Foreign Influence on Igbomina, C. 1750-1900
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Date
2015
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Unpublished PhD Thesis, submitted to the Department of History and International Studies, University of Ilorin
Abstract
This study examined about 150 years of the Igbomina history, from mid-18th century, when the unprecedented tranquillity hitherto enjoyed in Igbominaland from inception became interrupted by a series of military encounters with the Ijesa, Benin, Edo, Oyo (17th Century), Nupe, Ilorin, Ibadan (19th Century) and briefly the British (20th Century). The Igbomina entered the most harrowing epoch during the colonial era when she found herself under both local and foreign influence. Primarily, this study examined the nature, style and extent of foreign influence on pre-colonial Igbomina, while its specific objectives include: i) the central role of foreign influence on Igbomina, as it is today, in alignment with the underlying esoteric law of ‘Cause and Effect’; ii) factors responsible for the incessant military molestations of the Igbomina; iii) the short and long term consequences of such relations; and iv) a reconstruction of African History through a more comprehensive documentary historical research, thereby filling a gap in Igbomina history.
Both primary and secondary sources of information (oral tradition, personal observation, archival documents, library materials, theses and dissertations) were employed to ensure objectivity, and reflect the multi-cum-inter-and trans-disciplinary approach to modern historical studies. Vis-à-vis the customary problem of authenticity and limitation of oral tradition, this study has straddled into other related fields such as archaeology, linguistics, science, geography, statistics, etc.; realising that traditional historical sources alone, now prove inadequate to provide acceptable answers to all that bugs the mind of man about his past.
The findings of the study revealed that:
i. Igbomina, as it is today, is a product of three significant factors: Geography, History and the Character of its people;
ii. the economic urge was a most vital impulse responsible for the incessant assaults on the Igbomina by foreign powers;
iii. the devastating consequences therefrom, even over a century later, yet remained indelible throughout Igbominaland. The enormous physical dislocation evident by 1900 left no single Igbomina settlement on its pre-18th century site;
iv. Igbomina is, on its own, an entity. This study has thus contributed to the vast ocean of knowledge in the emerging sub-field of History dubbed as “Igbomina Studies”.
The study concluded that although foreign influence on Igbomina might have been very devastating, however, for how long do we over-emphasise how foreign influence has undermined Igbomina; seeing that others have broken loose from same/similar experience? The recommendation of this work challenges the Igbomina to spew out the bitter pill and forge ahead boldly, like their legendary ancestors, to embrace a glorious future in the embryonic Igbomina State.
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Keywords
Igbomina, Foreign Influence
Citation
Aboyeji, A. J. (2015). "Foreign Influence on Igbomina; C. 1750—1900", Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of History and International Studies, University of Ilorin.