HISTORY

Early history Where Ado-Ekiti is situated is a land that has been continuously
inhabited/occupied by human communities from time immemorial. Available
research shows that human societies of unknown antiquity occupied this neighbourhood
about eleven thousand (11,000) years ago. These ancient inhabitants were probably the
same or progenitors/ancestors of Igbon near Ogotun, Erijiyan, Ijero, Ulesun and Asin
(near Ikole) who were probably autochthones because available traditions shows that they
had lived in and near their abodes from time immemorial. As a matter of fact, no one
knows where, if any, they came from and for how long they had lived in those ancient
sites. Ulesun appears the best-known apparently on account of its size, the number of its
subordinate communities especially Aso, Ulero,
Isinla, Ilamoji, Ukere and Agbaun (near Igbemo),
its well-organized traditional religion including its
festivals etc. and its location at the heartland of
Ekitiland. These ancient people were the
ancestors of Ekiti, they played hosts in the 7th
and 8th centuries, about 1,200 years ago, to
waves of immigrants from the basins of the rivers
Niger and Benue; these settled among the
ancient Ekiti, and were fewer in number and so,
the hosts culturally absorbed them.
Ewi immigration
After many generations, a new wave of immigrant
groups penetrated this homeland; their leader as
Ewi, second successor of Prince Biritiokun, Son
of Oduduwa, on account of his wanderings all the
way from the Benin forests, the leader was
nicknamed Awamaro. Ulesun people welcomed
them warmly and neighbouring committees came
together to assist their settlement (built
homesteads for them) at Oke-Ibon in Odo Ijigbo.
Eventually, Ewi and his people overthrew the
existing political arrangements, conquered
Ulesun community, displaced its ruler Elesun and
established a new town, Awamaro named Ado,

meaning 'here we encamp'. Ewi Awamaro and

his successors conquered villages and cottage in
the neighbourhood, replaced their rulers with their
own loyalists, stalwarts and scions of the royal
family. The important citizens of these conquered
communities were relocated in Ado. Ewi
supplanted Elesun as sovereign ruler of the
aboriginal and settler population, many of
Elesun's Chiefs were confirmed in their offices
but they swore oaths of allegiance to the Ewi.
Many of the succeeding Ewi expanded the
kingdom by force of arms, annexed territories
and gave these territories to scions of the royal
families, these assumed titles which became
hereditary. The expansion and growth of AdoEkiti and the kingdom of Ado lasted over 400
years. In the course of this expansion, Ado
became associated with certain traits. Citizens of
the kingdom in general and those of the mother
town, Ado-Ekiti in particular were reputed for
great attention to cleanliness. A popular lyrical
description of Ado citizenry depicts:
Ira Ule Ado m'etipise fifin seree (Ado citizens with
their usually clean heels). Ado people were, by
local standard, tough and brave warriors.
Traditions preserve numerous brave citizens of
each Ado community, the best known were
Ogbigbonihanran of Idolofin quarters,
Ogunmonakan of Okelaja, Fasawo, a.k.a.
Aduloju of Udemo quarters, and Eleyinmi
Orogirigbona of Okeyinmi quarters - all of AdoEkiti and Ogunbulu, a.k.a. Ala l'oju Osoru of
Aisegba. The exploits of Ado tough in many parts
of Ekiti formed the basis of the popular orature:
Ikara s'eji s'inu agbagba t'emi ukoko (Of two

balls of cake in the frying-pan, he insists his

share is one)
Folk, traditions are replete with fond references to
Ewi's relationship with some other Ekiti traditional
rulers. Ewi's antecedents are depicted as:
Elempe Ekiti (mightiest man in Ekiti) On k'emu
'kan o mu meji Oloju k'enu 'kan gba kete re (He
is entitled to one, he took two he has a
disposition to take everything) Ewi i pe mi udiroko
Onitaji i pe mi esunsu...... (Ewi invites me for his
udiroko festival Onitaji invites me for his esunsu
festival)
Folk traditions of this nature vividly portray the
towering position of Ado-Ekiti. In the first place,
Ado-Ekiti is situated at the heartland of Ekiti and
is thus less exposed to cross-border attacks or
non-Ekiti influences. Consequently, over many
centuries, waves of immigrant groups seeking
haven settled in Ado-Ekiti and several other Ado
communities. Many of these immigrants were
refugees, they left their old homelands in parts of
Ekiti, Akoko, Owo etc. where their leaders lost
out in chieftaincy contests. Some were war
captives, these were brought in droves by
Aduloju and his lieutenants from their slave wars
of the 1870s and 1880s in parts of Owo, Ose and
Akoko. They were settled in Ado communities
where they increased the local population, and
enriched the culture with their lineage names and
festivals in similar circumstances, citizens of Ado
communities left their fatherland and settled in a
few places in the neighbourhood up to Ijesaland.
Ibadan sacked many Ado communities in 1873
and made a huge haul of prisoners of war and
other captives who eventually settled in Iwo,

Ibadan and some Remo towns such as Iperu and

Makun Sagamu. However, Ado communities
especially the mother town offset part of their
losses with a large number of slaves and
prisoners of war from Owo, Ose and Akoko.
Ado-Ekiti is one of the towns of the north-eastern
territory of Yoruba land and passed through a
succession of military, political and cultural
changes from the time of Ewi Awamaro (circa
1310 A.D) who migrated there to form what
became Ado-Ekiti.
Jadesola Babatola (2008) noted that the large
part of the 13th century, legend had it that many
princes left Ile Ife to what later became several
Yoruba kingdoms along the west coast of
Nigeria. Among the princes were two born to
Oduduwa by the same mother, the Oba of Benin
and the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti. Both first settled in
Benin forests before disputes among their people
led them to separate and the Ewi sought a new
home westward at Utamodi (Oke Papa). Ewi
Biritiokun and his son reigned there. It was Ewi
Awamaro who migrated to Ilesun (Present day
Ado-Ekiti) after staying briefly at Udoani (Ido Ani)
and Agbado during the long trek. When Ewi
Awamaro left Agbado, the elders remained
behind to rest and gave the settlement the name
Agba Ado (Elders Camp) Agbado-Ekiti as the
town is known today. Awamaros spies
encouraged him to attack Elesun with the support
of Odolofin after he had settled down at Oke Ibon
(now Odo Ijigbo) and with the conquest of
Ulesun by Awamaro, the town of Ulesun
changed its name to Ado or Ado-Ewi.
The Elesun (the King) who ruled over the town of

