Selected notes.

p. 16. Some areas submitted willingly to Ilorin. They  included Shao, which had existed before Afonja’s time (ref: Hon. Wole Oke, Kwara House of Assembly, interviewed 11 March 1982).

p. 19. The founder of Oloru Village is said to be a brother of that of Shao (ref: Alh. Jimoh ibe Onikangu, 43 years old, farmer, interviewed in Oloru Village, 14 April 1982).

p. 28, note 16. The name of the original founder of Oloru is still disputed. A small section of the village claims that Omo Dare or Durowoju was the founder while a large section housing the “Alangwar” claims descent from Abdullahi as founder. The second group’s claim seems to be valid because of their numbers and identical tribal marks and because of superiority acknowledged even by Durowoju’s faction.

p. 19. Adio, Ayaki, Onibamu, & Yeregi were given by Shitta to his slave Asoja/

p. 20. who sent his son to look after his interests there. Shao, Asomi & Yeke were bestowed by Emir Shitta on his slave Haliru who held the title Ajia ati Kekere.

p. 21. Malete was originally founded by immigrants believed to be Yoruba. The ravages of the wars in the Old Oyo Empire when it was close to collapsing prompted the people who later founded Malete to look for a new place to live. Choice of the site was left to an oracle. When they first settled at the present site of the local government secretariat a few metres from the present Malete, it is said the oracle made them move to what was then an isolated area. The word latentemeaning isolation appears in the name Malete (ref: Mallam Oloruntele, 61, farmer, interviewed in Malete Village, 13 April 1982. He is of Yoruba origin according to Dauda, the District Head).

p. 22. One of the 2 sons of Al-Salih who would relinquish the throne of Emir in return for territory was the 4th son of Al-Salih, Abubakar Bazambo, who chose Malete as his territory. He had followers. Therefore Malete and the surrounding villages were inhabited mostly by Fulani.

After BaZambo, his eldest son Sule took over & more lands were opened up by his slaves like Agbaku, Agah, Budo Are & Jehunkunu.

p. 24. Paiye district was made up of 7 village areas, and these were named after Balogun Ajikobi and his slaves, e.g., Biala.

The precolonial period. Because of pressure for land, intending settlers would approach an important intermediary to obtain the Emir’s agreement. This intermediary if successful was adopted as patron of the new settlement and was known as Baba Kekere. In Malete, for example, Logun, Pakun & Jehunkunu had their Baba Kekere from Ita-Kudima, Abata Asunkere & Orita Merin, all in Ilorin (ref: Alh. Baba Daudu, 52, businessman/contractor, interviewed in Isale Oja Quarters, 23 July 1981).

p. 37, note 9. The “master-servant relationship” was expressed in this way by an informant: “We were food-stuffs for Ilorin.” Some view Ilorin people with indignation. Oral evidence from Mallam Abdul Rahman (58, farmer, Ile Onikangu, Oloru Village), 13 April 1982 at Oloru, told how people used to suffer, resenting the term “bush.”

p. 36. The people from the districts are said to “troop in” to Ilorin for ceremonies such as Muslim festivals. “The Emir and the Baloguns “regard ‘flocking’ [sic] themselves with the inhabitants of these districts as an exhibition of their exaltedness or affluence.”

p. 54. The period of British administration. In Oloru there was “rampant maladministration of justice.” The Oloru people saw the District Head as an alien so they followed his instructions only reluctantly. Mallam Jimoh (Alh. Jimoh, 43, farmer, Ile Onikangu, Oloru Village) recalled a time he had to challenge the DH of Oloru in the late 1940s over a tax issue.

p. 60, note 27: The general notion was “Ati oko wa ile odun”—“From the village to town for the festival.”