DSpace Angular :: Browsing by Author "Salihu, Ismail Otukoko"

Browsing by Author "Salihu, Ismail Otukoko"

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Aare-Ona-Kakanfo Afonja, c.1796-c.1824: An Interrogation of the Historiography of a Critical Chapter of Ilorin History
(African Studies and Research Forum, 2024) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
Various studies have examined the transformation of Ilorin from an insignificant settlement in the 1790s to an emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate by the mid-1820s. The role played by key actors like Afonja, a Yoruba generalissimo, Solagberu, a Kanuri scholar-warrior-chief, and Alimi, a Fulani cleric, among others, has also received scholarly attention. In spite of the centrality of Afonja to the unfolding of the events that characterised the transformation, certain aspects of his era and career have remained inadequately interrogated and analysed in extant literature. This paper interrogates some themes related to Afonja’s era in the history of Ilorin. The paper adopts the interpretive approach of the historical methodology, which relies on the use and interpretation of qualitative data from primary and secondary sources. The data used for the study include archival materials such as petitions, memoranda, Gazetteers, and unpublished manuscripts, newspapers, autobiography, books, journal articles, and theses. The paper further adopted a thematic analytical framework to subject the information from various sources to historical analysis and interpretation. It argues that, as a major catalyst for the events that culminated in the rise of Ilorin emirate by c.1825, and final collapse of the Old Oyo Empire by c.1835, Afonja’s era in Ilorin lasted longer than often suggested in several works and, requires a proper chronology and analysis of the events associated with it and rationale for his actions and inactions. The paper also highlights the need for adequate incorporation of local and other neglected sources in examination of Afonja’s era. Keywords: Ilorin, History, Transformation, Historiography, Chronology
Folk Songs as Sources of History: An Analysis of Alhaji Odolaye Aremu’s Ilorin Dadakuada Music
(VUNA Journal of History and International Relations, 2023-01) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
In their endeavors to reconstruct and interpret the past, historians make use of various sources including oral, written, and material evidence. Over the years, they have had to rely on oral literature in order to understand and reconstruct events, particularly in non-literate societies where the art of writing developed very late. Such forms of oral literature as songs (Orin), proverbs (Owe), praise-names (Oriki) and poems (Arofọ) have, therefore, become part and parcel of traditional sources of history. These “oral and recitative” forms have been described as “a chief characteristic” of traditional history among the Yoruba. Hence, palace drummers and ballad singers were among the ‘professional oral historians’ used in traditional Yoruba society to ‘record’, ‘recite’, ‘preserve’ and transmit ‘history’ from generation to generation. Odolaye Aremu’s Dadakuada song (Orin) is one form of folk music that combines various forms of Yoruba oral literature (Oriki, Owe, Arofọ, etc.) With these forms, Odolaye did not only entertain and praise but also informs about past and contemporary events. Thus, issues in socio-economic and political life of the society are regularly subjects of Aremu’s folk music. At both individual and societal levels, therefore, Odolaye’s songs contain historical information that is of importance in writing biography as well as aspects of socio-economic and political history. This paper seeks to identify, analyze, and draw attention to some of the historical values of the songs of the Dadakuada legend, late Alhaji Muhammed Odolaye Aremu.
From Traditionalism to Democratic Radicalism: A Re-examination of the Ilorin Talaka Parapo Phenomenon, 1954-1958
(Department of History and International Studies, Kogi State University, Anyigba, 2012) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
The period of decolonization in Nigeria (1950-1960) was characterized by diverse struggles at various levels. Among the most noticeable developments during the decade are party politics, electoral, political and other forms of struggle for power as well as separatist and minority agitations. Within the defunct Northern Region, the Ilorin emirate was the first to experiment with democratic local government. It therefore had its own fair share of the emergent contestations. In Ilorin town, the headquarters of the Ilorin Emirate, the unfolding of the events associated with the emergent struggles revolved around the colonial reforms aimed at democratizing the local government, which started in the early 1950s. The reforms resulted in a struggle for the control of Ilorin between the hitherto privileged traditional ruling class and the underprivileged class of commoners. Within a period of five years, Ilorin was shaken to its very foundations by the phenomenal rise and fall of a commoners’ movement known as the Ilorin Talaka Parapo (ITP)—a movement that emerged as a champion of “tradition” but ended up as a major “enemy” of Ilorin traditional institutions and their interests. In view of the confusing signals given out by the ITP at its inception coupled with Ilorin’s peculiar circumstance both as a border territory between the North and South of Nigeria and as the only “Fulani Emirate” in Yoruba land, the ethnic conflict framework has dominated analysis of the rise and transformation of the Ilorin Commoners’ movement. Such framework, however, ignores the multiethnic composition of Ilorin town itself and of the membership of the Ilorin Talaka Parapo.
