Oduduwa established his dynasty around 800 A.D. The first was Ife Oodaiye, Ile Owuro (the land of the most ancient days where the dawn was first experienced). Tradition tells us that this Ife ended as a result of a flood. The survivors formed the nucleus of the second Ife, Ife Ooyelagbo (Ife, the city of survivors) this existed until the arrival of elements from the east whose attempt to seize power led to a bloody struggle between the strangers led by Oduduwa and the aboriginies led by Obatala. Oduduwa conquered and founded Ile-Ife.
Oduduwa the great progenitor of the Yoruba nation and the first Ooni of Ife was Oduduwa himself, followed by his surviving eldest son, Obalufon Ogbogbodirin. At the demise of Obalufon Ogbogbodirin, who was the second Ooni, the son, Obalufon Alayemoore became the third Ooni of Ife. During that time, his uncle Oranyan was on sojourn in Oyo after he had left Bini. On hearing about the demise of his brother, he decided to return to Ife and to avoid crisis in Ife, Obalufon Alayemoore decided to move out.
Along with some nobles, friends, priests, wives and so on, they settled in several locations before finally settling in Efon Alaaye at about 1040 A.D. after ÌJÌ-È̩MÍGÙN of ÌGBÓLÉ-AYÈ.
This was around the 10th century.After the demise of Oranmiyan, who was the fourth Ooni of Ife, Ife elders came to persuade Obalufon Alayemore to come back to Ife. So, he went back to Ife as the fifth Ooni.
But before leaving for Ife, he installed his eldest son, Odundun Orankun as the second Alaaye. Òdúdú-Ọ̀runkú, the great-grandson of Odùduwà was the second Alaayè of Èfòn. It was said that when Òdúdú-Ọ̀runkú was a little boy, Ọ̀ọ̀ni Ọbalúfòn Ógbógbódirin was fond of him and he often displays his affection towards him by letting him sit on his lap.
Consequently, at about 950 A.D., the second Ọ̀ọ̀ni of Ifẹ̀, Ọbalúfòn Ógbógbódirin carved out a territory named Ìráyè, the site of the present town of MODÁKẸ́KẸ́, and made his beloved son, Alayemore the overlord and the Aláyè of Ìráyè.
Whenever Aláyè play host to the Ọ̀ọ̀ni of Ifẹ̀, it is a customary practice for the Aláyè to sit on Ọ̀ọ̀ni’s lap. Similarly, whenever the Ọ̀ọ̀ni of Ifẹ̀ plays host to Aláyè – the Aláyè is not made to follow protocol at the palace of Ọ̀ọ̀ni of Ifẹ̀, he is given a free rein.
The fondness Ọ̀ọ̀ni extended to Aláyè appears to be a re-enactment of the past when the Aláyè was treated as a favorite child of Ọ̀ọ̀ni ÒGBÓGBÓDIRIN.
According to È̩fòn Tradition, the Kingdom had 12 sub-towns under the dominion of the Aláyè of Èfòn. There are three ruling houses in Efon Alaaye that normally produce the Oba in rotation. The ruling houses and the order of rotation are: – Ogbenuote, Obologun and Asemojo respectively.
Kingmakers are the six high Chiefs who are heads of six Quarters into which the town is divided. The six kingmakers are:-
Urbanologist, Geographer, Traditionalist and Oral historian. I am a versatile, personable, computer literate and goal – driven achiever. I have good communication skill with ability to interact at different levels. I am self –motivated, can easily assimilate new ideals and quite adaptive to work in different environments. Studied in University of Jos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and University of Calabar.
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Yoruba Traditional & Cultural Renaissance 