The Ancient Town of Abeokuta I was raised.
Abeokuta. Ilu egba, A city filled with rocks.
Overview
Abeokuta which translate to under the rock is the capital of Ogun State, a state in the Southwestern part of Nigeria.
Abeokuta, the home to the Egbas, the indigenous sons and daughters of the land, is an ancient and rocky city that was a sovereign nation ruled by the Alake monarch between 1st February, 1893 and 1st January, 1914 when it was amalgamated with the rest of Nigeria.
The amalgamation was not accepted by the people and it resulted into Adubi war (Ogun Adubi). The Yoruba dialect which the Abeokuta people speak is know as Egba dialect.
It is a city with many historical facts and places.
What is living in Abeokuta like?
The crime rate in the city of Abeokuta isn’t high but it isn’t safe to walk around in the midnight. Also, to live in Abeokuta is to retire for the night everyday as it is a city that sleeps. Worthy of mentioning is that, it has little or less traffic.
Because, Abeokuta has been existing since a long ago mud houses built hundreds of years ago by there Ancestors are numerous and still in use, though most are now use as family or compound house.
Popular family or compound houses are Agbole elewa, Agbole onifila, Ikereku idan abaaka, Agbole ekun, Agbole ogun and much more. The compound names are mostly not the surname of the compound people but a name with a history.
The Egbas, people of Abeokuta do establish a good relationship with one another. They are very interested in one another business. More-so, it is customary to always greet the elders, accord them respect and always use the right hand to give them things. It is termed disrespect to use the left hand to give anything to an elder.
Also, in Abeokuta, scantily dressing, more than one piercing, tattoo, dreadlock and hair dying are still heavily frowned upon.
On a final note, though the western religion has been adopted by many, there are several people that still worship ancestral gods like Sango, Odo ijaiye, Egungun, ifa, etc
Places of interest in Abeokuta
Adire kampala market, Itoku. Nationwide, the people of Abeokuta are the best when it comes to the making of Adire and Kampala. They have a big market for it in Itoku and all over the nation people visit the place to either learn how to make adire and kampala or to purchase them.
Lisabi Forest. Lisabi Agbongboakala was a great warrior during his lifetime who fought oloyo, that put the people of Abeokuta under servitude, and won. But later, they turned against him and out of anger, he entered into the ground of a forest. Today, the forest is known as lisabi forest, and every March in Abeokuta, a celebration is held in his honor, the people visits the forest and sacrifices are offered to him.
Olumo rock. No one can write or talk about Abeokuta without mentioning Olumo rock. An olden days war bunker, a big rock where the people of Abeokuta hides during war. Years ago, before Abeokuta got so big, if you stand on it you can see the whole city. One more interesting thing is, no one has ever fall from it.
Centenary hall, Ake. It was built in 1930 to celebrate an hundred years of Egbas and others settlement in Abeokuta.
Other things worth knowing about the rocky city of Abeokuta
- Ofada rice farm.
- Ofada rice, Itoko.
- Iso eran, Itoko.
- River Ogun. (Odo ogun)
- River Arakanga. (Odo Araganka)
- River ijaiye. (Odo ijaye)
- Ayinla Omowura.
