Brief History of Ondo Kingdom

The Ondo Kingdom, in it's pre-colonial setting, comprised the area which lies on latitude 7°6' north, and 4°50' east, in the tropical rain forest belt of Nigeria. It was bounded in the north by the modern Akure and Obokun Local Government Areas; in the south by Ilaje/Eseodo Local Government Areas, and part of Ijebu in Ogun State; while in the east it is bounded by Owena River, beyond which is the Ifedore Local Government Area, and in the west by "Ooni River". In the south the land is low-lying and borders on the creek area of the Ilaje/eseodo, but rises gradually towards the north, Ode-Ondo itself being 290 meters above sea level. The kingdom covers an area of 4,060 km² and the population is (1991 Census) of which a large majority live in Ode-Ondo the capital of the kingdom.

Ondo lies in the humid tropic with tropical rain forest and the south- easterly wind throughout most of the year. During the months of December, January, February, the cooler dry continental air from the north prevails. The rainy season proper lasts from March or April until December.

The kingdom is covered with forest and contains valuable timber, mostly Mahogany, Opepe, Afara, Obeche, Olofun, etc. with a big forest reserve of over 1000 square kilometres. An annual average of timber extraction is almost 23 x 105 cubic metres.

The whole area is cut up by a number of clear streams running into four rivers - Owena, Ufara, Oluwa and Ooni, which flow southwards into the creeks. In the north, there are considerable granite outcrops said to be of volcanic origin. The Ondo are keen farmers, raising food crops, such as yams, cassava, maize, cocoyam, rice and beans, among others. Cash crops include cocoa (the most important of all, covering a large portion of arable land), rubber, coffee, kolanuts and palm produce. There has been a decline in food production following the expansion of cocoa plantation in the kingdom. The effect of this is that the Ondo have had to depend to a large extent on their neighbours for foodstuffs. An extensive timber extraction from the forest was a source of wealth to the people. Local industries and crafts include blacksmithery, gold- and silver-smithery, bricklaying, carpentry and shoe making. The people also trade in merchandise.

At the inception of colonial rule, Ondo Kingdom comprised thirty-three towns, villages and hamlets with capital at Ode-Ondo. Most of them were large towns before they were scattered by internecine wars.

Various accounts are given as to the origin of the Ondos. This is so because there is no written record of the period, and consequently much of what is known of the time is legendary. The most important of these accounts will be relate here:

1. The mother of Osemawe who was a wife of Odudua gave birth to twin children. At this time twins were not allowed to live. It was not an every day occurance and the arrival of twins was always looked upon with great disfavour. It was this that gave Osemawe his name (Ese ma re; Here was a strange phenomenon. Abese or Ese: strange phenomenon). The mother had to escape to a secluded place for safety with her children. In all probability it was on of those children who became the first queen of the Ondos. We shall refer to her reign later on.

2. According to Doctor Johnson in his Yoruba History, the Ondos descended from the Alaafin of Oyo; but this story does not find favour with the Ondos. They regard it as the Oyo version of this ancient period.

3. Yangede, who claimed his descent from Oduduwa as did the other kings in the Yoruba contry, left Ile-Ife about the same time as the others. When his sons were going, Oduduwa gave them different presents. To Yangede he gave a fan. Fan therefore is the national emblem of the Ondos. Yangede must have halted at a place near Ile-Ife called Ita Jamo, before going on his journey, for the people of Ondo are spoken of as: Ara Itaa Jamo; Eki m'ogun, Omo alade 'gbo, o fi agbo'de m'enu. (A native of Ita Jamo; Eki m'ogun, son of the prince of forest who drinks palm-wine from a brass cup). He finally settled at Epe; a place not far distant from the town of Ondo. It was this Yangede who was said to be the father of the first Osemawe. It is interesting to observe that at the recent installation of the present Oni a fan as one of

the articles sent to him. This was in consequence of the fact that a fan was an article taken from Ile-Ife at the time of the departure from Ile-Ife of the progenitor of the Ondo people.

From these legendary tales, some facts may be inferred. The claim of the Ondos to have descended from Oduduwa of Ile-ife like the other tribes cannot be lightly set aside. In the same way the secluded nature of the country they now inhabit shows that the story of the twin origin of Osemawe cannot be discarded as groundless.

One point which causes difficulty to many people is the question of how the custom of killing twins came to be prevalent among the Ondos, who claim to have descended from one of the twin children. The explanation is that it was not the Ondos but the people known as the Idokos who carried on this wicked practice, until Governor Carter with Captain Bower put an end to it about the Year 1892.