IBADAN EMPIRE; Still on KIRIJI WAR, longest civil war in the word

The Ibadan empire
With Ijaiye disposed of, Ibadan was free to
consolidate its empire in the east. Between
1847 and 1870, large areas of Ijesha,
Igbomina, Ekiti and Akoko came under
Ibadan control (Akintoye, 1971: 33-75).
Initially, this was in response to the threat
from Ilorin. Some of the Osun towns like
Osogbo had willingly come under Ibadan
protection. More force was used in the
subjugation of the towns further to the east.
The Ijesha proved difficult to control. While
Ibadan was occupied with the Ijaiye war,
the Ijesha attacked them from the east.
They were beaten off, and the Ibadan
capture of Ilesha in 1870 marked the high
point of Ibadan power (Akintoye, 1971:
56-60).
The subordinate towns controlled by Ibadan
came to be administered through officials
called Ajele, a system similar to that of the
former Oyo empire (Awe, 1964). Each of the
towns was the responsibility of a
“babakekere” in Ibadan, who administered
through an Ajele in the town itself. The
subordinate towns were distributed among
the Ibadan chiefs who derived much of their
income from them. Though the quality of
administration varied, the Ajele and their
subordinates in the east gained a bad
reputation for oppression and arrogance
(Akintoye, 1971: 70-5; Awe, 1965). Their
unpopularity was a major factor in the
development of the Ijesha-Ekiti alliance
against Ibadan which became known as the
Ekitiparapo. This was in contact with the
Ekitiparapo Society in Lagos, founded by
Saro of Ijesha and Ekiti descent (Akintoye,
1968).
Ibadan had already become involved in yet
another conflict over trade with Egba and
Ijebu in 1877, when Ibadan traders on their
way from Porto Novo with firearms were
attacked by the Egba . This gave the Ekiti
and the Ijesha their chance. In 1878, the
revolt against Ibadan rule started with the
massacre of Ibadan officials in Ijesha,
Igbomina and Ekiti. This led to a war which
dragged on for sixteen years.
Eventually, Ibadan found itself fighting on
five fronts. In the east it faced the
Ekitiparapo under the command of
Ogedengbe, the Seriki of Ijesha. In the
south it faced the Egba and Ijebu. Ilorin
joined in in the north. Finally, Ife joined the
alliance in 1882. There had long been
friction between the Ife and the Oyo settlers
at Modakeke. The animosity was
strengthened by the war during which Ife
itself was sacked by the Modakeke and
their Ibadan allies, and in turn, Modakeke
was sacked by the Ife and Ekiti.
The main action of the war, however, took
place in the north-east. The Ibadan and
Ekitiparapo forces faced each other at Kiriji,
a few miles east of Ikirun . Control of the
trade routes was a major issue. There were
three main routes to the interior, via Egba,
Ijebu and Ondo . The Ondo route had been
opened up by the British because of the
frequent closure of the other roads. During
this war, it became the main supply route
for both sides (Akintoye, 1969). Some
Ibadan supplies were able to get through
via Ijebu. The war was unpopular with Ijebu
traders, and the Awujale (King of the Ijebus)
was forced into exile in 1885. Despite this,
the flow of supplies was not completely
free. Ijebu traders’ profit margins were high,
and they retained strict control of trade
through the kingdom (Johnson, 1921:
610-11).