How generations of Ogbomoso migrants transformed migration into enterprise, community and a legacy of brotherhood—and why their story holds lessons for Ogbomoso today
By Femi Emmanuel
There are journeys measured in kilometres, and there are journeys measured in generations.
For the people of Ogbomoso, the journey from their ancient hometown in Oyo State to Jos, the capital of Plateau State, belongs to the latter category. What began more than a century ago as migration in search of opportunities gradually developed into something much bigger: the establishment of a community, the creation of businesses, the forging of friendships and the building of an enduring bond between people separated by hundreds of kilometres.
For many Ogbomoso people, Jos is therefore more than a distant northern city. It has, over generations, acquired the character of a second home.
Historical accounts trace the presence of some Ogbomoso migrants in Jos to as far back as 1892. If that historical account is accurate, it means the relationship has endured for approximately 134 years—a remarkable span that has seen generations born, raised and established in Plateau State while maintaining strong emotional and cultural connections with their ancestral home.
The story is not merely about migration. It is about identity.
WHEN OGBOMOSO FOUND A HOME IN JOS
The early Ogbomoso migrants did not simply arrive in Jos and disappear into the growing population of the city. Over time, they established themselves in different streets and neighbourhoods, creating communities in which their cultural identity remained recognisable.
People who came from different compounds, families and backgrounds in Ogbomoso found themselves sharing a common experience in a new environment.
Away from their ancestral homes, the importance of kinship became even more pronounced.
An Ogbomoso person could meet another Ogbomoso person in Jos and immediately find a familiar face—a brother, sister, relative or trusted companion. This shared identity became a source of strength.
The community’s solidarity was not necessarily built on blood relationships alone. It was built on the understanding that they came from the same ancestral soil and therefore had a responsibility to look after one another.
That spirit of mutual support helped to create an environment where people could settle, conduct business and raise families with a sense of belonging.
RELIGION DID NOT DESTROY THEIR UNITY
Perhaps one of the most instructive aspects of the Ogbomoso experience in Jos is the manner in which religious differences coexisted with communal identity.
Christians and Muslims from the Yoruba community were part of the broader Ogbomoso presence in Jos. Their religious differences did not have to erase their common heritage.
Instead, the community’s shared identity provided a platform for coexistence.
Their relationship with the indigenous people of Plateau State also became part of the wider story. Through commerce, social interaction and community engagement, the Ogbomoso migrants became part of the social and economic fabric of their host environment.
The lesson is profound: people can maintain different religious convictions without allowing those differences to destroy their common humanity, ancestry and collective interests.
It is a lesson worth revisiting today.
FROM MIGRATION TO ENTERPRISE
The Ogbomoso story in Jos is also a story of enterprise.
Many of the migrants embraced trading as their principal means of livelihood. While some Yoruba migrants in Jos pursued careers in the civil service and other professions, a significant number of Ogbomoso people built their livelihoods around commerce.
They did not merely participate in petty trading. Many ventured into specialised businesses and gradually established themselves as serious entrepreneurs.
The sale of motor vehicles, clothing and other commodities became areas of commercial activity. Some successful entrepreneurs went further to establish companies and businesses that created employment opportunities.
In doing so, they demonstrated a characteristic often associated with migrant communities: the ability to convert limited opportunities into sustainable enterprises.
Their businesses did not exist in isolation. They became part of the economic life of Jos and Plateau State.
Some of the enterprises provided jobs for people from different ethnic backgrounds, including indigenous residents of Plateau State.
That is an important dimension of the story.
Economic development is not always created by governments alone. Individuals who establish businesses, employ people, pay taxes, provide services and create markets also contribute to the development of the societies in which they operate.
MEN WHO LEFT THEIR FOOTPRINTS
The history of Ogbomoso people in Jos is incomplete without acknowledging individuals whose names remain associated with the community’s economic and social history.
Among those remembered are Chief Akande Oniginde, Chief Olagbenmiro and the late Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Ajagungbade III, among others.
Their stories represent different dimensions of the Ogbomoso experience in Jos.
They were not simply individuals who travelled away from home to pursue personal fortunes. Their activities became part of a larger narrative of enterprise, influence and community development.
For a people whose migration dates back more than a century, such individuals represent important links between the past and present.
