KingSango:


Greetings,

You like to twist facts to draw conclusions that aren't apart of the story. Oranyiman was Ooni and he founded Oyo Empire. Ile Ife is a sacred town and Oyo is a capital city of the Yoruba Empire of Oyo. I can't see how any Yoruba wouldn't want to claim both heritages seeing that Oranyiman did so? But I digress.

Ase

Love Sango

You are funny. Twist what fact? You need to go to ILE IFE and tell them to tell you the history. You are the one that need to study very well to be able to know the truth from source and not speculation based on books you had read.

Olu317:
You are funny. Twist what fact? You need to go to ILE IFE and tell them to tell you the history. You are the one that need to study very well to be able to know the truth from source and not speculation based on books you had read.

I'm saying that the Alaafin is an emperor and head of Oyo Empire, the only empire that was ever held by Yorubas.

KingSango:


Because he loathes history being distorted. And I hate any that are going against Baba Sango. Yoruba people are indebted to the royal family of Oyo for giving you the richest culture in West Africa. The Oyo family is the direct line of Oduduwa. Oranyiyan appointed the Ooni as chief of the town and heritage keeper of Yoruba people. This because the Ooni is chosen by the Gods to be a sacred white chief. There is only one Ooni so its not a low position. Long live the Ooni. May the Gods bring Yoruba people closer in unity in these changing times.

Ase

Love Sango

Stop distorting history. If you are emotional about Oyo, there is no crime in it but to refer to Ooni as a white chief, you must be joking! You basically know not much about Yoruba culture and history. If you crave to know, then you need help from people who are versatile in it. Oranmiyan wage war against Obalufon to ascend the throne as Ooni IFE. Obalufon was a descendant of Odu'a also but of a servant mother which created problems before the arrival of Oranmiyan, who was stationed at Katunga before his arrival which led to the withdrawal of Obalufun from the throne. And Oranmiyan became the Ooni. Every part of Yoruba has this record. Even Efon Alaye was founded by him( Obalufon Alayemore) . And his descendants remain the Prime Minister (2nd in command) of ILE IFE till forever while Oranmiyan descent remain the Oonis like lineage.....Oga stop this unfounded propaganda about Yoruba history.

Olu317:
Stop distorting history. If you are emotional about Oyo, there is no crime in it but to refer to Ooni as a white chief, you must be joking! You basically know not much about Yoruba culture and history. If you crave to know, then you need help from people who are versatile in it. Oranmiyan wage war against Obalufon to ascend the throne as Ooni IFE. Obalufon was a descendant of Odu'a also but of a servant mother which created problems before the arrival of Oranmiyan, who was stationed at Katunga before his arrival which led to the withdrawal of Obalufun from the throne. And Oranmiyan became the Ooni. Every part of Yoruba has this record.

Nonsense Obalufon was a descendant of the people living in Ile Ife before the arrival of Oduduwa and the King says so himself who his family is.

KingSango:


Nonsense Obalufon was a descendant of the people living in Ile Ife before the arrival of Oduduwa and the King says so himself who his family is.

Go to EKITI STATE AND TELL EFON ALAYE PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE NOT ODU'A LINEAGE. YOU MAKE ME LAUGH! perhaps, if you can't visit the town, then you can google “efon alaye history". Then, you will desist from historical distortion. Your heretical statement is beyond emotions but basically about Sango's history and you know nothing much about it.

Olu317:
Go to EKITI STATE AND TELL EFON ALAYE PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE NOT ODU'A LINEAGE. YOU MAKE ME LAUGH! perhaps, if you can't visit the town, then you can google “efon alaye history". Then, you will desist from historical distortion.

I just quoted a king so that ends the discussion. Nothing or no one higher on Earth to me than an African king.

Ase

Love Sango

KingSango:


I'm saying that the Alaafin is an emperor and head of Oyo Empire, the only empire that was ever held by Yorubas.

Emperor? Yes, Alaafin was an Emperor !but didn't control every part of Yoruba land.

Olu317:
Emperor? Yes, Alaafin was an Emperor !but didn't control every part of Yoruba land.

Sango ruled from Gabon to Mauritania. This territory has more square mileage than the Nile Valley. Sango is without a doubt Africa's greatest king. Now what Yoruba, Nigeria, or even West African would want to diminish the greatness of Oyo Empire? Your dispute about the Alaafin holding supernatural power over other Obas is borderline of treason. We need African empires to protect us from Western empires and Asian empires. I only pray I can get the Igbo people to see that. Nigeria is the Giant of Africa and has to potential more than anywhere else to be the next great African empire. This is the destiny of West Africa because Diaspora Africans are all mostly from West Africa. It is our time and I don't want to argue about this anymore. Long live the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ile Ife. We need Oyo and Ile Ife, Benin, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, and the Yorubas in the Diaspora to pull off the greatest upset in history.

Ase

Love Sango

Obalufon:




but oranmiyan was an Oni too read history and he has descendant in ife till date ..Oni ogunwusi is direct descendant of oranmiyan ..you need to listen to his Oriki man you are twisting history ..ife is far superior to oyo moreover oyo is no more glory of Oyo belong to ile-ife modakeke in ife are oyo returning back to ife after the old oyo was sacked by the north


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx2ViMucrls

stop this twisting history i am direct descendant of oduduwa..Odua blood is running in my vein ..ile .ife has been in existences thousands of years before oyo empire..

Obalufon:


stop this twisting history i am direct descendant of oduduwa..Odua blood is running in my vein ..ile .ife has been in existences thousands of years before oyo empire..

So....that doesn't make the Alaafin not the head of all Yorubas. Are you from Ile Ife, then how come you don't call yourself an Ifeuba? How come you call yourself an Yoruba, which means a subject of the Oba of Oyo? This is because Oyo Empire encompassed all of Yoruba kingdoms and Benin Republic which was known as Dahomey Empire. Both Oyo and Dahomey trace their origins to Ile Ife. But Oduduwa came from East Africa. All ancient African royalty trace their origins to East Africa.

