The brave and lovely King of Ile Ife, Moremi Ajasoro rescued her people from the Igbo raiders who invaded her country.
Moremi came from Ile-Ife from Lukugba, though her mother was a Princess from Offa, the State of Kwara. Moremi was also Oranmiyan ‘s wife and Ile Ife’s king during the raids, and Oduduwa ‘s uncle, Yoruba’s progenitor of the tribe.
Legend has it that in Ile Ife, Osun State, raiders from the forest continuously took away peace and freedom from the people. The Igbo / Ugbo raiders were identified. The people of Ile Ife claimed that raiders were spirits sent by gods to punish them because of how they (raiders) came out during rafts, covered in palm trees. The Igbo raiders are not linked to the current Igbo people in East Nigeria. It is important to remember that they do not. Igbo means forests in this contest as in the language of Yoruba.
The raid on these strange things lasted so long that the people of Ife thought about abandoning their gods after incessant rituals and rituals. Queen Moremi who was a nationalist of the heart could not bear the pain of her people. She sought the guidance of a priest who told her to see the goddess Esimirin River in the shadows of her husband, the king – the Oranmiyan.
After meeting the goddess, Moremi was told that her people would overcome these beings who wouldn’t allow them to have peace but would come to a great sacrifice. Moremi was eager to miss the specifics of how much she would pay the most immediately, and asked how to accomplish the task that would save her people from injustice. The goddess told her to let the Igbo raiders arrest her and take her prisoner in the next raid. The next day Moremi came as she was told by the scary Igbo raiders, and she took them.
As a prisoner of war, the invaders brought Moremi to their city but her beauty was so radiating that one of the chiefs decided to marry her. It was during that period that Moremi stayed with the forest-raiders, that she learned that the raiders were not god-sent spirits, but people wearing masks and raffia palm trees. After discovering this fact, she fled to Ile Ife and transmitted this knowledge to the King and his topics.
Ile Ife’s citizens were pleased with her patriotism and courage. They praised the queen. When the raiders next invaded, the King ordered his army and citizens to be armed with flaming torches. It was so easy — sometimes the mental issues are.
As normal, the raiders were thinking of terrifying the citizens, but they came across their waterloo as the burning torches struck them. Their raffia palms caught fire quickly and they were sent back into the bush, defeated!
Moremi Ajasoro went to the Esimirin River for thanks and fulfillment of her promise after her victory. Moremi went with cows and cowries but was shocked when the goddess called for Olurogbo, her only son. The deity ignored her appeals and maintained that her son was there. Moremi dedicated her only son, Olurogbo, to the goddess of the river in grief. She was powerless.
Within a short time, Word walked across the river and the people of Ife rushed to their queen’s tears. All of them dedicated themselves to becoming Moremi Ajasoro’s sons and daughters and that is why until now the natives of Île Ife were known as Moremi Ajasoro ‘s children. Other accounts indicate that Olurogbo did not die, as Olodumare listened to the shouting of Moremi by restituting her son to heart, but went up to the heavens to live with other gods of Yoruba.
To remember Moremi, in honor of her, and in honor of Ife, the Edi festival was born. It began with the celebration of the role played by legendary Queen Moremi and the supreme sacrifice made for the people of Yorubaland by Queen Moremi Ajasoro.
Many locations have been called Moremi for her brave deeds in recent times. Her novels, songs, operas, films, and statues have immortalized her. It’s the tallest statue in Nigeria and the fourth highest in Africa, the “Queen Moremi Statue of Liberty.” OldNaija.com has collected that the statue of Moremi Liberty is erected in her time in the same complex.
