin is no more the typical Yoruba land with the cultural features normally associated with being Yoruba in terms of mode of worship, ancestral allegiance and political configuration.

Ilorin has since transformed into a community of Muslims populated by people of diverse ethnicity.

This means that the Ilorin people cannot be tied to Oduduwa as their ancestor as it is commonly claimed by all Yoruba. The traditional political arrangements too reflects a unique blending of all ethnicities with primacy placed on the Islamic origin and practice. Hence, the Fulani who led the Islamisation of Ilorin remain the head as the Amir( Emir),the warlords drawn from the major ethnic groups of Fulani, Hausa and Yoruba constitute the kingmakers. The Islamic scholars who are custodians of Islamic knowledge and practices are incorporated into the traditional political configuration. All of these have evolved into what is now known as the Ilorin Emirate system.

It must be noted that the Afonja family are duly represented in the system too. Also, two of the principal chiefs (Baloguns) are Yoruba. One of them, the Balogun Ajikobi, was part of the retinue of followers that accompanied Sheik Alimi to Ilorin. He became part of the Sheik Janmaa(followers) having joined him at Iseyin. The other Yoruba Balogun is the Alanamu family who migrated to Ilorin from Reke during the reign of the first Emir.

From this, we can discern that Ilorin was Yoruba in the sense of it been populated by Yoruba from old Oyo Ile. It is also a fact of history that the place now referred to as Ilorin has had the Baruba people. Their quarter is still call Baruba in Ilorin till the present time. It is incontrovertible that Muslims who are not Yoruba but from areas of Mali and other northern towns have settled in the area as well.

This is documented by Yoruba historians like Rev Johnson.

We have the Fulani and the Hausa who have also been there during Afonja time and prior to the arrival of Sheik Saliu Al Janta later known as Sheik Alimi.

By virtue of Afonja being the Aare Ona-Kankafo, Ilorin was part of the larger Oyo Empire.

The attack on Afonja by the oyos led to Ilorin embarking on defensive and protective war encounter with Oyo. The Ilorin army composed of all ethnic groups survived the wars as victor. Subsequent ding d**g of wars under the new Ilorin warriors led by the Fulani of Shiek Alimi stock fought the Oyo till they were defeated and the subsequent collapse of Oyo Empire.

Since then Ilorin became not only autonomous but a power to reckon with forever.

Yes, Ilorin lingua Franca is Yoruba. We even adopted the oriki system blend with islamic names. Hardly, willwill you see an Ilorin person who is not having an oriki. An Ilorin person is saudat as well as abeke. Part of the eulogy of our Emir is Ishola opo, omo Aiyelabowo. We have Amosa, Olohunlambe and Olohunlalaro etc. These are all Ilorinised Yoruba name.

To that extent, Ilorin Yorubaness can be acknowledged.

But that is not the full reality.

Our reality is also that of a community that is free of non-islamic practices which are part of the reality of a Yoruba community.

Ilorin cannot be attached to ancestral origins traced to Oduduwa, so Ilorin is not omo Oduduwa as can be freely said of other Yoruba town.

Ilorin express Fulaniness in us when you encounter names like kawu, Dikko,Moddibo,you see the Hausa in us as you meet Maiyaki,Seriki as well as Nupe shown in the Gbodofu, Nda as names. Where else will you find a fluent Yoruba speaker who is Dan Borno. The Arab part is seen in the Agbaji quarters and the Shiru connected to the legendary scholar,Sheik Kamaldeen Al adabiy. The Malians are more than a sprinkle. A significant part of Ilorin are attached to their identity called Oke Imale.

They are today the Imam Al Mali (imamu Imale) of Ilorin.

How can we overlook all these realities and insist Ilorin must remain Yoruba.

While we acknowledge and give due recogntion to all strands of ethnic group present in Ilorin,we proclaim that we are a people, just Ilorin people.

Since its historical founding as Muslim community with an Emirate as traditional political system;

Ilorin has evolved into a town with unique blending of multi cultural community brought together and sustained by their allegiance to the Islamic faith and practices.This is the fact of the claim of her "Yorubaless" being stressed by Ilorin people.

Ilorin Afonja,Gerin Alimi, ilu tobi toyi,kolegun esin legun Ile won,oko loro ibe. Ilorin Gerin Alimi; A shiga De Kaya; A shiga De loko; A fita da Lailailailalahu.

Beeni, Ilorin ni faa

Happy Birthday to a great Historian, the author of the book titled "Ilorin the Journey so far". Sir, I wishing you Long Life And Prosperity Baba Alhaji L. A. K Jimoh.
Are you an Ilorite? This book is sufficient for you to know about 60% of Ilorin history.