Their lives also raise an important question for today’s generation: What kind of legacy are we creating for those who will come after us?
THE GREATER LEGACY: BROTHERHOOD
Businesses can disappear.
Buildings can be demolished.
Fortunes can rise and fall.
But values can survive generations.
Perhaps the greatest legacy of the early Ogbomoso settlers in Jos was therefore not simply the wealth they accumulated or the businesses they established. It was the spirit of brotherhood that enabled them to survive and prosper in a distant environment.
They understood that they were stronger together.
They understood that disagreements did not have to become permanent divisions.
They understood that their common origin was greater than many of the things that could separate them.
This is where the Jos story becomes relevant to contemporary Ogbomoso.
A MIRROR FOR TODAY’S OGBOMOSO
The story of Ogbomoso people in Jos inevitably invites reflection on the state of relationships among Ogbomoso people today.
There are concerns that political disagreements, religious differences, personal interests, family affiliations and other forms of division have weakened some of the bonds that once held the community together.
If the early migrants could maintain unity in an unfamiliar environment, why should their descendants find it difficult to preserve unity in their ancestral homeland?
That is perhaps the most uncomfortable question the documentary raises.
The Ogbomoso people in Jos had every reason to depend on one another. They were far from home, surrounded by a different environment and faced with the challenges associated with migration.
Yet they found strength in their common identity.
Today, Ogbomoso is the home from which people no longer need to migrate before finding one another. The challenge, therefore, should not be how to rediscover one another in a distant city, but how to rediscover the values that once made unity possible.
BENJAMIN ONIGINDE: DOCUMENTATION AS A DUTY
Speaking on the documentary, Mr. Benjamin Oniginde, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sigvent Industrial Cluster Limited and Convener of the Ogbomoso Restoration Movement, commended Mr. Johnson for the effort invested in documenting the story.
Oniginde described the work as an important contribution to preserving the history and experiences of Ogbomoso people outside their ancestral homeland.
He encouraged the producer to consider another documentary that would capture the story from Jos back to Ogbomoso.
Such a sequel, he suggested, would provide an opportunity to examine the return journey—the people, ideas, investments, relationships and experiences that have travelled back from Jos to Ogbomoso over the decades.
Oniginde also expressed his determination to ensure that the documentary reaches His Imperial Majesty, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye Orumogege, the Soun of Ogbomoso, so that the traditional institution can appreciate and further support efforts aimed at preserving the historical memory of Ogbomoso people.
WHY THE STORY MUST BE PRESERVED
History that is not documented can easily become history that is forgotten.
For a younger generation growing up in an era dominated by social media, rapid technological change and changing cultural values, the story of those who left Ogbomoso more than a century ago may sound distant.
But behind every migration statistic are human beings.
There were men and women who left familiar surroundings and travelled into an uncertain future. There were families that endured separation. There were entrepreneurs who started businesses from humble beginnings. There were people who created friendships across ethnic and religious boundaries. There were individuals who succeeded and used their success to contribute to the society around them.
These stories deserve to be preserved.
They deserve to be told in schools, documentaries, books, newspapers and community gatherings.
Most importantly, they deserve to be transmitted to younger generations—not merely as tales of past achievements, but as lessons about courage, enterprise, tolerance, unity and responsibility.
FROM JOS, A MESSAGE TO OGBOMOSO
The road from Ogbomoso to Jos may have begun as a physical journey, but over the decades it became a journey of identity and transformation.
The people who made that journey carried Ogbomoso with them.
They carried their language.
They carried their culture.
They carried their traditions.
They carried their entrepreneurial spirit.
Above all, they carried the understanding that they were members of one community.
And perhaps that is the message Jos sends back to Ogbomoso today:
Differences need not destroy unity. Religion need not erase brotherhood. Politics need not terminate friendship. Personal interests need not overwhelm collective responsibility.
The history of Ogbomoso people in Jos demonstrates that a people can travel far from home without losing their identity—and that unity can become one of the greatest forms of wealth a community possesses.
The next chapter of the story should therefore not merely ask where Ogbomoso people travelled to.
It should ask what they carried with them, what they built along the way, what they left behind—and, most importantly, what lessons their journey holds for Ogbomoso today.
For in the final analysis, the journey from Ogbomoso to Jos is not simply a story of people who left home.
It is the story of a people who carried home within them.
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