IGBILE–IJEBU: ALWAYS IN THE NEWS FOR GOOD HEADLINES

– AN ABRIDGED HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF IGBILE

Location: Igbile town is situated on the coastal plain of Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Precisely, it is on Kilometer 79 of the Ijebu Ode to Ejinrin Federal Trunk “B” road. It is one of the principal towns constituting the Ijebu Southern District Council in the old Western Region of Nigeria. Igbile is 13km South of Ijebu Ode, the capital city of Ijebuland and 9km North of Ketu in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Origin: Igbile people are of Ijebu stock. Jaun Medu alias Serefusi was the founder of Igbile. He was a Prince of Oba Talakaiye, the Lenuwa of Ode Omi in Ijebu waterside. For safe lagoon travel to/from Ikosi, a foremost market/port in Ijebuland and hub of economic activities during the transatlantic trade, HRM Awujale Gbelegbuwa (1780 – 1790) ordered that Jaun Medu, a powerful Agemo priest and warrior from his mothers’ Ipamuren Quarters, Ijebu Ode should settle along the Ijebu-Ode to Ikosi lagoon route (Owa river). Jaun Medu armed with coronet and other royal paraphernalia left Ode Omi with his wife Erugbo, deities and a retinue of domestic servants. On arrival, Jaun Medu settled on a site of fern plants “Imu/Omu” called OMU this day. He gave the name of his town of origin “Ode Omi” to his compound and called it Ode Oko meaning Ode town in diasporas corrupted to Odo Oko this day. Jaun Medu’s origin from Ode Omi is authenticated by British colonial records. See: Para. 7(b) of a document File: Ije Prof 4:J164 from the National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan.

Age of Settlement: Igbile is one of the ancient towns in Ijebuland, as at the period of Jaun Medu’s foundation of Omu around the year 1785, the now extinct village; Odo Olumodan and Odo Olumogbe (Erebe) were the two communities existing in this corridor of Ijebuland and met by Jawun Medu.

Population: Notwithstanding the historical spread of Igbile people to other communities such as Omu, Erebe, Odo Jobore, Irete, Ogijo, Poka and Imota town in Lagos State, over one hundred thousand people are domiciled in Igbile town.

Occupation: Igbile Ijebu was a farming community in the olden days. Specifically men of Igbile like her neighbors engaged in fishing as an off-season trade which took them to as far as the riverside areas of present-day Epe, Lekki, Ibeju and Ise in Lagos state, and Igbokoda, Orereara, Agerige and Ipare areas of Ondo state. Igbile women folk busied themselves in sales of fishes harvested by the men folk and also engaged in mat weaving “Eni”. Most indigenes of Igbile have embraced education in modern times which account for an encouraging number of her people in prominent positions as captains of industries, civil servants and pacesetters in other spheres of human endeavors.

Culture: Igbile town and her people are rich in culture and tradition. They hold their ancestors in great regard and venerate their memories at the various ancestral points “Oju Osii” of the town where prayers are offered for peace, progress and development of Igbile town. While the first week of August is dedicated for the celebration of the Serefusi of Igbile’s successful pilgrimage to Imosan town via Ijebu Ode in a festival called IFOBU, other totems such as Oro, Eiye, Molokun, Eluku are celebrated in an annual festival called Ebi. Until the 1960s, the Serefusi of Igbile performs his IFOBU at Omu.