explorer250:

Young man, permit me to say that you are practically foolish! Who told you that the igbos never had great civilizations and rulers? What happened to the obi of onitsha, king of anioma, arochukwu and Nri? I will agree with you that most parts of igboland do not have paramount rulers but you should understand that it is part of our civilization. It is that same democracy that the igbos practised that the big nations of the world such as usa,britain,france,brazil etc even Nigeria which your so called "yorubas" are in is practising today. how many countries of the world are practising the empire system of govt you are priding yourself in? We igbos hate anything called oppression or colonization by any person or authority, be it an absolute monarch or foreigners. Have you forgotten that the jews was organised like the igbos before demanding for a king from God?, but did that stop them from defending themselves when the enemy attacks?, did that stop them from being powerful? The yoruba empire was one of the african powers indeed, but was unable to stop the heavy death casualties inflicted upon them by the oba of benin. The oba of benin was busy conquering the yoruba towns with ease to an extent that the allafin of oyo was afraid of the expanding benin army. The oba of benin was so powerfu and influential to the extent that he ordered the establishment of the ijebu empire, very funny isnt it? But history has it that it was very hard for the benin empire to conquer the present day agbor whcih was a town of the aniomas, just a single town. The aro anglo-war lasted for over a year, the ekumeku movement(anglo-anioma war) which started at 1883 and ended at 1914 lasted over 31years but the anglo-ijebu war did not even last up to 1year. Even the benin empire was conquered in less than a month! This only shows you how powerful the igbos was even without powerful monarchs and empires which you are priding on. Did history ever tell you that any eastern minority with their mornarchs defeated even a single village in igboland? So young man, the fact that we igbos where not organised in empires do not undermine our military strength. It was our ability to wage war with the advanced britishs for upto 31yrs that encouraged the mau mau of kenya to start his rebellion with the british. History has it that the igbo gave the british the fiercest resistance in africa which led to the death of many british high ranking officers. So in conclusion, the reason why igbos didnt build empires was due to our love for equality,freedom and resistance to any form of colonialism and not on our inability to do so. I DID NOT RESULT TO INSULTS AS YOU DID IS BECAUSE I SEE IT AS A CHILDISH CHARACTER AND I AM NOT AN ETHNIC BIGOT LIKE YOU. And mind you, we first tasted the office of the presidency before you. and you still under the rulership of our neighbouring minority. So stop ranting!

mickeyenglish:
..dude! Ubr very poor and short-sighted when it comes to History. U said d Benins created d Ijebu empire? Aw am I even sure dat u actually attended a secondary school talkless of a university? U said d Oba of Benin was busy conquering Yoruba city-states and dat d Aalafin of Oyo was scared of him? Who was d Oba of Benin then? Which dynasty was that and who was d Aalafin of Oyo at dat time and wat century did dat take place?.dude u r very dim-witted. The Ijebu empire had being in existence b4 d Benin came 2 be. If u go back to ur history book, u will discover that during the time that Oduduwa was blind, he journeyed 4rm Ile-Ife down to Ijebu-Ode where he was healed by the Awujale of Ijebuland. Do u now want to tell me dat d Benin Empire dat was alleged to av being the brainchild of Oranmiyan d grandchild of Oduduwa is older than Oduduwa and Ile-ife itself? Dats simply degradation of history by a myopic south-easterner. And 4 ur information, d Benins were not busy conquering Yorubalands. They only made part of d present day Lagos state a garrison base 4 it's millitary which they later named "Eko".that was b4 d Ijebus raided and took over lagos Mainland hereby dismantling and anihilating d Benins and chasing d Aworis into Lagos island and dat is why d d entire inhabitants and rulers of Ikorodu r all Ijebus and 4 ur information, d rulers there don't pay tributes to d Oba of Benin, but dey do dat to d Awujale of Ijebuland.and if u think I'm lying, do a quick reserch on Ikorodu or rather visit d place ur self to see. U also said something about d ijebus being conquered in less dan a year. Dats y I said earlier on dat ur alleged educational background is a suspect and should be reviewed. History students knows dat d downfall of d Yoruba city-states was as a result of d numerous wars dat was happening at dat moment in time in d Yorubaland(the Owu war,the 14year war,the rebellion led by Aare ona Kakanfo Afonja and d annexation of ilorin from d Oyo empire,the Owu-ijaiye war,the Ekiti-parapo war,the Kiriji war,...etc)..that was a moment of turmoils,upheavals and disunity among the Yorubas. The war had already weakened them and d Ijebus where d last hope due to d fact dat it was d gateway to d Yoruba hinterlands and immediately dey fell to d europeans due to their superior armaments, there nothing the oda Yoruba nations could do about it and d Britons were able to penetrate them with little or no effort at all....u laid claims on d fact dat d monarchial system of government is dead! 4 ur information, d UK still uses it! But it's powers had being greatly reducedduring d uprising dat led to the signing of the MAGNA CARTA and 99% of European countries still uses only dat their powers also has being reduced immediately after d 2 world wars. Again I doubt ur educational backgrounds. I wonda if u av even being to Asia, particularly d middle east, Dubai,Qater,and d UAE, Jordan and Saudi-Arabia still practice full mornachial system of government and it's working greatly 4 them!... And 4 those clowns u call ibo rulers and their non-existencial "kingdoms" u mentioned earlier on, I doubt if dey could even command an army to attack a couple of Fulani herdsmen and their wive and children!...don't worry now! Sheybe 2015 is around d corner. All ur screams and noise making dat u own 99.9% of Lagos economy and even have d highest numbers of inhabitants in d state will really play a major role in ur massacre! Even Satan will ask u guys when u get to hell whether u were d Benins who gave d name "Eko"to Lagos or dat u were d Aworis who lived and developed d lagos islands. Or dat were u d ijebus who dwelled in part of d lagos mainland or dat u were d eguns who made fishing a commercial and triving buisness in d state in d early hours of civilisation !Bloody group of persona non gratas.