History of Ilorin Emirate Day 1
23rd November, 2025
Book title: Ilorin The Journey So Far
Author: Alh L. A. K Jimoh

(ii) Date of Afonja's Death

There is a contention by some scholars that Afonja died in 1824. This contention is not supported by events in either llorin or the rest of Yorubaland.

In llorin, for instance, the occurrence and repulsion of the invasion of Ilorin by Etsu Majia without any mention whatsoever of Afonja's involvement in it, strongly suggest that the Kakanfo was not alive when the invasion occurred in 1808. It will be absurd to hold that Afonja as Aare Onakakanfo will be so completely uninvolved in repulsing an invasion of his domain by a foreign sovereign who had menacingly been belligerent against Oyo.

Secondly, within the context of Yoruba history, the facts of the Owu war strongly indicate that Afonja had died when the war was provoked.

Reverend Samuel Johnson, the pioneer Yoruba historian, said that the war was precipitated when Toyeje of Ogbomosho in his capacity as Aare Onakakanfo' ordered the Olowu in 1812 to attack Ife territory. On his own part, Professor Akinjogbin postulated that the Owu war actually began in 1821 while agreeing that the precipitation was in 1812. Professor Ayandele slightly disagreed with Professor Akinjogbin and emphatically asserted that the war certainly began between 1817 and 1820. However, none of the scholars dispute that the war was precipitated at the instance of Toyeje in his capacity as Aare Onakakanfo.

Since Toyeje was Afonja's immediate successor as Kakanfo. Afonja could not have been alive when Toyeje in that capacity precipitated the Owu war whether in 1821. 1817 or 1812. all of which preceded 1824 which is widely canvassed as the date of Afonja's death.

(iii) Date of Oba Abdulsalami's Ascension

Oba Abdulsalami's reign as the first Emir of Ilorin began. When 1831 is the date currently canvassed officially, as the time

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this date is related to the facts that the founding of both Abeokuta in 1830 and Modakeke before then, as well as the fact that the seizure of Ago-Oja (present day Oyo) from the Oja family and the conversion of the town to the capital of Oyo in that year, were ultimate consequences of Ilorin's Jihadist wars against the Yorubas, the question will arise: "Who was the Emir of Ilorin that ordered the jihadist wars?".

It is generally agreed that Shehu Alimi never ordered any war against the Yorubas. Oral tradition in Ilorin even indicates that the Shehu died about a year earlier than Usman dan Fodio who died in 1817. This leads to the logical conclusion that these wars against the Yorubas were ordered by Oba Abdulsalami.

It is also a settled fact in Ilorin's history that immediately after the disastrous invasion of llorin by combined Oyo and Baruba armies which were personally led by both Ala'afin Oluewu and Worukura, the Baruba king, Oba Abdulsalami sent Jimba, one of his warlords, to go and destroy Oyo-lle about 1830. It was in consequence of that destruction that Ago-Oja was seized, renamed Oyo and made the capital of the Oyo Empire by Atiba. Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi succinctly paraphrased the entire story thus:

"The collapse of Old Oyo, partly from internal decay and partly from pressure from the southern extension of the Fulani jihad at Ilorin at the beginning of the 19th century (emphasis mine) unleashed a period of intra-Yoruba wars that did not end till the British intervened to make peace and installed themselves as rulers at the end of the century."⁴

The fact that the jihad at Ilorin had, as explained by Professor Ajayi, become much effective at the beginning of the nineteenth century clearly shows that Oba Abdulsalami's reign began much earlier than the widely canvassed 1831.

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Secondly, an authentic archival record confirms that in 1828, the second Emir of Gwandu, Mohammad B. Abdullahi, addressed a letter to: "Abdulsalami, the Emir of Yoruba (land) This shows that by 1828, Oba Abdulsalami's reign as the Emir of Ilorin had been well established.

History of Ilorin Emirate Day 1
22nd November, 2025

Book title: Ilorin The Journey So Far
Author: Alh L. A. K Jimoh

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Fulani hegemony was initiated in Ilorin around 1807 by Shehu Alimi after the death of Afonja and the consequent termination of Oyo's suzerainty over the town. Oba Abdulsalami subsequently reconstituted the territory into an Emirate and formally established Fulani rule in Ilorin. He later got it incorporated into the Sokoto Caliphate by 1828, through Gwandu Emirate.

Ilorin Emirate developed into a military superpower in the Yoruba region. It ultimately subdued Oyo around 1830 and prompted the collapse of the Oyo Empire.