Ulesun with its satellite towns i.e. Ukere (now

Ikere), Isinla, Ulamoji, Agidimo, Ikewo existed in
what is now known as Ado-Ekiti before the
emergence of Ewi of Ado-Ekiti. The Elesun
occupied the peak of a hierarchy where he had
his subordinates as the Odolofin (Elesun second
in command), Asao, Elegemo, Alamoji, Olisinla,
Olulero, Olookori etc. Elesun was the head of the
laity in the worship of Olota (god), the deity in
charge of the security of Ulesun State. The
Ulesun language was different from Yoruba
(Ado-Ewi) language. Examples are Ideregbe
(Ewure or Goat), Okeregba (Aja or Dog),
Amomo (Alangba or Lizard), Usa (Ikoko or Pot),
Ukere (Ago or Calabash Cup), Ogolomosi (Ibepe
or Pawpaw), Oyeye (Epa or Groundnut). Some
of the Elesuns chiefs such as Odolofin and Asao
were accepted into the Ewis system of
chieftaincy after Awamaros conquest. The
Elegemo retained his post as Chief Priest and
custodian of Iwemo Ogun. Ewis Warrior chiefs
who provided military security for palace
inhabitants were the Akogun at Irona, Oloja Ese
at Oke Ese, Eleyinmi at Okeyinmi and Egbedi at
Orereowu. Ewi Awamaro subjugated Elesuns
neighbours and expanded his territory except
Ukere (Ikere Ekiti) and his successors up to
Yeyenirewu followed same steps that by 1550
A.D. Ado-Ewi had become a big power in the
entire Ekiti country.
The Ewis that reigned at Ado from 1444 to 1552
were: Ewi Ata (14441471), Ewi Owakunrugbon
(14711490), Ewi Owamuaran (14901511),
Yeyenirewu - The regent (1511 1552). Ewis
military exploits during the period was to

subjugate and annex his immediate territories

extended to Ikere, Igbara Odo, Ogotun,
Aramoko, Erio and Erijiyan among others. It was
a long time systematic military campaign during
the reigns of Ewi Obakunrin (15521574), Ewi
Eleyo-Okun (15741599) and Ewi Afigbogbo Ara
Soyi (1599-1630). During the reign of Ewi
Gberubioya (1630-1696), Ado-Ewi was peaceful
as war was abandoned in place of diplomacy and
mutual relations strategy. Ewi Gberubioya
divided the Ewi dynasty into three ruling houses
of Owaroloye (Aroloye), Atewogboye and
Arutawekun. Ewis sons that ruled in
neighbouring areas during the reign of
Gberubioya included Okunbusi who became
Onigede, Adubienimu who became Alawo, the
Onijan, Opoakin (of Iwere), Olu Akitipa (of Odo),
Aramude, Olokun, Olurasa, Onikewo and Olotin.
One of his sons, Amujoye founded Igbemo and
took the title of Oba of Igbemo from its inception.
Gberubioya linked the Ewis dynasty to both Ikole
and Ijero because one of his wives who were
betrothed to Elekole was surrendered to Ewi as a
peace deal and her children for the Elekole, Ewi
and Ajero who took her into custody after Ewis
demise later ascended as Ewi, Elekole and Ajero
respectively. Ido Faboro (Ido-Ekiti) took her
current name from Ado as a result of settlement
with Ewi to remain independent of Ado during
Gberubioyas reign. Other Ewis that reigned after
Gberubioya were Ewi Idagunmodo (1696-1710),
Ewi Okinbaloye Aritawekun (1710-1722), Ewi
Amono Ola (1722-1762), Ewi Afunbiowo
(1762-1781), Ewi Akulojuorun (1781-1808), Ewi
Aroloye (1808-1836), Ewi Ali Atewogboye

(1836-1885), Ewi Ajimudaoro Aladesanmi I

(1886-1910), Ewi Adewumi Agunsoye (1910 1936), Ewi Daniel Anirare Aladesanmi II (1937 1983), HRM Ewi Samuel Adeyemi GeorgeAdelabu I (1984 - 1988) and HRM Alayeluwa Ewi
Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe Aladesanmi III (the
current Ewi of Ado-Ekiti).
British occupation
From the 1880s, agents of the British, especially
Christian missionaries penetrated the Yoruba
interior in an endeavour to end the wars, in
particular, the wars of liberation Ekitiparapo
communities waged against Ibadan since
October, 1879. In June, 1886, political-cummilitary officers got the belligerent parties to sign a
truce and in March, 1893, Governor Carter of
Lagos visited Ibadan and Ekitiparapo camps of
Igbajo and Imesi-Ile and terminated the war, got
the leaders to sign treaties which prohibited
slavery and slave trade, human sacrifices and
the use of weapons to settle conflicts. The British
administration in Lagos (which had authority over
Yoruba hinterland from 1893) proclaimed a
general emancipation for slaves and ordered
slaves who so wished to return to their former
homelands. As a result, numerous citizens of
Ekiti in general and Ado in particular returned
from captivity forth with. The British established
its colonial rule on vast territories and in 1900, a
number of districts became Nigeria. Eventually,
further reorganizations led to the creation in
January, 1913 of Ekiti District, with headquarters
in Ado-Ekiti. That was a landmark from where to
begin the discussion of today, modern times, a
period characterized by the emergence of new

things, phenomenal growth and development of

old kingdom and its Chief city, Ado-Ekiti.
Ado-Ekiti Layout as a Yoruba
Settlement in 1800s
Jadesola Babatola (2013) noted that the
characteristics of average human settlements
across the Yoruba nation up to 19th century have
been identified as a formation of two basic
settlement patterns the main town and the
subordinate towns. In quoting P.C. Llyod
(1962:54-57) he presented that the metropolitan
(main) town is sometimes larger than the
subordinate towns while its rulership and kinship
are based on patrilinear succession within the
agnatic lineage. The traditional layout
arrangement was usually based on geographic
location, population size, need for expansion,
trade opportunities, settlers vocation and military
vulnerability of major towns over subordinate
towns in addressing their strategic trade and
military advantage. Across Yorubaland, it was
observed that variations and modification in the
location and access to Kings palace in particular
alongside the settings for the Kings market and
meeting places in designated areas were
determined by the towns topography, culture
and politics and the extent of control over the
people and the local economy.
The general Yoruba traditional compound
described by T.J. Bowen in his Adventures and
Missionary labours in the Interior of Africa from
1849-1856, and the Revd. R.H. Stones in
Africs Forest and Jungle, was further described
in by PC Llyods Comparative Study of the
Political Institutions in Some Yoruba Towns, an

unpublished B.Sc thesis (1952). For avoidance

of doubt, the Intelligence Report produced by
N.A.C. Weir (1933) reported a general
framework of township organization in Ado-Ekiti
in the early British colonial rule, which is similar to
what existed during the pre-colonial era. Weir
(1933) noted that the family (Ebi) as the smallest
unit which is grouped into Village (Ileto) or SubQuarter (Ogbon) or Quarter (Adugbo) in a town
(Ilu). However Weir made an error of assertion
when he claimed that the wars or slave raids of
the 19th century were the greatest factors in the
creation of the larger towns.
Weirs error was based on his lack of
understanding of the traditional layout pattern in
Yoruba land and his misconception of the facts
behind the growth of major towns which he
attributed purely to illegitimate and legitimate
trade. The existing traditional arrangement
always recognized some socio-economic and
political factors necessary for the formation and
setting of townships in Yoruba land. Recounting
the assertions of E. Kraff Askaris, I. Olomola
(2013) observed that the Palace of a paramount
ruler is the centre of political and economic
activities such that both the palace and central
(Obas) market lay at the centre of the town and
all route to and from the outer. Communities
converged on it like spokes of wheel. Both
Palace and Market were sacred places as well
as centres of ritual sacrifices and worship of
tutelary deities.
The panoramic view of Ado-Ekiti in the 19th
century was a feature of average Yoruba
settlement. Llyod (1962) noted that the traditional

