Sunday, 12 November 2017

PapaLanto: The history of a town!

PapaLanto: The history of a town!

By PIA

There was a woman, a popular food-seller, Olaito who married to a great hunter and farmer, Adeitan. Adeitan is an Owu man who relocated to a forest which is today called Papalanto.

Why is the town named Papalanto?

You will read it in my blog.

 Do you also know or remember this song?

Ogun melo re toju rẹ ja? Ogun Adubi soju mi ja.

Iya rẹ nke lọ bi ewurẹ
Baba rẹ nke lọ bi aparo
Iwọ na n bẹ lọ bi igala
Omi ireke l’ẹ n bu s'ebẹ
L’ẹ n bu S'e bẹ l’ẹtun fi n r’ọmọ.

Papalanto is paramount in the history of Egbas. Many of 30,000 Egba soldiers who fought European warlords during Adubi war could not have survived without the Sugarcane cultivation of PapaLanto. There was no water to drink but Egbas used extracted water from Sugarcane to cook and drink. 

The great hunter and farmer, Adeitan founded Papa in the 18th century. Ifa Oracle directed Adeitan to leave Owu community in Abeokuta, he followed and listened to the divine voice. He stayed at exactly in the place today called Papa ti Olaito.

Adeitan and his wife, Olaito, resettled in this bush for years without anybody or relatives. While Adeitan was hunting, his wife, Laito specialized in selling different dishes with the assorted bush meat from the animals killed by his husband. Laito's place suddenly became Mecca where the travellers and all kind of people used to have stop over to eat and relax.
Occasionally, they would meet the great hunter, Adeitan whom many of them wished and admired to meet. There were no animal that Adeitan could not kill. He was famous hunter.

Later, the man known as Famuyiwa Adegoyinbo joined them. Famuyiwa was adopted as their Son because both Adeitan and Laito could not give birth to any child. One day, Adeitan and Olaito disappeared to unknown destination, and nobody could trace or locate them till today.

Before their disappearance, people had started living with them.
Famuyiwa who inherited Adeitan's belongings, and  other people named the village as Papa Olaito. It was formerly called Oju oja.

PapaLanto is known for cultivation of Sugar cane. Ireke Papa. Sugar cane has been cultivated in this area since the days of Adeitan and his wife.

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