Ooni of Ife a female called Luwo Gbagida and her son Adekola Telu the founding father of Iwoland

Iwo is an indigenous town in Osun State and it has all the characteristics of Yoruba settlement. The Iwo people, like all other people of Yoruba stock are said to have originally belonged to Ile-Ife from where they migrated sometimes in the 14th century. The earliest settlement initiated by Adekola Telu a prince from Ife. Adekola Telu was the son of the 16th Ooni of Ife a female called Luwo Gbagida.

When Adekola Telu became an adult, he was willing to become an Oba and when her mother Ooni Luwo Gbagida noticed his son’s ambition to become an Oba, she quickly gave him a gift of crown and other valuable materials of kingship. Oba Luwo also provided some wise men to follow his son in his adventure to discover his own kingdom. Among the wise men that followed Telu on his journey were Ba-Gidigbo and Beku. Without further delay, Prince Adekola Telu left Ile-Ife with his man. Prince Adekola Telu and his men first settled at Ogundigbaro. No sooner than they settled at Ogundigbaro, Prince Adekola Telu discovered that the area Ogundigbaro was water logged and without further delay Adekola and his men left the area for a place called Erunmu today. Prince Telu in a longer distance a time, he again left Erunmu area because of the wild animals around the area that destroys his people’s farm crops.

After the Telu’s exit from Erunmu, he and his people settled at Igbo-Orita, along Ibadan–Iwo road which
was at a distance of about 5 kilometers from the present Iwo centre. After the death of Telu, Prince Parin one of his successors moved to a new settlement called Iwo. He was installed the first Oluwo of Iwo around the 16th century and he reigned for six to seven decades. Parin divided Iwo into four major quarters. Isale Oba, Molete, Oke Adan and Gidgbo. Each quarter was in order the command of a chief chosen by the Oba.

Iwo is situated in the midst of a reach agricultural area. It performs central place functions in respect of numerous settlements within a radius of about 32 to 48 kilometers from Ikire-Ile, Kuta, Ileogbo, Oluponna and Ogbaagba at a distance of 45 kilometres from Oyo and Osogbo respectively and 186 kilometres from the Lagos State of Nigeria. The provision of good facilities for trade and commerce can easily strengthen Iwo’s position as a trading centre especially for foodstuff, meat, fish, and timber.
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Source: Histfeed