layout existing across settlements in Yoruba land

in the pre-colonial era formed part of the physical
features of Ado-Ekiti. He described how Ado-Ekiti
was traditionally arranged among settlers. See
diagram of source in P.C. Llyod (1962:56)
Yoruba Land Law. Using the foregoing
parameters, one can describe the nature and
pattern of settlements of Ado-Ekiti in the precolonial era by pinpointing existing arrangement
in Ado-Ekiti as it reflects on the growth of the
metropolis or main town (Ilu-Nla) and the
subordinate towns (Ilu-Kekere) in the peripheries
(Agbegbe) or subordinate areas. Furthermore,
the sketch devised by Llyod (1962:56) showed
the structure of Ado-Ekiti settlement as a
metropolitan town surrounded by subordinate
towns and communities with Ado-Ekiti layout
coordinated and co-existing with the layout of the
subordinate towns surrounding the municipality in
similar ways.
Ewis Suzerainty in Ado-Ekiti Traditional Layout
and 1800s Settlements: Ado-Ekiti and all other
Ado communities consisted of a large number of
traditional rectangular compounds grouped into
the quarters of the town. Within the Ado-Ekiti
township layout, the Ewis Palace lay in the
middle, though it was first built at Oke-Ibon and
then moved to Chief Arowas Palace strands
beside the Erekesin (Kings Market) before it
was moved into the vintage point of Oke Ewi
where it has finally settled over 200 years ago.
The sitting of Ewis Palace within Ados
topography is discussed in the work of G.J.A.
Ojo (1966:76) who noted that Yoruba palaces
(aafin) are the residence of King (Oba) and

sacred places that houses shrines and temples to

all deities worshipped in the kingdom, together
with a number of places reserved for ritual
activities, oath taking etc. Llyod (1962:192) in
similar manner justified the status of the Ewi as a
scared ruler in the typical Yoruba fashion. Oral
tradition further hinged the sacredness of Ewi and
the location of Ewis Palace at the centre of the
chief city (Ado-Ekiti) on the degree of his
relationship and the latitude which his High
Chiefs, Military Chiefs, Palace Chiefs and Royal
Princes who acted as patron chiefs over hamlets
and surrounding villages enjoy.
The traditional layout of Ado-Ewi appeared to
have taken definite shape from the time of Ewi
Awamaro as a matter of strategic repositioning for
Kingdom building and political dominance of the
rural and conquered communities. The traditional
layout design of Ado-Ekiti relocated most of the
early settlers outside the vicinity of Ewis Palace.
It was an arrangement that also left the Ado
community and the subordinate towns to revolve
around Ewi in a preferred order. The
enlargement of the Ewis Kingdom during the
reign of Ewi Gberubioya (1630-1696) in the 17th
century and other successive Ewis upward into
late 19th century which covers the period under
review with the expansion of the main towns
layout indicates that they did not alter the
traditions for town settings which is similar to what
is obtained in many other of Yoruba major towns.
In the most part of 1800 (19th Century) and early
20th century, Ado people were adherents in
African traditional religion with fervent worship of
the supernatural, ancestral and embodied spirits

of varying categories, which revolve round Ewis

Palace institution. The mode of worship and
observance of traditional rites revolved around
alaponmi, Oitado and alafonyos, Ogun festival
and Iwe Mo Ogun, Egungun festivals - Ade,
Aeregbe, Orude, Epa, Odede festivals and the
most important, being Udiroko which is the
traditional Ado Day, the first day in the traditional
calendar. Traditional shrines were created for
Orisa Ojido, Uba Lota, Ayoba, Oke Egbe (now
Ayunbo), Odudu, Osun, Ose, Ogbese, Ajilosun,
Isewese, Atan All of them fertility deities.
The role of Ado-Ekiti in the growth of Yoruba
religion and politics intertwined and influenced the
survival of Ewis realm while co-habiting and coexisting with her subordinate and satellite towns
and other neighbouring communities. The
tenancy embedded in the spiritual arrangement
of the Ado-Ekiti layout in that era suffices.
Narratives and archival materials embedded in
the works of Chief J.E. Babatola (1976) written in
concert with 31 Ado Chiefs as a rejoinder to a
reconstruction of Ado history by Chief J.A.
Fashubaa, the Oisa tallied with the historical
approaches. It also highlighted the traditional
panoramic view of Ado-Ekiti in 1800s and the
nature of her municipality and the group
intersections of her three notable traditional
sectors in a unique arrangement that further
conceptualized the traditional components of the
Ewis cabinet. The layout pattern was shown in a
sketch that depicted the traditional layout of Ado
landscape in the pre-colonial era (1800s) as
reproduced by Chief J.E. Babatola on the rearrangement of Ado landscape and Chieftaincies

beginning from the reign of Ewi Awamaro Source:

31 Ado Chiefs Rejoinder to Chief Oisa Fasubas
Memo 1975/76
Ewis Realm Territoriality and Politics of Division
in Ewis Kingdom: At the height of Ado-Ekiti
influence in Ekiti country in the 18th and 19th
centuries, legend has it that Ado kingdom
consisted of 150 (ewadojo) communities and that
the metropolis of the kingdom was Ado-Ekiti
Township where the Ewi as Sovereign
superintended over the realm as the sovereign
head. The Oluyin, the Alare, the Alaworoko, the
Elesure, the Eleyio and the Onigbemo are very
important rulers of subordinate towns within the
immediate precinct of the Ewis municipality.
Within the Ewis Kingdom, heads of subordinate
towns often performed specific political and
spiritual roles and responsibilities in the service of
the Kingdom in order to retain and sustain their
relationship with the powerful King while
supporting the layers of interrelations among
towns in the realm. Legend has it that it was a
tradition in Ado-Ekiti for influential members of the
royal household (Omo Oba or Omo Owa) to be
sent to subordinate Ado-Ekiti community to found
new dynasties on established settlements in
buffer zones and borderland areas.
Rulers of subordinate towns like Iyin-Ekiti (Uyin
Alelagba) and Are-Ekiti were brothers and
relations of the Ewi who co-existed and led their
respective townships as co-ordinate lesser cities
of Ado-Ekiti. They ruled in those towns with a
view to creating stability for the Ewi who was a
ruler of higher importance in the main city, AdoEkiti, while his brothers are rulers over lesser Ado

