Erùgùn and the Elerugun Lineage: Tracing a Forgotten Yoruba Tradition in Early Ibadan

Erùgùn is a little-documented Yoruba religious tradition mentioned in Samuel Johnson’s historical account of Yorubaland. He described it as a mystery practised in a cave beside a mountain known as Erùgùn Mount, suggesting that it once held a recognised place in Yoruba spiritual life. Oral accounts from the Elerugun family link the lineage to Aguo in present-day Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State. The family understands Elerugun to mean custodian of the Erùgùn deity and recalls the tradition as one associated with healing, fertility, protection and spiritual consultation. According to the lineage’s oral history, Salako Elerugun migrated from Oyo territory during the formative period of Ibadan and founded the Elerugun Compound in Amunigun. He is remembered as bringing the custodianship of Erùgùn, along with the Owolewa masquerade tradition, to the growing settlement. The links between published history and family memory deserve further study through archives, chieftaincy records, neighbouring compounds, historical maps and oral traditions from Aguo and Ibadan. Preserving such accounts may help recover overlooked aspects of Yoruba religious and family history.

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