Check out the proof:
http://undergroundriseup..com/2017/04/bunyoro-kitara-empire-of-light-bachwezi.html

Saxywale

Egbon mo ki yin.

These revisionists no go let this topic rest.

Mo ri post yin ti e bi man yen ni very solid questions, wan bi da ko ni idahun fun awon ibeere yen.

ONI LE .. THE OWNER OF THE EARTH ...ALAFIN WEAR ADE .ONIRISA WEAR AARE CROWN OLDEST CROWN IN HISTORY ...A FEATHER FROM AARE CROWN WAS USED TO MAKE ADE CROWN IN THE PAST



THE WORD YORUBA WAS GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF OYO BY THEIR NEIGHBORS ""OYO OBA"" WAS FIRST MENTION IN HISTORY BY MALIAN SCHOLAR AHMED BABA ..WE ARE REFER TO AS OMO ODUA OYO IS NOT THE MOTHER LAND OYO WAS CREATED IN 10
CENTURY ACCORDING TO HISTORY .. AND IFE IS FAR MORE OLDER THAN THAT

ALAFIN POWER WAS CHECKED THROUGH OUT HISTORY BY HIS SUBJECTS AND CHIEFS AND OGBONI OYO MESI .ARE ONA KAKANAFO

WHILE ONI IS A GOD ON EARTH HE HAS ABSOLUTE POWER NO HUMAN DARE LOOK HIS FACE WAY BACK THEN ,"" KING OF KINGS ON EARTH ...ILE -IFE USED TO CROWN ALAFIN THEN..WHY WAS OYO WITHOUT A KING FOR LONG YEARS? BECAUSE THEY OVER STEP THEIR BOUNDARY AND ATTACKED APOMU ..ONI CONTROL THE OGBONI ..ONI IRISA THE ONLY LIVING DEITY ,OUT OF 401 DEITY . THE ONLY ONE LIVING IS ONIRISA , BABA SANGO SO RESPECT THE SEAT AND THRONE OF OUR PROGENITOR ...OYO HAS MILITARY POWER YES ..FACT STILL REMAINS OYO WAS CREATED BY IFE PEOPLE ,IS A KNOWN FACT CAN'T BE TWISTED WITHOUT ORANMIYAN NO OYO THE OYO ORANMIYAN FOUNDED WAS AROUND THE BORGU AREA OF KANJI AND NIGER STATE .WHERE YOUR KING IS NOW IS NOT OYO OYO HAS LOST IT ALL ..

Make all your words big as you like but no way a chief is over an Alaafin. As you have said Oyo has the military power since the 10th century. Oh I wonder where would be Ife without Oyo to protect it? Without the Dahomey too who are also a warrior state. You make jest of practical things for the comfort of uncertainties. Glorify Ile history all you want but Sango followers and Oyo people set the pace. Oyo still stands as Nigeria's greatest power hegemony. Living in Diaspora I read about all the great African empires, kings and queens who protected and provided for their people. Empires that lasted centuries with peace and prosperity. Those are road markers, steps of our fathers and mothers, we make haste towards that direction.


Ase

Love Sango

Alafin is an Oba and all Obas bow to oni ile .. Ile-ife alone consist of 16 Obas that far superior to some Oba because they've been Oba "Kings" for thousands of years before dispersal of ife people to found new territory to become an Oba ..but they've subjugated all their strength, power and authority to oni ife ...

ife warriors founded Oyo and other territories in Benin republic , Ketu, Popo Sabe .. Dahomey trace their root to ile-ife ..since oranmiyan left oyo it has been declining.. Alafin is an oba and his authority can be checked by his chiefs ,generals ,ogboni ,oyo mesi . where as oni can not be checked by no one he is a living deity ..Attack ife all omo odua will bite you to death...Alafin power drunk brought about down fall of oyo empire and mixing of their blood with their neighbors up north ..Oyos are mixed ..even the returning to ile-ife "modakeke"" cause chaos because of the blood is mixed they've lost what makes omo odua unique iwa irele and they fail to mix up again and make the blood good again "" bad blood""

KingSango:



Make all your words big as you like but no way a chief is over an Alaafin. As you have said Oyo has the military power since the 10th century. Oh I wonder where would be Ife without Oyo to protect it? Without the Dahomey too who are also a warrior state. You make jest of practical things for the comfort of uncertainties. Glorify Ile history all you want but Sango followers and Oyo people set the pace. Oyo still stands as Nigeria's greatest power hegemony. Living in Diaspora I read about all the great African empires, kings and queens who protected and provided for their people. Empires that lasted centuries with peace and prosperity. Those are road markers, steps of our fathers and mothers, we make haste towards that direction.


Ase

Love Sango

This message will only repeat. Thank you


Ase

Love Sango

MayorofLagos:


So if Ooni already said this in bold, then why are you wasting your time with an unproductive essay on who is supreme between the two?

Ooni of Ile-Ife Still maintain number one of Yoruba globally........



The purveyors of these variations have different motives. Some of them are doing it out of patriotism and love of their immediate source of origins; just wanting to project pride in their own roots. Some are doing this out of mischief. Others are political hacks who are trying to use politics to elevate the “elevatable” and confuse the present generation who have been put in the dark about the real facts of history. The desire to be recognized as having great pedigree is not a crime. It seems that those engaged in this venture have forgotten that any sections of Yoruba could not have any seriously separate history outside the general events that have occurred in that environment and in relation to others living in it.

