By Abubakar Imam
Ilorin, unarguably, has a special space in the geographical landscape called Nigeria. It also has a reserved place in the history of the world’s largest black nation.This is because it was forged out from different tribes and ethnic groups.Thus, making Ilorin the home for all.
Ilorin, the city which serves as the Kwara State capital, is also one of the most culturally and historically
unique places in Nigeria. Its uniqueness is rooted in its history and the efforts of its hardworking people who are making loud and sonorous waves wherever they are. The emirate was and still being made famous by its recurring saints, scholars, soldiers and traders as well as other people who are working in other spheres of life.
While Ilorin shares an unbreakable religious and traditional political affiliations with the rest of the “Muslim Northern Nigeria”, it also has a strong linguistic and cultural affinity with Southern Nigeria,
particularly its south-western part. An Ilorin man is at home across the North of the River Niger because his forebears played significant roles in making the North what it is. He, also, cannot be seen as an intruder in all the places situated in the Yoruba-speaking parts of the Lower Niger as the footprints of his progenitors remain indelible in their towns and cities.
Because of this “integrational peculiarity”, indigenes of the community see their town as a cultural confluence. Ilorin Emirate is a good example of a society that prides itself in “unity in diversity” as recently alluded to by the first African Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, GCON. Visiting Ilorin would always be a refreshing experience of unity, stability and tranquility. All these make it an ideal setting for human settlement. Observers of the apparent and subsisting harmony among the good people of Ilorin, despite their divergent backgrounds, see the community as a miniature Nigeria.
Ilorin is in the North. It is also in the South. These two perspectives are right and correct.
This position will be firmly established and become convincing as this piece progresses.
In the pre-political arrangements inherited by the British colonialists from the ancient people, Ilorin was part of the Sokoto caliphate. This was the situation for about a century before the establishment
of colonial rule in Nigeria.
While the great Fulani caliphate was majorly compartmentalised into two; namely Sokoto and Gwandu, Ilorin is one of the emirates placed under the supervision of Gwandu. Gwandu, which is now in Kebbi State, was founded by Shaykh Abdullahi Fodio, the brilliant younger brother of the profoundly
knowledgeable founding father of the Sokoto caliphate, Shaykh Usman Dan Fodio.
The relationship between Sokoto/Gwandu and Ilorin is, in fact, older than the formal establishment of the southernmost Emirate. The founding father of Ilorin Emirate, Shaykh Alimi ibn Janta, lived and was educated in that axis. It was from there that he drew inspiration, which encouraged him to come down to the Yoruba-speaking parts of the country for missionary purposes. He eventually made Ilorin his home after a very successful evangelical tour of the Northern sphere of the Old Oyo Empire.
To start with, the building of Ilorin as an emirate received critical support from Gwandu, which acted on behalf of the Sokoto Caliphate. In fact, it was a letter addressed to Shaykh Abdulsalami Ibn Alimi in 1828 by the second Emir of Gwandu, Shaykh Muhammad Abdullah Fodio, that historians believed conferred the much-needed legitimacy on him as the first Emir of Ilorin.
Apart from the Alimi dynasty, many other reputable Ilorin families also trace their ancestry to either Sokoto or Kebbi and even Zamfara. These include the Belgores, the Alkali Ikokoros and the Erubus
in the Isale-Fulani segment of Ilorin; the Magaji Kemberis in the Isale Gambari Quarters; and the Apaokagi family of Oke-Aare/Adeta axis of the Okemale area, Ilorin, to mention just a few.
The founding father of the Sarkin Gambari family of Ilorin, Mallam Ibrahim Bako, migrated to Ilorin from Zamfara. It is the same with the progenitors of the illustrious Gobir dynasty of Ilorin who also came from the ancient Gobir that is located in the present day Sokoto State.
This historic cord equally exists between Ilorin and Katsina as well as between Ilorin and Kano. These
great city-states also have many of their indigenous peoples migrated to Ilorin for permanent settlement. These include the progenitors of the Galadima Ngari family of Ilorin who migrated to Ilorin during the early days of the emirate. The founding fathers of the Tamim family of Okesuna also relocated to Ilorin from Katsina just as Aljunfunbaya family in the same Okesuna.
The relationship between Ilorin and Kano, just like many others, became solidified through marriages. This can be seen in the fact that Ilorin produced the longest serving Queen of Kano in the late Hajiya Maryam Adeoti Ado- Bayero. The late Hajiya Ado-Bayero was an aunt of the incumbent Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR; and one of the daughters of the longest-regning Emir of Ilorin, Shaykh Abdulkadir Shuaib Bawa. This imperishable impact of Ilorin on Kano can also be seen in the fact that one of the products of the marriage between this great daughter of Ilorin and her husband, who was also the longest-serving Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, CFR, is Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the 15th Emir of Kano.
This trend continues as the Turaki of Ilorin, Senator Saliu Mustapha, is married to an indigene of Kano. A younger sister of the Turaki’s wife is also married to Mr Toyin Salman, one of the sons of Senator Isiaka Adebayo Salman, who represented Kwara Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly between 1999 and 2003. Many other indigenes of Ilorin also have their spouses from Kano.
