Every great town has a story. Some were built by mighty kings seeking power. Others grew because of trade, wealth, or fertile land. But Sagamu was born from something far more urgent, survival.
Long before modern Ogun State existed, the forests and farmlands of Remoland echoed with uncertainty. Villages that had stood peacefully for generations suddenly found themselves threatened by relentless warfare. Families abandoned homes their ancestors had built. Farmers became refugees. Warriors became protectors of entire communities.
Out of that difficult period emerged one of the most remarkable examples of unity in Yoruba history.
Rather than face danger alone, thirteen independent Remo settlements made a historic decision. They came together to build a single, stronger town that would become known as Sagamu.
Among those founding communities, Makun occupies a special place. Its traditions, royal institutions, and enduring cultural identity continue to shape Sagamu today, making it one of the town’s principal traditional quarters.
The story of Makun is therefore not just the story of one community. It is also the story of resilience, cooperation, and the determination of a people to preserve their identity in the face of overwhelming challenges.
Makun Before Sagamu
Long before Sagamu appeared on any map, Makun already existed as an organized Remo settlement with its own leadership, customs, and traditions.
Like many Yoruba communities, Makun’s earliest history is preserved primarily through oral tradition rather than written records. For generations, elders passed these accounts from one generation to another, ensuring that the memories of the community survived even when no written documents existed.
Although historians carefully distinguish oral traditions from documented historical evidence, these stories remain an essential part of Makun’s cultural identity and heritage.
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The Oral Tradition of Makun’s Origins
According to Makun tradition, the ancestors of the community traced their origins to Ile-Ife, widely regarded throughout Yorubaland as the ancestral homeland of the Yoruba people.
The tradition tells of two brothers, Arapetu and Liworu, who left Ile-Ife accompanied by their mother, Ewusi.
Their journey was said to have been more than a simple migration. They reportedly carried important royal and sacred symbols that represented both political authority and spiritual continuity. These treasured objects served as reminders of their ancestral heritage and their connection to the ancient traditions of Ile-Ife.
The family is believed to have travelled through Ijebu Ode before eventually settling temporarily at a place remembered as Makun Omi.
These stories continue to occupy an important place in Makun’s collective memory.
However, historians note that while such traditions are deeply meaningful culturally, many details—including the precise genealogy of Arapetu and Liworu and the specific sacred regalia they reportedly carried—cannot currently be confirmed through independent historical documentation.
Instead, they should be appreciated as respected oral traditions that preserve the community’s understanding of its beginnings.
Ile-Ife and the Yoruba Connection
Although the individual details of Makun’s migration story remain part of oral history, the broader belief that the Remo people trace their ancestry to Ile-Ife is widely shared among Yoruba communities.
For centuries, numerous Yoruba kingdoms have preserved traditions describing migrations from Ile-Ife as populations expanded across present-day southwestern Nigeria.
Modern historians acknowledge these traditions as an important part of Yoruba historical identity while also recognizing that the exact routes, dates, and individuals involved are often difficult to establish with certainty.
Even so, the connection to Ile-Ife remains one of the strongest cultural foundations of Remo identity.
A Century of Crisis: The Yoruba Wars
The nineteenth century brought one of the darkest periods in Yoruba history.
After the collapse of the old Oyo Empire, political instability spread rapidly across Yorubaland. Powerful kingdoms competed for territory, influence, and control of important trade routes.
What followed became known collectively as the Yoruba Wars.
Communities that had lived peacefully for generations suddenly found themselves exposed to repeated attacks, raids, and destruction.
Entire villages were forced to relocate.
Trade became increasingly dangerous.
Families lived under constant fear of invasion.
No settlement was entirely safe.
For the Remo towns, scattered across the region, survival increasingly depended not only on bravery but also on cooperation.
The Historic Decision to Unite
Faced with growing insecurity, the leaders of several Remo settlements reached an extraordinary conclusion.
Rather than continue living separately and risk destruction one village at a time, they would establish a larger, more defensible settlement where they could combine their strength while preserving their individual identities.
Between approximately 1867 and 1872, this vision gradually became reality.
Historians generally agree that this period witnessed the formation of modern Sagamu through the union of thirteen Remo communities.
This was not the conquest of one town by another.
Instead, it represented a carefully negotiated confederation built upon cooperation, mutual defence, and shared cultural heritage.
It remains one of the most significant political reorganizations in nineteenth-century Remoland.
Makun’s Place in the Birth of Sagamu
Makun played a central role in this remarkable union.
Within Makun tradition, it is believed that the community settled near the Orisagamu River under the leadership of Ewusi Soleghe Olukokun I around 1865.
The precise year varies among historical sources, and scholars caution against treating any single date as definitive.
Nevertheless, the tradition reflects Makun’s longstanding association with the area that later became part of Sagamu.
As the confederation developed, Makun retained its own leadership and identity while contributing to the larger political and social life of the emerging town.
