•Untold story of Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort

From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti

Like the Garden of Eden, the biblical earthly paradise, the Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort has a paradisiacal atmosphere filled with green and healthy vegetation, rocks, mountains, plains, vast trees, serene environment and other natural features.

It is a tourism destination in Ikogosi-Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government, Ekiti State. This quiet community is home to the sacred warm and cold springs with thermal and unique properties.

This natural space presents a topography of green atmosphere and unveils breathtaking, serene and huge greenery realm while enthroning a natural setting of all-round freshness and calmness.

The tranquility, cool breeze, lush vegetation, landforms and beautiful landscape, among other stunning features, are naturally crafted to unburden stress and provide a truly perfect state of happiness and unforgettable memories.

No wonder tourists, health enthusiasts and nature lovers from different parts of Nigeria and abroad continue to visit this historical site to savour the excitement and the intrinsic qualities of the natural world.

Additionally, the resort, which occupies a vast area of land and peaceful terrain, is a perfect blend of nature and modern glamour. The lodging facilities make lodgers feel at home away from home. The welcoming space, world-class hotel and suites, fully equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, the exceptional service and array of other activities reveal their mastery of and proficiency in the hospitality business.

It is also a destination for government and corporate activities, including conferences, board meetings, annual general meetings, retreats and other events.

Tope Ilemobayo, who conducted the correspondent around the resort, said, “The springs are sacred and have healing powers. The mystery behind the water is that two springs (warm and cold water) flow seamlessly side by side without mixing with each other. The warm water is cleaner and clearer than the cold water. The cold water is darker in colour.

“This water was discovered over 700 years ago There was a hunter that came from Ile-Ife. He was the person that discovered the springs. The name of the hunter was Ogaungaun, which means a sharp shooter.

“At the meeting points (confluence), we have four different types of water. We have two different types of warm water and two different types of cold water and that is why we have four different types of springs and four different sources.

“The water can be seen from three different meeting points. The first meeting point is the warm and cold water, the second meeting point is the cold and cold water, but one is colder than the other and the third meeting point is the warm and warm water, but one is warmer than the other.

“ The two warm springs represent a father and his son, the father is warmer and the son is warm and the two cold water represent the father’s wives- the senior wife is colder and the junior wife is cold. Early in the morning, the warm water steams, something that looks like vapour comes out of the water.”

To date, near the warm and cold water are two different healthy trees, a palm tree and a mahogany tree growing from the same root. According to Ilemobayo, the palm tree represents a female, while the Mahogany tree represents a male.

“Beside this warm and cold water, we have two mysterious trees that are growing from the same root. One palm tree and one mahogany tree. These two trees are coexisting together as husband and wife. The palm tree which represents a female, wife and bears fruits, has lived for more than 100 years while the mahogany tree which represents a male, husband and doesn’t bear fruits, has lived for more than 120 years. The Mahogany tree grew before the palm tree. The fruits from the palm tree are not harvested.

“The colour of the palm tree is the same with the colour of the cold water and the colour of the mahogany tree is the same with the colour of the warm water. They have this symbiotic relationship because they benefit from each other.

“ After Ogaungaun discovered the springs, he went back to Ile-Ife to tell the elderly people of his town what he saw. The elders went to consult an Ifa oracle. The.oracle told them that the springs were not ordinary because they use the springs for healing purposes.

“ The oracle further explained to them that many years ago, there was a man that came to the spring side with his family. He was a healer. His name was Awopeereije. He was a fair-skinned man.

“ Awopeereije had two wives- Awele (enior wife) and Ainaorosun (junior wife). Awele gave birth to one son whose name was Olosun and Ainaorosun gave birth to one daughter, Oora.

“ Awopeereije used to conjure water from the ground to cure ailments. And when it was time to join his ancestors, he called his son, Olosun, to look for a place at the left hand side to settle, so that he(Olosun) can continue to use water for healing purposes after he would have died.

“ Acknowledging that his son did not have any power and could not conjure water from the ground, when Awopeereije was about to die, he empowered his son, Olosun, before he entered the ground and transformed into water and his son used the water to heal various infirmities.

“But, before Awopeereije died, he made a covenant with his family that, whenever they want to die they should also enter the earth and transform to water. The covenant that Awopeereije made with his family before he died made his two wives, Awele and Ainaorosun, to also enter the earth and transformed to cold and colder springs with two different sources. Awele is the colder spring and darker in colour while Ainaorosun is the cold spring which is dark in colour.