An area where this has become more troubling is the subject of the descendants of Oduduwa. It seems that everyone is just coming up with his or her own combinations of who the “direct children” of Oduduwa are. In addition to this, it is evident that many even do not even know the exact numbers of Oduduwa’s children. In the discussion of this subject, there has been the growing tendency to over-look the existence of Okanbi, the only son that Oduduwa ever had and the father of the “Original Seven” who went out of Ile –Ife to found their own various kingdoms.

As a result of the Yoruba tradition that does not make any clear difference between one’s true father and grandfather, there has been confusion among latter day untutored historians to refer to any monarch who claims to come from or has any connection to Ile-Ife as a descendant of Oduduwa. While this is a beautiful culture and practice, it should not be used to mislead, miseducate and confuse those who do not understand the culture. This is more so especially among the youth of today who have not been given the benefit of proper education about their own History.

Oduduwa only had one son, and his name is Okanbi. He was so named because he was an only child; an only son. It has been recognized by the Yoruba tradition from time immemorial that “Ile l’a nwo k’a to s’omo l’oruko.” Names of children in Yorubaland often reflect the circumstances of their parents when they were born. It has been this way from day one. Oduduwa did not have seven children. He had one son, Okanbi, who fathered eight children from two women. These eight children include the “Original Seven” who are children of the same mother and the eighth, also the youngest of all, from another woman.

The Original Seven children of Okanbi are as follows (Please, note that those who try to skip the existence of Okanbi erroneously refer to these as direct children of Oduduwa when indeed they are his grandchildren):
1. Orangun of Ila,
2. Alaketu of Ketu
3. Olupopo of Popo
4. Onisabe of Sabe
5. Olowu of Owu
6. Owa Obokun Adimula Ajibogun and
7. Oranmiyan (The founder and progenitor of the present Benin Dynasty and Oyo Dynasty of the Alaafins).

The eighth son whose mother is called Orunto has often been relegated to the background because of the circumstances of his mother’s pedigree. How he came to be the one to sit on the Ile –Ife throne as Ooni is a subject for another day. But he has the same blood running through his veins like the “Original Seven.”

The usage of the words “Original Seven” instead of “Original Eight” is a complicated product of a complex Yoruba culture. The Yoruba tradition is a very complex one. As in every other culture, there are “dos and don’ts”. There are procedures to be followed in every situation. There are processes to be respected in every situation. The respect of all for process has been the hallmark that infused stability, order, reverence and patriotic love for what all the Yoruba have come to accept as their ways of life not only in Yoruba land but in Yoruba settlements across the globe.

The root of the battle for supremacy between Alaafin of Oyo and Ooni of Ife is found in this background. For those who are well grounded in Yoruba tradition and are very familiar with the authentic Yoruba History other than the politicized version of it, the dynamics of this struggle for supremacy would not be too strange to them. But the fact that Ooni, though the youngest of all and from another mother different from the “Original Seven”, is sitting on the throne of Oduduwa their grandfather gives him a lot of leverage over those who abandoned the same throne to found their own kingdoms and empires. This is more so when every Yoruba from time immemorial acknowledged Ile-Ife as “The Orirun” or “The Source” of the Yoruba existence.

But this does not take away from the fact that in the course of Yoruba history, several other kingdoms created by some of the “Original Seven” or their offspring have not been more powerful, more influential, richer and wealthier than Ile-Ife. Some of these include the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire, and the Ibadan in its hey days. The Ijesha Kingdom in the era of Owa Obokun Atakumosa that expanded as far as the boundaries of Benin Kingdom is another. The Owu Kingdom, Ketu Kingdom, and the Sabe kingdom among several others also proved their mettle. But despite all that, Ile-Ife has always been given its due respect, regard, and space by all because of its significance in the existential trajectory of the Yoruba people.

The only time when this rule of giving premium respect to Ile-Ife was broken was in the early 19th Century by the Owu people. The Owus have the reputation as one of the fiercest fighters in the entire Yoruba History. Their origin is in the vicinity of the present day Orile Owu near Ikire in Osun State. Among several Owu towns, Ipole and Ogbere were the most famous where the elites military and royalties lived. Ile-Ife in particular and its satellite towns, in general, were regarded as "no go" area for all Yoruba warriors because of its importance as the origin of all Yoruba people and respect to Ooni, who sits on the Oodua stool. The Owus ability to fight and their military invincibility pushed them to threaten Apomu around 1810. Apomu was one of the commercial satellite towns of Ile-Ife under the rulership of Ooni and as such regarded as a "no-go" area. Every appeal made to the Owu warriors not to violate the sanctity of Ile-Ife territory by all well meaning Yoruba kings were ignored.

In 1812, Apomu was attacked and conquered by the Owu people. Over several years, other Yoruba kingdoms appealed to the Owus to give up Apomu and restored it to Ile-Ife. The Owu people remained adamant, secured in their belief that Ile-Ife or Ooni have no capability to take them on. Then came Ooni Gbegbaaje (1822-1835) who raised a refurbished Army under the leadership of Maye of Ile-Ife, Chief Okunade in 1823. This Ife Army was supported by the Armies of the Awujale of Ijebu and the Oyo, who fought for over 3 years (1823 -1825) to liberate Apomu from the Owus and destroyed the Owu kingdom. The Owus were so defeated and became dispersed all over Yorubaland and probably beyond. Ipole was never rebuilt. It was the Egba famous son and warrior, Sodeke who gave the Owus a reprieve in 1834 by providing them a quarter of Abeokuta to occupy. The Owus paid dearly for their transgressions against the rules of the Yoruba Nation of ensuring the sanctity and dignity of Ile-Ife.


