The cosmopolitan city known today as Ikorodu was a massive forest in the early seventeenth century, it was used for game hunting by the Princes of Shagamu, precisely the children of Ọba Koyelu – The second Akarigbo of Orilẹ Offin.

The eldest of them was Olusoga also known as Oga, followed by Lasunwon, Rademo, Anoko, Osonusi, Igimisoje, Kilaro, Oladepo and lastly Sekumade. Oga was said to be the most powerful and influential of them all.

Initially, Oga and his siblings only used the area as a camp, soon after they discovered how strategic the area was for doing business as traders from Shagamu, Ijebu and Epe ply the route to the coast. So the brothers decided to make it their permanent settlement.

The area was the home to a now extinct specie of plant called ‘Odu’ – it was a kind of vegetable that blackens and used for dyeing cloth by Remo women hence the traders usually refer to the settlement as OKO-ODU meaning Odu farm.It was later corrupted to Okorodu and subsequently to “Ikorodu”.

As the settlement began to expand, Olusoga being eldest and the most powerful hunter took responsibility for the expansion of the village, shortly before his death, he received a large contingent of Benin migrant led by a wealthy merchant called Eregbouwa or Rebugbawa.

After his death, there was need for proper administration of the town, his brother became the Oloja meaning the ”village head” or market head according to some quarters, the influential Eregbouwa was made the Olisa – the prime minister.

Till this day, the Obaship goes to the Akarigbo line while the Olisaship goes to the descendant of Eregbouwa.

Gossip House