History
Establishment
Iwoye was a settlement established in 1425 with 73 Imososi families and is considered "one of the ancient towns inIntroduction of Islam
Islam trickled into town via soldiers, settlers, immigrants, traders, and enslaved Muslims. They had a sizeable presence by the end of the 19th century and occupied villages alongside Hausa, Fulani, Tapa, and Yoruba communities. Ago-Iwoye's leaders, the Osugbo, as well as other traditionalists were not welcoming and threatened them with death. Scholar Alfa 'Uthman Akeugberu knelt one day to pray in front of a non-Muslim friend, which was forbidden. The town Elders decided to sacrifice him and tied him to a tree; his friend later rescued him. Following this attempted assassination, the Muslim community in Ago-Iwoye fell apart and emigrated to the nearby villages of Difase and Eredo. By the 1890s, the religion had reemerged and were welcomed back by the town. One of the male members of the Osugbo fraternity witnessed what he believed was a family member recovering from illness at the verge of death; he subsequently converted to Islam, taking several of his group with him. Akeugberu eventually established the town's first Arabic andColonisation and Christianity
British colonisation began in the mid-19th century but became official in 1914, and Ijebu-Igbo, Imusin, and Ago-Iwoye were, "for administrative convenience, turned into political units," each under a designated baale. In Ago-Iwoye, the title rotated between the villages. Christian missionaries first started to introduce western education and Christianity to the town in 1892 but were unsuccessful. They returned later that year to take advantage of the upset caused by the Magbo War of 1892, also known as the British-Ijebu War. With Britain occupying Ijebuland, the missionaries were accompanied by British soldiers as they spread the word of Christ. The Church Mission Society and the Wesleyan Methodist Church were at this time the largest presence in town. The Wesley School, the first Christian institution in Ago-Iwoye, began converting students from Arabic schools to give them a "new education." Conversion techniques included forcibly baptising Muslim children, indoctrinating them at schools where they were away from their parents, and giving them Christian names. As western education spread, the idea of literacy came under fire; Islamic scholars were now considered illiterate under "a new system of literacy." Further, Christianity was seen as a prerequisite for getting any sort of gainful employment throughout the 68 years of colonial rule. In the early 20th century, Ijebu-Igbo, Imusin, and Ago-Iwoye came together to " dvanceEbumawe/Leadership
By the end of the 1920s, not long into colonial rule, Ago-Iwoye locals began discussing the revival of their traditional hereditary titles, including the Ebumawe. This came to fruition in 1931 when the office was reinstated, and the first Ebumawe since the title's brief extinction, Oba Akadi Alonge Adenugba, was crowned. The current Ebumawe is Oba Abdul Rasaq Adesina Adunugbe, the grandson of the Akadi Alonge, who ruled 1932–1944. Adunugbe took the throne on 8 May 2004 and shortly thereafter was named a "first-class Oba" by the Ogun state government. Oba Adunugbe attempts to honor both traditionalism and modernization, particularly with the university nearby; traditionally, men were not allowed to plait their hair and women were not allowed to wear trousers, and the Oba is aware he can only control so much. He also makes himself, a Muslim, available to non-Muslims and welcomes people of all religions to celebrate their traditions at his palace. In his first 15 years as Ebumawe, he established aInfrastructure
Ago-Iwoye is steadily growing and urbanising; there is a central business district that has highlighted the lack of city planning that went into building up the city. As of 2013, there were no known existing traffic plans and "required pedestrian facilities were virtually absent." Oba Adunugbe has expressed interest in building factories in the area to usher in more commercialism, but said that the government would have to make those financial decisions. Ago-Iwoye has been tapped as one of 15 major communities that will benefit from the state's Urban Water Resuscitation projects. Dapo Abiodun, the Ogun state governor, shared plans in 2022 to "introduce a community-based water supply scheme called ' water kiosking'. Abiodun also promised that roads that were torn up for construction more than a decade ago "would receive priority attention." The Ikenne-Ilishan-Ago-Iwoye Road was among the roads listed.Agriculture
Ago-Iwoye's economy is primarily agricultural; in 1963, twenty years before the university was established, it was estimated that 80-90% of the population worked on farms. Among the goods produced are yams,University
Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) was opened in January 1983 as the state-owned Ogun State University. The main campus is in Ago-Iwoye, while other campuses are in the nearby towns of Ayetoro, Ibogun, and Shagamu. OOU Ago-Iwoye has 6 faculties and a number of departments: * Faculty of Arts: English, Performing Arts, History and Diplomatic Studies, Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, Foreign Languages, Philosophy, Religious Studies * Faculty of Science: Plant Science, Zoology and Environmental Biology, Chemical Sciences, Earth Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physics, Microbiology * Faculty of Social Science: Geography and Regional Planning, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Economics, Mass Communication * Faculty of Administration and Management Sciences: Accounting, Banking and Finance, Transport Management, Public Administration, Cooperative and Rural Development, Business Administration, Industrial Relations and Personnel Management * Faculty of Education: Educational Management and Business Studies, Educational Foundations and Counselling, Curriculum Studies and Instructional Technology, Human Kinetics and Health Education, Arts and Social Science Education * Faculty of Law: Private Law, Business and Industrial Law, Public Law, Jurisprudence and International Law The university, according to Oba Adunugbe, is the backbone of the community's commercialism. "Before, on ordinary days," he said, "when you went to a house, you only saw goats and fowls at the doors steps because people would have all gone to farm." At times, there were more OOU students than locals living in Ago-Iwoye. The university students are keen protestors, which has made the police wary of them. Oba Adunugbe "formed a committee" with the university to better relations between the OOU and the town and to handle mutual issues. During a 2014 protest over increased fees, the university shut down until the anger receded, which was another controversial decision.Crime
Like many parts of Africa, Ago-Iwoye has an active Black Axe presence. The Aiye cult group, as they are also known, started as a Nigerian crime syndicate that eventually made its way into the highest societal positions and is now international. Black Axe began as a student cofraternity at the University of Benin and primarily recruits males ages 16–23, specifically targeting university students. On 16 June 2005, a boy walking home from Wesley High School at night with a friend was shot dead by "the Vigilante Group." The next morning, angry OOU students stormed the king's palace and burned it down. The fighting—at this point between townspeople and students—was only stopped when police fromReferences
{{Authority control Populated places in Ogun State Cities in Yorubaland Cities in Nigeria