EGBURU: WHERE IT ALL STARTED               

A man named IRA was said to be the founder of a village that was then located in Igbo Egburu (Egburu forest) in the year ………….. IRA first founded Igbaye in the year ……. and was the ruler and Royal Majesty (the Olu), of the village. In Igbaye, Ira was said to experience ”ABIKU” syndrome, an adverse condition in which babies are born only to die before growing to become toddlers. ‘Abbiku’ syndrome was culturally associated to the operation of evil forces rather than to hygiene and diseases. As was customary in the culture, Ira the ruler of the land consulted the Ifa oracle which prompted him to move out of Igbaye to another virgin land for a while. Ira vacated his throne in Igbaye, after appointing one of his kinsmen as regent. The regent was therefore not addressed as the King or Monarch of Igbaye but as ‘Soledolu’ – ‘So ile de Olu’ , tha is, the one to watch over the settlement in the absence ot the Olu (the head) of the Land. Ira moves to Egburu forest, some three kilometres from Igbaye and settled down with his wife and a few others. At Egburu forest, Ira surmounted the problem of ABIKU and his new settlement grew steadily in population leading to his establishment of another monarchy and consequent refusal to return to Igbaye……….. [READ MORE]As the village of Egburu grew numerically and economically, it attracted diverse visitors from far and near including herbalists and peddlers of religious/cutural beliefs. On a particular occasion a group of masqurades visiting masqurades that felt that they were not well remunerated by the King and his chiefs charmed the flourishing Egburu leading to a pandemic that claimed the life of hundreds of the inhabitants. The aftermath of the pandemic was the relocation of the Egburu settlement to the present location of Ekusa.