Discuss five factors that aided the rise of Ibadan as a powerful state in Yoruba land.

This was a fairly popular question but the candidates who answered it picked all aspects of Oyo Empire without pegging their answers to Ibadan as a state.  However, a few of the candidates were able to do justice to the
question and were adequately rewarded.  They were able to discuss the following points:

• the collapse of Oyo Empire created a power vacuum;
• the influx of military adventurers from all over Yoruba land into  Ibadan made her militarily stronger;
• the support given by the Alaafin of Oyo to Ibadan;
• acquisition of superior arms and their effective use in war fare;
• the fertility of the soil, etc.