Oyo (Nigeria)

Oyo is an ancient city in Oyo State, South West Nigeria. It was founded as the capital of the remnant of the historic Oyo empire, and is known to its people as 'New Oyo' (or Ọ̀yọ́ Àtìbà) to distinguish it from the former capital to the north known as 'Old Oyo' (or Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé), which had been deserted as a result of the Yoruba Revolutionary Wars. It inhabitants are mostly of the Yoruba people, and its ruler is the Alaafin of Oyo.

Districts

 * The Ibarapa's
 * The Oyo's
 * The Oke-Ogun's
 * The Ogbomoso's

Oyo is homogeneous state and it has a population of about 6 million and is predominantly occupied by the Yoruba people. However, within the state, there are sub-ethnic groups with distinct dialect peculiarities. Oyo State covers approximately an area of and is ranked 14th by size. It is bordered in the South by Ogun State, in the North by Kwara State, in the West, it is partly bordered by Ogun State and partly by the Republic of Benin, while it is bordered in the East by Osun State. The landscape is a beautiful view of old hard rocks and dome shaped hills, which rise gently from about 500 m in the southern part and reaches a height of about 1,219 m above sea level in the northern part. Some principal rivers such as Ogun river, Oba, Oyan, Otin, Ofiki, Sasa, Oni, Erinle and Osun river owe their sources to this highland.

History
The origin of the Oyo Empire lies with Oranyan (also known as Oranmiyan), the last prince of the Yoruba Kingdom of Ile-Ife (Ife). Oranyan made an agreement with his brother to launch a punitive raid on their northern neighbors for insulting their father Oduduwa, the first Ooni of Ife. On the way to the battle, the brothers quarreled and the army split up. Oranyan's force was too small to make a successful attack, so He wandered the southern shore until reaching Bussa. There the local chief entertained him and provided a large snake with a magic charm attached to its throat.

The chief instructed Oranyan to follow the snake until it stopped somewhere for seven days and disappeared into the ground. Oranyan followed the advice and founded Oyo where the serpent stopped. Oranyan made Oyo His new kingdom and became the first "oba" (meaning 'king' or 'Ruler') with the title of "Alaafin of Oyo" (Alaafin means 'owner of the palace' in Yoruba). He left all his treasures in Ife and allowed another king to rule there.

At one time, Oyo-ile was at war with the Bariba of Borgu, who wanted to subjugate the new city still under construction. Orangun Ajagunla of Ila, Oranmiyan's elder brother, stormed in with his men to assist and they eventually assumed victory.

The topography of the Oyo State is of gentle rolling low land in the South, rising to a plateau of about 40 metres. The State is well drained with rivers flowing from the upland in the North-South direction.

Climate
It has an equatorial climate with dry and wet seasons and relatively high humidity. The dry season starts from November and last till March while the rainy season starts from April and ends in October. Average daily temperature in Oyo ranges between 25 °C (77.0 °F) and 35 °C (95.0 °F), almost throughout the year. The vegetation pattern of Oyo State is that of rain forest in the South and guinea savannah in the north. Thick forest in the South gives way to grassland interspersed with trees in the north.

The climate in the State favours the cultivation of crops like maize, yam, cassava, millet, rice, plantains, cocoa trees, palm trees and cashews.

Get in
There are several commercial buses such as God is good, Agofure, Iyare amongst many others that will take you to your destination.

Parks

 * Agodi Botanical Garden
 * Ado-Awaye Suspended lake
 * Mapo Hall
 * University of Ibadan Zoological Garden
 * Ido Cenotaph, Trans-Wonderland Amusement Park
 * Iyamopo
 * Agbele Hill in Igbeti
 * Bowers Tower
 * Cultural Centre
 * Mokola.
 * Mokola.

Markets
The town has several daily and regular traditional markets, which are usually hosted every 3 - 5 days. Staple foods are the primary commodities of these markets, though they feature other kinds of products too.



Go next

 * Ibadan
 * Ogbomosho
 * Ilorin