Bayero University, Kano, which the Emir of Ilorin currently serves as Chancellor, also gave Ilorin Emirate its first Vice Chancellor of a University in the Talba of Ilorin, Prof. Shuaibu Oba AbdulRaheem, OFR, NPOM. Prof. AbdulRaheem headed the University of Ilorin and was its first Muslim and 6th Chief Executive from 1997 to 2002. Another notable Ilorin indigene who had a very successful career in Kano was Alhaji Isa Omo-Eko Ahmed, the father of a former Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban
Development, Arc. Halima Tayo Alao, fnia, who rose to become a Permanent Secretary in the Kano State civil service before his retirement about 50 years ago.
There are also some Ilorin families, whose names reflect connections with the great Zazzau (Zaria)
Emirate in the present-day Kaduna State. These include the three Jaji families of Isale-Aluko. They are
Jaji Arijigin, the Jaji Accra (Ankara) and the Jaji Eggan (Adabata). In addition to this, there is also Ile Zaria in the same Isale Aluko axis of Ilorin. The Jaji families obviously took their names from Jaji town, which is located between Zaria and Kaduna. The Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, which was opened in 1962, and its precursors, were centres of learning, which attracted hundreds of indigenes of Ilorin Emirate, including several of its honourary title holders. The University also gave the Ilorin Emirate its first three Professors, who are Saka Nuru (Veterinary), Saliu Suleiman (Fine Arts) and Ibrahim Agboola Gambari,
CFR; (Political Science/International Relations). Two other subsequent Professors produced by Ilorin Emirate, Shuaibu Oba AbdulRaheem, OFR; and AbdulGaniyu Ambali, OON; also obtained their first degrees in English and Veterinary Medicine, respectively, from the University, which is the first in Northern Nigeria. The Sarkin Gobir and Madawaki of Ilorin, Alhaji Yakubu Garba Gobir, picked his only wife from Zaria, where he had earlier earned his degree in Pharmacy. Of course, the Sardauna of Ilorin and Governor of Kwara State, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, CON, was born in Zaria in 1960.
Ilorin also has deep connections with the North-Eastern region of Nigeria. For instance, there are several Ilorin families whose progenitors came from Borno. These include some families from the Isale Kannike Quarters of Ilorin such as the Alfa Omo-Hiyyas, the Imam Matase family of Okeleru/Popo Giwa, the Mekabara family of Ita-Kudimo; and the Sholagberu family whose progenitor, Shaykh Abdullahi Tahir, who was the leader of the ancient Okesuna community in Ilorin, came from Bama in the present-day Borno State. The progenitor of the Imam Oke-Alfa family of Agaka also migrated to Ilorin from Borno just as the founding fathers of the Onagun family in Ita-Egba and Ojibara family of Oke-Apomu.
Aside from this, trade also connected Ilorin with Maiduguri. For instance, Alhaji Yahaya Alapansanpa, the father of the Danmasani of Ilorin, Engr Suleiman Yahaya Alapansanpa, FNSE, was a merchant who plied the Akure-Ilorin-Maiduguri route for his trade in hides and skins and potash for many years, particularly from 1940s to the early 1960s. He was based in Akure. Alhaji Ambail Alada of Ile Alada, Pakata, who was also a successful merchant, chose Maiduguri as his base. Others like Alhaji Ibrahim Onituwo, who was the father of the immediate past Surveyor-General of Kwara State, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim, from the Pakata area; Alhaji Dauda Gidado Ajetunmobi, the father of Mallam AbdulRasheed Gidado Dauda, a Deputy Director at the Academic Planning Unit and member of the Governing Council of the University of Ilorin; and Alhaji Umaru Aminu Saro, who also lived in Maiduguri, where he received his primary education. A great son of Ilorin and former Chief of Staff, Supreme
Headquarters, Major-General Abdulbaki Babatunde Idiagbon, served as the Military Administrator of
Borno State from 1978 to 1979. The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR, equally served as a lawyer and later as a judge in Maiduguri for many years. One of the wives of the Emir of Ilorin is also a princess of Borno. The University of Maiduguri was also the institution where the third indigene of Ilorin who became a University Vice Chancellor, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, OON, was baked as an academic and administrator. He was the 9th Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin who served between 2012 and 2017.
Even the neighbouring Kontagora Emirate in the present-day Niger State also contributed the great
Mallam Jimba Dan-Gwari, who was the founding father of the famous Daudu Ologun Jimba chieftaincy family of Ilorin. Jimba Dan Gwari, who played a critical and crucial role in the eventual destruction of
the old Oyo, was originally from Ibeto in the present-day Niger State.
Many Ilorin families also traced their ancestry to the Barubaland. Shaykh Abdullahi Badende, one of the leading members of the second generation of Islamic scholars in post-Alimi era Ilorin, was originally a Baruba man who migrated to Ilorin in the early days of the southernmost emirate.The impact of this Baruba connection is so significant that one of the Quarters in Ilorin, which houses the
famous Okuta Ilorin, from where the community took its name, is called Baruba till date. It is also relevant to say that the last two Emirs of Borgu, the headquarters of the Baruba nation, Alhaji Musa Muhammad Kigera, and Alhaji Haliru Dantoro, were educated in Ilorin.
