Ancient Owo is divided into 5 old quarters. These are; Iloro, Ujebu, Ugboroko, Ehin ogbe & Isaipen. These are further subdivided into sub quarters. Iloro is the oldest & 1st of these quarters. It is made of 12 dukedoms each of which was headed by one of the senior chiefs that accompanied Ojugbelu from Ife led by the Akowa.
The 2nd quarter Ugboroko is the quarter of the Ogwa Oluwa (the first lord). The popular Owaluwa road of owo is in this quarter. It is headed by the Ojumu. It is said that the first Ojumu originated from Ufe oke (now Idanre)
The 3rd quarter is Ehin ogbe headed by the Osere.
The 4th quarter is Isaipen headed by the Ajana. The 1st Ajana came from Oke agbe Akoko in 1481.
The 5th quarter is Ujebu headed by the Ojomo Oluda who is 2nd in command to the Olowo. This title was created by Elewu okun. Ojomo is primus inter peres. (first among equals) in the hierarchy of chiefs. Oludipe was the first Ojo amd he encouraged migration into Owo from far and near, which explains why about half of early settlers of Ijebu came from Akoko areas particularly Akungba.
Apart from these major quarters, Owo kingdom had some satellite settlements like Idashen, Iyere, Upenmen, Isuada, Ute, Emure-Ile & Ipele. Of these, the people of Idashen formed the advanced guard of
Ojugbelu when he was moving out of Ife. These together with the above mentioned quarters formed the core of the kingdom’s metropolis, and the central authority under the Olowo exercised direct control over them. There is a connection between Ijeu in Ogun state, Ujebu in Owo and Uzebu in Benin. Owo should be given a special place in archaeological and historical studies. Some of the artifacts attributed to Benin are actually from Owo, A lot of artistic misattributions based on superficial similarities have occurred in the labelling of artwork from Nigeria in foreign museums.
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