Descendants of Ikorodu know their origin and remember their great eponymous town. While they school and work across the world, they always remember the sons and daughters of whom they are. These special breed of men and women, in what is today known as Ikorodu, have continue to distinguish themselves in the academia, government, and professional fields they found themselves.
While they achieve greater heights, they proudly make references to the name of their primogenitor- Oga. Ogaremade, which is shortened to ‘Oga’, is the central founding figure of Ikorodu. This great historic figure is highly revered by the people of Ikorodu; he is showered with praises and special appellations, and one of his most popular monikers is “Oriwu”. His descendants, who are distinguished lawyers, journalists, investors, business moguls from Ikorodu, have made indelible marks across the globe.
Many of the courageous sons and daughters of Ikorodu took to private practice in their chosen fields and honour their ancestral land with scintillating corporate and business names like Oriwu Sun Newspaper, Oriwu Supermarket, Oriwu Club, Oriwu Insurance Brokers, Oriwu College, Oriwu Central Mosque, Oriwu Merchants, Oriwu Pharmacy and Stores, etc.
The Oriwu Sun is a foremost community newspaper in Nigeria, founded by a descendant of DawoduOlowosago. The Founder and Publisher of Oriwu Sun Newspaper, MonzorKolawoleOlowosago, is a prominent member of the Olowosago family. He studied Journalism in Fleet Street, London and returned to Nigeria to establish the Oriwu Sun in 1985. The community media house has operated for over three decades and has been a reference point for academics in the field of community journalism.
Oriwu Insurance Brokers was established by AremoAdeniyiOgunsaya, a nephew to the famous Dr. AdeniranOgunsanya. AremoOgunsanya studied Insurance from Manchester and practiced in London before moving to Nigeria. He established the Oriwu Insurance Brokerage in the 1980s. Today, the Oriwu Insurance Brokers is run by experienced insurance experts with huge annual returns. Their office is domiciled in Onipanu, while its founder, AremoAdeniyiOgunsana has retired to his Ikorodu home.
The Oriwu Club is an elite socio-economic group, which compromises of the crème de la crème sons of the soil. The prestigious Club exclusively admits only the finest sons of Ikorodu who have excelled in their chosen fields.
Only highly educated men with degrees and pedigree could apply and secure its membership. Some of its members were former Senators, Ministers, Commissioners, Chief Executives Officers, Professors, Doctors, Engineers, Architects, top notch Lawyers and Investors.
The Oriwu Club has facilitated several developmental projects in Ikorodu, including giving scholarships to students from the division, building classrooms for schools in Ikorodu, donating medical supplies to health centres and hospitals, etc.
The Oriwu Model College was established in 1949 by the indigenous people of Ikorodu at a time there was no high school in the region. Notable families in the division gave up their residences for students to learn and the school has evolved into a doyen school, producing educationists and professionals from the historic town of Ikorodu.
The Oriwu Model College, which is situated along Igbogbo road, has produced notable people in the society, some of which include former Minister of Works during Obasanjo regime, Senator Kingsley AdeseyeOgunlewe. There are many successful ex-students of the college, who rose of the level of Director in Central Bank, and many others who are experts based in Europe and North America.
Though, no longer in operation, the Oriwu Merchant was a commercial organisation set up by YahyaSodipo along Ireshe Road. He used the property for hotel services and warehouse for merchandise. Since the demise of YahyaSodipo, the business place has been shut down. It was reported that fire razed the place in the 90s but most part of the building still remain erect.
The Oriwu Central Mosque is the latest newly constructed religious house in Ikorodu. The large mosque adorned in gold domes is strategically located by the Ikorodu round about. The mosque was founded in 1976 after argument broke out on who should be the Chief Imam of Ikorodu Central Mosque in 1975. The leadership tussle between the two districts of Isele and Ijomu led to the breaking away of the Isele faction, which established the Oriwu Central Mosque.
Foundation of the mosque was laid in 1988 and it was completed in 2019. In spite of the many challenges and obstacles, the mosque community endured for many decades till they completed the structure. During the inauguration of the Oriwu Central Mosque in December 2019, the Sultan of Sokoto, Chief Imam of Ilorin and many highly revered Muslims from across Nigeria converged at the mosque.
Oriwu Pharmacy and Supermarket was established by another son of the soil. Pharm. MukailaSanni is a trained Pharmacist who decided to establish the OriwuPharmacy in 1989. The drug store is situated at Oriwu Road, at the tail-end of Ota-Ona, in Ikorodu. The medicine store has an adjoining shop where wares and toiletries are sold.
According to a leading Islamic scholar and the incumbent Chief Imam of Oriwu Central Mosque, Sheikh YahyaOshoala, Ikorodu cannot be mentioned without making reference to Oriwu.
He explained that the name Oriwu precedes Ikorodu; it used to be the name of the territory now called Ikorodu. According to him, before the advent of Ikorodu, the land was known as Oriwu, which means ‘plain land’. But when Oga (Ogarenmade) settled in the plain and started cultivating ‘Odu’ vegetables, people started calling his farm ‘Oko-Odu’, the name which metamorphosed into ‘Ikorodu’. Indigenes fondly use the two names together: Oko-Odu in Oriwu, now referred to as IkoroduOriwu. The traditional panegyrics for the town’s name goes thus:
wa a timmi se nigbaalayeti da aye
Wa a timi se nigbaalaseti se
Wa a timi se nigbaOriwun’agbeleiko
The translation in English is;
This is how it was done since the creator created existence
This is how it was done since forbearers existed
This is how it was done when Oriwu was at Agbele
It is a believed among the descendants of Ikorodu that any business venture, which identifies its corporate name with Oriwu always record success. Perhaps, this belief is gotten from the successful vegetable plantation of their ancestor, Oga, who cultivated a successful farm, the famous ‘Oko-Odu’. The plain of success has expanded into a town of great success, inhabited by about a million people.
Town and city’s appellation is not a strange cultural phenomenon in Western Nigeria. For example, there are popular towns with appellations of notable Yoruba towns like Ijebu-Ode, indigenes are praised by the appellation of ‘Ijebu-Ode Obanta’. Ikene is praised as ‘Ikene-ereke’; Ondo is ‘Ondo-egin’; Abeokuta-Olumo; Ekiti-kete, and many more.