Also, a lot of people are often confused how the Oba of Benin became part of the Yoruba History. Some have even listed him as a direct son of Oduduwa and is at times listed as one of the “Original Seven!” Haba! Oba of Benin is an authentic descendant of Oduduwa. But he is a GREAT GRANDSON of Oduduwa having been fathered by Oranmiyan, a grandson of Oduduwa. He is unarguably the most famous and definitely the most successful great grandson of Oduduwa because of what his own father, Oranmiyan did for him. Oranmiyan is one of the sons of Okanbi and by implication one of the grandchildren of Oduduwa. Before Oranmiyan, the Ogisos have ruled the Benin kingdom until around the middle of the 12th Century. The extant internecine rivalries created confusion among them and Oranmiyan came in to restore order. How Oranmiyan came to play this role is not a subject that could be discussed within the parameters of this article. But he put an end to the end of the Ogiso dynasty and became the first Oba of Benin. He created the dynasty that has survived to the present through his son, Eweka I.

Oranmiyan came back to Ile-Ife after restoring order in Benin and installing his own son as Oba. On his return, he met Owa Ajibogun holding court as the ruler of Ile-Ife on behalf of their father, Okanbi, who was old. Ajibogun had gone to the seashore to get sea water to cure Okanbi’s blindness as ordered by the Ifa Oracle through divination. On his returns, all his brothers have left to create their own kingdoms. Oranmiyan did not think it was wise to fight his brother Ajibogun for the rulership of Ile-Ife. He did not waste time as he also left to create another kingdom by moving towards the North. The present day Katunga was where he settled and called Oyo Ile. Oyo-Ile was the capital of the original Oyo Empire. How the Alaafins came to reside and preside in the present Oyo or New Oyo, is also another subject for another day.

In addition, there are some falsities being bandied around about Oduduwa’s origin. One is that he migrated from the Middle East. Yet another is that he came in from Sudan. In recent years, there has been the politically motivated claim that Oduduwa came from Benin. This one is considered so outlandish and beyond ridiculous such that serious Historians have even refused to contemplate and or entertain it since there has been no basis for such consideration. There is no truth to any of the speculations whatsoever that Oduduwa came from anywhere. Oduduwa NEVER came from anywhere. He was born, bred and raised in Ile-Ife. Professor Banji Akintoye’s work on Ife during the times of Oduduwa has been one of the most seminal work on this subject. The fact that Oduduwa was able to rise up, put an end to internecine rivalry among disparage city-states that littered the Ile-Ife space and environs; put his stamp of authority on all; install a system of monarchical governance that was later copied across Yoruba land and the fact that he established the first kingdom in Yoruba history was what made him a folk hero. He did not father all the Yoruba people, but he fathered or grandfathered all the major rulers of Yoruba land courtesy of his war-like offspring.

It would be utterly presumptuous to assume that one could do justice to this kind of serious subject in this kind of article which is just meant for racy consumption. But the foolish attitude of not teaching History in our primary and secondary schools to properly educate, inform and stir intellectual inquiry among the youth who are the leaders and teachers of tomorrow is very destructive. It leaves room for undue manipulations and politicization of an all-important subject. For any nation such as the Yoruba, who have a proud history, this should not be allowed to go on. The pride, self-respect, dignity and integrity of a people is functionally related to their history. It is time that concerted efforts are made to separate politics from the real subject of History for the sake of all and for the sake of posterity.

“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.”
- John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961

Please follow me on Twitter @OyeyemiRemi

Adeseun87:


Ooni of Ile-Ife Still maintain number one of Yoruba globally........



The purveyors of these variations have different motives. Some of them are doing it out of patriotism and love of their immediate source of origins; just wanting to project pride in their own roots. Some are doing this out of mischief. Others are political hacks who are trying to use politics to elevate the “elevatable” and confuse the present generation who have been put in the dark about the real facts of history. The desire to be recognized as having great pedigree is not a crime. It seems that those engaged in this venture have forgotten that any sections of Yoruba could not have any seriously separate history outside the general events that have occurred in that environment and in relation to others living in it.

An area where this has become more troubling is the subject of the descendants of Oduduwa. It seems that everyone is just coming up with his or her own combinations of who the “direct children” of Oduduwa are. In addition to this, it is evident that many even do not even know the exact numbers of Oduduwa’s children. In the discussion of this subject, there has been the growing tendency to over-look the existence of Okanbi, the only son that Oduduwa ever had and the father of the “Original Seven” who went out of Ile –Ife to found their own various kingdoms.

As a result of the Yoruba tradition that does not make any clear difference between one’s true father and grandfather, there has been confusion among latter day untutored historians to refer to any monarch who claims to come from or has any connection to Ile-Ife as a descendant of Oduduwa. While this is a beautiful culture and practice, it should not be used to mislead, miseducate and confuse those who do not understand the culture. This is more so especially among the youth of today who have not been given the benefit of proper education about their own History.

Oduduwa only had one son, and his name is Okanbi. He was so named because he was an only child; an only son. It has been recognized by the Yoruba tradition from time immemorial that “Ile l’a nwo k’a to s’omo l’oruko.” Names of children in Yorubaland often reflect the circumstances of their parents when they were born. It has been this way from day one. Oduduwa did not have seven children. He had one son, Okanbi, who fathered eight children from two women. These eight children include the “Original Seven” who are children of the same mother and the eighth, also the youngest of all, from another woman.

The Original Seven children of Okanbi are as follows (Please, note that those who try to skip the existence of Okanbi erroneously refer to these as direct children of Oduduwa when indeed they are his grandchildren):
1. Orangun of Ila,
2. Alaketu of Ketu
3. Olupopo of Popo
4. Onisabe of Sabe
5. Olowu of Owu
6. Owa Obokun Adimula Ajibogun and
7. Oranmiyan (The founder and progenitor of the present Benin Dynasty and Oyo Dynasty of the Alaafins).

The eighth son whose mother is called Orunto has often been relegated to the background because of the circumstances of his mother’s pedigree. How he came to be the one to sit on the Ile –Ife throne as Ooni is a subject for another day. But he has the same blood running through his veins like the “Original Seven.”

