Oyo, Oyo

Oyo[1] is an ancient city in Oyo State, Nigeria. It was founded as the capital of the remnant of the historic Oyo empire in the 1830s, and is known to its people as 'New Oyo' (Ọyọ Atiba) to distinguish it from the former capital to the north, 'Old Oyo' (Ọyọ-Ile), which had been deserted as a result of the Yoruba Revolutionary Wars. Its inhabitants are mostly of the Yoruba people, and its ruler is the Alaafin of Oyo.

Oyo

jabata oyo

Ọyọ Atiba
City
Motto(s): 
Ajise Bi'Oyo Laari
Country Nigeria
StateOyo State
Government
 • AlaafinLamidi Adeyemi III
Area
 • Total2,427 km2 (937 sq mi)
Population
 (2006)
 • Total428,798
 • Density180/km2 (460/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (WAT)
ClimateAw

History
See also: Oyo Empire

Due to the dominant position that the Oyo empire had in medieval West Africa, the members of the Oyo clan of the Yoruba people were commonly thought of as being the tribe's ruling elite. This was true to such an extent, in fact, that the Yoruba historian Samuel Johnson reported that the Egbas - who began as an Oyo offshoot - once determined social rank within their clan based on whether or not an Egba could trace his or her descent back to Oyo.[2]

Education

Oyo is home to five higher institutions; these are the Federal College of Education, Ajayi Crowther University, Emmanuel Alayande college of education, Federal school of surveying, and Atiba University. It houses numerous primary and secondary schools such as Olivet Baptist high school, Saint Benardine girls grammar school, Ladigbolu grammar school, Emmanuel Alayande model high school, Nesto college etc.

Commerce

The major markets in the city include the Akesan market, the Ajegunle market, the Owode market, the Sabo market and the Irepo market.

Oyo houses branches of different banks such as Guaranty Trust, First bank, Zenith, Access, Eco, United Bank for Africa etc. It also has grocery stores and supermarkets such as the Ace supermarket and stores, Joba pharmacy and stores, labake stores etc. The city contains a few hangout spots such as the old Oyo national park booking office which contains a museum and a few animals. Some hotels in Oyo include Labamba hotel, Tees resort and bar, Begonia hotel, Adesh hotel etc.

Local governance and location

The city has four LGAs viz: Atiba LGA, headquartered at Offa-Meta; Oyo East LGA, headquartered at Kosobo; Oyo West LGA, headquartered at Ojongbodu and Afijio LGA, headquartered at Jobele.

The city is centrally located on the dual carriage A1 expressway from Lagos which links it from Ibadan all the way to "ilorin

Death and the King's Horseman, a play by the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, is based on an incident that happened in Oyo in 1946.[3]

Notable residents


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References
  1. "Ifa, wandeabimbola.com Home". www.wandeabimbola.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  2. Johnson 1921.
  3. Author's Note
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