Although scholars have examined various aspects of the oral traditions, political history and inter-group relations of the Akoko communities, there is the need to re-visit the sources for a re-examination of the traditions of origins, migrations and inter-group relations of the peoples of the region given the lack of unanimity on some of these issues. As the only major Akoko community to have preserved its independence in the pre-colonial era, the regional military power and the largest single Akoko community, Oka provides a suitable case-study in the intersection of local/micro-history and regional history. The complexity of the community itself mirrors conditions in other Akoko communities. Accordingly, the paper highlights change and continuity, the particular and the general, in the pre-colonial history of this ethnic frontier zone. It indicates how the history of Oka sheds light on inter-group relations, identity formation, linguistic acculturation and power relations in pre-colonial Akokoland in the context of internal developments and the regional and “global” power politics of the times. This entails a re-examination of historical links among the Akoko, Ekiti, Owo, Nupe and Benin. Finally, the paper proposes a chronological framework for the regional history of this part of Yorubaland and an agenda for future research.