Ketu was the westernmost of the seven historical Yoruba kingdoms. Yoruba tradition says that these kingdoms were formed by the descendants of Oduduwa when they moved west from Ilé-Ife. Oduduwa is credited with creating the Earth, at the command of the supreme deity Olorun.
Sopasan is credited as the first oba (king) in the line of Ketu, even though the city did not exist during his lifetime. Instead, it was he who led forth the people from Ilé-Ife who would eventually inhabit Ketu. Only the seventh king, Ede, would finally found the city.
The town was settled on a plateau with so few sources of water that a saying developed among the Yoruba: “Water becomes honey in Ketu”. To compensate, inhabitants gathered rainwater in cisterns and dry wells. This lack of water-limited the size of the settlement. However, the plateau provided excellent protection–Ketu was conquered only once in all its long history.
The town was built around a sacred Iroko tree. According to custom, a human sacrifice was required to protect the town. A hunchback from a nearby Ewe community was sacrificed at the entrance to the city, which is said to have provided the town’s name. The question “Who straightens the hump?” is “Ke ‘tu ike?” in Yoruba.
The answer: no one can straighten the hump, so no one can destroy the town. The fourteenth oba, Sa, built a massive gate at the same spot. The gate, crafted from Iroko wood, contained two wooden doors, one outside and one inside. It was given the name Idena for “sentry”.
From the gate stretched an immense clay wall that surrounded the city. Outside the wall lay the ditches from which its clay had been dug, providing further protection. As a final defence, a row of thorn bushes was planted outside the ditch.
The Oba of Ketu takes the title Alaketu: “the one who owns Ketu”.
From the twenty-fifth Alaketu on, the position of oba has rotated between five different royal families: Alapini, Magbo, Aro, Mesa, and Mefu. I will discuss the Oba in greater depth in another post.
To the west, Ketu shared a border with Fon-speaking peoples who would eventually found the kingdom of Dahomey and become their greatest rivals. After many wars and much history, Ketu and their Fon neighbours both fell under French domination and were eventually united in the modern-day nation of Benin, while most other Yoruba kingdoms fell under British control and eventually became part of Nigeria.
Ketu still exists today, under the French-modified name of Ketou. It is a city with a long and rich history, tracing its kings and traditions back over six hundred years. Many travellers visit Ketou and speak with the Alaketu himself to learn much of this magnificent history.
List of oba of AlaKetu of ketu..
1795 to 1816 Ajibolu, Oba
1816 to 1853 Adebiya, Oba
1853 to December 1858 Adegbede, Oba
December 1858 to 1867 Adiro, Oba
1867 to 1883 Osun Ojeku, Oba
1883 to 1886 Agidigbo Hungbo,
1886 Conquest by Dahomey
1893 to 1894 Ida, regent
13 February 1894 to 1918 Oyengen, Oba
1918 to 1936 oba Ademufekun Dudu,
1937 to 1963 oba Alamu Adewori Adegibite,
1964 to 2004 Oba Pascal Adeoti Adetutu
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