towns where they maintained required

importance and role to preserve the Ewis realm
and achieve an equation of substance and
stability against Ewis potential regional
neighbours. The existence of these chieftains
help to preserve Ewis interest and to protect
Ado-Ekiti from direct invasion by any ambitious
adventurer since the chiefs represent Ewis
interest in those subordinate and neighbouring
towns, farm settlements, hamlets and
subordinate towns. The headship of most of
these towns was selected from the ruling lineage
that was created by the senior chiefs, subject to
the ratification of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti.
J.O. Olubobokun in his works Itan Iyin (1980)
as corroborated by A.O. Oguntuyi (1986:9)
asserted that Iyin is one of the subordinate towns
of Ado-Ekiti founded by Oluyin Agbogbomaje,
e.g. the sword bearer (Oluda) who accompanied
Ewi Awamaro to settle in Ado before he was
allocated land to the West of Ado town and
settled in a place called Uro where he was later
joined by people of Ibedoyin, Oketoro and
Okelawe in forming a total of 16 quarters which
later truncated into one town. The essence here
is that Iyin people were part of Ado Kingdom that
gained royal autonomy to co-exist as separate
community under the realm of the Ewi without
severing traditional ties and blood relations with
Ewi and Ado people. The deep traditional
relationship that existed between the Ewi of AdoEkiti, the Oluyin of Iyin-Ekiti and the Onigbemo of
Igbemo-Ekiti for instance requiring those rulers of
the subordinate towns around Ado-Ekiti to
participate in specific rites at the death or

installation of Ewi of Ado-Ekiti tends to highlight

the role of covenant renewal in the community for
the continuity of Ewis imperial or hegemonic
status and influence in the subordinate Towns.
It is worth noting that, the rulers of these
subordinate towns held rights of sovereignty
similar to those wielded by the Ewi of Ado in
making rules and that Llyod (1962:221) asserted
that the Ewi, however holds certain sovereign
rights over the entire Kingdom. A major feature is
that each of the subordinate towns also has its
separate rulers and chiefs, with a measure of
importance and respect even when they hold
lesser status or rank in relation to the Ewi who
takes preeminence over them due to his
prominence, influence, traditional rights, military
might, population and size of the realm.
In Ado-Ekiti, the title of Ewi as a metropolitan
sovereign is hereditary and alternatively
contested by members of the two prominent
ruling houses that had gained traditional
preeminence within the royal household during
period under review, whenever the stool of Ewi
became vacant. Heads of subordinate towns in
old Ado-Ekiti Kingdom may not be regarded as
Baale (High Chiefs) as commonly seen in
Yoruba communities of the Ibadan and Oyo
country. Rather they were Traditional Rulers
(Oba Ilu), though of lower status to the KingEmperor (Oba Alayeluwa or Oba lori Agbegbe)
who resides in the main town, a position
occupied by the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti in the 19th
century. In the circumstances where subjected
towns and their rebellion-prone rulers were
faraway or near but troublesome by striving for

autonomy or independence from Ewis influence

as identified in case of the Alawe, the Olosi, the
Olode, the Onijan and the Onimesi; rulers of other
subordinate towns and Ewis chieftains were
constantly on hand to check them against crisis
that could create chaos or attract foreign
invasions.
There is no doubt that the festering political
relationship between dominant Ado and its
erstwhile subordinate Ikere town played into the
hands of Benin in 1815 as asserted thus: the
rapid expansion of Ado brought it into conflict with
Benin, another power with imperialistic designs in
Ekiti. Responding to the invitation by Ados
neighbouring states who had become unduly
alarmed by the consolidation and excesses of the
Ewis power, Benin army invaded and
subjugated Ado in addition to overrunning most of
the other Ekiti states some of whose ruling
dynasties, as in Ikere, were replaced G.O.
Ogunremi and A. Adediran (eds) (1998:17)
The oral tradition of that time depicted the irony of
the rivalries and adversities attracted to the Ado
Township and the Ewi when describing her quest
for expansion in Ekiti as popularly recounted
thus: Ogun yeye, bEwi ja, Ajase I loo Ewi
Meaning Many are the adversity of the King of
Ado-Ekiti (Ewi), but the power of triumph lies in
his hands. The continuous opposition to Ewis
paramountcy by a large number of Ekiti royalties
across the country is a pointer to the fear inherent
in Ewis notable imperial ambitions from 17th to
19th century, which became threats on the status
and economy of other notable towns, who were
also aiming at prominence and equality within the

regional power sharing structure of Ekiti country.

No doubt, the characteristics of town formation in
Ado-Ekiti area distinguish the mother town (the
metropolis) where the most important chiefs
reside from the subordinate towns where other
rulers existed.
Ado-Ekiti Society and Chiefs Status in the
Towns in 1800s: There are the two major grades
of chieftaincy titles in Ado-Ekiti as the ihare and
ijoye. For instance, the ihare grade in Oke Ewi
(one of the three Ado Quarters) is divided into
two The Senior chiefs known as Olori Marun
and the junior chiefs consisting of 5 Elesi and 10
Ijegbe. High Chiefs (Baale) in Ado-Ekiti like
several others in different parts of Ekiti country
were the senior ranking cabinet members of the
King-Emperors court within the realm. They
emerged as most senior chiefs representing
recognized leading lineages and compound
(agbo ile), chieftaincy families and settlements in
the three sectors and quarters of the main town.
The sectors from where the High Chiefs existed
also consisted of their immediate abode and
extended families, the existing lineages (idi) and
groups which Llyod (1962:191) described as
(idile or ebi) the main patrilineage corporate
group. Others in the sector are the abode and
farm settlements of lesser chiefs and their families
which Llyod (1962:55) regarded as hamlets
(abule or Ileto) while describing typical settlement
patterns in Ekiti in comparison with those from
Ijebu and Ondo country. By Ado traditions,
descendants in the male line have exclusive
rights to land in perpetuity subject to communal
rights of hunting and the Ewis right as Sovereign

ruler to certain trees and game. Grant of land to

non-indigene requires permission of Ewi and his
Chiefs to forestall subtle arrival of unknown
strangers who could end up as agents of hostile
communities or invaders planning to attack the
realm.
A reflection of this tradition embedded in the
status of rulers of subordinate towns up to the
19th century replayed itself during the settlement
of a land dispute between the Oluyin and
Odofinyin in 1940. It was pronounced according
to native law and customs that the Oluyin could
not arbitrarily impel himself on the traditional rights
of his chiefs though he held an incontestable
position as the Head Chief (Ruler) of Uyin Ekiti (a
subordinate town) of Ado-Ekiti. This decision was
derived from the tradition that everyone in Ado
Township has his paternal and maternal land
over which the ruler has no ownership or direct
control. The Ewis controls over land by tradition
were limited to areas designated as royal lands,
public or open land where the attention of Ewi
and his chiefs should be sought. By tradition,
Ado people would naturally challenge Ewis
intrusion on family lands and revolt against him if
public land had been tampered with, unless the
consent of Ado chiefs and the people were
sought and gotten. P.C. Llyod (1962:200) noted
that the Ewis 1940 crisis could be traced to
these traditions because he was alleged to have
breached same by alienating palace land for
contrary purposes.
In the 1800s, heads of most hamlets and villages
in Ado kingdom were Ewis chiefs or rulers of
subordinate towns who rule in the subordinate

towns though lesser in rank and status to Ewi.