The usage of the words “Original Seven” instead of “Original Eight” is a complicated product of a complex Yoruba culture. The Yoruba tradition is a very complex one. As in every other culture, there are “dos and don’ts”. There are procedures to be followed in every situation. There are processes to be respected in every situation. The respect of all for process has been the hallmark that infused stability, order, reverence and patriotic love for what all the Yoruba have come to accept as their ways of life not only in Yoruba land but in Yoruba settlements across the globe.

The root of the battle for supremacy between Alaafin of Oyo and Ooni of Ife is found in this background. For those who are well grounded in Yoruba tradition and are very familiar with the authentic Yoruba History other than the politicized version of it, the dynamics of this struggle for supremacy would not be too strange to them. But the fact that Ooni, though the youngest of all and from another mother different from the “Original Seven”, is sitting on the throne of Oduduwa their grandfather gives him a lot of leverage over those who abandoned the same throne to found their own kingdoms and empires. This is more so when every Yoruba from time immemorial acknowledged Ile-Ife as “The Orirun” or “The Source” of the Yoruba existence.

But this does not take away from the fact that in the course of Yoruba history, several other kingdoms created by some of the “Original Seven” or their offspring have not been more powerful, more influential, richer and wealthier than Ile-Ife. Some of these include the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire, and the Ibadan in its hey days. The Ijesha Kingdom in the era of Owa Obokun Atakumosa that expanded as far as the boundaries of Benin Kingdom is another. The Owu Kingdom, Ketu Kingdom, and the Sabe kingdom among several others also proved their mettle. But despite all that, Ile-Ife has always been given its due respect, regard, and space by all because of its significance in the existential trajectory of the Yoruba people.

The only time when this rule of giving premium respect to Ile-Ife was broken was in the early 19th Century by the Owu people. The Owus have the reputation as one of the fiercest fighters in the entire Yoruba History. Their origin is in the vicinity of the present day Orile Owu near Ikire in Osun State. Among several Owu towns, Ipole and Ogbere were the most famous where the elites military and royalties lived. Ile-Ife in particular and its satellite towns, in general, were regarded as "no go" area for all Yoruba warriors because of its importance as the origin of all Yoruba people and respect to Ooni, who sits on the Oodua stool. The Owus ability to fight and their military invincibility pushed them to threaten Apomu around 1810. Apomu was one of the commercial satellite towns of Ile-Ife under the rulership of Ooni and as such regarded as a "no-go" area. Every appeal made to the Owu warriors not to violate the sanctity of Ile-Ife territory by all well meaning Yoruba kings were ignored.

In 1812, Apomu was attacked and conquered by the Owu people. Over several years, other Yoruba kingdoms appealed to the Owus to give up Apomu and restored it to Ile-Ife. The Owu people remained adamant, secured in their belief that Ile-Ife or Ooni have no capability to take them on. Then came Ooni Gbegbaaje (1822-1835) who raised a refurbished Army under the leadership of Maye of Ile-Ife, Chief Okunade in 1823. This Ife Army was supported by the Armies of the Awujale of Ijebu and the Oyo, who fought for over 3 years (1823 -1825) to liberate Apomu from the Owus and destroyed the Owu kingdom. The Owus were so defeated and became dispersed all over Yorubaland and probably beyond. Ipole was never rebuilt. It was the Egba famous son and warrior, Sodeke who gave the Owus a reprieve in 1834 by providing them a quarter of Abeokuta to occupy. The Owus paid dearly for their transgressions against the rules of the Yoruba Nation of ensuring the sanctity and dignity of Ile-Ife.


Also, a lot of people are often confused how the Oba of Benin became part of the Yoruba History. Some have even listed him as a direct son of Oduduwa and is at times listed as one of the “Original Seven!” Haba! Oba of Benin is an authentic descendant of Oduduwa. But he is a GREAT GRANDSON of Oduduwa having been fathered by Oranmiyan, a grandson of Oduduwa. He is unarguably the most famous and definitely the most successful great grandson of Oduduwa because of what his own father, Oranmiyan did for him. Oranmiyan is one of the sons of Okanbi and by implication one of the grandchildren of Oduduwa. Before Oranmiyan, the Ogisos have ruled the Benin kingdom until around the middle of the 12th Century. The extant internecine rivalries created confusion among them and Oranmiyan came in to restore order. How Oranmiyan came to play this role is not a subject that could be discussed within the parameters of this article. But he put an end to the end of the Ogiso dynasty and became the first Oba of Benin. He created the dynasty that has survived to the present through his son, Eweka I.

Oranmiyan came back to Ile-Ife after restoring order in Benin and installing his own son as Oba. On his return, he met Owa Ajibogun holding court as the ruler of Ile-Ife on behalf of their father, Okanbi, who was old. Ajibogun had gone to the seashore to get sea water to cure Okanbi’s blindness as ordered by the Ifa Oracle through divination. On his returns, all his brothers have left to create their own kingdoms. Oranmiyan did not think it was wise to fight his brother Ajibogun for the rulership of Ile-Ife. He did not waste time as he also left to create another kingdom by moving towards the North. The present day Katunga was where he settled and called Oyo Ile. Oyo-Ile was the capital of the original Oyo Empire. How the Alaafins came to reside and preside in the present Oyo or New Oyo, is also another subject for another day.

