Iwo is a place of commercial activities, the people are not lazy and everyone strives hard to put food on the table for their families. Iwo indigenes have been known for their industrious activities in other cities and in the diaspora. No doubt, Iwo youths are intelligent people who are very hardworking and supporting the economy of the town.
Iwo has four known markets namely, Odò – Orí, Ọjà – ọba, Ọjà – Alẹ́ and Káàrà. These four markets are the known markets for different types of products and are majorly open on different days. The activities in these various markets are always ongoing but there are specified days in which these markets are open to major businesses on different days.
We would be talking about these four markets on when and how they are opened to major businesses. The activities in these beautifully lucrative markets are slightly different on what’s sold and not sold in each market and the population of people that come to the market. We would be talking about them in this article as we go deeper into it.
THE ODÒ – ORÍ MARKET :
is known for its robust business activities and it’s situated along the Iwo-Osogbo and Iwo-Ibadan expressway, this market is seated on a land of over two hectares land area and is segmented into various sectors for various businesses.
Each sector is specifically for a certain product. The way in which this market has been chronologically designed in running the activities within is brilliant and shows great system management skills. There are sectors for foodstuffs, animals, yam sellers, maize sellers, pepper sellers, kolanut sellers, clothes sellers, kitchen utensils and household items, toys and accessories, and etcetera.
The market is large and is open to everyone from any part of the country. It is open every day but is opens every fifth day for major business activities. The opening hours extend past ten (10) hours of each day but can run beyond fourteen (14) hours on the major market days.
Sellers from other neighbouring towns and cities such as Ede, Osogbo, Ibadan, Ejigbo, even Lagos come to sell in Òdo – Ori market on the major days.
READ ALSO: Ooni Lúwo Gbàgidá: The 21st Ooni Of Ile-Ife | By Karimot Odebode
There have been little cases of criminal activities in this market during the major days comparing to the experience in other major markets in other town and cities. This market has been proven to be safe to its customers to the point that there has been various of a report of returned money lost by buyers who didn’t notice they lost their money.
This does not guarantee that if you come to this market and handled your belongings carelessly and they got lost you’ll always find them. As much as there have been various large number of reported cases of returned belongings there are also people who couldn’t find their lost belongings.
The workers in this market are diligent and hard-working. They are very careful in handling your things and the majority of these workers are considered, to be honest with their work and their charges. They are both young and old individuals who are just striving to make end meets. Though they are considered, to be honest, it’s advisable you always look over their shoulders.
READ ALSO: Top 10 Pick Personalities Of The Year 2019 In Iwoland
Odò-orí market is open every day of the year except if the government says otherwise but it’s open for major business activities every five days after the last major business day. This means that if the last major business day in Odò-orí was Monday, the next major business day would be a Friday. If it was a Friday then the next major market day would be Tuesday. This is how the fifth day major market day is calculated.
Odò-orí market population on normal market days are held at a little above three hundred and fifty (350) persons on a high scale and don’t fall below a hundred (100) persons on each normal market days but on major market days, the number can climb well above three thousand (3,000) persons if any festive is approaching and can be held at a thousand and five hundred (1,500) persons without festivities.
Opening Days and Estimated Hours:
Monday: Open 10 – 14 hours
Tuesday: Open 10 – 14 hours
Wednesday: Open 10 – 14 hours
Thursday: Open 10 – 14 hours
Friday: Open 10 – 14 hours
Saturday: Open 10 – 14 hours
Sunday: Open 10 – 14 hours.
READ ALSO: Memoirs: The Unsung Heroes In Iwoland | By Engr. Bashir Lawal (Gomina Mekunnu)
THE OJA ỌBA MARKET:
The ọjà ọba market also known as Oja Oluwo can be said to be a subsidiary to the odò orí market and is always open on every day. The number of people that come to this market on a daily basis is very low because of where it’s situated. This market is situated almost outside Iwo, it’s at the near border position with Ìbàdàn city. On a normal market day, you’ll get a little above a hundred people in this market and sometimes can be inactive but on the major market day, they can be above a thousand persons.
Though the recent report has it that this market is getting as much population on major market days as the Òdo orí major market days but this is not necessarily true. The number of people who come to sell and buy in this market has been considered to be increasing on every major market days but on normal market days, it is not always like a market. It’s not a newly established market but has not been recognized so much as it is getting recognition recently. So, there is a tendency it’ll grow to the capacity of the odo ori market but it’ll take time.
This market opens every day but every fifth day for the major market just like its counterpart market. It has been reported that the major market days for these two markets (odò orí and ọjà ọba) have fallen on the same day and it doesn’t affect the activities as much but it has been reported that if to be compared between the two markets, ọdo orí market receive the largest number of population.
Opening Days and Estimated Hours :
Monday: Open 10 – 14 hours
Tuesday: Open 09 – 11 hours
Wednesday: Open 09 – 11 hours
Thursday: Open 09 – 11 hours
Friday: Open 09 – 11 hours
Saturday: Open 09- 11 hours
Sunday: Open 09 – 11 hours
ỌJÀ ÀLÈ AND KAARA:
These two markets share the same thing in common, they’re small markets and doesn’t have any special major market days assigned to them. They’re open every day to the people but people from other towns and cities don’t come to sell and buy in these markets, they’re designed for the use of the people in the town.
Though ọjà àlè is situated at the very heart of the town very close to the palace and open to a lot of people. Kaara market is located along Iwo-Osogbo expressway and very close to Iwo city radio-vision station. Kaara market was designed for meat sellers but hasn’t drawn a lot of them in, there are other products sellers in the market but it’s better to clarify that the market is dominated with the activities of meat sellers.
Oja ale market is open every day between the hours of 9:00 AM in the morning and 10:00 PM in the night. Karra market is open every day as from 5:00 AM in the morning and mostly dispersed before 8:00 PM at night but normally, proper activities start around 9:00 AM in the morning.
About The Writer
Olamide Yakub Lateef is 26 years old. I am Yoruba, I’m 5ft5 tall and I hail from Osun State and I’m an indigene of Iwo. I am an undergraduate student majoring in computer science at the online University of the People, CA, USA. I’m a lover of writing, I’m a poet and I love to take tasks the same reason I’m into programming.
I started conscious writing when I was a little above sixteen years old; that was when I first wrote my first poem. I’ve been writing since then, I’ve written many unpublished poems, short articles and few proses. I love to write because it’s the easiest way for me to relax after I might have written a few lines of codes in programming and by telling stories I feel like I’m building my very own universe.