A number of prominent Ilorin families also traced their origin to Nupeland. Their progenitors mostly settled in Gbodofu Quarters of Balogun Fulani area and in Koro Tapa in Gambari as well as in other parts of Ilorin. One of the Nupe descendants in Ilorin was the famous Shaykh Ahmad Rufai Abubakar, who was well-known as Alfa Nda Salati. The famous Shaykh Muhammad Salizu Kokewukobere and Alfa Muhammadu Takuti, were also of Nupe origin just as the progenitor of the Imam Gambari family of Ilorin, Shaykh Abdulmumini, who
was said to be of Kanuri descent but who got to Ilorin after a long sojourn in Nupeland.
While the place of Shaykh Muhammad Waziri Bida in the spread of Arabic and Islamic learning in Ilorin
would remain secured, several prominent indigenes of Nupeland also received their education from
Government Secondary School, Ilorin. These include the immediate past Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Umaru Sanda Ndayako; and the second republic Deputy Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Idris Alhassan Kpaki, among others. The late Etsu Nupe was a Permanent Secretary in the federal civil service before his appointment as a royal father while Alhaji Kpaki later served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the administration of the late General Sani Abacha.
In areas now known as Plateau State, people of Ilorin Emirate extraction also did very well as clerics and traders. These include the Orisankokos, the Aladires, the Alasinrins, the Alayas, the Arowosaiyes, the Anifowoshes, and the Sarumis, among several others. Major-General Abdullahi Mohammed, GCON, who was born in Bukuru, near Jos, eventually served as the Military Governor of the old Benue-Plateau State with capital in Jos, from 1975 to February, 1976. His father, Alhaji Mohammed Na’Allah Ore, was a cleric and trader in Bukuru as at the time General Mohammed, who later held several senior military and influential political offices in life, was born.The Iyan Gari of Ilorin and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Saliu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, GCON, served as the Chief Judge of Plateau State from 1977 to 1979.
Notwithstanding the deep connections between Ilorin and many parts of Northern Nigeria, several Ilorin families remain very proud of their Yoruba ancestry. They came from different parts of the Old Oyo Empire. These include the Magaji Aare, the Baba Isale and the Ala’ase families of Idi-Ape, the progenitors of Magaji Abudu, the founding fathers of Magaji Atunluse family of Oke-Aluko, the Baale family of Sakele Street in Pakata, and many other original inhabitants of Okelele, Abemi and Dada segments of Ilorin, among others. Of course, Aare Ona-Kakanfo Afonja, one of the highly-regarded builders of Ilorin and arguably the most famous pre-colonilal military leader in Yorubaland, was an Oyo man. The same can be said of the Ara-Oyo/Agbogunmati family of Omoda, which produced the legendary Shaykh Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory. From Oyo also came the Onisale family of Oke-Agodi, Ilorin, which produced the late crowd-pulling Islamic scholar and preacher, Shaykh Yahaya Murtala; the Agbandangi family of Ita-Uma in Pakata as well as the progenitors of the Alaro family of Baruba Quarters, Ilorin, from where the late Alhaji Abubakar Lah, a distinguished educationist and first Shettima of Ilorin, hailed; and, of course, the famous Olosho Babaita family of Alore, Ilorin.
What about members of the popular Onikoyi family of Adeta, Ilorin and many of their neighbours? The
progenitors of the families migrated to Ilorin from Ikoyi-Ile now in Oyo State. A prominent member of the Onikoyi family is the Ilorin Emirate’s first Professor, Saka Nuru, who retired as the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration) of the famous Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and was also the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, Kwara State University, Malete. The area this group of Yoruba descendants occupied in Ilorin is still called Oke-Ikoyi (particularly among elders), within the area generally referred to as Adeta.
The Egbas of Abeokuta, Ogun State, also have an imprint in the annals of Ilorin. Their impact led to the naming of a village outside Ilorin as Budo-Egba. Budo-Egba, which now hosts the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, is in Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State. Ile Egba in the Ita-Egba Quarters, along the popular Pakata Road, and Ile Egba around Agbaji Quarters remain another example of the connection between Ilorin and Egbaland. The Olumo(h) family of Akodudu, which produced one of the most influential and accomplished Ilorin businessmen of the colonial era, Alhaji Muhammadu Jimo Olumo (d.1959), has its ancestry deeply rooted in Abeokuta. Abeokuta, the main city of the Egba people, also houses the tomb of one of the most illustrious and impactful sons of Ilorin, Shaykh Muhammad Jamiu Al-Labeeb (Shaykh Tajul Adab). Shaykh Tajul Adab is rated as occupying the topmost echelon of the third generation of Islamic scholars produced by Ilorin. One of his pupils, Shaykh Salman Muhammad Bursary, on whom he conferred the religious title of Mufti-Deen, also lived for so long in Abeokuta that he became known as Alfa Salman Ake. Ake is one of the major residential quarters in Abeokuta. A distinguished son of Ilorin and former Governor of Kwara State, Admiral Mohammed Alabi Lawal, also served as Military Governor of Ogun State from 1988 to 1990.