In addition, there are some falsities being bandied around about Oduduwa’s origin. One is that he migrated from the Middle East. Yet another is that he came in from Sudan. In recent years, there has been the politically motivated claim that Oduduwa came from Benin. This one is considered so outlandish and beyond ridiculous such that serious Historians have even refused to contemplate and or entertain it since there has been no basis for such consideration. There is no truth to any of the speculations whatsoever that Oduduwa came from anywhere. Oduduwa NEVER came from anywhere. He was born, bred and raised in Ile-Ife. Professor Banji Akintoye’s work on Ife during the times of Oduduwa has been one of the most seminal work on this subject. The fact that Oduduwa was able to rise up, put an end to internecine rivalry among disparage city-states that littered the Ile-Ife space and environs; put his stamp of authority on all; install a system of monarchical governance that was later copied across Yoruba land and the fact that he established the first kingdom in Yoruba history was what made him a folk hero. He did not father all the Yoruba people, but he fathered or grandfathered all the major rulers of Yoruba land courtesy of his war-like offspring.

It would be utterly presumptuous to assume that one could do justice to this kind of serious subject in this kind of article which is just meant for racy consumption. But the foolish attitude of not teaching History in our primary and secondary schools to properly educate, inform and stir intellectual inquiry among the youth who are the leaders and teachers of tomorrow is very destructive. It leaves room for undue manipulations and politicization of an all-important subject. For any nation such as the Yoruba, who have a proud history, this should not be allowed to go on. The pride, self-respect, dignity and integrity of a people is functionally related to their history. It is time that concerted efforts are made to separate politics from the real subject of History for the sake of all and for the sake of posterity.

“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.”
- John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961

Please follow me on Twitter @OyeyemiRemi

Can you tell us the identity of the first Ooni's mother? Elaborate upon her background. Also the background upon the other wives.

Men seem to forget that women are involved in royal unions too! Africans had the traditions of 3 kinds of royalty.

First class royalty: Both parents are blue blood, royal family members. Such as the King of Tooro Nyimba Kabamba Igur, his mother Queen mother Best Kemigisa was daugther of a prince, the Queen Mother's blood is royalty. King Tooro's father was the King so King Tooro is unbroken golden royal lineage! This places a high importance on how African royal blood goes back to the beginnings of the human race and traces back to the son of heaven himself, Yorubas are calling him Obatala but other African cultures call him by another name. Sango the paternal ancestor of the royal house of Oyo was the son of the Queen of Tapa/Nupe so Sango was golden royal lineage. Oduduwa was a prince from the Bachwezi, many of you fail to realize that Oduduwa wasn't original to what you call Yoruba.

Second class: One parent is royal, particularly the father is King and the mother is a noble woman, meaning her family is related by kinship to the royal family.

Third class: When the King marries a common woman and produces a child from a concubine.

Do not ignore practicalities for the assurance of uncertainties.

Olu317:
Stop distorting history. If you are emotional about Oyo, there is no crime in it but to refer to Ooni as a white chief, you must be joking! You basically know not much about Yoruba culture and history. If you crave to know, then you need help from people who are versatile in it. Oranmiyan wage war against Obalufon to ascend the throne as Ooni IFE. Obalufon was a descendant of Odu'a also but of a servant mother which created problems before the arrival of Oranmiyan, who was stationed at Katunga before his arrival which led to the withdrawal of Obalufun from the throne. And Oranmiyan became the Ooni. Every part of Yoruba has this record. Even Efon Alaye was founded by him( Obalufon Alayemore) . And his descendants remain the Prime Minister (2nd in command) of ILE IFE till forever while Oranmiyan descent remain the Oonis like lineage.....Oga stop this unfounded propaganda about Yoruba history.

Thank you somuch Olu .

KingSango:


Can you tell us the identity of the first Ooni's mother? Elaborate upon her background. Also the background upon the other wives.

Men seem to forget that women are involved in royal unions too! Africans had the traditions of 3 kinds of royalty.

First class royalty: Both parents are blue blood, royal family members. Such as the King of Tooro Nyimba Kabamba Igur, his mother Queen mother Best Kemigisa was daugther of a prince, the Queen Mother's blood is royalty. King Tooro's father was the King so King Tooro is unbroken golden royal lineage! This places a high importance on how African royal blood goes back to the beginnings of the human race and traces back to the son of heaven himself, Yorubas are calling him Obatala but other African cultures call him by another name. Sango the paternal ancestor of the royal house of Oyo was the son of the Queen of Tapa/Nupe so Sango was golden royal lineage. Oduduwa was a prince from the Bachwezi, many of you fail to realize that Oduduwa wasn't original to what you call Yoruba.

Second class: One parent is royal, particularly the father is King and the mother is a noble woman, meaning her family is related by kinship to the royal family.

Third class: When the King marries a common woman and produces a child from a concubine.

Do not ignore practicalities for the assurance of uncertainties.

The offer still stands.

Women rule Yorubaland so what is the background of the mother of the first Ooni? Was she a royal lady?

What was the background of Oranyiman's mother? Was she a royal lady?

And I know you don't the background of Oduduwa, no one seems to know that but me.

We need to raise an empire/empires to provide and protect for Africa. Not argue over uncertainties and slick interpretation of oral histories to benefit only our group and town.

Ase

Love Sango

Adeseun87:


Ooni of Ile-Ife Still maintain number one of Yoruba globally........



The purveyors of these variations have different motives. Some of them are doing it out of patriotism and love of their immediate source of origins; just wanting to project pride in their own roots. Some are doing this out of mischief. Others are political hacks who are trying to use politics to elevate the “elevatable” and confuse the present generation who have been put in the dark about the real facts of history. The desire to be recognized as having great pedigree is not a crime. It seems that those engaged in this venture have forgotten that any sections of Yoruba could not have any seriously separate history outside the general events that have occurred in that environment and in relation to others living in it.

What about oduduwa as a creator of earth...

An area where this has become more troubling is the subject of the descendants of Oduduwa. It seems that everyone is just coming up with his or her own combinations of who the “direct children” of Oduduwa are. In addition to this, it is evident that many even do not even know the exact numbers of Oduduwa’s children. In the discussion of this subject, there has been the growing tendency to over-look the existence of Okanbi, the only son that Oduduwa ever had and the father of the “Original Seven” who went out of Ile –Ife to found their own various kingdoms.

