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Editorial News of Monday, 17 May 2021

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Queen Moremi: The brave woman who delivered the people of Ile-Ife from the Ìgbò people

Queen Moremi Queen Moremi

 • The Ìgbò people were thought to be powerful at the time

 • Moremi Ajasoro was the wife of Oranmiyan, the successor to the King of Ife

 • Queen Moremi has been immortalized in several ways with books

The people of Ile-Ife were once enslaved by a neighboring tribe known as the Ìgbò (forest) people in ancient Yoruba territory.

Since they raided the people of Ife on a regular basis, these Ìgbò were thought to be as powerful as demi-gods.

This made the people of Ife seek out help and offer sacrifices to their gods in order to prevail, but all unsuccessfully.

Moremi Ajasoro was the wife of Oranmiyan, the successor to the King of Ife and the Yoruba tribe's Founding Father, Oduduwa.

Upon devising a strategy, Moremi visited the Spirit of the river Esimirin and vowed to make the greatest sacrifice possible if she could discover the strength of the Forest people and save her kinsmen.

She went to a place that was raided frequently and allowed herself to be captured. Eventually, her beauty attracted the Ìgbò ruler who made her his anointed queen.

She was also very confident and skillful so it was not long before she won the trust and affection of the King and people in Ìgbò land.

This gave her the access she needed to familiarise herself with the secrets of their army — in preparation for battle, the Ìgbò would cover themselves from head to toe with Ekan grass and bamboo fibers.

If someone were to pass amongst the Ìgbò warriors with a torch, they would be defeated.

After she discovered their secrets, she escaped to Ile-Ife to reveal them to the Yoruba army.

Moremi's privileged knowledge was used by the Yoruba people to eventually beat the Ìgbò people in war.

Since she gave up her son, Olurogbo, to the Esimirin deity in order to fulfill her end of the bargain, Queen Moremi is revered by the Yoruba people, who commemorate her bravery with the Edi Festival.



To this day, the Yoruba people mourn with her and hold her in the highest esteem of women in the Kingdom.

Queen Moremi has been immortalized in several ways with books about her, public places named after her, and a statue of her erected in 2016 by Oba Ogunwusi in the Ife palace.

The 42-foot monument, also known as the "Queen Moremi Statue of Liberty," is Nigeria's tallest and Africa's fourth-tallest statue.