Ekiti was an independent state prior to the
British conquest. It was one of the many
Yoruba states in what is today
Nigeria. The
Ekiti people as a nation and districts of the Yoruba race trace some of her progeny to
Oduduwa, the father and progenitor of the Yoruba race even though good reason appears to establish the existence of aboriginal people in Ekiti region prior to the influx of royalty from present-day
Ile Ife as that kingdom grew and abound. There are two major schools of thought regarding Ekiti's history. First was the story that tied the origin of Ekiti to
Ife. The story goes that the Olofin, one of the sons of
Oduduwa had 16 children and in the means of searching for the new land to develop, they all journeyed out of Ile-Ife as they walked through the Iwo-Eleru (Cave of Ashes) at Ijare and had stopped over at a place called Igbo-Aka (forest of termites) closer to
Ile-Oluji. The Olofin, the 16 children and some other beloved people continued with their journey, but when they got to a particular lovely and flat land, the Owa-Obokun (the Monarch of
Ijesha land) and
Orangun of Ila decided to stay in the present Ijesha and
Igbomina land in
Osun state. This history may describe the history of certain royalty in present-day Ekiti, but not all of Ekiti which is made up of 131 Principal towns, with their own royalty and many land-owning communities with no royalty at all. In fact, the invading royalties from the East went on to colonize and transform the aboriginals, distinguishing the Ekiti dialect upon mix-up with the
Ife/
Oyo tongue of the Yorubas according to
Samuel Johnson, the renowned historian of the early Yoruba States and Affairs. Nobody can give accurate dates to these events due to the lack of written sources, but people have lived in Ekiti for centuries. It is on record that Ekiti Obas had a prosperous reign in the 13th century. An example was the reign of Ewi Ata of
Ado-Ekiti in the 1400s. About the Ekitis,
Samuel Johnson had this to say: "Historically, the Ekitis are among the aboriginal elements of Nigeria absorbed by the invaders from the East (Yoruba people from Ile Ife). "The term
Ekiti denotes a "Mound", and is derived from the rugged mountainous feature of that part of the country. It is an extensive province and well-watered, including several tribes and families right onto the border of the Niger, eastward. They hold themselves quite distinct from the Ijesas, especially in political affairs." (Samuel Johnson, The History of the Yoruba, 1921). It is believed that the ancestors of the Ekiti people who came to combine with the aboriginal people on the land migrated from Ile Ife, the spiritual home of the Yoruba people. According to oral and contemporary written sources of Yoruba history,
Oduduwa, the ancestor of the
Yoruba traveled to Ife [Ife Ooyelagbo] where he met people who were already settled there. Among the elders he met in the town were Agbonniregun [Stetillu],
Obatala, Orelure, Obameri, Elesije, Obamirin, Obalejugbe just to mention a few. It is known that descendants of Agbonniregun [Baba Ifa] settled in Ekiti, examples being the Alara and Ajero who are sons of Ifa, Orunmila [Agbonniregun] himself spent a greater part of his life at Ado. Due to this, we have the saying ‘Ado ni ile Ifa’ [Ado is the home of Ifa]. The Ekiti have ever since settled in their present location. The early Ekiti country is divided into 16 districts (and it has been maintained to this day), each with its own Owa or King (Owa being a generic term amongst them) of which four are supreme, viz. : — (1) The Owore of Otun, (2) The Ajero of
Ijero, (3) The Ewi of
Ado and (4) The Elekole of
Ikole. The following are the minor Ekiti kings: — (5) Alara of Aramoko, (6) Alaye of
Efon Alaye, (7) Ajanpanda of
Akure, (8) Ologotun of Ogotun, (9) Olojudo of
Ido, (10) Attah of Aiyede, (11) Oloja Oke of Igbo Odo, (12) Oloye of Oye, (13) Olomuwo of Omuwo, (14) Onire of Ire, (15) Arinjale of Ise and (16) Onitaji of Itaji. The Orangun of Ila is sometimes classed among them, but he is only Ekiti in sympathy, being of a different family." The modern Ekiti state was formed from part of
Ondo in 1996. Prior to this, it was part of the Ondo Province in the Western Region of Nigeria. While the non-Ekiti part of the region largely dominated geographically, Akure which was then regarded as an Ekiti town was the headquarters of Ondo province. ==Geography==