As a result of the Yoruba tradition that does not make any clear difference between one’s true father and grandfather, there has been confusion among latter day untutored historians to refer to any monarch who claims to come from or has any connection to Ile-Ife as a descendant of Oduduwa. While this is a beautiful culture and practice, it should not be used to mislead, miseducate and confuse those who do not understand the culture. This is more so especially among the youth of today who have not been given the benefit of proper education about their own History.

Oduduwa only had one son, and his name is Okanbi. He was so named because he was an only child; an only son. It has been recognized by the Yoruba tradition from time immemorial that “Ile l’a nwo k’a to s’omo l’oruko.” Names of children in Yorubaland often reflect the circumstances of their parents when they were born. It has been this way from day one. Oduduwa did not have seven children. He had one son, Okanbi, who fathered eight children from two women. These eight children include the “Original Seven” who are children of the same mother and the eighth, also the youngest of all, from another woman.

The Original Seven children of Okanbi are as follows (Please, note that those who try to skip the existence of Okanbi erroneously refer to these as direct children of Oduduwa when indeed they are his grandchildren):
1. Orangun of Ila,
2. Alaketu of Ketu
3. Olupopo of Popo
4. Onisabe of Sabe
5. Olowu of Owu
6. Owa Obokun Adimula Ajibogun and
7. Oranmiyan (The founder and progenitor of the present Benin Dynasty and Oyo Dynasty of the Alaafins).

The eighth son whose mother is called Orunto has often been relegated to the background because of the circumstances of his mother’s pedigree. How he came to be the one to sit on the Ile –Ife throne as Ooni is a subject for another day. But he has the same blood running through his veins like the “Original Seven.”

The usage of the words “Original Seven” instead of “Original Eight” is a complicated product of a complex Yoruba culture. The Yoruba tradition is a very complex one. As in every other culture, there are “dos and don’ts”. There are procedures to be followed in every situation. There are processes to be respected in every situation. The respect of all for process has been the hallmark that infused stability, order, reverence and patriotic love for what all the Yoruba have come to accept as their ways of life not only in Yoruba land but in Yoruba settlements across the globe.

The root of the battle for supremacy between Alaafin of Oyo and Ooni of Ife is found in this background. For those who are well grounded in Yoruba tradition and are very familiar with the authentic Yoruba History other than the politicized version of it, the dynamics of this struggle for supremacy would not be too strange to them. But the fact that Ooni, though the youngest of all and from another mother different from the “Original Seven”, is sitting on the throne of Oduduwa their grandfather gives him a lot of leverage over those who abandoned the same throne to found their own kingdoms and empires. This is more so when every Yoruba from time immemorial acknowledged Ile-Ife as “The Orirun” or “The Source” of the Yoruba existence.

But this does not take away from the fact that in the course of Yoruba history, several other kingdoms created by some of the “Original Seven” or their offspring have not been more powerful, more influential, richer and wealthier than Ile-Ife. Some of these include the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire, and the Ibadan in its hey days. The Ijesha Kingdom in the era of Owa Obokun Atakumosa that expanded as far as the boundaries of Benin Kingdom is another. The Owu Kingdom, Ketu Kingdom, and the Sabe kingdom among several others also proved their mettle. But despite all that, Ile-Ife has always been given its due respect, regard, and space by all because of its significance in the existential trajectory of the Yoruba people.

The only time when this rule of giving premium respect to Ile-Ife was broken was in the early 19th Century by the Owu people. The Owus have the reputation as one of the fiercest fighters in the entire Yoruba History. Their origin is in the vicinity of the present day Orile Owu near Ikire in Osun State. Among several Owu towns, Ipole and Ogbere were the most famous where the elites military and royalties lived. Ile-Ife in particular and its satellite towns, in general, were regarded as "no go" area for all Yoruba warriors because of its importance as the origin of all Yoruba people and respect to Ooni, who sits on the Oodua stool. The Owus ability to fight and their military invincibility pushed them to threaten Apomu around 1810. Apomu was one of the commercial satellite towns of Ile-Ife under the rulership of Ooni and as such regarded as a "no-go" area. Every appeal made to the Owu warriors not to violate the sanctity of Ile-Ife territory by all well meaning Yoruba kings were ignored.

In 1812, Apomu was attacked and conquered by the Owu people. Over several years, other Yoruba kingdoms appealed to the Owus to give up Apomu and restored it to Ile-Ife. The Owu people remained adamant, secured in their belief that Ile-Ife or Ooni have no capability to take them on. Then came Ooni Gbegbaaje (1822-1835) who raised a refurbished Army under the leadership of Maye of Ile-Ife, Chief Okunade in 1823. This Ife Army was supported by the Armies of the Awujale of Ijebu and the Oyo, who fought for over 3 years (1823 -1825) to liberate Apomu from the Owus and destroyed the Owu kingdom. The Owus were so defeated and became dispersed all over Yorubaland and probably beyond. Ipole was never rebuilt. It was the Egba famous son and warrior, Sodeke who gave the Owus a reprieve in 1834 by providing them a quarter of Abeokuta to occupy. The Owus paid dearly for their transgressions against the rules of the Yoruba Nation of ensuring the sanctity and dignity of Ile-Ife.