In Otta, Ogun State, the influence of Shaykh Yusuf Ya Salam, who was an elder brother of Shaykh Musa Alfanla Al-Adabiy, the father of the Registrar of the University of Ilorin, Alhaji Mansur Adeleke Alfanla, from Masingba/Okekere area of Ilorin; and
Shaykh Ibrahim Alabi Olohungbebe, the father of the Kwara State Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Muhammad Lawal Olohungbebe; who hailed from Ile Abidogun, Aliagan area, Ilorin, would continued to be felt. They, along with other clerics from Ilorin and other places, advanced the cause of Islam in Ota and its neighboring communities. This legacy of Islamic propagation continued till date with the efforts of the Mufti of the town, Shaykh Nasirudeen Ajara; and Shaykh Mansur Olohungbebe, among others.
The introduction and establishment of Islam in Ijebu land was not without the active participation of
Ilorin. It was an Ilorin man by the name, Ali, who pioneered this role. This effort was perpetuated by others,
including scholars of Ilorin origin, prominent of whom was Shaykh Muhammad Salizu Kokewukobere, who
spent a number of years teaching and propagating Islam in Ijebu-Ode. This was continued by scholars
like Shaykh Sulaiman Okeleru and Shaykh Abdulsalam from Fagba, Ilorin, among others.
The same can be said about the famous Agunbiade family of Alanamu area of Ilorin, whose progenitor, Alfa
Salaudeen Agunbiade, worked for Islam and became the first Parakoyi (leader of the Muslim community) of Ijeshaland during the reign of Oba Aromolaran I, the Owa Obokun of Ijeshaland from
1920-1942. Alhaji Umar Sidiq Olaomo of Oke-Agodi, Ilorin, among others, was also a Muslim cleric who recorded significant achievements in Ilesha between 1940s and 1950s.
From the neighbouring Igbeti in Oyo State also came the progenitors of the popular Mukadam Oniwiridi family in the Pakata area of Ilorin. The progenitors of the first Turaki of Ilorin, Alhaji Sanni Olanrewaju Buraimo Okin, MFR, OFR, MBE, also migrated to Ilorin from Igbeti, among several other indigenes of Ilorin Emirate, who are still serenaded by traditional praise-singers as “Iji, Omo Olooye”.
Another very important ancient Yoruba town, which produced prominent families whose leaders contributed with others in the building of Ilorin Emirate is Iseyin. Iseyin, which is in the present-day Oyo State, produced the progenitor of the Balogun Ajikobi chieftaincy family of Ilorin. The founding father of the family and one of the most distinguished builders and defenders of the Emirate, “General” Usman Ajikobi, came from Iseyin. From Iseyin also came several prominent Agbaji families many of whom history record had a long sojourn in the Agbaji Quarters of Iseyin from their original home in Sudan before coming down to Ilorin to found another Agbaji.
In Ilorin, we also have names like Ile Ila (Masingba), Ile Igboho (Masingba), Ile Ajase (Pakata), Ile Igbomina (Pakata) Ile Baba Offa (Pakata), Ile Baba Ibadan (Adeta), Ile Ogbomoso (Pakata), and Ile Ede (Popo-Giwa) as well as Ode Alfa Iwo, to mention a few. What this signifies is the historical connections
between those Yoruba towns and Ilorin Emirate.
Many of the founding families of the city also came from Mali and the Arab world. Examples of these is the Imam Imale family of Ilorin, whose progenitor, Shaykh Yusuf, hailed from Mali. The progenitor of the Imam Bature family of Oke-Apomu was also said to be an Arab.
From the above, it is clear that Ilorin is a collection of people from various parts of Nigeria and beyond. The emirate can be described as a Union of peoples from assorted backgrounds.
The strength of Ilorin is in the diverse backgrounds of its people who have, however, been cemented by Islam and common destiny. While every family remembers and is proud of its origin, each of these families have been united in the pursuit of common goals, which is the unity and progress of Ilorin under the banner of Islam. Indigenes of Ilorin have subsequently been making the community proud in town, cities and countries they settled.
The presence of Ilorin is still being felt in Lagos, the erstwhile capital of Nigeria. Many of those who dominated and are still playing prominent roles in the Islamic affairs of the great commercial capital of
Nigeria either originated from Ilorin or received their Islamic education from Ilorin or from Ilorin-born scholars. This has been the story for more than a century through the activities of scholars like Shaykh Ahmad Ibn Abubakar Omo-Ikokoro, Shaykh Aminu Babaita, Shaykh Muhammad Kamaluddeen Al-Adabiy, MFR, OFR, ORSA; Shaykh Sidiq Kadara, Shaykh Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory, Shaykh Ali Olukade and Shaykh Ali Arazim Alaaya and their
illustrious predecessors, to mention a few. This tradition is being perpetuated by the children, students and disciples of these outstanding Islamic scholars. This has been particularly helped with the establishment of the famous Arabic and Islamic Training Centre (Markaz), Agege, which was founded
in 1952 by Shaykh Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory; and similar institutions of Islamic learning championed by Ilorin indigenes.