Ilorin's expansionist wars against the Yorubas, dislodged a large number of the Oyos forcing them to flee southward for safety. One batch fled south-eastward to Ife and founded Modakeke. A second batch of the Oyo fugitives obtained refuge in Ibadan but later in 1830, expelled their host, the Ifes and Egbas, forcing the Egbas to flee further south where they confiscated the land of ljemo people and established a new settlement which thenceforth became Abeokuta.

Oyo-Ile itself, which was the capital of the Oyo Empire, was destroyed by Ilorin around 1830. Consequently, Atiba, the new Ala'afin, seized Ago-Oja from the Oja family (that is, the Asipa of Oyo's family). He re-named it Oyo (present day Oyo) and converted it to the capital of the remnant of the hitherto vast Oyo Empire. Hence, when the present day Oyo thus became the Ala'afin's seat of power, it was initially called: Ago d'oyo, that is, "Ago which became Oyo".

However, Ibadan later emerged as another military power and engaged llorin in protracted ding-d**g confrontations which intolerably injured the commercial interests of the British colonial Government in Lagos. The hostility lasted till 1897, at the prompting of the British Colonial Adminstration in Lagos, troops

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of the Royal Niger Company based in Lokoja, invaded and subjugated imperial Ilorin and forbade both llorin and Ibadan from engaging in war without the colonial government's approval.

In another direction, Ilorin midwifed the establishment of Fulani hegemony in Nupeland by aiding the founding of Lafiagi, Shonga, Agaie, Lapai and Bida Emirates between 1808 and 1810. Ilorin's involvement in the political development of Nupeland began about 1808 when Majia, the then Nupe King, abortively attempted to invade llorin in pursuit of the Fulani Islamic missionaries who had fled from Nupeland to Ilorin for refuge under Shehu Alimi. After decisively repulsing the invasion, Ilorin enabled the refugees to return to Nupeland with adequate military, moral and material backing, thereby facilitating the establishment of brotherly interrelationship.

The brotherhood between the Fulani Emirates in Nupeland and the Alimi dynasty in Ilorin later facilitated an alliance for slave-raiding Kabba, Ebira and Oworo lands. The menacing slave-raids and sporadic military harassments by the alliance seriously incapacitated the Royal Niger Company, whose headquarters was then at Lokoja and whose operational commercial centre was covered by the raids. In retaliation, the company, with the collaboration of the colonial administration in Lagos, launched a military expedition which subjugated both Bida and Ilorin and put an end to their sovereignty in 1897.

The two Emirates were thereafter reconstituted into provinces, namely: the Middle Niger Province for the Nupe Emirates up to the River Niger at Lokoja and Ilorin Province for Ilorin Emirate in 1900. The Middle Niger Province was later split into Nupe and Kabba provinces. In 1906, all the provinces were restructured and Districts were created as the basic administrative units. The Districts in each province were later arranged in groups and aggregated into Native Authority (N.A.) areas, that is, local Government units. The first major review and reform of the local Government system was done in 1954.

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In 1967, Ilorin and Kabba provinces were amalgamated to create Kwara State. In 1968, the Kwara State Government radically reformed the Native Authority system and split most of the N.A's into compact administrative Divisions which then became Local Government Areas (L.G.A.). In some cases, very small N.A's were merged into single Divisions to enhance their viability. Although Districts were not abolished under the 1968 reform, their administrative significance was downplayed. The marginalisation has persisted.

Local government areas which were created in 1968 were later split and re-split into much smaller units in subsequent years to further enhance their functionality and efficacy and bring Government nearer to the grassroot level. The historical relationship and association between llorin, on one hand, and the ancient Oyo Empire, the Sokoto Caliphate and the Emirates in Nupeland, on the other hand, provide useful bases for historical cross-references. Synchronisation of historical events in any of the polities with occurrence in another or the other polities elucidate the validity or otherwise of prevalent postulations about the events.

The following illustrates this contention:

(1) Arrival of Shehu Alimi

Two things are usually associated with Shehu Alimi's arrival in Ilorin. The first is that the Shehu came from Sokoto to llorin. The second is that he arrived at Ilorin in 1817. However when the histories of Sokoto, Ilorin and the Emirates in Nupeland are juxtaposed, they show that the two assertions are erroneous.

Nupe and Ilorin history jointly show that Shehu Alimi was in Ilorin by 1808 when the Majia war occurred, thus, making it erroneous to say that he arrived in Ilorin in 1817. The history of Sokoto confirms that Sokoto was founded in 1809. The Shehu who was in florin by 1808 could therefore, not have come from Sokoto.

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I am writing to inform the public that as from 22nd November, this page will commence enlightening the public on History of Ilorin by posting the History of Ilorin Emirate from various books written by indigenous authors, particularly the book written by Alh L. A. K Jimoh and other prominent Ilorites.

Please stay with us. Thank you.