Kurunmi, a Yoruba Generalissimo and a native of Ijaiye, Oyo State, died in 1861 after the famous Ijaiye war with Ibadan. The truth about his death and burial are still shrouded in controversy. Taiwo Abiodun, who visited the town recently, reports.
I jaiye town is about 20 kilometres to Ibadan; it is a small town that has produced many great leaders and leading Yoruba warriors of the 19th century. It is quiet, and mostly agrarian. There is no signpost to welcome visitors or announce the town. Most of the buildings are old and dilapidated. Painfully, most residents all agreed that they have notable people who have contributed little to develop the town.
“There is no signpost here to welcome you to our town. This is Ijaiye town, the historical town of the Yoruba legendary warrior, Are Kurunmi, of which the late Professor Ola Rotimi wrote his play about,” Alhaji Shehu Tijani lamented, as he welcomed this reporter to the ancient town.
To many, the story of Kurunmi and his exploits is fiction while others believe it is true with the facts available and of course the monuments and relics of war!
Kurunmi’s house
At the frontage of Kurunmi’s house are Ogun and Sango shrines while a big baobab tree is standing ‘majestically’ there as in many Yoruba palaces, showing the symbol and authority of a king and also that a Generalissimo once lived there. Today there are only few of the grandchildren of the late warrior who died in 1861. In the house is a small bungalow where Pa Layiwola Adio, who is estimated to be over 100 years old lives .The centenarian is one of the grandchildren of the great warrior Kurunmi. He is one of the few surviving old men in the town. He still has scanty story of Kurunmi. Talking about Are Kurunmi, Adio said “The Aare was surrounded by many myths. My father told me how powerful Aare was; that he was feared and respected because he was powerful with his juju!”
Another historian in the town lamented the loss or disappearance of what could have been monuments and antiques to signpost the story of Kurunmi. He said, “There were houses without windows and these were where those who erred served their punishment in Kurunmi’s palace. There was one that served as the house of Ogun, a Yoruba god of iron. Another too served as spiritual incubation where the great warrior stayed for days communicating with his ancestors! In some of the rooms no man born of a woman dare venture to enter, some of the rooms too are forbidden for any woman while only a lion – hearted man who was sure of himself could go in there. In some of the rooms too one needed to bend down before entering. Today, these are no more.”
But Aare’s house where his family now live is a structure of a building that is as old as creation. There are mud brick buildings that have fallen and some of the walls have caved-in. The wooden frames have weakened while some of the windows are no more, these are some of the houses in the vicinity of Kurunmi’s house today.
Aare Kurunmi’s exploits
The late warrior who had a harem full of wives was said to have invaded many towns from where he captured hundreds of slaves and warriors. He invaded towns, and annexed many until he tried Ibadan. According to Pa Adio “We heard that Aare Kurunmi refused to pay homage and give royal gifts to the then Alafin of Oyo, Adelu who succeeded his father, Atiba. When Adele discovered that Aare did not support him he then sent a message to him to choose whichever one that suited him: either peace or war; but Kurunmi chose war. While all the neighbouring towns like Ede, Ibadan, Egba pleaded with him to choose peace but he refused until he was defeated.”
Another version said the Generalissimo waged war with the Ibadan who were led by Basorun Ogunmola and he fell in the war. “My great father said when the Ibadan met the Ijaiye, the war became bloody. Then it was recorded that a Christian Missioners Bowen who was the founder of Baptist Church in Nigeria pleaded with Kurunmi not to wage war but to embrace peace. However, Kurunmi came with annoyance and brought out gunpowder and Bible and told Bowen he would pick gunpowder since his generation was noted to be warriors while Bowen picked the Holy Bible and said he was there to establish a church and preach the gospel. Bowen then left Ijaiye for Abeokuta to settle,” he added.
Kurunmi was very powerful and so much believed in the efficacy of Ogun, the Yoruba god of Iron, no wonder at the frontage of the house under a big tree are Ogun shrines where he used to worship the god of Iron, the shrines are there till this day.
Pa Adio continued “The war between Ijaiye and Ibadan was heavy with casualties, and according to what we were told here as thousands of Ijaiye died in this war! If you walk eight miles from this town towards East, West, North and South you will discover a lot of clay pots, mud houses and shrines buried there thus evidencing that some people had lived here over two hundred years ago. They were probably buried here. We have excavated a lot.”
