Otan Ayegbaju

Otan-Ayegbajulisten^ⓘ is an historic town in Yorubaland founded about 800 years ago by descendants of Oduduwa, Olasooye Osilokun Osiloye the 16th child of Oduduwa who migrated from Ifẹ. It is the headquarters of Boluwaduro Local Government Area. Nearby towns are Eripa, Iresi, Igbajo, Oke-irun and Oyan. ^[1] It's the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Osogbo Marian pilgrimage (Oke-Maria).

The Owa of Otan-Ayegbaju is the title given to the king. The Owa of Otan-Ayegbaju was the 26th in the third dispersal Republic|Oduduwa]]. The town's government wasn't destroyed by inter-tribal wars. Grand children of Olasooye ruled after him such as Ajiboye, Oguntuyin, Laboyede, Adejimi and Oluyooye (Olua aka Baba Otan). Olua was the 6th Oba in Otan Ayegbaju, he had wives and children. He was a very powerful hunter and Oba. He was called Olua after his demise by his people because as he was going to die; he took his friend from Ile Basemo (titled Agbaakin) to the bottom of what is now called Olua hill.

Olua conjured the ground to open and it opened and he immersed himself into the ground and asked his friend to tell his people that he has entered the ground and that they should be coming to celebrate him yearly with the following:

• Oluyanmbiti Odunnade to come with undiluted palm wine in a calabash gourd stucked with omu leaves OMO ELEWE OMU “ELEMU”

• Ogundugba to come with white ram OMO TONI AGBO “ONIGBO”

• Atasi to come with kolanuts OMO OLOBI APAYAN “LUBAYAN”

• Otan people to come with cow

➢ The three Houses were then called ELEMU, ONIGBO and LUBAYAN respectively

Otan people did not see his corpse and reasoned that he must be god (oluwa).

Otan people started celebrating him from the reign of Oba Faseyitan (Olamodi) till date and it was noted that Oba Olagunju put a piece of white cloth on the main entrance to his Palace as door blind (the second palace) now called Ile Olua at the opposite side of the current palace with the main Road in between.

Up till today, at the Olua Shrine the cow is shared as follows:

✪ ELEMU takes one of the cow’s leg

✪ The Reigning Oba takes the second leg

✪ ONIGBO takes one of the cow’s arm

✪ LUBAYAN takes the other arm

✪ The rest belongs to the Chiefs and the people

The followings go to the Olua shrine (Igbo Olua)

✓ Agbaakin

✓ Aworo Olua

✓ Head of Elemu

✓ Head of Onigbo

✓ Head of Lubayan

✓ The reigning Oba stops at Awa Owa (a short distance before the Ojubo Olua in the shrine)

✓ All the Chiefs stay at a distance (before the reigning Oba)

✓ People stay at further distance

The Cow must be consumed in the bush the second day and must not be taken home

The second Palace (Olua’s Palace) became his shrine in the town till date

Oba Olagunju celebrated Olua till he died in 1962 and when he died he was buried in the palace by his children, a situation that has never happened before. It was done so that Oba Olagunju will not be forgotten. All other Obas also celebrated Olua and the celebration of Olua continues till date.

After the death of Olua who immersed himself in the ground, a prince from Onigbo family by name Adedolapo was consulted to succeed Olua, he stepped down for his Brother Atasi in order to establish the third dynasty and partly because Olua’s Palace was filled with spirits and charms which made curious noise in the night similar to the curious noise made by Egun Tiamiyu (Tiamiyu’s masquerades) in the fifities. Adedolapo added that he was too weak spiritually and traditionally to replace Olua on the throne; the whole town was so annoyed with him that they destroyed his farm crops around Akangbe area.

At that time, Atasi was staying with him, so he handed over Atasi as their father’s third son but the kingmakers refused him because of his disability; he has hunched back, Adedolapo therefore persuaded the kingmakers that Atasi be made regent and Atasi was taken as the first Regent in Otan history.  Meanwhile a new palace (third palace) was prepared for him at the present site opposite that of Olua  

The king makers decided that the only thing was to have a long period of interregnum after Olua and later a candidate who does not know Olua could be put on the throne.

What happened in Benin was translated to Otan Ayegbaju, the hunched back boy, son of Olasooye continued to play with Olua’s wives in the Palace, miraculously one of them Winbolu from Ilare was pregnant for him and the baby from the pregnancy was named Faseyitan (who was later called Olamodi) he was put on the throne at the age of nine to replace Olua with Atasi as regent.

The current Owa is Oba Lukman Adesola Ojo Fadipe Arenibiowo II, Owa Olatanka III. He was installed in June 2009.^[2]

OLUA PERSONALITY PROFILE

Oluyooye; fondly called Olua Baba Otan is a descendant of Odunade Oluyanmbiti the Titular head of Elemu Dynasty. He was called Baba Otan because of his belief in the unity and oneness of purpose of the people of Otan Ayegbaju,

He reigned after Oba Adejimi of Ogundugba (Onigbo Dynasty) the Owasokun of Otan Ayegbaju between 1585 – 1625. He was a powerful hunter and the father of Olusomoka.