They are not servile but were subservient to Ado
monarch. The import of the above explanation is
that the lesser Kings and Chiefs whose towns
surround the main town were autonomous and
allowed to operate the running of their local affairs
and economy and in taking decisions which did
not conflict with the Ado system of governance,
political tradition and culture nor attract the
interest of the King-Emperor to adjudicate upon.
The Ewi in Council and organization of Ado-Ekiti
Chiefs from the 1800s: The Intelligence Report
produced in November, 1933 by N.A.C. Weir
could not essentially produce adequate
information on ancient organization of Ado-Ekiti
due to his inability to elicit required information
from the local people. Rather he concluded from
his observations that the information is nonexistent. Yet he wrote thus: In Ado there is an
aboriginal family in a number of towns or
villagesIt is therefore difficult the more difficult to
trace their ancient organization because they
know nothing of their history prior to their
migration here. They came with their organization
complete and there is nothing of their history to
show how it was built up. Whole villages
accompanied the Ewi to this part of the Ekiti
country and as a powerful settler, he parceled out
what land there was. The aboriginals were so
scattered or so weak that they could offer no
resistance to his advance and followed the only
course left to them, that of securing the good will
of the fresh arrivals
From various accounts of Ado history, Ado-Ekiti
with her farm settlements was the largest

kingdom in the Ekiti Confederation, though Ado

in itself is an amalgam of three constituent
sectors largely brought together after the Ewis
conquest of Ilesun as OKE EWI, ODO ADO, and
OGBON META (three coordinate and equal
settlements of Oke Ila, Odo Ora and Oke Efon).
Llyod among others asserted that there were no
records of the ranking of chiefs before the 20th
century because most lineages grew in size, by
the absorption of Ado citizens of other lineages
and by increases due to possession of slaves
while the more regular pattern in the town
consists of five or six lineages, with each of
constituting a quarter where there exist those
who hold senior titles in relation to those with
junior titles, whether or not hereditary. Many of
Ewis chiefs and town settlers within Ado-Ekiti fall
into one of the following three categories
regardless of their emerging importance and role
in the activities and government of Ewis
Kingdom by 1800 viz. a. The Aboriginals and
Early Settlers b. The Ewis Royal Court and
companion settlers c. The adventurers and
immigrant settlers who the Ewi granted
citizenship status
Among the aboriginal and early settlers are
groups of Chiefs with higher or lesser status in
the Ewis cabinet. Some of the Chiefs which Ewi
met in Ado are: a. Odolofin in Odo Ado Sector b.
Olora in Ogbon Meta Sector c. Asawa from Odo
Ado Sector
Members of the Ewi royal courts and
accompanying Chieftains in the groups of Chiefs
with higher or lesser status in the Ewis cabinet
include: a. Aro in Odo Ado Sector b. Arowa in

Oke Ewi Sector

Adventurers and immigrant settlers of Ewi who
became citizens and chieftains in the groups of
Chiefs with higher or lesser status in the Ewis
cabinet include: a. Alarerin in Ogbon Meta Sector
from Oke Ila via Ila Orangun b. Odofin in Odo
Ado Sector from Oba (now Oba Ile) near Akure
c. Ejigbo in Oke Ewi Sector from Imesi Lasigidi
(Now Imesi-Ekiti) East of Ado d. The Esewa in
Oke Ewi Sector who came from Esewa, Ido Ani
e. The Ola in Eleyinmi, Oke Ewi Sector who
came from Ode-Ekiti f. The Sasere in Oke Ewi
Sector who came from Omuo now North East
The number of High Chiefs whose status qualify
them as senior cabinet members (ihare) in the
Ewi in Council in the 19th century were twelve in
number and their role was designed in the turn of
that century, not necessarily by their seniority, but
by their importance and contributions to Ewis
traditional authority for the advancement of Ados
political stability and progress above other
traditional chiefs (ijoye) of the Ewi. The twelve
senior chiefs were drawn from the three major
traditional sectors of Ado-Ekiti classified below:
OKE EWI SECTOR Odogun (Sector Chairman,
Ewis Interior Minister and Head of Okeyinmi
Quarters) Ejigbo (Ewis Traditional Chamberlain
and Head of Ijigbo Quarters) Baisaya (Ewis
Cabinet Minister and Head of Baisaya Quarters)
Asa (Ewis Cabinet Minister and Head of Asa
Quarters) Sasere (Ewis Cabinet Minister and
Head of Sasere Quarters)
ODO ADO SECTOR Odofin (Sector Chairman,
Ewis Cabinet Minister and Head of Idofin
Quarters) Aro (Ewis Cabinet Minister and Head

of Ularo Quarters) Odolofin (Ewis Cabinet

Minister and Head of Udolofin Quarters) Edemo
(Ewis Cabinet Minister and Head of Udemo
Quarters)
OGBON META SECTOR Alarerin (Sector
Chairman, Ewis Cabinet Minister and Head of
Oke Ila Quarters) Olora (Ewis Cabinet Minister
and Head of Odo Ora Quarters) Odunro (Ewis
Cabinet Minister and Head of Odo Uro Quarters)
Ado-Ekiti 1800s turbulence and the advent of
British Colonial Rule: Much of the period between
the late 1700 and early 1800s, were periods of
dislocation and resettlements for Ado-Ekiti
Kingdom. According to A.O. Oguntuyi
(1986:13-17): The development of the Ado
Kingdom was seriously affected by external
invasion. These resulted in series of
demographic upheavals with settlements
constantly moved from one site to another. The
most serious of these external invasions were by
the Edo of Benin. They attacked and destroyed
many settlementsin the Ado KingdomThe
Binis were invited by Ogoga, the third time the
Binis were so invited to settle the quarrel between
Ado and Ikere. The line of action they resolved to
adopt was to bring all the villages under the ewi to
Ikere, settle them there and in this way Ikere
would be equal or even bigger than Ado. Ado
would then be afraid of Ikere. The Benin soldiers
cameand sent words to the Ewi AroloyeHe
refused to surrender. He did not in any way show
that he was not ready for fight. Every town or
village under him except Ijan were prepared to
fightThe Benin soldiers stormed Igbara-Odo
and Ilawe and took them. At this time, Ado town