“ While Olosun, a male child, settled in the place being the heir of the family and according to the tradition in Yoruba land. The daughter of Ainaorosun, Oora, a female, got married to a man from Ilesa, in Osun State. There is a river in Ilesa to this day, called, Oora. Oora, before she died also held the hand of her husband and entered the ground and transformed to a river, in fulfilment of the covenant her father, Awopeereije, made with the family.

“Olosun used the springs (his father and mother’s springs for healing.)

He will take from the father’s spring and mix it with his mother’s to heal people. He became well known and was happily married with children and when it was time for him to die, in accordance with the covenant established by the father, Olosun also entered the earth and changed to water. After Olosun’s transition, his children continued to live in Ikogosi. That is why his(Olosun’s) descendants are the ones that are worshipping the springs to this day.”

Ilemobayo revealed that the name, Ikogosi came into existence following the place Olosun had settled: “Olosun followed his father’s instruction and settled at the left hand side. When people came to the place for healing and didn’t meet the parents, they met him, “Olosun Totedo Sibi Tokongunsosi” meaning Olosun who has settled at the left hand side. Because of education and for easy pronunciation since the name was too long, Olosun was removed from the name and the remaining was shortened to Ikogosi.

“The four springs have four different sources, but we can only see one source around, that of the father, Awopeereije, the other three sources can be found in the forest.

“ The springs have healing properties. The warm spring is natural and clean. It can be used to cure skin problems and for therapies because there is no aquatic animal that can survive in it.

The warm spring is what we use for swimming pool and this is the process of Gossy bottle water too, no chlorine or chemical. The warm spring is channelled from its source to the pool. The water in the pool is natural and always warm.

“And for the cold spring, some leaves which serve as herbs have dropped and decayed inside the cold water, making the colour of the water to become dark. The cold water works for piles and stomach aches and for skin treatment.”

A tourist, Dr Sanni Danjuma, from Kebbi State, said: “ It is so interesting and magical in nature. One can imagine why most Nigerians move to the foreign land to go for tourism while we have so much in this country. This is my first time here and I am so happy to be here.”

Another tourist, Mrs Fummi Olajugba, from Lagos State, said: “I have been here more than five times. The reason I keep coming is because it is refreshing. You know it is natural. I came with a family friend from Lagos and this is their first time of coming here.

“Myself and my husband were here earlier this year to celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary. It was in the month of March and we stayed for the weekend. Also, there is a lot of improvement here. The rooms are better, their services are good. I love this place.”

Chief Ayo Ademiluwa, Asaoye of Ikogosi-Ekiti and Communications and Community Engagement Manager of Glocient Hospitality, managers of the esort, said: “Ikogosi has its source from Ile-Ife. Ikogosi is based on aura history that was not actually documented. But history made us to know that our progenitors came from Lukosi quarter of Ile-Ife, and we used to have ties with the quarter. Nine kinsmen came from the quarter, they formed different villages. During the wars, war ravaged the villages and the village heads decided to come together to form a formidable army of a single town.

“ The nine people who were former heads or kings of their different towns said if they should be rotating the obaship stool it will take so many years so they decided that a particular prince that was of high class among them should be considered as the king and since he was an Omo Owa that was how none of the nine people never became king but became High Chiefs who were the king makers. In those days, the Asaoye used to be the head of Isaoye village but ever since they came together to form a town, the Asaoye became the head of Isaoye quarter in Ilaro-Oke of Ikogosi-Ekiti.

“ Ikogosi-Ekiti is an agrarian town and the major occupation of the people is farming- cocoa, yam, rice and other cash crops but has comparative advantage in cocoa.

“ Some people said the name Ikogosi evolved from Ikongunosi, that is the last turning on the left. I told you Ikogosi has aura history. Ogotun-Ekiti is not far from Ikogosi-Ekiti. But another of the story has it that there is a ridge that separates Ikogosi from Ogotun-Ekiti. And if you stand astride on the ridge, to the right is Ogotun-Ekiti and to the left is Ikogosi-Ekiti. Some people want us to believe that during the war, Ogun Otun, that was the war camp on the right became Ogotun and the Iko Ogun Osi, the war camp on the left, became Ikogosi, so, whichever, Ikogosi is the name of the town where we have the unusual cohabitation of warm and cold springs flowing side by side.

“ Ikogosi has nine quarters: Inuja, Odo Oji, Oke Oji, Okedamo, Erigbe, Ilaro Oke, Oke Isolo, Okelele, and Ilajumu and each of the quarters is headed by a quarter head.

