Unknown to many, the Agbekoya Parapo also known as Egbe Agbekoya came into existence in the late 60s through five persons of like-minds determined to stand as defenders of the masses against those they perceived as the oppressors in government at that time. Those great five individuals behind the establishment of what is now known as the famous Agbekoya Parapo were the late Pa Tafa Adeoye, (their leader), Pa Sadiku Bogunbe, Balogun Olalere Ayalu (who hosted the maiden meeting) Adeagbo Adetoun Omoolode and Adegoke Agekuejo.
From a mini group stage, the association began to grow in popularity with many others joining in and across Ibadan land. As times went on, many individuals from other towns outside Ibadan and across the entire Western Region began to join and it became a mass movement in the entire Yoruba land.
How the name Agbekoya was coined
The name Agbekoya, according to findings, emanated from a nickname given to this association of friends by some market women that later joined the group through responses to the eagerness to ascertain what the association actually stood for.
Those market women were quoted as saying that the five foundation members of the association (the friends of like-minds) being farmers known as Agbe in Yoruba, were out to bail them out of the bondage of then oppressors in government under the military governor, late General Adeyinka Adebayo. The women were said to be saying on meeting days that they were going for Agbekoya parley, which later turned out to become a household name for the group.
Therefore, the name Agbekoya, till today, stands as a household in the history of Yoruba land and Nigeria as a whole. Historically, it marks a period of major unrest in the Old Western Region axis of Nigeria between 1968 and 1969.
How farmers’ exploitation fueled uprising
In specificity, Egbe Agbekoya came into existence in the middle of 1968 as a pressure group of Yoruba peasant farmers over what majority of them across the Old Western Region perceived as a reaction against oppressive government policies and exploitation by local elites especially in the areas of buying their products, particularly cocoa.
In that Old Western Region of the country then, agriculture was the preoccupation of the inhabitants as the main agricultural products were cocoa, palm oil, as well as other cash crops, but cocoa production was their main source of income.
Trouble however started when the peasant farmers who were in the majority of the population were reportedly subjected to high taxes, exploitative land policies and low commodity prices particularly for cocoa which left them impoverished and exclusively marginalised. Agbekoya movement was therefore a reaction against that oppressive government policies in the Old Western Region as that time.
Further findings reveal that Agbekoya uprising between 1968 and 1969 was aggravated by what farmers in that region perceived as the imposition of additional taxes on them. This is because before the crisis, the government was assessing farmers in the region based on farm produce but suddenly introduced a policy that farmers would be assessed alongside their children all with a view to soaring government revenue. This development, which to them was becoming unbearable, led to the revolt against the government tax collectors.
At the peak of all these, the Old Western Regional Government established what were known as Local Community Depots to serve as off-takers for farm produce with managers appointed to oversee those depots before buying product from farmers.
Those managers would examine, grade and bargain the prices after which an amount would be agreed upon, not in the interest of the farmers, thus leading to the farmers being subjected to arbitrary cheating through the examination of the produce. In the process, a substantial amount of their farm produce, particularly cocoa would be declared sub-standard or unfit for sale; therefore ending up in under-pricing the farm produce.
Not satisfied with the attitude of those depot managers, the farmers could no longer watch the situation as it was becoming worst and unbearable for them amidst series of taxes thereby making them and others to battle with a tax rate of £1:10s (1Pound 10 shilling.)
Farmers in the western region were said to have revolted against the then Western Region Government of late General Adeyinka Adebayo between 1968 and 1969 on the imposition of flat and hefty $8 tax on them by the marketing boards as opposed to the $1.10 they used to pay on farm produce, especially cocoa. The revolution staged by the farmers over the said imposition of tax resulted in colossal carnage at Olorunda village in the Akanran area of Ibadan with casualties on both sides of the farmers and the government agents particularly the policemen.
Apparently, in their reaction to the said government of the day policies regarding the low pricing of cocoa, the revolution started from village to village and later spread across the Old Western region and by 1968, it has become a household body of farmers championing their emancipation from the hands of those they tagged as their oppressors.
Amidst the growing tension across the Old Western Region over the said policies, the leadership of Agbekoya, among others, demanded fairer prices for their agricultural produce, lower taxes, better land redistribution and an end to corruption by local elites. They also sought political representation and participation in decision-making processes that affected their day-to-day lives and livelihoods.