Browsing by Author "Oladimeji Mohammed, ALABI"

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    Evolution and Development of Ilorin Military in the 19th Century.
    (College of Humanities, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State, Nigeria., 2014-10) Oladimeji Mohammed, ALABI
    The discord between Aare Afonja and Alafin Aole had resulted into a new era in Ilorin’s history. Afonja used the event to severe the town from Old Oyo Empire, after his insubordination against Alafin Aole. To achieve this, the Aare had to set up a more formidable army that could withstand anticipated attacks from the Oyo authorities in attempts to hold Ilorin under Oyo’s command. Thus, he beefed up his army for the attacks ahead by recruiting runaway slaves and captives. With this, Afonja achieved independence for Ilorin, but the success was short-lived as the slave-soldiers became uncontrollable and, eventually attacked and killed him. The army was thereafter restructured by the new Fulani leadership under Emir Abdulsalam to encompass the major linguistic groups of Yoruba, Hausa and Fulani with the position of military commanders firmly established for them. This was aimed at bringing harmony among the diverse groups in the new emirate and to prevent internal insurrection against the new Fulani leadership. The army’s tactics included espionage, diplomacy, and divide and rule. They also capitalised on the rivalry, treachery, and disunity among their enemies as evident in the Kanla, Mugbagba and Eleduwe wars. The main weapons were swords, spears, lances, clubs, daggers, bow and arrows, while horses provided swift mobility for the Calvary force. The military succeeded in its wars of survival, expansion and consolidation before eventually capitulating to a better organised British force in 1897.
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    Trends in the Development of Indigenous Weaving Technology in Ilorin
    (Published by the Centre for Ilorin Studies, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, 2017) Oladimeji Mohammed, ALABI
    History has shown the pivot role of indigenous technology in stimulating the emergence of modern technology across the world. From the rudimentary stage of the early man’s stone tools, (the forebears of modern technology), through the stage of refinement and perfection, human society has continually been aided by technology. This paper, thus, aims at evaluating the trends in the development of indigenous weaving technology in Ilorin, by highlighting its aspects of innovation, challenges and prospects. The historical method was adopted in the study, that is, the use of library, archival materials and oral interviews. Findings revealed that hand-woven textile has a long heritage in Ilorin; the craft was probably inherited from migrant groups from Old Oyo Empire, following its fall. The emergence of the technology in Ilorin has also been linked with the Hausa land, through commercial relations during the long distance trade, the latter, also having a long and rich history of indigenous weaving in the pre-colonial period. From the 1960s, modern thread industries emerged in Kano, Kaduna and later, Ilorin; thus manually spun thread, with its attendant challenges, became of less importance. This stimulated greater participation in the craft and increased the industry’s production capacity. By the late 1980s through 1990s, the industry recorded tremendous youth involvement in the form of apprenticeship scheme. Weavers, though embarked on innovation in few aspects of their technology, particularly in the size of the loom used, production still remains largely labour-intensive and time-consuming.