Ilorin and the Laderin Heritage: A Comparative Analysis of Some External and Internal Creations of Ilorin’s Past
(Department of History and International Relations, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, 2014-12) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
Ilorin has been a coveted and contested polity. Indeed, contestation over Ilorin remains a phenomenon that continues to attract attention of all and sundry. Between c.1824 and 1836, the Old Oyo Yoruba violently, albeit abortively, contested the “Fulani” control over Ilorin—a contestation that ended in the military defeat and final collapse of Yoruba Empire. The central role, which Ilorin played in the collapse of Old Oyo and the 19th c. Yoruba civil wars, is identified as a major influence on early local writers of Yoruba and Ilorin history like Samuel Johnson and Samuel Ojo. It is also one of the main reasons for Yoruba irredentism and contest for Ilorin, which have continued until recent times and culminated in abortive attempts by the pan-Yoruba political party, the Action Group and its ally, the Ilorin Talaka Parapo, to transfer Ilorin to the Western Region in the 1950s. Recently, similar contestations culminated in abortive moves for “a Yoruba Oba” (so-called “Onilorin”) of Ilorin. A major feature of nearly all forms of contestation over Ilorin is the recourse to its early “history” and the tendency of contestants and commentators to explore new battle grounds and tactics including the print and electronic media—newspapers, leaflets, home videos and the internet. In all these, the traditional accounts of early Ilorin, especially those based on external sources have been central to such controversies as the so-called “Ilorin’s crisis of identity” and what is here termed “Laderin Heritage” created and imposed on Ilorin by Reverend Samuel Johnson.
Ilorin Emirate: Some Aspects of the Consolidation, Socio-political and Cultural Integration of a Multi-ethnic Community
(Dar Al-Fikr Al-Arabi, Cairo, Egypt, 2019) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko; Jimba, M. M.
Ilorin Potsherd Pavements and the Reconstruction of the Culture History of a Frontier City: The Historical Significance of some Neglected Artifacts. West African Journal of Archaeology (WAJA), 44(2): 21-52
(West African Archaeological Association, 2014) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
Ilorin history, including its cultural history, has relied primarily on oral and written accounts, which are limited in exploring the history of Ilorin before the mid-18th century. Yet, Ilorin is believed to have been founded between the 15th and 16th centuries and to have developed into ‘a very important centre in northern Yoruba land many centuries before 1800’. In view of the limitations of oral and written sources in providing information on pre-19th century Ilorin, series of archaeological reconnaissance surveys were carried out in the city over the last ten years. These efforts have yielded a lot of cultural entities including potsherd pavements, pottery, grinding hollows, and bones in some parts of Ilorin. The potsherd pavements in particular are stylistically in herringbone pattern. These bear striking resemblance to the potsherd pavements of Daima, Lake Chad area, Kabrais districts in Togo, Nupe, Ikeja, Ile-Ife, Wushishi in the Kaduna Valley, and Ibadan among others. Based on the range of potsherds and potsherd pavements recently discovered, this paper, therefore, examines the historical significance of the artifacts with a view to throwing light on the material culture history of Ilorin. The paper argues that the material finds are capable of shedding more light on pre-18th century cultural history of Ilorin, and thus calls for the protection of these materials as they are endangered by human activities and other natural phenomena.
Ilorin: An Introduction to its History and Tradition of Islamic Scholarship
(Kwara State University Press, Ilorin, 2019) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
Kundi Subculture in the Islamic Scholarship of Ilorin Emirate: A Historical Perspective.