He was a powerful Oba, soldier and hunter, he mobilised his subjects to perform community developmental works; one of such was the preparation to bring “Osupa Ijio” Oduduwa’s diamond to Otan from Ile Ife to actualise the purpose for which Otan Ayegbaju was founded. He organised functional activities such as Sisagun Osan Kisagun Oru, Igbosisi, saka jija etc. for the youths.

He led mass movement of his subjects to Ile Ife to bring Osupa Ijio to Otan Ayegbaju but unfortunately this was not realised as the diamonds has had its first disappearance from Ife due to envy among Olasooye’s brothers: “inside abuse” and kept with the Igbos that were living in the neighbouring forest to Ile Ife. Though the diamonds were later recovered and returned to Ife but later it was finally carried to Germany by German Christian Missionaries in pretence that it was being worshipped by Ife pagans in the 18th century.

On his return from Ife to Otan, Oluyooye (Olua) decided to commit suicide in front of the cave where the osupa ijio would have been kept permanently.

Before he died, he inaugurated the ORO META OTAN (3 Cult Mafia of Otan and made the three Titular heads of Dynasties of Odunade Oluyanmbiti, Ogundugba and Atasi to be commemorating him and their past ancestral fathers every year at the point he was about to sink into the ground to be praying for an era of abundance, peace and harmony in Otan.

He therefore requested that:

• Odunade Oluyanmbiti to commemorate with undiluted palm wine in a calabash gourd stuck with omu leaf: “Omo elewe omu”  shortened to OMO ELEMU

• Ogundugba to commemorate with white ram: “Omo to ni agbo” shortened to ONIGBO

• Atasi to commemorate with kola nut that will be broken into pieces: “Obi a pa yan/Omo olobi apayan” shortened to LUBAYAN  

In view of the above, the name changed from Oluyanmbiti, Ogundugba and Atasi to ELEMU, ONIGBO and LUBAYAN respectively.

This led to the commencement of OLUA FESTIVAL which before the advent of foreign religions: Christianity and Islam was an important ceremony in Otan Ayegbaju.

Arising from not being able to bring the diamonds down to Otan, Olua became frustrated and lost interest in state matters; he de

cided to take his life by sinking into the ground in front of the cave where the treasure would have been kept; if it was brought home in 1625.

Otan is located in the north-eastern area of Osun State, thirty-seven kilometers from Oshogbo, the state capital. It covers a land mass of 100 km² (39 sq mi). Its terrain consists of hills, mountains, dense forest, vegetation and gullies. The climate is tropical with warm temperatures and low humidity.^[3]

Otan Ayegbaju borders with Eripa, Iresi, Oke-irun, Igbajo and Oyan.^[4]

The rainy season in Otan-Ayegbaju is humid, oppressive, and cloudy, whereas the dry season is warm, muggy, and partially cloudy. The average annual temperature ranges from 62 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, rarely falling below 56 or rising over 95.^[4][5]

Between 23 January and 31 March, which is the length of the hot season, the average daily high temperature is above 88°F. In Otan-Ayegbaju, March is the hottest month of the year, with an average high of 89°F and low of 71°F.^[4][5]

The 3.8-month chilly season, which runs from 17 June to 11 October, has an average daily maximum temperature of less than 81°F. In Otan-Ayegbaju, August is the coldest month of the year, with average lows of 67°F and highs of 79°F.^[4][5]

Over the course of the year, Otan Ayegbaju suffers significant seasonal change in the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds.^[5][4]

Beginning about 16 November and lasting for 2.9 months, the clearer season in Otan-Ayegbaju ends around 13 February.^[5][4]

The sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly overcast 52% of the time on average in December, the clearest month of the year in Otan-Ayegbaju.^[4][5]

Beginning around 13 February and lasting for 9.1 months, the cloudier period of the year ends around 16 November.^[4][5]

April is the cloudiest month of the year in Otan-Ayegbaju, with an average of 84% of the time that the sky is overcast or largely cloudy during this month.^[5][4]

A day that has at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation is considered to be wet. In Otan-Ayegbaju, the likelihood of rainy days varies wildly throughout the year.^[4][5]

In the 6.3-month-long wetter season, which runs from 14 April to 23 October, there is a larger than 43% chance that any given day would be rainy. September has an average of 25.0 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation, making it the month with the most rainy days in Otan-Ayegbaju.^[4][5]

Between 23 October and 14 April, or 5.7 months, is the dry season. December has an average of 0.7 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation, making it the month with the fewest wet days in Otan-Ayegbaju.^[5][4]

With an average of 25.0 days, September is the month in Otan-Ayegbaju with the most rainy days. According to this classification, rain alone has a peak probability of 85% on 21 September and is the most frequent type of precipitation over the entire year.^[5][4]

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