had been vacated. Aroloye took the people to a

place called Oke Oko Axis between Ifaki and
Iworoko. Most of the gods Ado worshipped on
that side: Olua at Eyio, Obanifon at Esure and
Are, Ogbese and Orisala at Iworoko. The
soldiers pitched their camps near Uyin (Iyin)
Ogbesi Okun, the then Oluyin was conquered
and killed. They proceeded to Igede, Awo and
Esure and took them. The inhabitants of Igede
then uder [ clarification needed ] Okiribiti were
driven in a north-easternly direction to a place
called Oke AshaEdo troops then marched to
IworokoThe soldiers entered AreThe same
fate befell Afao. They were all taken to Ikere. The
soldiers moved to Igbemo entered Igbo-Omoba
(now Ilu-Omoba)The soldiers left Aisegba for
Agbado and without delay took it and evacuated
the people. Agbado was the last place under the
Ewi. With the conquest, of Agbado, the soldiers
seemed to have finished their job
Isola Olomola (2005:8-12) dwell extensively on
the panoramic view of Ekiti in about 1800. He
noted that the ravages of invaders and slave
raiders from Benin, Nupe-Fulani, Ilorin-Fulani
and Ibadan country turned many medium-sized
towns and large number of villages into turmoil,
political and social turbulence. Drawing on the
characteristics and legend of traditional
settlements in Ekiti country with reference to
major Kingdoms of Ado, Ikole, Ijero and Moba,
Olomola (2005:9) asserted thus: Each Kingdom
consisted of a major (mother) town and a few or
numerous subordinate communities while each
city-state comprised a main town and a couple of
villages and cottages. Each Kingdom or city

state was, to all intent and purposes, a territorial

unit over which its Oba (ruler), for all practical
purposes, was sovereign from its inceptionThe
Oba of the mother town wore crowns and lived a
life governed by protocol, while the heads of
subordinate communities wore crown lets
(orikogbofo) and caps...No part of Ekiti was
spared the agony of imperialist invasionsThe
rampaigning Benin armies sacked Ogotun,
Aramoko, some subordinate communities of
Ijero, Ado communities such as Are, Afao, Ugbo
(now Ilu) Omoba and Agbado and settled a large
percentage of the haul of captives therefrom in
Ikere, their garrison post. The Nupe-Fulani
armies invaded Gbonyin district of AdoBetween
1845 and 1846, these invaders sacked (Ekiti)
towns and ravaged the countrysideBalogun
Ibikunle led Ibadan armies to the rescueand
later in 1850 turned the intervention to punitive
wars Ibadan chiefs led their personal armies
into Ekiti and adjacent communitiesIn January
1873, the Aare Momo (Mohammed) Latosisa
launched a full scale invasion of central and
northern Ekitisacked Ado and many of its
subordinate communities
During the period of Ado-Ekiti dispersal and
relocation in late 1700 and after the return of Ewi
and other settlers to their original abode in mid
1800, minor modifications in the settlement
arrangement occurred in communities outside
Ado city wall and in the open land available
occupied by royal household and other settlers
apart from areas taken over by larger chieftains
after the dispersal of some Ado chieftains who
resettled elsewhere when Ewi returned to Ado

metropolis. Most communities which returned

with the Ewi re-occupied their original quarters/
settlements to rebuild them except those who
moved from their original settlements outside the
Ado township walls into the main town in order to
reduce the direct impact of attacks by invaders
on them whenever hostilities broke out. The
modification that affected land occupation and reallocation, border relations and security were
aimed at reducing imminent threats to Ewis
Kingdom. Hence, the traditional layout allowed
for creation of new quarters in the main town to
maintain solidarity, military support and boost the
farming economy.
Ewi Ajimudaoro Aladesanmi I (1886-1910) had a
peaceful reign devoid of Ikere attacks. This was
made possible by the fact that Ado wars with
Ikere ended through the peace covenant initiated
by a Prince - Oba Oyinbolaja (Oba Dadi). He
was reported to have convinced the Ewi of AdoEkiti and the Ogoga of Ikere-Ekiti to accept
colonial rule of the white man and to stop human
sacrifices. When the Ewi accepted colonial rule,
he sent emissaries to Captain R.L Bower (the
Resident and Travelling Commissioner of Interior
Yoruba in 1894) through the help of Ifamuboni
(later Babamboni) and then Ado-Ekiti was
regarded as a territory within the British
Protectorate. It was recorded that Mr. Campbell
was the first Briton to visit Ado-Ekiti for situation
assessment and report in respect of Kiriji
Proclamations at the termination of the Yoruba
wars.
In the account of Ewi Anirare Aladesanmi II
(1977:9) he noted that the Peace Treaty signed

on one hand, between the Ekitis and their Ife and

Ijebu allies with Ibadan in 1886 made Ekitis (AdoEkiti inclusive) independent under the British
Government of Lagos, though no direct colonial
administration was witnessed until the setting up
of Ekiti Council for members of Ekiti Confederacy
on 21 June 1900. The efforts of Evangelist Isaac
Ifamuboni (later Babamuboni) and a number of
early Christians from Lagos, Abeokuta and
Ibadan who introduced the cultivation of cocoa,
maize, brown cocoyam and made wage earning
labourers to go from Ado-Ekiti to work in Ondo,
Ijebu and Ife in order to boost the cultivation of
economic trees in the early part of 1900s were
legend of the closing age of that era. The contact
of the Ewi and Ado people with the British
opened a new chapter for Ado Kingdom in the
20th century. It was a chapter that eventually
resulted in elevation of Ado-Ekiti as a District
headquarters of Ekiti Native Authority in Ondo
Province (of north-eastern Yoruba Territories)
which formed part of the Western Region in the
Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (now the
Federal Republic of Nigeria) and is today, the
capital of Ekiti State.
The gradual break down and tearing apart of
Ewis Kingdom after 19th century by the advent
of British colonial rule is made poignant with the
grant of political and territorial autonomy to
various towns and villages under Ewis influence
in the pre-colonial era. This is further
strengthened by the creation of modern local
government system and the composition of
Council of Chiefs with the re-grading of the status
of Chiefs and granting of full autonomies to

natural rulers in several communities.

Recent times
Chief J.E. Babatola (1995) noted that Ado Ekiti
remains a geographical and historic centre of
Ekitiland, a nuclear setting among the erstwhile
16 Kingdoms and the political administrative
arrangements that succeeded them supported it.
The originally 16 associated kingdoms that
spanned the Ekiti country had diplomatic ties
which depended much for a proper functioning on
the role that the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti and the General
of his Army played in sustaining harmony in the
entire Ekiti territory. He asserted that the
kingdoms of Egbe Oba (Ikole) and Ijero gave
Ado-Ekiti continual support in playing a
leadership role. Hence, the traditional ties and
leadership role of Ado-Ekiti and the central
position of Ewis Kingdom among the three
potential rulers of Ekitiland in its medieval period
of history suffice.
In the course of the history of Ekiti, only kingdoms
outside a direct centrifugal influence exerted from
Ado-Ekiti were those of Otun, Ishan, Ayede and
Emure, three of them in the extreme north and
one on the extreme south. During the advent of
colonial rule in Ekiti, between 1899 and 1912, the
British Colonial Government administered
Ekitiland from Oke Imo and from 1913 decided to
choose Ado-Ewi as a convenient centre for its
Ekiti administration, while changing the towns
name to Ado-Ekiti in recognition that Ado-Ekiti is
the nerve centre of Ekiti peoples social and
economic activities. In the areas of religious
harmony in Ekiti affairs, major religious activities
designed for Ekiti particularly for both the