(Kwara State University Press, Ilorin, 2025) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
The production, preservation and transmission of knowledge and practices relating to such phenomena as the production of “medicines” and provision of health services are universal cultural traditions. Among Muslims, such phenomena dated back to the early period of Islam and have survived up to recent times. Among Nigerian Muslims, Kundi culture relates to aspect of knowledge production and preservation, and provision of remedies to health and other conditions. It specifically relates to the production and transmission of Arabic/Ajami manuscripts dealing with information on various aspects of the Muslim’s everyday life including solutions to various human problems. Thus, Kundi represents an individual Muslim’s or family manuscript repository for both the widely acknowledged ‘efficacious Muslim charms’, ‘amulets’, ‘magical therapeutic recipes’, and ‘medicinal prescriptions’, and prayer texts for supplications. Popularly known as “Nakali” or “Asiri” among the Ilorins, Kundi is also an important source of traditional African herbal/medicinal solutions preserved in Islamic/Arabic modes. This paper examines the Kundi culture in Ilorin—a Muslim community which dynamic tradition of Islamic scholarship derived from various Islamic traditions and its multi-ethnic configuration. As a widely acknowledged regional centre of Islamic learning and Arabic manuscripts production in Nigeria, Ilorin’s Kundi reflects the important role, which Ilorin played in indigenous knowledge production, transmission and preservation. As parts of its Arabic/Ajami manuscripts production, Kundi also reflects both Islamic/Muslim and indigenous herbal medicines and solutions and thus provides a veritable source for a study of the documentation of knowledge on both the Islamic/Muslim and traditional African herbal remedies to problems. Keywords: Kundi, Nakali, Manuscripts, Culture, Knowledge Production, Documentation
Migration, Settlement Pattern and Transformation in Ilorin in Ilorin History.
(Fig & Olive Ltd., Abuja, 2015) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
Origin and Settlement Pattern of the People of Aliagan Quarters and their Neighbours.
(Fig & Olive Ltd., Abuja, 2015) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
The 1936 Baba Isale “Coup” and Aftermath: A Historical Analysis of an Intrigue in the Struggle for Supremacy in Colonial Ilorin
(The Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Bayero University Kano, 2011-07) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
Introduction Pre-colonial and colonial history of Ilorin was punctuated by various crises and conflicts that have been described as incidents in the struggle for power—political and economic—and supremacy. During the 19th c., there were struggles and contestations between the first Emir Abdul-Salami (c.1823-c.1836) and other group leaders like Afonja, Sholagberu and the Sarkin Gambari Bako. From the 1860s to 1890s, struggles continued between successive Emirs and their Baloguns (ward\war chiefs) led by the “Balogun Agba” (the most senior Balogun and the de facto Commander-in-Chief of the Ilorin army) such as Baloguns Fulani Hina Konu, Gambari Karara and Alanamu Ali Inakoju. Although colonialism put an end to some of the main causes of conflicts, it did not, however, put a final stop to them. Rather, colonial rule introduced new impetus and conditions for both continuity and change in the struggle. Thus colonial Ilorin recorded, among others, such crises as the 1907 “hunters revolts” in and around Ilorin town and this is believed to have been instigated by the Balogun Ajikobi Biala, Magaji Gari Salihu and one Ajai or Ajia Ogidilolu; the 1913 anti-tax riots staged largely by the Oke Imale (“Yoruba”) quarters, the Baba Isale crisis of 1936 and the Ilorin Talaka Parapo phenomenon of the 1950s. The 1936 Baba Isale crisis provides an important incident reflecting continuity and change in the struggle for power, prestige or influence and supremacy in the 20th c. Ilorin. It also represents the last major incident in the contest for Ilorin among members of the traditional ruling aristocracy during the colonial rule.
The Fizzling Out of a ‘Minority’ Movement\Party: The Ilorin Talaka Parapo, 1954-1965
(Bahiti & Dalila Publishers, Lagos, 2014) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko; Aliyu S. Alabi
During the last decade of colonial rule in Nigeria, minorities’ agitations emerged in the country preparatory to her independence. In this period, Ilorin served as a kind of guinea pig in the experiment to democratize local governance in the Northern Region. One of the major outcomes of the experiment was the sudden emergence of a grass root movement, the Ilorin Talaka Parapo (ITP). Its unforeseen political ascendancy culminated in a major threat not only to the established traditional institutions, as a frontier Emirate of the old Sokoto Caliphate but also the continued unity of the Northern Region. The sudden fall from power of the ITP in 1958 and its subsequent fizzling out by early 1960s was unprecedented in the history of minority movement and opposition party in Nigeria. This paper seeks to examine the whys and hows of the fizzling out of a dynamic minority party through the interplay of power and interests of the groups involved. Though its origin was not rooted in Yoruba irredentism, its fall and subsequent disappearance from Ilorin’s political landscape had much to do with the question of the Ilorin-West Merger, one of the hotly contested issues during the era of decolonization and incessant minority agitations in Nigeria. It also partly derived from the issue of power relations between majority and minority groups represented by the common people (the Talakawa) and the traditional ruling elite respectively. In spite of its vibrancy and success in politics and local governance, the ITP fizzled out and Ilorin has not witnessed its resurgence.
