my name is prince Adejube John Smart Olusola HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF IPE AKOKO Ipe Akoko The story my grandmother told me, she was from the family of Apata in Iba from Ipe Akoko She who is name Late Madam Grace Apata aka: Asumahu was the only surviving daughter of her mother who died last and d oldst . Her mother gave birth seventeen times; she had other step brothers and sisters. She however married to a royal family from Ipe Akoko, a village of about six miles to Isua and Epinmi. She lived in Ipe main town iba town with her husband name Alfa saliu Adejube; they told me little on how we get to ipe main settlement Grandmother’s story as explained by her Husband goes thus........... .......... Ipe people fought many wars in the past, in fact it was told that Ipe people never eat monkey because they believe, they have a tie with monkeys. In those days, according to the story whenever they went to war the monkeys turned out to help in defeating their enemies. And if you asked any senior citizen in Ipe, he/she will corroborate this, much cannot be said about the younger generation, it seems history is fading away that is why one needs to preserve the history at least for the next generations to come. The monkeys used their tails to hold the local guns, which turn to a stick of broom; the enemies would only see monkeys and not the people. I do not know how true this story was but I want to believe that the people themselves turned to monkeys to protect themselves from the enemies. Till today they still refers to monkeys as their kin The first crowned king of Ipe Akoko was Ajagbi, he was betrayed by his own people when he led them to war as a result of this, he cursed the Ipe peoples that never will they have a king with crown after the statement he sank into the ground with the crown in his head. Water flows out at the exact place where he entered into the ground. Up till today the water is still flowing and it was named Owii. River Owii becomes a sacrilege, it becomes a goddess rivers. Thereafter, another older man became the king in Ipe Akoko he only ruled for six years before he became sick and died. After a year, Obaya became the king, he ruled for many years and one of his two sons was destiny to become the king after him. Again, it was told that lion ran into the house and ran out during the birth of Job the first son born to the king; well what this connotes could not be ascertained. However, the grandfather was made to leave the palace because he committed taboo, he saw the person under masquerade and reveal the secret which was an abominable act to Ipe People, the king was asked to produced his prince for sacrifice. The queen who came from the lineage of Apata, for fear of what the villagers might do to the royal prince she therefore took the prince to her family with the queen’s royal stool. Because the prince cannot be trained outside the royal house, it is forbidden. That marked the beginning of power shift. He stayed with queen’s family until, he turned seventeen he left home for Ondo town and became a steward inside one of the Portuguese ship. He worked and travelled with them until he saved enough to start his own business. His line of business was in building materials, in fact his house was the first house built with roofing sheets in Ipe village. For many years Ipe village remained without having a king, however, king emerged from Apata family of recent, to rule Ipe people. It must be told that history will keep repeating itself as Apata lineage is also entitled to the throne, but nobody could denied it that the queen’s royal stool was taken into Apata house hold to train the prince there. The story still stand today that the queen came from Apata lineage, the Yoruba people believe that if your father house rejects you, your mother house will never denied you. Thanks to dis lovly mum who is now late, who died early 2013 and the final outing is jan 2 2014 brings al is great grand son together to eliten them on history and many more mama sunre o madam Grace Adejube eyitiwon baje lorun ni oma ba won je... Ma gborun soo run ire ooo..

Ipe speak an indigenous language that is not Yoruba or even Yoruboid, yet they claim Yoruba with every fibre in them.
It's really interesting.

Nice story. The history of the Akoko region is very fascinating.

pazienza:
Ipe speak an indigenous language that is not Yoruba or even Yoruboid, yet they claim Yoruba with every fibre in them.
It's really interesting.

[s]No, actually they do. That's a misconception.[/s] There are many dialects and languages spoken in Akoko region. A number are actually dialects of Yoruba or Yoruboid in nature, some are language isolates and others are Edoid. The dialect spoken in Ipe along with settlements like Ikare-Akoko, Oba and Oka is actually similar to that of Owo with Ipe being more distinct. Apart from the language connection, Ipe folks tie their origin story to Ife. So there you have it.

9jakool:

No, actually they do. That's a misconception. There are many dialects and languages spoken in Akoko region. A number are actually dialects of Yoruba or Yoruboid in nature, some are language isolates and others are Edoid. The dialect spoken in Ipe along with settlements like Ikare-Akoko, Oba and Oka is actually similar to that of Owo with Ipe being more distinct. Apart from the language connection, Ipe folks tie their origin story to Ife. So there you have it.

Ipe is in no way related to Yoruba language. Ipe language is 100% distinct from Yoruba. I know this because I'm conversant with the area. I lived amongst the indigenes for months.

No Yoruba man can understand any iota of Ipe language. Ipe people speak Yoruba as a second language to enable them communicate with Yorubas from within or outside Ondo.

If you are truly an Ipe indigene that lives or lived in Ipe, you would know this very fact.

I'm well aware that Ipe claims Ife origin, but we know how politicized oral history are these days.
Any neutral examining Ipe would come to the conclusion that the people are rather Edoid people than Yoruboid people, judging by their language.

pazienza:


Ipe is in no way related to Yoruba language. Ipe language is 100% distinct from Yoruba. I know this because I'm conversant with the area. I lived amongst the indigenes for months.

No Yoruba man can understand any iota of Ipe language. Ipe people speak Yoruba as a second language to enable them communicate with Yorubas from within or outside Ondo.

If you are truly an Ipe indigene that lives or lived in Ipe, you would know this very fact.

I'm well aware that Ipe claims Ife origin, but we know how politicized oral history are these days.
Any neutral examining Ipe would come to the conclusion that the people are rather Edoid people than Yoruboid people, judging by their language.

Yeah you are right, I retract from my claim. The Akoko region is very complex. The language does sound Edoid, but they use Yoruba as a lingua franca. The rest of the towns I mentioned are primarily Yoruba-speaking. .

Ipe Akoko in the native language sounds like "Ukwe" and it used to be a part of Midwest Nigeria, it is now in Ondo State.
There's a river that was used to determine which area will be in Edo or Ondo State by the Government.
The language is an Edoid language.
There are some words that when spoken in the native language can be understood by some people in Edo State or Delta State.
Eg. Ovon is sun, Unu is mouth, Ovan is name, Ovie is king, Omo Agheghe or Omo Agege means Pampered child etc.
There is even "wen" which translates to "have" in Igbo language that is also spoken in the language.
There is also a part of Idoani in Ondo State that speaks almost thesame way as Ipe Akoko.
The Ile-Ife origin is a modern retelling.
But surely there is a strong Yoruba influence and relation with little to no Edo influence or relation today, being that the town is in Ondo State, a Yoruba State.
The given names might not have always been Yoruba, but today given names are mostly Yoruba.
Native given names, and some complex expressions in the language are becoming less used or forgotten as the great grandparents and grandparents are dying.