Anglican and the Roman Catholic Churches,

have Ado-Ekiti as the Seat of their Bishops. In the
academic field, Ado-Ekiti is the seat of the
Federal Polytechnic and the Ondo State
University (now renamed Ekiti State University,
Ado-Ekiti). The location of these institutions
therefore bears witness to the central-ness of
Ado Ekiti in the heart of Ekitiland.
Chief J.E. Babatola also indicated that most of
the organizations that made demands for the
creation of an Ekiti State wanted Ado-Ekiti as its
capital because Ado-Ekiti is uniquely a natural
setting capable of resultant development of its
landscape and facilities in a way to assist the
finance of the administration of a new State. Part
of the summary of the presentation to Mbanefos
Panel on State Creation for the choice of AdoEkiti as the State Capital in Chief Babatolas
submission was his presentation of the Ekiti Map
where he referred to the population sizes of Ekitis
and showed that the percentages yielded by the
population of Ekiti North (headquarters at Ikole),
Ijero (headquarters at Ijero) and Ero
(headquarters at Ido Ekiti) are respectively
13.03, 0.93, and 15.35, while that of Ado stood
at 28.43% of their entire population. He noted that
in using a map of Ekiti produced before Akure
opted out of the Ekiti confederacy in 1946, the
centre of balance geometrically in Ekitiland
between 1913 and 1946 was Itaipe area (the
picnic ground at Ado-Ekiti). He highlighted the
efforts of Ado-Ekiti people to make the Ekiti
Division of Ondo Province achieve development
in terms of road transportation, creation of land
bank for business and official use through

existence of road infrastructures to link the town

with the other Ekiti administrative divisions,
extensive Government Reservation Areas to
house government officials (i.e. District Officers,
judges and magistrates), the Ewi-in-Council
1975 augmentation of Government efforts by
creation of land bank for development purposes,
construction of several buildings by the Federal
and State Governments for the official use of the
administrative, judiciary, police and prison
departments, existing communication facilities
and adequate provision for effective
administration of justice and security of lives in
Ekitiland which is at its best in Ado-Ekiti. He
noted that since Ekitis naturally come to Ado-Ekiti
regularly and settle there in large numbers to do
business and contribute enormously to the
increased prosperity of Ekiti people, Ado-Ekiti is a
befitting place to site the capital. He concluded
that Ado-Ekiti is already a fortunate asset with
no liability attached in setting up the apparatus for
a state capital
Ado-Ekiti eventually became the capital of Ekiti
State when the state was created on 1 October
1996. The demand for equity among Ekiti people
and equality of Ekiti Kingdoms was brought to
light in the agitation for the location of the state
capital in different communities; no part of Ekiti
would see itself as subordinate or less developed
to the others. This is the politics of development
in modern Ekiti State since 1999 and one of the
major challenges of political governance,
leadership aspirations and policy making.
Political violence sparked a protest march in AdoEkiti in January 2009. Residents took to the

streets demanding government action following a

spate of political violence involving reported
murders, assassination attempts, and at least
one arson of a journalist's home. [2]
Demographics
Some fifty years ago, the city began to grow/
expand beyond its peripheries and ancient gates
and ramparts. In 1963, the city was the largest
urban centre in present Ondo and Ekiti States
and its population of 158,000 at the census of
that year represented it as the most populous
urban centre in Eastern Yorubaland. The 1991
population count confirmed the primacy of the
city, at least in Ekiti. The creation of Ekiti State in
October 1996 and the establishment of state
capital at Ado-Ekiti will further enhance the city's
physical development.
The phenomenal growth and development
mentioned above have been due to many
factors. Many of these are citizens of Ado urban,
some are citizens of Ado rural, some are stranger
elements, a couple of them are even Europeans
and other expatriates. The citizenry warmly
welcomed these development. For example,
when the main road from the National Bank
junction, through Erekesan and Ereguru to
Ojumose was tarred in 1952 and the major road
from Ajilosun through Ijigbo, Orereowu, Okesa
and Obada etc. a section of Akure - Ilorin road,
was tarred in 1956, the very welcome
development was rendered in popular juju songs,
one of which rang:
Baba wa te 'ri oda l'ado (Our fathers walked
on tarred roads at Ado)
Ko o bi ko e e (what a delight, what a delight)

e e o (very well so)

Ko o bi ko e e (What a delight, what a delight)
The layout of Ado-Ewi drawn up and successfully
implemented from the time of Ewi Awamaro and
enlarged by Ewi Gberubioya were only slightly
modified to address the issues of border relations,
internal security and reduction of threats to the
heartland of Ewis Kingdom after the turbulence
and wars of 19th century. Since the era of Ewi
Awamaro, the design of Ado-Ewi Layout had
been implemented in a manner that left the first
settlers relocated outside the vicinity of the Ewis
Palace in an arrangement that left the community
around Ewi in a preferred order. Ewis palace
was first built where Chief Arowa now resides
close to Erekesan (Kings Market). The layout
was part of the physical features in the traditional
settings and layout of Ado-Ekiti, the panoramic
view as at the beginning of 1800. Ewi
Akulojuorun (1781-1808), Ewi Aroloye
(1808-1836) who reigned at Ado but was
attacked successively by Benin hordes.
Ado-Ekiti was a three sector traditional grouping
with its unique arrangement of its component
traditional entities in the Ewis traditional cabinet.
The three major traditional political divisions of
Ado-Ekiti with their unique graphic explanation of
the Ewis traditional cabinet are as shown in the
historical graph produced by Chief J.E. Babatola
with 31 Ado Chiefs as a Rejoinder to Chief Oisa
Fasubas Memo 1975/76 on the arrangement of
Ado landscape and Chieftaincy beginning from
the reign of Ewi Awamaro. It shows that Ado-Ekiti
consist of OKE EWI, ODO ADO and OGBON
META.

