History of Kabba
Kabba is a town in Kogi State, Nigeria. Kabba, the headquarters of the Yoruba speaking people of Kogi State is in the North Central Nigeria, has a rich culture and tradition synonymous with those of their kith and kin in the South-Western part of the country, where the Yoruba can be found. It lies near the Osse River, at the intersection of roads from Lokoja, Okene, Ogidi, Ado-Ekiti, and Egbe. The town is 295 kilometers away from Abuja, the national capital.
Kabba was the administrative headquarters of the Kabba Province of the defunct Northern Region of Nigeria, which includes all of the current Kogi State. Kabba is a trade centre for coffee, cocoa, yams, cassava, maize, sorghum, shea nuts, peanuts (groundnuts), beans, cotton, and woven cloth produced by the Yoruba, Ebira, and other peoples of the surrounding area.
Kabba people speak a Yoruba dialect called Owe.
Kabba is the headquarters of the Kabba/Bunnu local government area of Kogi state Kabba has a tripodal traditional leadership that comprises the Obaro, Obadofin and the Obajemu; with the Obaro being the primus and the chairman of the Okun traditional council. Other notable settlements in Kabba include Aiyeteju, Odi-Olowo, Kajola, Odo-Ero, Odolu, Fehinti, Surulere, other settlements refered to as “Ikowaopa”; they include Iyah, Otu, Egbeda, Gbeleko, Okedayo, Kakun, Ohakiti, Obele, Ogbagba, Ayonghon, Ayedun, Ayetoro, Egunbe of Obangogo, Iduge, Adesua, Asanta, Korede, Okekoko, Katu and Apanga.
Secondary Schools in Kabba include the Government Science School Okedayo, Federal Government Girls College, Saint Augustine’s College, Saint Barnabas Secondary School, Saint Monica’s College, Sacred Heart College Iyah -Kabba, Bishop McCalla Secondary School, Local Government comprehensive high school, Christ Secondary School, Oloruntobi Group of Schools, Green Valley Grammar School, Local Government Secondary School Kakun, Aunty Fola Excel School, Wise Virgin Secondary School, Local Government School Otu-Egunbe, Kogi State College Of Education (Technical) Egbeda, and the College of Agriculture, a division of Agricultural Colleges of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. Also located in Kabba is the famous Sacred Heart Catholic Church which has produced numerous priests in Nigeria and across the globe.
The town has a history of wars and invasions by external forces, particularly the Nupes, who often invaded the community with the aim of conquering and taking the people into captivity.
Whenever the invasions happened, the people of the community had one place they usually ran to for protection; that was the Obangogo hill. The hill served as place of refuge for the Kabba people. The evidence of history also has it that Obangogo was not a place of refuge for only Kabba people during those invasions, neighboring communities like Ogidi also benefitted from the sacred protection of the hills whenever the community was invaded.
The Obangogo hill, is a physical landform that was formed as the result of several volcanic eruptions that happened over a long period of time. The igneous extrusion is located on Longitude of 176638.210E and Latitude of 857813.110N. It is approximately 5 kilometers from the Kabba – Okene road; and has an elevation of 615.50 metres (about 2020 feet) above the sea level. The hill is about 200 meters (600 ft.) taller than the famous Mount Patti in Lokoja, Kogi State (where Lord Lugard and Flora Shaw coined the name Nigeria), and it is the second highest peak in Kogi State after the famous Oke-Esa in Idagbon, Ikowo-Opa in Oweland. From the top of the Obangogo Hill, one can view Osara, Okene and parts of Lokoja metropolis which are several kilometres away.
Obangogo comprises many fascinating features like caves, spring water, talking stone-drum, mystery coffin, as well as the three boulders representing three most important royal institutions of the town – the Obaro, Obadofin and Obajemu.
History has it that during many of the invasions by the Nupes, the Kabba people climbed up the hill after which they poured shea butter on the approaches to climb the rocks, thus making it slippery and dangerous for their assailants to climb. The butter was extracted from the nut of the African shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) which is plentiful in the area. From this vantage point, the people were also to able roll down large boulders on their enemies below.
On Obangogo, there is a source of spring of water that is available all year round – for it never dries up. It served as the main source of water for the people then and during the times the hill served as a place of refuge. There are also the five mystical lakes known as ‘ako’; they never run dry despite their stagnation.
There are also three big rocks called the Oke Meta which symbolise the three major royal institutions (Ololus) of the Kabba people. The fertility of the lands around the hill for farming activities also made it economically important to the people of the area.