Aside from the above, indigenes of Ilorin have at one time or the other dominated Lagos social scenes. These include Chief Sanusi Agbabiaka and his son, Abdulsalam Ebun Agbabiaka, a prominent police officer, who was said to have almost made history as the pioneer indigenous Inspector-General of
Police. He was a strong patron and promoter of Ajiwere/Ajisari Groups in Lagos.There was also one of
the pioneers of Juju music, Saibu Ayinde Bakare, who was said to be a member of the Ajikobi family of
Ilorin and a Faji Music exponent, Jimoh Ayinla. The two were musical stars of their days, among others
from Ilorin in the Lagos Entertainment industry, who made Lagos tick. General Kolington Ayinla, who hails from Ilota in Ilorin South Local Government Area, is one of the surviving senior artists who popularised Fuji music. He is based in Lagos just as Alhaji Adebayo Salami (Oga Bello) and his children, particularly, Barrister Abdulateef Femi Adebayo, who are very important and infectious faces in the Nollywood industry. Alhaji Salami hails from the Pakata area of Ilorin.
Owo, Ondo, Ikare and Ado-Ekiti and even Ilesha are also among places where indigenes of Ilorin Emirate registered imperishable footprints as Islamic teachers, spiritual consultants and traders.These include Shaykh Badir Alawo of Okelele and the second Mufti of Ilorin, Shaykh Khidir Salaudeen
Apaokagi Al-Adabiy. Shaykh Apaokagi, in particular, secured a permanent space in the annals of Owo
with his establishment of Al-Adabiyyah Arabic Arabic School in the ancient town in 1955. Several generations of Islamic scholars from Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti, Edo and Kwara States, including a former Grand Kadi of Kwara State, Justice Idris Abdullahi Haroon, OFR; and Prof. Zakariyya Idris Oseni, the Chief Imam and Waziri of Auchi as well as Prof. Yasir Anjola Quadri; were trained at the school.
In Ondo town, another indigene of Ilorin, Shaykh Muhammad Lawal Oniyangi, also did a yeoman job for Islam and Ilorin image for several years. One of his subsisting legacy is the Chief Imam of Ondo, Shaykh Bashiru Alimi, who eventually completed his training in Ilorin. The same could also be said of Ikare where the
late Shaykh Yakubu Danialu Aliagan (not the Sarkin Malamai of Ilorin), who was the Missioner of the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria in Ikare-Akoko, also worked extensively for Islam.
In Ilesha, the late Imam Imale of Ilorin and pioneer National Missioner of the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria, Shaykh AbdulRahman Salahudeen Al-Adabiy, among others, also worked extensively for Islam
and Ilorin culture just like his father, Shaykh Salaudeen AbdulRahman, did in Ifo, Ogun State. The former was actually born in Ifo in the course of his father’s missionary sojourn in the town over 110 years ago. The duo of Shaykh Abubakar Babatunde Muhammad of Ile Oniguguru, Ode Alfa Iwo, who was popularly known as “Baba La Ajilosun” and his well-known pupil, Shaykh Muhammad Hadi Adebayo, the late Chief Imam of Ansarudeen Society of Nigeria, Ado-Ekiti, who was from Pakata area of Ilorin, also worked extensively for Islam and Ilorin culture. In fact, the current Chief Imam of Ado-Ekiti and
President-General of the League of Imams and Alfas in Yorubaland, Sheikh Jamiu Kewulere, trained under Shaykh Abubakar Salaudeen Agbarigidoma of Ilorin just as Shaykh Abdulmutalub Abdullahi Akorede, though an indigene of Igbeti, who was trained at the Az-Zumuratul Adabiyya Kamaliyah Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Ilorin, is continuing where his illustrious predecessors stopped in Islamic propagation in Ado-Ekiti and its neighbouring communities.
It was the same in Ibadan, the largest indigenous city in Africa. Many indigenes of Ilorin worked there, particularly as Muslim scholars and traders. These include Shaykh Tajul Adab, Shaykh Badir Pakata,
Shaykh Yusuf Agbaji, Shaykh Muhammad Ghali Alaaya, Shaykh Abdulsalam Alikinla, and Shaykh Saliu Esin ni o biwa, who taught Shaykh Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory in the city; and lately, Shaykh Abubakar
Erubu. Shaykh Muhammad al-Sanusi, who was recognised as Mufti of Ibadanland during his lifetime, was a student of Shaykh Kamaluddeen Al-Adabiy. An eminent son of Ilorin, Major-General Abdulkareem Adisa, who was then a Colonel, served as the Military Governor of the old Oyo State, with capital in Ibadan, from 1990 to 1992. The late General Adisa had earlier spent part of his formative years in a village in Ibadan where his father, Alhaji Bakare Adisa, was based.
In Osogbo-Ikirun axis, Ilorin influence is also significant. The immediate past Chief Imam of Osogbo and President-General, League of Imams and Alfas in Yorubaland, Shaykh Mustapha Olayiwola Ajisafe, graduated from the School of Shaykh Muhammad Kamaluddeen
Al-Adabiy in the early 1940s. The recently deceased Shaykh Abdulwahab Afonta also played a very significant role in networking Ilorin with Osogbo. In addition to being a centre of attraction for many Islamic scholars of
Ilorin origin, the senior-most wife of the Emir of Ilorin, Hajiya Rafat Aduke Sulu-Gambari, is an
illustrious princess of Ikirun, through whose marriage Ilorin got its second Ciroma in Prince Abubakar Bature Sulu-Gambari, SAN.