Religion
Among the most conspicuous of the great
changes were the introduction and expansion of
Christianity and Islam. Christian missions
especially of the CMS, Roman Catholic, Baptist,
African Church and Methodist, later the
Cherubum and Seraphim and Apostolic Church
took root and expanded during the 20th century.
Each of these Christian communities established
numerous churches such that by 1970, the CMS
(Anglican) and the Roman Catholic had grown
so fast that they had become dioceses with their
headquarters and seats of bishops in Ado-Ekiti.
The two missions had three grammar schools,
the number increased to five in 1990. The growth
of Christian communities was very rapid between
1970 and 2000; new missions and
denominations Pentecostal, Charismatic,
Evangelical and Episcopal arose, swelling up
existing communions. Altogether over one
hundred churches were recorded in the city in the
year 2000.
The Muslim community did not lag behind, the
faith spread. The central mosque was built about
1930 and thereafter, a number of mosques were
built in Idemo, Umayo, Isato (Irona), Ogbonado,
Okesa, Oke-Ila etc. The Ansar-Ud-Deen
emerged in the early 1940s. As a matter of fact,
the number of mosques and the number of
Muslims who have performed the Hajj can readily
come to hand as indices of expansion. The
number of mosques increased substantially with
the growing number of well-to-do Muslim who
build mosques as annexes to their private
homes; by the year 2000, more than forty

mosques could be counted in the city. By 1960,

only Alhaji Akorede had performed the Hajj but
the number of Alhajs increased in the 1970s and
steadily increased in the 1980s and 1990s.
Education
In contemporary times, western education had
been the vogue throughout Ekiti. Ado-Ekiti took
the lead with the number of educational
institutions.
In March 1896, Old Emmanuel School was
established at Odo Aremu. In 1917, the Roman
Catholic Mission established St. Patrick's
Primary School. By the 1950s, the number of
primary and secondary modern schools had
increased very substantially. By 1974, the CMS
alone had 104 primary schools, 8 secondary
schools, and a teachers' college.
In the early 1930s, the Venerable Archdeacon
Henry. Dallimore superintendent of the CMS
mission established Christ's School in 1933. It
was raised by the priest to a Middle School and
finally towards the end of the 1940s it became a
full-fledged Grammar School. He was succeeded
as Principal and High Master by Canon LD
Mason from 1948-1966. Chief RA Ogunlade was
Principal from 1966 to 1972. Christs School, AdoEkiti has contributed greatly to the educational
and scientific advancement of Nigeria in general
and Ondo-province in particular. Within a short
span of time Christs school had produced one of
the highest numbers of Professors in virtually all
fields of learning and especially the professions
in Nigeria. Christ school, was indeed, one of the
basis of the epithet that Ekiti is the "fountain of
knowledge". Another possible explanation for the

"fountain of knowledge" sobriquet for Ekiti in

general, is the historical fact that Agboniregun the
progenitor of Ifa corpus of knowledge in Yoruba
cosmology, also had Ekiti roots. Christs school
Alumni are found in academia and professions
around the world today. In the early 1950s, the
Ekiti Progressive Union built a second grammar
school at Ido-Ekiti the Ekiti Parapo College, in
celebration of the overthrow of the Ibadan
overlordship following the Kiriji or Ekiti Parapo
war. Soon after the CMS agreed to separate
Christ's School into two (boys' section and Girls'
Section)-as a result of the major road(Iworoko
Road) which naturally divided the two sections
into two) viz: Christ's School,Ado Ekiti and
Christ's Girls' School,Ado Ekiti.
Thence forth, communities took it in their strides
to raise funds and establish a number of
community grammar schools. Ado-Ekiti
established its own in 1960 and another one
towards the end of the 1970s. The number of
Grammar Schools kept increasing and by the
year 2000, there were twelve pupil grammar
schools, private grammar schools numbered six,
a total of eighteen. The Federal Government
established its polytechnic at Ikewo, Ado-Ekiti,
the defunct Ondo State University established its
University at Ilewu, Ado-Ekiti.
Within a period of 50 years, much development in
western education had taken place in Ekiti in
general and Ado-Ekiti in particular. Chief E. A.
Babalola, a native of Oye-Ekiti was first University
graduate in Ekiti. Chief Alex olu Ajayi was the first
graduate from Ado-Ekiti graduating BA (HONS)
from Fourah Bay College, in 1953, followed by a

postgraduate diploma in Education from the

University of London in 1954. Thereafter, Ado
Ekiti has produced many illustrious sons and
daughters from world class universities, many of
whom are professors in many scientific, medical,
social sciences, Engineering and humanities
disciplines within barely half a century. . Chief E
A Babalola from Oye-Ekiti was a high school
master in 1947 and he took over the
management of Christ's High School, Ado-Ekiti
when Archdeacon Dallimore retired and left for
Britain. Today, the Ekitis are found in large
numbers in every academic and professional
positions, Ado-Ekiti has a disproportionate impact
in the academic world both in Nigeria and
globally.
Economy
Tremendous development took place in the
cultivation of economic crops, cultivation and
collection of forest products such as kolanut (cola
acuminata, Obi abata and cola nitida, gbanja)
and oil palm produce, commerce and trade.
Much of the impetus of all these came initially
from Mr. Isaac Ifamuboni (later Babamuboni) and
a number of early Christians from Lagos,
Abeokuta and Ibadan. These men introduced the
cultivation of cocoa, maize, brown cocoyam etc.
to Ekiti. Wage earning labourers from parts of
Ekiti who went to work in Ondo, Ijebu and Ife
boosted the cultivation of these economic trees.
Ewi Aladesanmi II encouraged the cultivation of
cash crops and establishment of trading and
commercial enterprises among Ado citizenry. The
Urhobo came into Ado communities in the early
1940s with their own mode of palm oil extraction.

The Ebira came in large numbers in the 1940s

and 1950s introducing the cultivation of their own
specie of yams, cassava and beans. In the early
1950s, Igbemo, and Ado community started the
cultivation of rice, the vogue spread to Iworoko in
the 1960s and soon in the 1970s to other Ekiti
communities such as Erio etc. These food crops
boosted food production and contributed to the
sustenance of the growing population of Ado
communities, especially Ado-Ekiti, and by
extension, other Ekiti and non-Ekiti communities.
The progress made in Western education,
cultivation of food crop and of economic trees, as
well as the establishment of commercial ventures
brought great profit to Ado-Ekiti. In the early
1940s big time commercial firms (companies)
such as U.A.C and in later years John Holt,
U.T.C, C.F.A.O, established factories in the city.
The Post and Telegraph now (NIPOST)
established a station in this city in 1947/48
causing posting and collection of mails at the
District Officer's office at Ayoba to cease. In
1958, pipe-borne water facility was provided
making Ado-Ekiti the first town in present Ondo
and Ekiti States to enjoy the facility. Two years
later, ECN (now NEPA) extended electricity to
the city. These facilities enhanced/increased
commercial activities and brought immense
socio-economic benefit and improved standard of
life to the people. From the 1950s, commercial
banks, at first the National Bank, the Union Bank,
and in the 1960s and 1970s Co-operative Bank
and United Bank for West Africa, opened their
branch offices in Ado-Ekiti.
In the early 1970s, Brigadier RA Adebayo, the

second military Governor of Western Region

partnered with Mr Soliman Nagarty to establish a
Textile mill at Ado-Ekiti ( Western Nigeria Textile
Industry Corporation) or WESTEXINCO)
Sport
Ado Ekiti has a stadium with a capacity of 10,000
and a third division professional football league
team.
Government
Ado-Ekiti has had the following kings:
Ewi Adewumi Agunsoye (19101936)
Ewi Anirare Aladesanmi II (19371983)
Ewi Samuel Adeyemi, George-Adelabu I
(19841988)
Ewi Adeyemo Adejugbe, Aladesanmi III From
(1990) up to the present time