“We have two ruling houses -Adimula and Otutubiosun. Ikogosi has been in existence for more than seven hundred years. The immediate past monarch of the town, Oba Elijah Abiodun Olorunisola, from Otutubiosun ruling house, died in 2023 and according to our custom in Ikogosi we don’t appoint males as regents, but the first female child of the late monarch and in a situation where there is no female child, maybe a niece, but must he from the royal house.

Accordibg to Ademiluwa, Ikogosi warm springs have curative and therapeutic ingredients capable of curing cholera, guinea worm and other diseases: “ I describe Ikogosi warm springs as a riddle that is shrouded in mystery and hidden in an enigma. It is only a discerning heart that can fathom the mystery behind the mystical water of Ikogosi.

“ We have four different springs – two are cold and the other two are warm. But they are of different thermal identities. We have warm and warmer springs and cold and colder springs. And all the four have medicinal values. They are curative, they are therapeutic. The water has the potency to cure guinea worm and cholera. For somebody who has guinea worm, the person will drink the water and also use the water to wash the affected part of the skin, it will drop off. Infact, the warm springs have the potency to extract the clogged pores of your skin you can verify this if you have a swimming pool that is powered by the warmer spring.

“ I remember vividly in 1973, when there was outbreak of cholera and guinea worm in the western part of the country, and despite the fact that the epidemic ravaged the neighbouring towns not a single case was recorded in Ikogosi and people attributed it to the fact that we drank from the warm springs. My late farther, when he was alive, whenever he came to my place in Lagos, he would come with a keg full of Ikogosi water, he always said he could not drink pure water or any other type of water. And we have so many people still doing like that.

“ Because of the addiction to the water from the source of the warmer spring especially, Glocient Hospitality deemed it fit to bring the water down to the town. So, from the source of the warmer spring they tapped it to the main gate to make it easily accessible for indigenes and other people to fetch the water.

“ When we wanted to start bottling Gossy water we were told that when NAFDAC saw the sample of Gossy water, they fired a query that it was already treated because of the purity. Gossy water has no additives, no chemical added. It is doubly filtered by nature and machine. That is why it is costlier than any other bottle water.”

Ademiluwa said apart from Ikogosi Warm Springs, there are many other sacred rivers in Ikogosi-Ekiti, “We have Omi Babalola, it was blessed by Apostle Joseph Ayodele Babalola, people who are in dire need of miracles still go into the bush to fetch it. We have Adirin lake. Adirin used to be a flowing river, but it became corrupted and wanted to allow the enemies to conquer the town and it was drowning people and there was a powerful Obanla, a very powerful medicine man, who used a magical chain to tie the flowing river to a baobab tree and since it was tied to the tree it ceased to flow from that day and it became a lake.

“We have another mysterious stream called Erin Tutu. It is a little stream but if you watch closely you will see tiny creatures swimming inside this spring, they are shrimps. There is another one, Osun, it hardly flows but it has curative properties. If somebody needs it to cure a child, you will go and recite the panegyric of Osun and the water will start oozing out from the groove. We have Olukeo water, we have Aloo spring and so many others.”

“Ikogosi is a very unique town in the whole of Yoruba towns. It is the only town where we really don’t have so many traditional practices. Like the Egungun festival, new yam festival, they don’t exist here. The only thing we do is every first Friday in November we have the Awo festival that precedes the Ikogosi Day, people will gather at the source of the warm springs and offer prayers. The indigenes will be allowed into the Resort to offer prayers at the warm springs because it is their tradition. The Ikogosi Day comes up every first Saturday in November.”

Director General, Ekiti State Bureau of Tourism Development, Wale Ojo-Lanre, said, “Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort today stands as a shining example of Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji’s commitment to practical tourism development in Ekiti State.

“Through the governor’s foresight, the resort was concession to Glocient Hospitality, and that single decision has transformed Ikogosi into an El Dorado of nature, comfort, and class.

“Today, it is rated the best Resort in Nigeria, a place where nature meets elegance — and safety is guaranteed. In fact, Ekiti State is now described as the most secure and peaceful state in Nigeria.

“ Ikogosi’s charm extends beyond the warm and cold springs — it is only five minutes from the enchanting Arinta Waterfalls in Ipole Iloro, giving tourists a double delight of wonder and beauty.

“Truly, Ikogosi has become the pride of Ekiti and the heartbeat of tourism in Nigeria. So, visit Ekiti State and feel the wonders of Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort.”