The Role of Non-Yoruba Groups in the Transformation of Ilorin, 1790s-1820s
(Department of History, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 2019) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
Up to about 1797 “Ilorin”, located in a region described as the northern ‘Yoruba Frontier,’ was a settlement within the Old Oyo Empire. Subsequently, it was transformed into a military stronghold of Aare-Ona-Kakanfo Afonja. By 1823\4 it became an emirate and was formally incorporated into the Sokoto Caliphate in 1829. During the period, “Ilorin” witnessed dramatic transformation from a ‘Yoruba’ settlement into a multi-ethnic community inhabited by various groups including the Baruba, Fulani, Gwari, Hausa, Kanuri, Nupe and Yoruba among others. Initially, these groups were diverse not only in origins but in orientations and ambitions; a larger proportion was, however, eventually united by the strong bond of Muslim brotherhood and, being influenced by the ideology of Shaikh Usman Dan Fodio’s Jihad, transformed a similar religious movement initiated in northern Yorubaland by Shaikh Alimi into a Jihad. The triumph of the Alimids over their non-Muslim antagonists led to the transformation from “Ilorin Afonja” to “Ilorin Garin Alimi.” In all these developments, the prominent role played by the non-Yoruba groups has been a widely acknowledged fact although not much has been done to give an adequate historical analysis. Therefore, this paper examines the roles of non-Yoruba elements in the events that characterized the socio-political transformation witnessed in Ilorin between 1790s and 1820s. It also draws attention to the relationship between the presence and involvement of such non-Yoruba elements and the actions and inaction of the leading actors in the events that unfolded during the transformation of Ilorin into an emirate in c.1824-1829.
The “O To Ge” Movement in Kwara Politics: From ‘Elite Coalitions’ to ‘Elite-Masses Consensus’ for Political Change
(Swift Books, Ibadan, 2022) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
The causal role of elites in the dynamics of change and continuity is among the dominant themes in history. Both classical and neo-elite theorists assigned prominent place to elites and their actions in developments in any given society. However, neo-elite theorists incorporate the masses and emphasise the interdependent relations between them and the elites. In other words, in causal explanation of political changes in modern societies such as democratic transitions and regime changes, the contentions in the ‘New Elite Framework’ is that the elite, though still a critical variable, are not the only determinants of political outcomes. They are rather ‘dependent actors’ whose actions and successes could be limited by the masses’ interests and actions. Against this background, this paper explores the emergence of the Saraki political dynasty in Kwara State and the trajectories of the anti-Saraki struggle that culminated in the “O To Gẹ” movement and a major political change in the politics of Kwara State—a change, which, until 2019, previous ‘coalitions of elites’ had failed to actualise. It argues that, although the struggle against Saraki’s hegemonic dominance had a fairly long history, its success in 2019 was more a result of the ‘consensus’ between the elites and masses—a consensus and success that were aided by a convergence of other intervening factors and interests that united both social classes.
Traditional Histories and Historical Reconstruction of the Origin and Early History of Ilorin: A Reexamination
(Faculty of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete, 2018) Salihu, Ismail Otukoko
Since the 1950s when African and Africanist historians began to use oral evidence as a veritable source for historical reconstruction of Africa’s pre-colonial past, traditional histories have continued to occupy a central stage in modern African historiography. In spite of its limitations, no serious historical inquiry into the past of Africa’s non-literate societies would ignore traditional material. The use of traditional accounts of the origin and early history of Ilorin has continued to pose serious challenges to historians and non-historians. Some reasons may be responsible for this including Ilorin’s multiethnic and multicultural configuration; inexhaustive analysis and interpretation of various versions of Ilorin’s traditional history in existing attempts at reconstructing its origin and early history, and the fact that much of Ilorin’s history up to the 1820s has not been reconsidered in the light of historical and archaeological evidence from various parts of the Old Oyo Empire and the entire region within which context the origin and early history of Ilorin is located. This paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach to reexamine the traditional accounts on the ‘origin’ and ‘early’ history of Ilorin and posits that various elements in the traditions suggest different phases in the historical evolution of Ilorin and of the developments before the late 18th century.

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