Today marks the end of Ekiti Parapo liberation war A.K.A Kiriji War (1870-1886) 130 years ago.

Today, 23^rd September 2016 makes it exact 130 years that the Pan Yoruba Peace treaty was agreed at Imesi-ile,Osun state, signalling the end of the 16 years civil war among the Yorubas, South west Nigeria popularly known as kiriji war. It should be noted that ‘Kiriji’ was an onomatopoeic name given to the war from the thunderous sound of the cannons the Ekitis and Ijeshas, under the command of Ogedengbe, purchased in abundance which also gave them an advantage over Ibadan.

The Kiriji/Ekiti parapo war was a sixteen- year conflict that broke out mainly between Ibadan and the combined forces of Ekiti and Ijesha. According to Latisosa, “the kiriji war ended all wars in Yoruba land”. The Kiriji/Ekiti parapo war was inarguably the last and the most protracted war that plagued the Yoruba nation. The war broke out because of the unaccepted policies and type of administration Ibadan established after her significant role in the 1840 Osogbo war and her victory over the Ijayes in 1962 which indisputably pronounced her as the competent successor of old Oyo as the head of Yoruba land.

KIRIJI WAR remains the World's Longest Civil War by any ethnic group and Geneva document has it that Yoruba is the only race that engages each other in civil war for more than a decade and still remains together as one.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Ibadan had already become involved in yet another war 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 Ijesa their chance. In 1878, the revolt against Ibadan rule started with the massacre of Ibadan officials in Ijesa, Igbomina and Ekiti. This led to a war which dragged on for sixteen years

Ibadan had stationed its administrators in other parts of Yoruba land especially in Ekiti and Ijesha which upset the two towns who were not ready, like any other town, to accept Ibadan as the Yoruba head. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the suppressive way the administrators manhandled the towns. It was said that they harassed young men and had sexual affairs with the women. The Ekitis and Ijeshas who could no longer tolerate the immoral acts of the administrators killed many of them and waged war against Ibadan. Other Yoruba states soon join sides in the war. Egba and Ijebu joined in favour of the Ekitis and Ijeshas, and attacked Ibadan from the south, while the combined forces of Ekiti and Ijesha who allied with the Fulanis attacked Ibadan in the north. Ife also joined the war on the side of the Ekitis and Ijeshas. Ibadan alone was fighting five fronts.

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 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).

On November 1 1878, Ibadan clashed with the allied forces of Ekiti, Ijesha and the Fulanis of Ilorin in the north east of modern day Osun state. The allied forces were seriously defeated and chased back to their camps. This encounter was known in history as ‘Ogun Jalumi’ (Battle of Waterloo) or the 1878 Battle of Ikirun.

Ibadan blockaded the Ekitis from transporting ammunitions through Ibadan land, but the latter soon discovered another route through Ondo from Lagos. “The Ondo road had been opened up by the British because of the frequent closure of other roads” (Akintoye, 1969). The kiriji war also strengthened the conflict between Ife and Oyo settlers at Modakeke who supported the Ibadans. Ife was later sacked by Modakeke with the help of the Ibadans and Modakeke was sacked by the Ife and Ekiti.

After some initial reverses, the Ekitiparapo gained something of an advantage in the conflict, and the help they received from Ekiti Saro merchants in Lagos was crucial. The most important factor was the supply of breech-loading rifles, much more accurate than the arms being used by the rest of the Yoruba, though the Ibadan were later able to get a small supply of them as well (Akintoye, 1971: 119)

Attempts at mediation had started as early as 1879-80. Both the Alafin and the Oni were involved, but neither was trusted by both sides, and Ife later joined in the fighting. The Lagos government was under instructions from London and Accra to keep out of the conflict, even though the fighting was having serious effects on the economic life of the colony. Under commercial and mission pressure, the Lagos government attempted to mediate but was rebuffed, and from 1882 to 1884 the British did nothing. Attempts by Saro in Lagos and by the Fulani emirs to end the conflict also failed.

After 1885 the attitude of the administration started to change. Firstly, there was the changing political status of Lagos which was separated from the Gold Coast in 1886. Secondly, the scramble for Africa by the colonial powers was well under way, and there were fears of French interference. Thirdly, some of the main protagonists of the war were themselves getting tired of it (Akintoye, 1971: 176).

HOW IT ALL ENDED

To negotiate a peace, the administration turned to the CMS. A ceasefire was arranged in 1886 through the efforts of Samuel Johnson, the historian, and Charles Phillips, later the Bishop of Ondo. The parties then signed a treaty in Lagos with Governor Maloney which provided for the independence of the Ekitiparapo towns and the evacuation of Modakeke, to suit Ife. This proved impossible to carry out. Ilorin refused to stop fighting in the north where it was besieging Ofa. Thus the war dragged on, and the forces refused to disband (Akintoye, 1971: 181-4).

British fears of the French soon appeared justified. There was the curious incident of 1888 when an employee of a French company persuaded the Egba chiefs to sign a treaty with France, providing for the construction of a rail link with Porto Novo (Ayandele, 1966: 49-51). This was a direct threat to trade with Lagos, but the French refused to ratify the treaty. The two powers hastily agreed on a frontier in 1889 (Anene, 1963). The areas recently invaded by Dahomey fell within the French sphere of influence. The British moved into the interior with the establishment of a post at Ilaro in 1890, while the French invaded Dahomey in 1892.

More aggressive measures to extend British control in the interior came with the arrival of Governor Carter in 1891. Like Glover, he took the view that the key to the situation lay in control of the trade routes through Ijebu and Egba. The result was the Ijebu expedition of 1892 (Ayandele, 1966: 54-69; Smith, 1971b). Ayandele suggests that in fact the Ijebu had showed more willingness to open the road than the Egba, but the decision to attack Ijebu was based partly on the hostility of the missions: unlike Egba, Ijebu had never allowed them in. The impact of the expedition was considerable. In 1893, Carter was able to set off on a tour around Yorubaland, making treaties with Oyo and Egba, and finally persuading the Ibadan and Ekitiparapo forces to disperse. The Egba opened the road to Ibadan, and allowed the start of railway construction. After two final incidents, the bombardment of Oyo in 1895 (Ayandele, 1967) and the capture of Ilorin by the Royal Niger Company in 1897, effective colonial control was established throughout most of Yorubaland

However, in 1886, Governor Carter started a peace move between the two dueling factions which was unfruitful in fact, until the British expedition on Ijebu in 1892 in which Ijebu fell to the British’s maxim guns and seven-pounder rockets. In 1893, Governor Carted was able to successfully impose peace on both warring sides. It was said that Governor Carter trekked all the way from Lagos to the camps of both sides in Igbajo and Okemesi where he persuaded both the Ibadans and Ekitis to return to their homes. They were made to sign a treaty which formally turned the mighty kingdom of the Yorubas into one of the British protectorates Britain skillfully annexed in West Africa.