Ilorin also produced the first Chief Imam of Okene and by extension the entire Ebiraland. The Imam was Shaykh Yahaya Aliyu, who was popularly called Shaykh Yahaya Tajudeen of Ebiraland. He was a friend and student of Shaykh Tajul Adab and a member of the popular Adafila family of Pakata area. He arrived in Okene in 1917 as a civil servant and, thereafter, committed himself to the growth and development of Islam in the entire Ebiraland and its environs. He eventually died and was buried in Okene in 1956.
The banner of Islam and, by extension, Ilorin culture was also taken to Ankpa, an Igala town in the present-day Kogi State in North-Central region of Nigeria, by an Ilorin-born Islamic scholar, Shaykh Ashiru Ayunre, who hails from Ile Alfa Ayunre, Okelele, Ilorin. Shaykh Ashiru, one of the two male children of Shaykh Abdulkadir Ayunre, lived and worked for Islam in the town for several decades before his death and eventual burial there.
His Islamic propagation activities in the town and neighbouring communities were inherited by his children, particularly Shaykh Idris Ashiru Ayunre. The great grand children of this patriot, many of whom have been completely assimilated by their hosts, are still sojourning in Ankpa till date.
Alhaji Abdulsalam Abdulkadir Ajape Jamagada, a trader in horses, who hailed from Ile Jamagada, Okelele, Ilorin, was also said to be the first Yoruba-speaking person who took permanent residence in Oturkpo, the chief town of Idoma people in Benue State. He arrived in the town in 1908 and died in 1989. Alhaji Jamagada was subsequently appointed as the Head of the Yoruba community in Idomaland. The leadership of the Yoruba community in Idomaland is still produced by the family of this great son of Ilorin.
Understandably, Alhaji Jamagada was succeeded by his son, Alhaji Aliyu Olokooba Ajape Jamagada; as
the head of the Yoruba-speaking community of Idoma land. He held the title of “Och’ Yoruba K’
Idoma” (Oba Yoruba of Idoma land) from 1989 to 2008. He too was succeeded by his younger brother, Dr Umar Adisa Ajape, who currently holds the position. Dr Jamagada was trained in the United States of America.
The presence of Ilorin people was also felt in the commercial city of Onitsha in the South-Eastern part
of the country from the beginning of the 20th century. These include Mallam AbdulRazaq Usman Yerinsa family of Idigba Quarters, Pakata area, who was the grandfather of the Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, CON, and several others; the Yusuf Olojoku family of Idi-Ope in the Adeta area of Ilorin, from where the late Major-General Shehu Layiwola Yusuf hailed; and many others. Ilorin Emirate’s first University graduate and lawyer, Alhaji AbdulGaniyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq, SAN, OFR; his younger brother and the community’s fourth lawyer, Alhaji Mumini
Abiodun AbdulRazaq; and their cousin, Alhaji Abdulmalik Babamale; as well as Alhaji Adama Ebo Daniyan; among others, were born and raised in Onitsha. This fact suggests that Ilorin has been posting
remarkable presence in Igboland for more than one century. In Onitsha, mention must also be made of Alhaji AbdulWahab Yusuf, who lived between 1934 and 2006 and was the father of a former Chief of Staff, Government House, Ilorin, Alhaji Babatunde Yusuf AbdulWahab. He was born in Onitsha to parents of Ilorin origin and was very active in the politics of second republic as a member of the Nigerian People’s Party(NPP) during which he had a had a very good working relationship with the first Civilian Governor of the Old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo.
In Aba in the present-day Abia State, Ilorin also had visible presence in the commercial development of the city. It was the city where Hajiya Raliat Amope AbdulRazaq, the Mother of the Governor of Kwara State, was born and also raised.
Late Brigadier-General AbdulRasheed Kamaldeen, who was an Imam in the Nigerian Army, also helped the cause of Islam and Ilorin culture as a cleric while serving in Owerri under another son of Ilorin, Lt. Col. Hussein Kehinde Abdulkadir of Isale-Oja in the late 1970s. While Col. Abdulkadir retired as the Brigade Commander of the Army formation in Owerri, Imo State; General Kamaldeen eventually retired as the Director of Islamic Affairs and Chief Imam of the Nigerian Army.
In the South-South Geopolitical zone, Indigenes of Ilorin, who lived there also made their marks. This
can be seen from Benin to Port-Harcourt and Calabar axis as well as Ekpoma and Sabo-Gida Ora. These include Alhaji Mustapha Ibrahim, the grandfather of the Turaki of Ilorin, Senator Saliu Mustapha, who settled in Ekpoma, in the present-day Edo State. Senator Mustapha’s father, Alhaji Issa Ibrahim Mustapha, was born in Ekpoma. Prof. Shehu Ahmad Jimoh, was also born and raised in Sabo-Gida Ora in the same Edo State where his parents were based as Muslim clerics and traders. Alhaji Muhammad Amao Malik, a leading
member of the first generation of professional pharmacists produced by Ilorin, was raised in Agbede town, near Auchi. From Afuze in the same axis, Prof. Shuaibu Oba AbdulRaheem also picked his beautiful wife, Hajiya Toyeebah Olajumoke AbdulRaheem about half-a-century ago.
