Ila Orangun

Coordinates: 8°1′0″N 4°54′0″E / 8.01667°N 4.90000°E

Ila Orangun
town
Ila Orangun
Coordinates: 8°1′N 4°54′E / 8.017°N 4.900°E
Country  Nigeria
State Osun State
Time zone WAT (UTC+1)

Ìlá Òràngún (or Ila, or Ila-Orogun) is an ancient city in Osun State, Nigeria, that was capital of an ancient city-state of the same name in the Igbomina area of Yorubaland in south-western Nigeria. Ìlá Òràngún is the more populous sister-city (and sister-kingdom) of Òkè-Ìlá Òràngún, located about 7.5 miles (12 km) to the north-east.

It is the headquarters of the Ila Local Government Area.

The people of Ila speak the distinctive dialect of the Yoruba language called Igbomina (or Ogbonna). A common traditional profession of the indigenes of the town is palm-wine tapping. This profession is referenced in one of the most popular songs and common sayings about the town of Ila. The proverb Ila 'o l'oogun, emu l'oogun Ila means: "Ila has no special medicine or magical preparations other than palm-wine". A folk song also says Ila ni mi, ise mi o le/ti mo ba wa l'orun ope bi 'ofusia' ni i ri, which translates into English as: "I am a citizen of Ila, my profession is very easy; if I am on top of a palm tree, I feel like I am upstairs in a multi-storey building."

Ila-Orangun is the home of the Oyo (now Osun) State College of Education.[1] The African Heritage Research Library was established in 1988.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "About Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun". Osun State College of Education. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  2. ↑ "African Libraries and Archives". Africa South of the Sahara. USA: Stanford University. Retrieved 7 June 2013.

among the town's prominent sons are chief bisi akande former governor of osun state during the first tenure of chief olusegun obasanjo, tafa balogun former inspector general of the Nigerian police force.