explorer250:

At first i want to begin by saying that i am not a history student. I am a science student and i recently graduated from secondary school, though i recently got admission into the high institution. So, i am not parading myself as an elite in history,but that does not stop me from having basic knowledge of history.
Oya here is the link en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijebu_Kingdom The benin empire was busy excercising authority at the ijebu court and conquering yorubaland city states.
The yorubas didnt expel the benin army from lagos rather the oba ordered the withdrawal of his troops because he felt that the general commanding the army was becoming too popular and powerful because of how he easily conquered his enemies. So due to the fear of a coup the oba then withdrew the army and gave the general and his family a land to settle as a reward of his hardwork.
History has it that the yoruba army never defeated even a garrison of the benin army even for once! The oyo empire despite its population,cavalry(which was copied from the nupes that destroyed oyo empire earlier) and influence was not able to defeat the oba of benin! Rather she attacked smaller kingdoms such as the dahomey.
Will you also doubt that oyo empire was finally brought down by the fulanis?, even illorin was scrapped into the fulani empire. That is why the traditional rulers of illorin are called emir instead of oba! So my friend let me tell that yorubas was only busy fighting themselves and was not able to expand there territory outside yorubaland save for dahomey, which later revoluted and regained there freedom. Will you also doubt that akure was conquered by benin?, lolz.
But arochukwu an igbo tribe was able to conquer the ruler of the ibibios(a major ethnic group in cross river state which shares boundary with arochukwu)
To me benin is the most powerful kingdom in west africa, and not the yoruba which you claim to be a super power in africa. So my brother in conclusion, i want you to know that the yoruba empires will and can never beat the igbos in terms of warfare!
Lest i forget, ijebu empire was not popular due to its military strenght,rather, it was due to its position in the control of trade routes! (Check this at the second paragraph of this link en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijebu_Kingdom And also dnt 4get that poverty has led you yorubas to sell your ancestoral lands to igbos. Keep on selling as we continue to build up! Very soon we will lay claim to your land as part of ours and b4 u wil realise it we will be too many for u ppl to defeat! Ask the north was there fear that made them carry out the northernization of the north. Winks!

tonychristopher:



For your age ...your a true son of his father

I am impressed with your analysis


Now I can finally buy you a Bootle


Udo

ibedun:


Dangling unclad?

Yoruba land is littered with ancient cities and culture, tradition and governance going back centuries. Point to one ancient Igbo city or Kingdom?

Village dwellers making niose.

ibedun:


Dangling unclad?

Yoruba land is littered with ancient cities and culture, tradition and governance going back centuries. Point to one ancient Igbo city or Kingdom?

Village dwellers making niose.

ibedun:


Dangling unclad?

Yoruba land is littered with ancient cities and culture, tradition and governance going back centuries. Point to one ancient Igbo city or Kingdom?

Village dwellers making niose.

ibedun:


Dangling unclad?

Yoruba land is littered with ancient cities and culture, tradition and governance going back centuries. Point to one ancient Igbo city or Kingdom?

Village dwellers making niose.

By refusing to go that route, Nigeria has abysmally depressed its nationalities. For instance, my Yoruba nation came into Nigeria in 1914 as easily the fastest modernizing nationality in Black Africa; and we entered into independence with Nigeria in 1960 as the development front-liner and pace-setter in Africa.

ibedun:


Dangling unclad?

Yoruba land is littered with ancient cities and culture, tradition and governance going back centuries. Point to one ancient Igbo city or Kingdom?

Village dwellers making niose.

ibedun:


Dangling unclad?

Yoruba land is littered with ancient cities and culture, tradition and governance going back centuries. Point to one ancient Igbo city or Kingdom?

Village dwellers making niose.