Alhaji L. A. K. Jimoh, “the walking encyclopaedia Ilorinica”, was also raised in Calabar and Ikot-Ekpene axis. Alhaji Jimoh’s father, Alfa Muhammadu Jimoh, an itinerant Islamic cleric at different times between 1912 and 1962, lived in Onitsha, Owerri, Aba, Port-Harcourt and Calabar where he and
other clerics, pioneered the introduction and establishment of Islam.
In Port-Harcourt, the impacts of Shaykh Muzamil Arikewuyo from Gaa Aremu, near Pakata and his alter-ego, Shaykh AbdulHameed Abdulwaheed Olanrewaju, the current Mufti of Port-Harcourt, in the propagation of Islam remain impressive and imperishable. In Benin-City, Ilorin also fared well. We had
Alhaji Raji Alabi Ali from Ile Aale, Alore, who settled in Benin-city in the early 1920s. Alhaji Raji was a successful cattle merchant in Benin and neighbouring areas. He also became the Head of Yoruba, Hausa and Nupe joint-communities in the ancient city.
His son, Alhaji Muhammad Raji, who was involved in Islamic activities, later served as the Head of the
Yoruba community in the city after the position was held by an Ijesha man in the city as a cleric just as his younger brother, Alhaji AbdulRaheem Zakariyya, the father of the Sarauniya of Ilorin, Hajiya Muinat Shagaya, MON.
Even in far away Ghana, the presence of Ilorin was also felt. An Ilorin man, Alhaji Ibrahim from Daanii (Ile Oba Ankara) Compound, Centre Igboro area, whose name was later anglicised to Brimah, was the first Yoruba- speaking man to arrive in Ghana, which was then known as Gold Coast. He left Ilorin as an energetic young man and actually pioneered
settlement in the “British Accra”. He became the first leader of the Yoruba and Muslim communities in Ghana. While he was the recognised leader of the Yoruba community in Ghana quite earlier, he assumed the leadership of the Muslim community of Ghana in 1888. Alhaji Brimah died on May 5, 1915 as an accomplished statesman. The holder of the position of Oba Yoruba of Ghana, which is still recognised by the Ghanian authorities, is appointed among the descendants of this great son of Ilorin till date. The current holder of the position is Alhaji Hamzah Peresrino Brimah VIII. His family also produced Alhaji (Dr.) Farouk Brimah who serves as Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology in the government of Republic of Ghana in the late 1990s. Another prominent member of the family, Shaykh Baba Abdul-Raheem Brimah, retired as a Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, University of Ghana, Legion. One other descendant of Alhaji Brimah is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Kwara State University, Malete, Aminu Nasiru Brimah.
Apart from Alhaji Brimah, many other indigenes of Ilorin also found Ghana as a home. These include
the Giwah family of Popo-Giwa and the Giwah family of Ile Fadapa in Pakata as well as the Ayilara family of Oke-Apomu. Alhaji Muhammad Bello Akanbi Oniyo, the father of the late Justice Mustapha Akanbi, also lived in Ghana for many years (in fact, the late incorruptible jurist was born in Accra in 1932) just like several members of Jaji Accra, Jaji Arijigin and Jaji Eggan families of Isale-Aluko, Ilorin; and
several other families whose members became successful traders while sojourning in different Ghanian cities. One can say that Ghana became so attractive that there is no geographical segment of Ilorin that doesn’t have indigenes who sojourned in Ghana. So significant was the presence of Ilorin people that they have also been producing the leader of the Yoruba community in Kumasi, the next most important city in Ghana after Accra. This started in 1924 with the appointment of Alhaji Aliyu Alao as the
first Oba Yoruba of Kumasi. He was succeeded on his death in 1957 by Alhaji Abdulmalik Aliyu Alao who reigned for 33 years. He too was succeeded by Alhaji Muhammad Aliyu Alao who became the Oba
Yoruba of Kumasi in 2022. The Oba of Kumasi lineage has its roots in Ile Elere, Alanamu Quarters, Ilorin. The compound is otherwise called Ile Oba Kumasi. Islamic scholars of Ilorin origin such as Shaykh
Girigisu Akalambi, Shaykh Uthman Atebise of Agbaji and Shaykh Muhammad Jimoh Jabaje of Oke-Apomu also made lasting impressions on the propagation and progress of Islamic faith in the West
African country. The Ghana House built in Pakata is an undying instance of the enduring relationships
between Ghana and Ilorin. It was built by Alhaji AbdulAzeez Arowosaiye Agaka, who was a very successful Accra-Based business man and whose eldest son, Alhaji Tunde Agaka, still lives in Ghana as a prominent international business man.
Abidjan, the capital of Cote D’Ivioire, also recorded the meaningful presence of several Ilorin people right from the colonial era. Alhaji Mukthar Mustapha Saraki, the father of the second republic Senate
Leader and late Waziri of Ilorin, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, became a wealthy merchant in the city right from the 1930s. He was so successful and influential that he became the leader of the Nigerian community in Abidjan and the entire Ivory Coast in the early 1960s.
