Nigeria is made up of thirty-six states and each of the state has unique regions with great historical antecedent. One of such region is Saki. Saki, a place in the heart of\u00a0Oke-Ogun, is a town situated in the\u00a0northern part of Oyo state, Nigeria.
\nSaki is one of the most ancient towns in Yoruba land. Some historians had argued that Saki was founded by Ogun,\u00a0the eldest son of\u00a0Oduduwa\u00a0and this explains why it was initially called Ile Ogun. The historical fact behind this was that\u00a0Lamurudu, the father of\u00a0Oduduwa\u00a0and his followers migrated to Niger area\u00a0Bussau\u00a0from Egypt, this was as a result of religious crisis. Ogun was on a journey, when he discovered that Saki was a small village and it was just like a hunter\u2019s camp. From Saki he went to\u00a0Ibarapa, Lagos, Benin, Ife and again back to Saki.<\/p>\n
Saki, the ruling town of Ogun was taken temporarily as a seat of government of Yoruba kingdom. Saki was the first settlement of Ogun and there he ended\u00a0his life. This is why people usually say,\u00a0Ogun is a stranger at Ire but a native of Saki.
\nA historian, Late Chief\u00a0Ojo, the\u00a0Bada\u00a0of Saki gave the meaning of the town\u2019s name as \u201cSa-kiri\u201d, meaning \u2018a fleeing refugee\u2019. The fleeing refugees, according to sources finally found a respite on the\u00a0Asabari\u00a0Hill located in the town. Hence, the \u2018oriki\u2019\u00a0(praise \u2013 name)\u00a0of a Saki indigene is incomplete without the addition of \u2018Omo\u00a0Asabari\u2019, (Son of\u00a0Asabari\u2019).
\nThis was corroborated by some other historians who opined that\u00a0the individual circumstance between\u00a0Okekesi\u00a0and his brother,\u00a0Oranmiyan, who was the first Alaafin of Oyo; had led to the change of name from Ile Ogun to Saki. History has it that\u00a0Okekesi\u00a0had left Oyo Ile just after it was founded for Ile Ogun, because\u00a0he quarreled with his\u00a0cousin\u00a0brother,\u00a0Oranmiyan\u00a0over a woman.
\nOranmiyan\u00a0had on three different occasions sent people to persuade\u00a0Okekesi\u00a0to return to Oyo Ile but he refused. \u00a0Oranmiyan\u00a0was quoted to have said \u201cO\u00a0nsa\u00a0kiri\u00a0ni\u201d which means \u201che has constantly been on the run\u201d. \u00a0It was therefore said that Saki was derived from this expression.
\nOriginally part of the old Oyo Empire, Saki became a Yoruba refugee settlement after the\u00a0Muslim Fulani conquerors destroyed the Old Oyo\u00a0in 1835.\u00a0For those who are\u00a0unfamiliar with its history, Saki occupies a very important place among Yoruba towns.
\nSaki is about 184 kilometers North-West to\u00a0Ibadan.\u00a0It is situated in the Savanna land with scattered trees. An important stream called \u201cTaba\u201d flows through the town. It is this stream that supplied water to the citizenry of Saki throughout the year before the provision of pipe-borne water. The stream is still very useful until today.
\nSaki, which is the headquarters of Saki West local government, has a population of over 350,000 inhabitants. It is referred to as the food basket of Oyo state because of its agricultural activities.Saki has been known for raising cattle and growing yams, cassava, maize, sorghum, beans, shea nuts and okro for subsistence. It specialises in the exportation of cotton, swamprice, teak and tobacco.
\nTraditionally, the work of inhabitants in the olden days are blacksmith, goldsmith, farming, hunting and clay pot moldering.\u00a0The town is prominent in the production of aluminum pots, widely referred to as\u00a0Ikoko\u00a0Irin.
\nAkinbekun was said to be the first king of Saki. He was the son of Oranmiyan whom Egilolo (daughter of Kisra, the king of Ibadan) bore to him. A very important event was attached to the period of Akinbekun as a king of Saki because the emergence of River-Ogun was as a result of conflicts between the Okere and his wife Modewu. It was said that Akinbekun had a power garment that he used to wear to battle.
\nAfter wearing the garment\u00a0Modewu\u00a0would pray for him and he would win the battle. The garment however, had a restriction, that it must not be beaten by rain and it must not be touched by a woman. On that particular occasion\u00a0Akinbekun\u00a0was not at home and he had dried his garment outside as the sun was blazing hot. Things turned around and it was about to rain.
\nModewu\u00a0with her good heart helped him to pack it, immediately he felt it and got home in no time.\u00a0Modewu\u00a0who had a heavy breast hated being insulted with it. When the king got back he rebuked and insulted\u00a0her with her heavy breast. This caused her to leave the town and later went on to become the river Ogun near\u00a0Iseyin.
\nSince that time,\u00a0according to history, it\u00a0has become\u00a0forbidden for any reigning\u00a0Okere\u00a0of Saki,\u00a0to look at the river while passing through it. The\u00a0Okere\u00a0of Saki is the traditional ruler of the town.\u00a0The present\u00a0Okere\u00a0of Saki,\u00a0Oba\u00a0Khalid\u00a0Olabisi\u00a0Oyeniyi, was installed on 18th\u00a0of\u00a0December 2019 to replace Oba\u00a0Kilani Olatoyese\u00a0Ilufemiloye\u00a0Olarinre,\u00a0who died\u00a0on\u00a0Friday 5th April 2013, 2 days to the first anniversary of his coronation.
\nBy the early 1860s the Yoruba Mission established an Anglican church in the town.\u00a0Today, Saki\u00a0has grown to become a home to\u00a0Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, The Kings Poly, Saki; School of Basic Midwifery, Muslim Hospital; School of\u00a0Nursing and Midwifery, Baptist Medical Centre;\u00a0Baptist\u00a0Medical Centre School of Laboratory,\u00a0among other things.
\nSaki is an interesting place to be and there are a lot of fun places within the shores of the land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria is made up of thirty-six states and each of the state has unique regions with great historical antecedent. One of such region is Saki. Saki, a place in the heart of\u00a0Oke-Ogun, is a town situated in the\u00a0northern part of Oyo state, Nigeria. Saki is one of the most ancient towns in Yoruba land. Some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\n