337year Legendary Tortoise Witness 17th Soun`s of Ogbomoso Since Its Foundation

The legendary tortoise Alagba known as the elderly one is oldest tortoise found in Soun of Ogbomoso is 337 years male tortoise giant that has witnessed the installation of 17th Soun`s of Ogbomosoland since its foundation. 

The name Alagba was given as a sign of respect because of their claim
that it is the oldest living animal in the world, the tortoise has been acclaimed to be 337 years old by the people of Ogbomoso kingdom. Alagba spend all is life at Ife where he waddle about in palatial grounds of the palace.

The Testudinidae, of land-dwelling reptiles is believed to be older than everyone in Ogbomoso and even in the world, its true age relies heavily on oral history. Its present age was arrived at by calculations done from the period the Soun who brought it to the palace reigned.

The Alagba was brought to the palace by His Royal Highness, Oba Ikumoyede Ajao, the third Soun to the founder of Ogbomoso, who is believed to have been born sometime in the late 16th century and who reigned in the 17th.

Oba Ikumoyede, according to the present Soun of Ogbomoso's, Khakaki, Mr Adeniyi Alagbe (the Oba's praise singer) and Mr Abdullahi Bello, who used to carry the umbrella that shields the Oba from the sun, is a hunter who got the tortoise and brought it to the palace before he became the ruler of the town. 

Alagba is said to be guarded by the Soun of Ogbomoso himself, and three other able men, which include Mr Adeniyi Alagbe, Mr Abdulahi Bello and Baba Iyabo, who carry out the Oba's instructions to take care of Alagba. They say the animal eats three times a day like human beings and eat everything that human beings eat, but likes pawpaw, particularly. 

Moreover, its meals are prepared together with people's food in the palace. "He usually eats food of three to four people whenever it is eating and finishes one and half bucket of water (approximately 38 litres of water) which he takes once in every three months, " Mr Bello said.

Meanwhile, His weight is put at over 100kg since its weight is equivalent to two bags of cement, and it requires many hefty men to lift it up.

"No matter how heavy a person is, Alagba will carry him or her on its back and be moving about, but the incumbent Oba, who cares so much about the well-being of Alagba, stopped people from climbing on its back as the animal got older," Mr Alagbe said.