This balance between unity and local independence became one of the defining characteristics of Sagamu.
The Thirteen Communities That Formed Sagamu
Historical records generally identify thirteen Remo settlements that eventually united to establish the Sagamu confederation.
These included:
Makun
Offin
Simawa
Ijoku
Epe
Ilara
Sotubo
Ado
Oko
Iwelepe
Agura
Ijagba
Soyindo, or a closely related settlement depending on the historical source consulted.
Each community brought its own traditions, rulers, family lineages, and cultural practices into the new settlement.
Rather than erase these identities, the confederation preserved them.
Even today, these historic divisions continue to shape Sagamu’s traditional structure.
Why the Confederation Worked
Many historical alliances collapse because one group seeks dominance over the others.
Sagamu followed a different path.
The participating communities recognized that their greatest strength lay in cooperation.
Each town maintained its traditional institutions while contributing to the security and development of the larger settlement.
This arrangement encouraged political stability, strengthened collective defence, and promoted trade during a period of regional instability.
It also helped preserve the distinctive identities of each founding community.
The success of this model explains why Sagamu has remained one of the most historically significant towns in Remoland.
The Ewusi of Makun
At the centre of Makun’s traditional leadership stands the Ewusi.
The Ewusi serves as the traditional ruler of Makun and remains one of the important royal authorities within Sagamu.
Over many generations, different ruling houses have produced Ewusis who have guided the community through changing political, social, and cultural circumstances.
While some traditional accounts assign detailed biographies to rulers extending back several centuries, historians note that many of these early records cannot be independently verified.
Nevertheless, the institution itself has endured and continues to command great respect.
Today, the Ewusi remains an important custodian of Makun’s customs, history, and cultural heritage within Remoland.
Festivals That Keep History Alive
Makun’s identity is not preserved only through stories.
It lives through festivals, ceremonies, and ancestral traditions that continue to unite generations.
Among the best-known cultural celebrations is the Obaruwa Festival.
The community also participates in the Agemo traditions, which occupy an important place within Remo cultural and spiritual life.
These festivals combine music, dance, ritual, and communal celebration while reminding younger generations of their shared history and ancestral values.
They demonstrate that history is not only written in books but also performed through living traditions that continue to shape community identity.
Oral Tradition and Historical Evidence
Understanding Makun’s history requires appreciating both oral tradition and documented history.
Oral traditions preserve memories, values, and identities that written records often overlook. They connect communities to their ancestors and explain how people understand their own origins.
At the same time, historians rely on documentary evidence, archaeology, and comparative research to establish historical certainty.
For this reason, some elements of Makun’s traditional history remain matters of cultural belief rather than independently verified historical fact.
These include the exact genealogy of Arapetu and Liworu, claims about specific sacred regalia carried from Ile-Ife, the precise dating of events such as the settlement near the Orisagamu River, and detailed biographies attributed to very early Ewusis.
By contrast, scholars broadly agree on several key historical conclusions.
The Remo people preserve longstanding traditions linking their ancestry to Ile-Ife.
The Yoruba Wars created widespread insecurity throughout the nineteenth century.
Those conflicts encouraged several Remo communities to consolidate for mutual protection.
Modern Sagamu emerged through the confederation of thirteen Remo settlements during the late nineteenth century.
Makun has remained one of the principal traditional divisions within Sagamu ever since.
Recognizing the difference between cultural memory and documented history allows both forms of knowledge to be appreciated without diminishing either.
The Enduring Legacy of Makun
Today, modern Sagamu is a bustling urban centre, but beneath its streets lies the memory of villages that chose unity over division.
Makun remains one of the most respected traditional quarters within the town, preserving institutions, customs, festivals, and leadership that connect present generations with centuries of Remo history.
Its story reminds us that history is not only shaped by kings and battles but also by ordinary communities willing to cooperate in times of crisis.
The founding of Sagamu stands as one of the finest examples of collective resilience in Yoruba history.
It shows how people facing uncertainty transformed fear into strength, division into partnership, and scattered settlements into a thriving town whose legacy continues to endure.
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Author’s Note
The history of Makun reflects both documented historical research and cherished oral traditions preserved by generations of Remo elders. While historians distinguish between verifiable evidence and ancestral narratives, both are essential to understanding the identity, values, and cultural heritage of the Makun people. This article presents established historical scholarship alongside respected oral accounts, clearly distinguishing where historical certainty ends and traditional memory begins.
References
Eagle Foresight. The History of Makun and the Ewusi Dynasty.
A. I. Asiwaju. Western Yorubaland Under European Rule, 1889–1945.
S. A. Akintoye. A History of the Yoruba People.
J. F. Ade Ajayi and Robert Smith (Editors). Yoruba Warfare in the Nineteenth Century.
Saburi O. Biobaku. The Egba and Their Neighbours.
National Archives of Nigeria.
Remo traditional oral histories preserved by the Ewusi of Makun and Remo elders.
