Omosio Orubuloye
Olarerin, Famoriyole and Fajemirokun were all from the same family- the Omosio Orubuloye. When Oduduwa was dispatching his princes – the Alademerindin logun from Ile Ife to conquer territory, dominate and rule the people there, Omosio was the chieftain who came down to Ado Ekiti with the Ewi. The territory conquered and was shared by both of them. Omosio was a big land owner.
There was peace until the stool became vacant. This resulted in rivalry between the contestants. There were a lot of character assassination and campaign of calumny. The office of the district officer in Oke- Imo Ilesha waded into the matter.
Fajemirokun arm of the family cherishing their good name and integrity left Ado-Ekiti. They moved down to Ile-Ife and settled in Arubidi.
As their population grew the people sought for a larger area of land. They got one near Iwara though an Ijesha land. They were then referred to as Ife people living near Iwara. Ife Iwara now shortened and known as Ifewara.
HOME FRONT
Fajemirokun was born as one of the three children (Osuntola, Fajemirokun and
Fajemisonu) of his father Ola arerin. He grew up to be an active young man, full of
strength and energy, burning with passion for adventure.
He was a very successful man in all ramifications. As a warrior, he successfully fought many
wars, in alliance with others including Ologbenla, a personal and close friend, who later reigned
as the Ooni of Ife. One of his wives was a daughter of this Ooni.
This was the time of the Yoruba wars. With the war camps in Ibadan, Oke-igbo
and the Ekiti Parapo wars in Ido-faboro and Ekiti
As a farmer, Fajemirokun’s farmland was so large as to be incorporated into the “Oriki” of the
man. The saying goes thus: “Ogbigbo ba lori igi giga , sugbon ko ri ipekun oko Balagbe” Literal
translation is that the bird Ogbigbo, perching high on a high tree is unable to see the boundary
of Fajemirokun Balagbe’s farmland.
Perhaps because he needed a lot of manpower to work on such large expanses of farmlands,
Fajemirokun had to have many children both male and female. In the end, he was reputed to
have had 26 wives and 44 children that survived infancy. As of today
He was wealthy. Apart from being a warrior, a farmer he was also a successful
trader navigating the entire Osun province. Some of his children’s names
reflected his connection with Oshun province – like Oshunkunle, Oshunnigbagbe
and Oshungbohun. He believed in educating his children and registered an army
of children from his household in school. That was the genesis of the family
bearing different names as his children registered school in their first names like:
Akinsanya,
Oshun- kunle,
Akingbola,
Famakinwa,
Akinlade,
Odudeyi,
Gbeyide etc.
Some gradually changed their names later in life to reflect the name of their
father -Fajemirokun.
Balagbe Te ko ko ko was his alias (Inagije) because he was a socialite. He was a
man of great reputation and fame. A great warrior, a great farmer and a merchant
trader. Over and above all these he was a handsome man (Eni obirin ko loja ko ko
ogbola) he was an Amulu dun at parties.
Oke-Igbo war camp
Fajemirokun and Ologbenla decided to join the other warriors to defend the Oduduwa nation. They both joined the Oke-Igbo war camp. Fajemirokun left home at the prime of his youth to settle down in Okeigbo. He lived at the highest point in Okeigbo -Okejege where there was a watch tower to sight the enemies. He spent a greater part of his life in Okeigbo.
Back to Ifewara
When Ologbenla installed Bale in Okeigbo. Fajemirokun felt it was time to return home as he deserved a similar honour. He returned to Ifewara as an old man having been away for so many years. A lot of water had passed under the bridge. Ifewara already had a ruler, Fajemirokun had to accept the second in rank- the Orunto.
Fajemirokun’s Death
Fajemirokun – is said to have passed on in 1904 and was buried in Akodi Fajemirokun in Ifewara.
If you have the drive to be bold and stand up for truth, it is the Fajemirokun gene – No cowardice or coward in the room.