Kisi

Introduction

Kisi is a large town in the northern part of Oyo State, Nigeria, and serves as the headquarters of the Irepo Local Government Area. It sits close to old Katunga, a settlement that collapsed in the 18th century amid Jihad activity by the Hausa and Fulani of Ilorin in neighbouring Kwara State.

Kisi is known as a town whose people were never conquered or defeated in battle. That reputation drew many people from old Oyo, who migrated and settled in Kisi during and after the Fulani Jihadist invasion. The town lies roughly 240 km from Ibadan, the state capital, and about 200 km from Oyo Alaafin and 110 km from Ilorin.

Three days in Kisi

Day one: Start in Kisi itself, the town at the centre of Irepo Local Government Area in Oyo State, Nigeria. Get your bearings on foot and take in the everyday life of the place before deciding how far you want to range over the next two days.

Day two: Head out towards Katunga, and use the day to understand the wider setting. Kisi sits in Oyo State, with Ilorin and Kwara State beyond it, and the history of the area is bound up with the Fulani Jihad and the Fulani Jihadist campaigns that reshaped this part of the country. The Hausa and Fulani presence here is part of that longer story.

Day three: Turn towards the older Yoruba centres. Oyo, Ibadan and Oyo Alaafin all lie within reach of the world Kisi belongs to, and a day spent moving between them gives you the other half of the picture: the Oyo heartland that the jihad of the nineteenth century pressed against. That contrast, between Kisi and the towns to its west, is the thread worth following.