About Us

About Our Association

Egba Heritage Association of Canada is a non-profit and community-based Association founded in December, 2016 by some progressive minds of Egba Descends. The idea about the formation was conceived by Hon. Olusegun Ajala who rallied round other four bonafide Egba sons, Mr. Olawale Olaleye, Mr. Olabode Fajobi, Mr. Ayodele Sanni and Mr. Jimi Amidu. The maiden meeting of the Association was held at 44 Belcrest Drive, Brampton, Ontario, Canada, the residence of the former and the first President of the Association, Mr. Ayodele Sanni. Subsequent meeting at the residence of Mr. Jimi Amidu (also known as Jimi Alasela), got the Association christened “Egba Heritage”, the name was suggested by Mrs. Olabisi Amidu at the same meeting venue, and was unanimously accepted, hence, the birth of Egba Heritage Association of Canada. The Association moved swiftly to registration with the Misnistry of Government Services, Ontario and CRA. Great registration coordination by the former General Secretary, Mr. Olabode Fajobi, with Mr. Ayodele Sanni, Mrs. Aderonke Sanni and Mr. Olawale Olaleye got the Association a legitimate standing and footings it has till today.

About The Egbas

Abeokuta, means ‘under the rock’, (“Refuge Among Rocks”) was founded about 1830 by Shodeke, a hunter and leader of the Egba refugees who fled from the disintegrating Oyo empire. The town, Abeokuta, was also settled by missionaries (in the 1840s) and by Sierra Leone Creoles, who later became prominent as missionaries and as businessmen. Abeokuta’s success as the capital of the Egbas and as a link in the Lagos-Ibadan oil-palm trade led to wars with Dahomey (now Benin). In the battle at Abeokuta in 1851, the Egba, aided by the missionaries and armed by the British, defeated King Gezo’s Dahomeyan army (unique in the history of western Africa for its common practice of using women warriors). Another Dahomeyan attack was repulsed in 1864. Troubles in the 1860s with the British in Lagos led the Egba to close the trade routes to the coast and to expel the Missionaries and European traders from the kingdom. After the Yoruba civil wars (1877–93), in which Abeokuta opposed Ibadan, the Egba Alake (“King”) signed an alliance with the British governor, Sir Gilbert Carter, that recognized the independence of the Egba United Government (1893–1914). In 1914 the Egba Kingdom was incorporated into the newly amalgamated British Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. The Abeokuta riots of 1918 protested both the levying of taxes and the “indirect rule” policy of Lord Frederick Lugard, the British Governor-General, which made the Alake, formerly primus inter pares (“first among equals”), the supreme traditional leader to the detriment of the other quarter chiefs.

Abeokuta was a walled town, and relics of the old wall still exist. Notable buildings include the Ake Palace (the residence of the alake), Centenary Hall (1930), and several churches and mosques.

The first church in Nigeria was completed in 1898, The Cathedral Church of St. Peter which is the first church in Nigeria, is located in Ake, Abeokuta, Ogun State. It was built by Reverend Andre Desalu Wilhelm.

The life of newspapers in Nigeria started in the 19th century when the European missioner from Presbyterian Church Rev. Henry Townsend established the first printing press in 1854 in Abeokuta. Five years later, the first newspaper came out in Abeokuta, called “Iwe Irohin Fun Awon Ara Egba Ati Yoruba”.

Excerpts from: Encyclopaedia Britanica, Wikipedia and Google.

Aims, Visions & Objectives

To contribute to the development of Egba in particular and Nigeria in general.

To protect, defend and promote the culture, traditions and welfare of Egbas, both at home and abroad.

To provide a forum for social and cultural interactions among the members interested nonmembers or groups.

To co-operate with any other social organizations in Nigeria, Canada or elsewhere in the world having similar aims and objectives as the Association.

To foster and strengthen the bonds of unity among The Egba people wherever they may be.

To own, procure and manage landed properties.

To create awareness of the Egba culture through symposiums, seminars, arts and crafts exhibitions and traditional dances.

To make contributions for the advancement and promotion of charitable or benevolent activities and organizations in Egba, Canada and Nigeria in general.

Meeting days & Secretariat contact Numbers

General meeting holds every second Sundays of every month, for further information, please contact the Secretariat at any of the following:

President, Olawale Olaleye – 647 700 8447