He added, “The Ibadan war was the heaviest where casualties were many. I remember that over 141 towns defended Ibadan when she waged war against Ijaiye. We were betrayed while Alafin was against us. And you know if one town faces over 141 towns it is a big problem and that was how Ibadan won the war against us. They feared and respected Aare Kurunmi. His five children later died in the war while the skull of one of them was brought to him, thus he was shocked beyond doubt. He became devastated and dispirited.”
Basorun Ogunmola ate ashes
Another version, according to Tijani said “Kurunmi captured Basorun Ogunmola alive and he was brought to Ijaiye where he was chained and was fed with ashes in the palace. That is where the Ibadan natives got their panegyrics ‘Ogunmola, son of Ibadan who survived death in spite of eating the ashes ( Ogunmola omo a la eeru ma ku). The story continued that in the night one of Aare Kurunmi’s wives betrayed him as she secretly went to unfetter Basorun Ogunmola and assisted him to escape back home (Ibadan). When Basorun Ogunmola got to Ibadan he went to re-strategize and later invaded with over 141 neighbouring towns who supported him to win Ijaiye in the war. Not only this it was also revealed that the River Ose, a mysterious river which must not be passed through by non indigenes was demystified and the taboo was broken. The secret of its taboo was leaked to the warring enemies (Ibadan) who passed through and demystified the spiritual aspect of the river and since then it began to dry and made Ibadan to conquer them (Ijaiye),” Tijani added
Controversy over Kurunmi’s death
While many said Kurunmi out of shame and frustration committed suicide by plunging into river Ose. Another said he was killed by enemies and buried by the Ose River while another said he was killed in the war and was brought home for burial, but there is no burial ground where he was buried up to date. But according to Adio, Aare died in his house after the war and was buried by the Ose river. He explained further, “when they wanted to bury him they had to bury three slaves along with him as the custom was. They used their spiritual power to stop the flowing of the river and after the burial the water was commanded and joined together again.”
However, another version said, when he was about to be buried three slaves were selected, while two were beheaded and used as a bed in the grave but the third who could have been used as his pillow ran for his dear life and could not be caught. The escaped slave went to inform the Ibadan people that he knew where Aare Kurunmi was buried and Basorun Ogunmola sent for the head to be decapitated which he wanted to be used as a cup for drinking water but when they got there they discovered that the body of Kurunmi had been removed.
But Alhaji Shehu Tijani disagreed with Adio and said “Kurunmi’s body was removed from the river bank to another place in the town and it was the only female daughter he had called Iyagbogbo, who knew where he was buried.”
Mystery of the River Ose and Onponrin
At the bank of Ose river, Arawunmi Fatai, a security officer at Ijaiye High School, a native and a masquerader, said, “The river is mysterious, many strange things happened on the river, at times smoke comes up from the river, and a rainbow sign comes up while everywhere would be shaking, one’s head would get swollen thus informing us that the powerful Aare Kurunmi is still in the river.”
Tijani said, “At Onponrin there are some areas where grass failed to grow till this day, this was because it was part of the spots of war. The war raged on for years and it consumed lives! Till date grass does not grow here again.”
Tombs of Kurunmi and Bowen
To many students, the name Kurunmi is synonymous to Ijaiye. About eight students interviewed claimed to know the history of Kurunmi. Adams Owolabi, who is an ex student of the school said the school has the tombs of the two titans, the Kurunmi monument and Bowen’s tomb. “We were taught in school that these two people fought war, one used the Bible while the other, Kurunmi used gun. This school, Ijaiye High School, was formerly named after Kurunmi until some years later when it was changed to Ijaiye High School. I think the school should be called Kurunmi High School.”
At the gate of the school are two monuments, but sadly the two are unkempt as the wordings inscribed on them have faded, and hardly readable.
On Bowen’s monument are the following words are engraved
“To the glory of God and in affectionate remembrance Reverend and Mrs Thomas J. Bowen who began Baptist Sunday School work in Ijaye Orile, Nigeria on January 22, 1854”.
Sunday School Department, Nigerian Baptist Convention, April 21, 1979
While Kurunmi’s own reads
“To the glory of God and the memory of those heroic dead who here on land granted by King Kurunmi in 1852 created the first Mission House established the first church and laid the foundation of Baptist work in Nigeria.
