Old Oyo Park: Where history blends with nature

People come here with a mindset
to see some big animals like Roan
Antelope, Buffon, Buffalo, Bushbuck
and a variety of birdlife. But this is
not often the case as this park is
more than fauna and flora.”
These were the startling words
from one of the staff at the Old
Oyo National Park’s office in Oyo
town, Oyo state.
I had travelled from Lagos to the
park that morning to experience
the preserved culture, historical
and archaeological features in the
abandoned sites of the then
capital city of the ancient Oyo
empire at Oyo-Ile, Bara and Koso.
Old Oyo national park is a unique
park among the others in the
country. It is so in the sense that
apart from the preservation of flora
and fauna resources the park is
highly blessed with historical
features.
Before the almost two hours
journey from Oyo town to Oyo-Ile,
Adeniyi Bola prepared my mind on
what to see at the site. “The
ancient Oyo empire was one of the
first states to emerge in the forest
and coastal region in West Africa
and one of the most culturally
advanced. The empire reached its
peak between the 17th and 18th
centuries.
“Several ancient histories, political
sites both within and outside the
park are associated with Oyo Ile.
Among these are Igboho, Ipapo-Ile
and Koso. At one time, these sites
served as the capital of the
empire,” she stated.
Listening as she conducted me
round the mini-museum at the
Park’s headquarters, I was eager
to commence the trip when the
tour guide, Ajadi said the vehicle
was ready.
As we made to depart, Bola said,
“In this park, we blend our history
with nature”. This stuck in my
mind as I traversed the park in
search of history and nature.
Having driven for a long distance,
we got to Akoto tourist camp, near
a village called Sepeteri, where the
camp accommodation is available.
The facility is well furnished with
good beddings, portable water and
satellite television service. We set
out for the central and southern
sector of the park where more of
game viewing tracks have been
opened up.
At the entrance of the Ibuya Base
camp immediately after the buffer
zone, we were welcomed by
rangers stationed to wade off
poachers. As we were joined by
some heavily armed rangers, I was
forced to ask why they needed
such arms and ammunition.
“The area has suffered
indiscriminate and uninhibited
destructive human activities
including hunting. As a result, the
animal species have been greatly
depleted and some species have
either become locally extinct or
rare,” the ranger said.
“Game viewing is always good in
the morning and during the dry
season,” Ajadi, my tour guide
explained.
We drove through the trails that
have been mapped out in the park
towards the river for a boat ride on
the Ogun River. At the river side,
Ajadi pointed out some foot marks
of animals that had come to the
river to drink water.
The journey back to the Akoto
base was an educative one as
Ajadi became my botany teacher,
disclosing that there are four sub
types of vegetation at the park,
“dense woodland and forests;
mixed open savannah woodland ;
outcrop vegetation and riparian
grassland and fringing woodland.”
We left Akoto Tourist camp very
early in the morning for the trip to
Oyo –Ile. The trip took us first to
Igboho, the sites of the royal
cemeteries, “four Obas reigned here
among them a lady,” Said Ajadi,
my tour guide.
As we drove from Igboho through
Igbeti, the tour guide disclosed
that the name of the park is coined
from the ruin of old Oyo empire ,
the park had been in existence in
the past as two game reserves-
the upper Ogun games reserve and
the Oyo Ile games reserve.
The Oyo Ile game reserve was the
abandoned site of old Oyo Empire
where the present day Oyo came
from. The Oyo people settled down
in so many places before they got
to the present Oyo town.
“One of those places is Oyo ile
which falls within the park today.
Before we arrived Oyo –Ile, we
stopped over at Ikoyi – Ile where
there is the Antete shrine . Inside
the shrine is a pot that contains
swarm of honey bees which used
to fight for the people of the town
by stinging enemies to death.
“Truly , he has been doing that
whenever they call on him at the
hill of Antete where the bees will
rise to sting their enemies to
death. If there is problem among
two groups and they go before this
hill, the group that is at fault will
be stung by the bees.”
We soon arrived Oyo –Ile
legendary sites, the largest
concentration of archaeological
and cultural sites that contain
more than twenty of the identified
relics.
I was struck by the hosts of
cultural artefacts that litter the
sites like grinding stones; earthen
pots potsherds; snags, snail
shells; mud walls; mound of ashes
and charcoals that are still
discernible with the abandoned old
settlement till date.
The walls called the Koso defence
wall, according to my tour guide ,
was built round the city of old
Oyo-Ile; it is about 6.5ft high and
they made holes on it where they
spy on those coming in . The wall
made with mud is still standing till
date right from 16th c.
To show that people really
inhabited the town, there are relics
of mejiro industrial sites that
consisted of black smiting, iron
forgery sites and grain milling
sites. Next to this site is the
Akesan market.
The large water reservoir is another
great site. “This is the ancient well
where water is stored in the olden
days . The town was located in a
rocky area and we know it is
difficult to dig well and get water
in rocky area, so that made them
dig underground reservoir where
they stored rain water during the
raining season and made use of it
during the dry season,” the tour
guide revealed.
Old Oyo national Park is not only
about historical sites, there are
beautiful and marvellous sceneries
of fascinating rock formations like
the Oke Agbele looking as though
they would topple over the next
minute.
“The story behind Oke Agbele is
that a woman with a baby on her
back stole cassava flavour , so this
is the stolen property on her head
and the baby as she turned to a
stone.”
Others like Agbaku, Idi Are and
Mejiro, have formed large caves
that served as good shelters in the
olden days during the war.
The Kosomo hill is another rock
inside the park. This is situated in
the central part of Oyo Ile . In the
olden days they believe this rock
has the power to find their lost
one. “The great Agbaku cave. The
cave was a hide out during the
Yoruba wars in the olden days ,
the cave has significance ,
something like power of back to
sender.
Any opponent that met the Oyos at
this point will fight and destroy
themselves instead of fighting the
Oyos. The cave can accommodate
up to 1000 people at a time . One
of the mysteries contained in the
park is the mysterious iron which
was said to have been used by
Alafin Sango, called Ogun Joko. “If
you look at it as a very small thing
and try lifting it , you will not be
able to do that, but just thinking
that they said this iron is heavy
and try lifting it you will be
surprise to lift it. So there is
mystery under the iron truly.