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Oduduwa Was Never The Founder Of Yoruba Race , Ife, He Met People There | The Republican News

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Inyanya in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba attires

By Ike A. Offor

These are the indubitable facts about the history of Yoruba, and the presence of Benin and Igbo, Nupe in the ancient and consequently in the present day Yoruba race.

Many renowned history scholars have written about how much the Igbo and Benin are involved in the history of Yoruba race and some have been very blunt about the make up all these three groups, Igbo, Benin and Nupe. Igbo, Yoruba, and Benin are found in each others land at different times in the ancient historical records.

Read more: Yoruba, Benin And The Burden Of History In The Royal Politics Of Nigeria-1 |The Republican News

The similarity in these groups could also be seen from a linguistics approach, Yorubas, Igbos, Nupe, Idoma, Edo, Igala and some other groups all share a common ancestor.  They just splintered into different groups, with cultures, languages and histories. But no one can deny, that there are many similarities amongst their languages.
One would go even further to say that the Fon and Ewe should be included as well because their languages are also similar to Yoruba, Igbo and Nupe, Idoma, Edo, Igala.
In a book by Prof. Boalaji Aremo, as would be expected, Chapter One is a general introduction that provides brief notes on Yoruba and Igbo and their native speakers. The chapter also discusses the main objective of the book: to report the findings from a study aimed at searching (through books and among fluent speakers) for examples of words that are similar in sound and meaning in both Yoruba and Igbo and could, therefore, give further support for the claim by linguists that the two languages descended from the same ancestral language.
The next three chapters list, often with very interesting and informative “clarificatory” notes, the hundreds of examples the author has found of Igbo/Yoruba cognates, i.e Igbo and Yoruba words that are similar in sound and meaning by reason of having been inherited by the two languages from a common Igbo/Yoruba parent language.
It is intended that by considering the examples, the reader will be able to form a good impression of how the languages have diverged over time. And the items listed include: agba (or akpÍ, akpå)/agbÍn (= ‘chin’), awÍ /ewu (= ‘grey hair’), aga (or Ëga)/agan (= ‘barrenness, infertility, a barren woman’), Ígwå/oogun (= ‘medicine, poison, charm’), dimkpa/ igiripa (or giripa) (= person in prime of manhood, strong man, man of strength and courage’), Ëra (or Íra, Íha, Ísa)/ara (or ira (CY)) (= ‘the citizenry, the people, the masses, the public’), onye/ eniyan (or Íniyan(CY)(= ‘person, anyone, someone’), agå/ ¹kun (= ‘tiger, leopard’), enyin/ erin (= ‘elephant’), anwå /oorun (= ‘sun, sunlight’), ifufe (or ifufu)/af¹f¹ (or efuufu) (= ‘wind, breeze, air’), ogbodo/ogberi (or ogbere (CY)) (= ‘person not yet initiated into a masquerade or similar secret cult , a novice’), and akårËkÍ /iharihÍ (or ihaahÍ) (= ‘charred part of food which adheres to the pot or sauce pan’).
There is also proof, scientific proof, DNA. These groups differences are cultural, not biological because they share the same ancestors.

Oduduwa( Benin Prince Izoduwa) was never the founder of the Yoruba race nor the founder of Ife town. He met people there. A man known as Obatala was ruling a section of the Yorubas before Oduduwa surfaced. No less a personality than the Olugbo of Ugbo( Ilaje’s paramount Ruler) agrees with this. He put it directly to the Ooni of Ife recently.

The Yoruba are from Nupe,Benin and Igbo stock. Confirm this from the objective historian Odia Ofeimu. Ife is an Igbo divining CENTRE until the warrior Prince Izoduwa took it from them and made himself the theocratic governor of the place.

Nupe attacked old Oyo and sacked it because they believe they are the owners of the land.

The Ooni of Ife is not from the lineage of Oduduwa. No Oduduwa son remained at Ife to succeed him in his priestly role.

Like his father Ogiso Owodo,Prince Izoduwa( Oduduwa) had only one son whose name was Okanvbi( Okanbi in Yoruba). Note that, Okanvbi in Edo means ” I seek justice or I do not seek vengeance( a name Oduduwa may have given his son to remind him of his travails in his homeland,Benin) It was Okanvbi who had 7 children amongst whom we have the youngest Omonopopo( Prince Oramiyan).

All the current Yoruba clans have their separate history as a people and over 95% of them have no link to Oduduwa or the mythical Yoruba empire. The Ilajes and Akokos for examples. They all have their languages too which are clearly not dialects of the recent Yoruba language developed in Lagos and Ibadan.

Lagos at every point in their history was a Benin settlement and vassalage and never under any Yoruba power.

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