Nigerian Baptist Centenarian, 1850-1950.
According to Fatai, “The two monuments show how these two powerful men came to unite in death for their monuments were placed side by side yet the two believed in different religions. Bowen brought Christianity and built a church which is the very first, First Baptist Church in Nigeria here in Ijaiye while Kurunmi was a warrior who believed in Ogun, the Yoruba god of Iron. It is great to come here and preserve this place as a tourist centre.”
Mysterious Kurunmi’s masquerade
The room where the Kurunmi’s masquerade regalia was kept is dark. In fact, about four people brought out the basket where the regalia was stored. Pa Tijani Salami who is the custodian of Kurunmi’s masquerade spent over 50 minutes to unwrap the regalia as pieces of clothes attached to it are up to 3,000 shreds made from local fabrics to foreign ones. Also attached with the clothes are uncommon carved wooden mask, monkey, and baboon’s skulls. Fear gripped this reporter as the material was unwrapped when he requested to have a glance.
In fact, the man in charge of the masquerade, Salami, said it was inherited by him because he is from the Kurunmi lineage. He said, “This is Kurunmi’s masquerade’s regalia and sword he used during his conquests, and I am the custodian of it. If you look at my cheeks you will see my facial marks and that is how Kurunmi had it. One becomes its custodian by inheritance. This material is well over 120 years old, in fact, it was there before I was born. After the death of Kurunmi it was inherited by one Odeyemi, then to Biobaku who was in charge, after his exit it was handed over to Gbileomo and again when he died I took over from there. One of my children will also inherit it when I am gone. It does not go to anybody anyhow, never. The regalia is very heavy and we offer sacrifices like goats, chickens and other things to it all the time. We must not forget to offer sacrifices at all. If we don’t do it then calamity might befall this town.” That is how strong their belief is in the power of Kurunmi.
He went further, “Nobody can steal it. In fact, it is on record that it was once stolen some years ago and I believe they wanted to sell it to those who needed artefacts but when the robbers got to the Ose River they could not go further again as they were hearing sound and voices of human being coming out from the regalia and they had to drop it.”
Another man who is also a masquerader, Gafari Ege, corroborated the story and said “Those who stole the regalia became blind, when they faced Ibadan they again faced Ijaiye, again when they faced Ijaiye they faced Ibadan. They became blind and confused. They said strange human cries was coming out from the regalia. No one steals the material and goes scot free. No one steals it and live. It is not meant to be stolen. Those who stole it were later caught and they died afterwards. Other masquerades run away from it.”
Undeveloped town
The indigenes are not happy because, according to Pa Tijani, “We are being used, many of these theatre artistes would come here and use these places to shoot films and would later go away smiling to the bank but will not come here to assist in its development. Not only that, some government officials came here few years ago and promised to come back and assist in putting Kurunmi’s statue here but they came here and erected only two poles and left .We heard nothing from them again. Many people come from overseas to see all these monuments like the River Ose, the spots of war, the mysterious palm tree that sounds like the booming of gun during the war to ward off enemies, Oponrin-the spot where they waged war and where grass does not grow again, the Ogun Shrines of Kurunmi and many others but nobody speaks about the development of this place. Where we have the monuments of Kurunmi and Bowen’s are not properly kept. We are being forgotten and our heroes too are forgotten. If it is in overseas they will appreciate what we have here but here nobody recognizes us. We have been constructing this palace for a long time, nobody comes here to look at our effort and assist.”
However, he said “We appreciate people like Senator Femi Lanlehin, Yemi Aderibigbe, who are really trying for us. We need more assistance, we don’t want our history to die. They should cooperate and build a monument I remembrance of our hero, Kurunmi.”
Ijaiye is spread all over Yorubaland, but this is Ijaiye Orile, the hometown of Kurunmi the warrior. According to Tijani, Ijaiye means “We fought and survived the war (A ja ajaye)”. According to him, since the Ijaiye people were warriors and always conquered wherever they fought and on their return would give a public cry that they had survived the war. This is the original source where all other Ijaiyes spring from. All the places known as Ijaiye today left from here to Abeokuta, Lagos, Egba among others, Tijani boasted.a