The same achievement was also recorded in Sierra Leone. Ilorin people also went there and became respected and successful. One of such was Alhaji Aminu Saro of Adangba/Abayawo axis whose trading activities made him to shuttle between Lagos and Freetown. His surname, Saro, was the corrupt form of Sierra Leone in the Yoruba language. He was the father of the late international
businessman and
first Sardauna of Ilorin, Alhaji Umaru Aminu Saro. Alhaji Busari Ola Sayodun of Sayodun Quarters, Pakata, Ilorin, was also very prominent in Freetown as a businessman.
Positive impacts of Ilorin were also felt in the Benin Republic. This was before and after the introduction of colonialism. Many Ilorin scholars took the message of Islam to the French-speaking
country. These include Shaykh Abdulbaqi Abdullahi, the father of Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory, ORSA. In fact, Shaykh Al-Ilory was born in the course of his father’s missionary activities in Wasa, a
province in the western part of the Benin Republic. Shaykh Muhammad Kamaluddeen Al-Adabiy, MFR, OFR, ORSA, the first Grand Mufti of Ilorin and founder of the famous Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria,
also commenced his exciting career in Ihumbo, a border town between Nigeria and Republic of Benin,
in 1921. He recorded the feat while he was still a pupil of Shaykh Tajul Adab who frequently took his missionary career to the town and surrounding cities. Remarkably, Shaykh Badamasi Agbaji and Shaykh Muhammad Salisu
Kokewukobere, the first Amirul Waizin of Ilorin, also worked extensively as a Muslim evangelist in Ajasse near Cotonou, among several places in the Republic of Benin, before those earlier mentioned scholars.
As it was in the past, the present crop of indigenes of Ilorin Emirate are doing very well across the
world. They are doing proudly well for themselves and their ancestral community in various realms of
human endeavours.
Many who went to the Arab world such as Shaykh Ibrahim Salman Ake and Shaykh Bursary Salman Ake both of who studied at the famous Al-Azhar University, Cairo, in the 1950s did outstandingly well. They not only bagged good academic qualifications but each of them also returned home with an Arab wife. The Malami Ubandoma of Ilorin and a Chief Imam at the National Mosque, Abuja, Shaykh Dr Abdulkadir Jumuah Salman Sholagberu, also embraced fame right from his days as a student of Al-Salafiyyat University, Pakistan, where he earned a First Class degree in Sharia. He was popularly known as Oba Pakistan during his younger days in reference to his successful academic sojourn in Pakistan. A former Head of the Department of Islamic Law, University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulRazzaq AbdulMajeed Alaro, mni, who was trained at the University of Madinah has been doing so well that the University in December, 2022 that he was honoured as one of its ten most outstanding products.
Indigenes of Ilorin are also doing fantastically well in the western world. An example of these individuals are Alhaji Adesina Badir Shuaib from Pakata area of Ilorin, who lives in Maryland, United States of America; Alhaji Lanre Gidado from Oke-Agodi in the same Pakata axis, who also lives in the United States; and Mallam Ahmed Kayode Sanni of Okesuna, a distinguished computer scientist, who is based in Canada.
Quite are a number of Ilorin men also married from the western world and still ensured the preservation of their cultural and religious identities. A good example of these compatriots was the late Prof. AbdulRauf Mustapha of Oke-Apomu, who was married to Dr Kate Meagher, a Briton of Canadian origin.
Many of these foreign-based compatriots teamed up to form branches of IEDPU in their places of sojourn. A remarkable example of this can be found in the United States of America where there is a thriving branch of the IEDPU.
Many other indigenes of Ilorin Emirate have also given a good account of themselves as civil servants and diplomats across the
world. This trend started with the 9th Balogun Alanamu and second Waziri of Ilorin, Alhaji Saadu Alanamu, who was the Agent-General of Northern Nigeria to the United Kingdom from 1960 to 1963. Those who followed suit include Ambassadors Abubakar Garba Gobir, Abdulkadir Muhammad Sambo Imam and
Mohammed Saleh AbdulWahab, mni. Ilorin also produced a former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR; Ambassador Sheikh Usman AbdulAzeez, fwc; Ambassador
Babatunde Ayinla Nurudeen, Ph.D.; Ambassador Audu Kadir and Ambassador Kayode Ibrahim Laro, fdc; who died in active service as Nigeria’s Envoy to Brazil; and, of course, Ambassador Isiaka Abdulkadir Imam, the current
Secretary-General of D-8 in Istanbul, Turkey. This category also includes Prof. Kamilu Kayode Kamaluddeen, who recently retired from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and one of his students, Dr Falilat Ajoke Abdul of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, among several others.
While our heroes past deserve every honour for leaving behind a fantastic legacy for the present generation in patriotism erudition and commerce, the present crop of Ilorin patriots who are serving diligently and working relentlessly at keeping the banner of the community afloat deserve to be celebrated too.
They are also trying to leave a legacy of diligence, integrity and patriotism for the generations unborn.
Imam is Secretary, Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union.
