''I met Elerewe Ojo in 1973''

I met Elerewe Ojo in 1973. I was surprised by several things about him:

• His friendliness
   
• His young age
• His height
• And the storehouse of information he had in his head.

I had spent several weeks already interviewing Chief M.B. Ashara, who had worked with Olateru-Olagbegi II in gathering a history of Owo together, and with Chief Justus Akeredolu, who had retired from the Department of Antiquities and was living in his home in Owo. From the information I had gained from those two, I determined that I would attempt to visit as many chiefly families as I could and gather each title’s history as the family remembered it.


 

The Elerewe was quick to grant me an audience, and we sat for many interviews. Usually he and I sat in a courtyard at his house, and his very tall mother walked about, listening as we talked. After providing me with his version of the founding of Owo from Ile-Ife, the list of Olowos beginning with Ojugbelu in 1019, then Imade, Kodo, Agwobojoro, and telling me about each up through Sir Olateru-Olagbegi II, he eventually addressed his own title.

The Elerewe title, he told me, had been created by Olowo Otutubosu for his brother Akintin, the first Elerewe. Akintin was the son of Olowo Abe, and his mother was Oluyamaka, a native of Akungba. Olowo bestowed on him the udaigha, the orufonran, the pakato, and made him the head of the omolowos – past, present and future – and the quarter head of Igboroko.

A list of Elerewes included Akintin, Olubobare, Adesunloye, Adekanye, Olakunori, and Ojo Oladutele, who had been installed in 1953. He told me how he had gone to the Aafin with a large entourage. There the Olowo sat on his throne, and all the traditional chiefs and kingmakers were assembled. He was called outside, where he was asked to remove his outer clothing, and kneeling dressed only on trousers and a singlet, he knelt as the Ojumu called his name three times. Then he stated that the Olowo wanted to bestow the title of Elerewe of Owo on him, and that if he served well, he would prosper. He was warned too that if he did not serve well, he would not prosper. The Olowo provided four strings of coral beads for his legs along with other paraphernalia associated with the title. For a nine day period, a different object of the set of paraphernalia was worn as he went to the palace to pay homage to the Olowo. On the ninth day, he was fully robed and danced around the entire city, followed by family members, chiefs, friends and visitors from outside Owo. It was then that he was finally chief.

 ''The father of the current Elerewe, then, was a man of dignity, a man of wisdom, a man who sought out the threads of history to weave them together to tell the story of Owo Kingdom. I am sure that his son will continue to carry out the duties of Quarter Head of Igboroko and of the title of Elerewe with the intelligence, thoughtfulness and goodwill that his father carried out his responsibilities''

On succeeding visits, he shared with me thoughts on igogo,architecture, orisha ile, shigidi, the various towns and villages that comprose Owo – Iyere, Ipele, Isuada, Ipenme, Emure-ile, Amuren, Isho, and Idashen. Elerewe laid out for me each quarter of town – Iloro, Isaipen, Igboroko, Ijebu, Ehinogbe.

Then taking each Olowo in turn, Elerewe shared with me the successes or failures of the reign and how each is remembered in Owo history. Then the major chieftaincy titles – Sashere, Oshere, Ojumu, Ojomo, Owadogbon, Oshodi, and the various otu of chiefs, his own, Otu Sashere, consisting of Sashere, Elerewe, Ariyo, Owadogbon, Owalaiye, Olugboshere, Idogun, Arelepo, Oshuporu, and Aribo.

We discussed the ako ceremony, Orisha-agbaiye and the olorisha, Osanyin, Ogun, ashigbo cloth, the oposi ceremony, the ebolo cloth, and so many other topics.
 

It was apparent to me at the time, that much of Elerewe Ojo’s great potential was hindered by the political realities of the late 1960s and 1970s. Despite those drawbacks he maintained a sense of duty for carrying out his obligations as chief.

               

 The father of the current Elerewe, then, was a man of dignity, a man of wisdom, a man who sought out the threads of history to weave them together to tell the story of Owo Kingdom. I am sure that his son will continue to carry out the duties of Quarter Head of Igboroko and of the title of Elerewe with the intelligence, thoughtfulness and goodwill that his father carried out his responsibilities.
Pofessor Robin Poynor is