Also, a lot of people are often confused how the Oba of Benin became part of the Yoruba History. Some have even listed him as a direct son of Oduduwa and is at times listed as one of the “Original Seven!” Haba! Oba of Benin is an authentic descendant of Oduduwa. But he is a GREAT GRANDSON of Oduduwa having been fathered by Oranmiyan, a grandson of Oduduwa. He is unarguably the most famous and definitely the most successful great grandson of Oduduwa because of what his own father, Oranmiyan did for him. Oranmiyan is one of the sons of Okanbi and by implication one of the grandchildren of Oduduwa. Before Oranmiyan, the Ogisos have ruled the Benin kingdom until around the middle of the 12th Century. The extant internecine rivalries created confusion among them and Oranmiyan came in to restore order. How Oranmiyan came to play this role is not a subject that could be discussed within the parameters of this article. But he put an end to the end of the Ogiso dynasty and became the first Oba of Benin. He created the dynasty that has survived to the present through his son, Eweka I.

Oranmiyan came back to Ile-Ife after restoring order in Benin and installing his own son as Oba. On his return, he met Owa Ajibogun holding court as the ruler of Ile-Ife on behalf of their father, Okanbi, who was old. Ajibogun had gone to the seashore to get sea water to cure Okanbi’s blindness as ordered by the Ifa Oracle through divination. On his returns, all his brothers have left to create their own kingdoms. Oranmiyan did not think it was wise to fight his brother Ajibogun for the rulership of Ile-Ife. He did not waste time as he also left to create another kingdom by moving towards the North. The present day Katunga was where he settled and called Oyo Ile. Oyo-Ile was the capital of the original Oyo Empire. How the Alaafins came to reside and preside in the present Oyo or New Oyo, is also another subject for another day.

In addition, there are some falsities being bandied around about Oduduwa’s origin. One is that he migrated from the Middle East. Yet another is that he came in from Sudan. In recent years, there has been the politically motivated claim that Oduduwa came from Benin. This one is considered so outlandish and beyond ridiculous such that serious Historians have even refused to contemplate and or entertain it since there has been no basis for such consideration. There is no truth to any of the speculations whatsoever that Oduduwa came from anywhere. Oduduwa NEVER came from anywhere. He was born, bred and raised in Ile-Ife. Professor Banji Akintoye’s work on Ife during the times of Oduduwa has been one of the most seminal work on this subject. The fact that Oduduwa was able to rise up, put an end to internecine rivalry among disparage city-states that littered the Ile-Ife space and environs; put his stamp of authority on all; install a system of monarchical governance that was later copied across Yoruba land and the fact that he established the first kingdom in Yoruba history was what made him a folk hero. He did not father all the Yoruba people, but he fathered or grandfathered all the major rulers of Yoruba land courtesy of his war-like offspring.

It would be utterly presumptuous to assume that one could do justice to this kind of serious subject in this kind of article which is just meant for racy consumption. But the foolish attitude of not teaching History in our primary and secondary schools to properly educate, inform and stir intellectual inquiry among the youth who are the leaders and teachers of tomorrow is very destructive. It leaves room for undue manipulations and politicization of an all-important subject. For any nation such as the Yoruba, who have a proud history, this should not be allowed to go on. The pride, self-respect, dignity and integrity of a people is functionally related to their history. It is time that concerted efforts are made to separate politics from the real subject of History for the sake of all and for the sake of posterity.

“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.”
- John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961

Please follow me on Twitter @OyeyemiRemi

What about oduduwa the creator of earth ..Enlighten more on it ..As far as i know We are the first human created by God.. . omo odua

KingSango:


Can you tell us the identity of the first Ooni's mother? Elaborate upon her background. Also the background upon the other wives.

Men seem to forget that women are involved in royal unions too! Africans had the traditions of 3 kinds of royalty.

First class royalty: Both parents are blue blood, royal family members. Such as the King of Tooro Nyimba Kabamba Igur, his mother Queen mother Best Kemigisa was daugther of a prince, the Queen Mother's blood is royalty. King Tooro's father was the King so King Tooro is unbroken golden royal lineage! This places a high importance on how African royal blood goes back to the beginnings of the human race and traces back to the son of heaven himself, Yorubas are calling him Obatala but other African cultures call him by another name. Sango the paternal ancestor of the royal house of Oyo was the son of the Queen of Tapa/Nupe so Sango was golden royal lineage. Oduduwa was a prince from the Bachwezi, many of you fail to realize that Oduduwa wasn't original to what you call Yoruba.

Second class: One parent is royal, particularly the father is King and the mother is a noble woman, meaning her family is related by kinship to the royal family.

Third class: When the King marries a common woman and produces a child from a concubine.

Do not ignore practicalities for the assurance of uncertainties.

Answer the question?

May Olodumare bestow abundance upon the Queen Mother of Tooro and her son the Omukama.

Ase

Love Sango

Obalufon:


Thank you somuch Olu .

Thank you too. A ki n du ope fun àra éni.

Olu317:
Thank you too. A ki n du ope fun àra éni.

Showing support while dodging facts.

I'm disappointed in you, two.

Ase

Love Sango

KingSango:



Showing support while dodging facts.

I'm disappointed in you, two.

Ase

Love Sango

Dodging fact, how? I have told the truth about Oranmiyan and Ooni descendants that ruled and still ruling. And here you are distorting history. I don't engage people, who basically are not researching and not into oral record verification but based their opinion on Yoruba history on Samuel Johnson book's. You are the one that need to know, I don't. Oranmiyan seal is the inscription that each sword given to Prince that moved out of ILE IFE after his reign. This didn't change the fact that there were so many other Odu'a descendants that had moved out earlier than him but he returned back to IFE to rule as Ooniorisa (Ooniosa).

Olu317:
Dodging fact, how? I have told the truth about Oranmiyan and Ooni descendants that ruled and still ruling. And here you are distorting history. I don't engage people, who basically are not researching and not into oral record verification but based their opinion on Yoruba history on Samuel Johnson book's. You are the one that need to know, I don't. Oranmiyan seal is the inscription that each sword given to Prince that moved out of ILE IFE after his reign. This didn't change the fact that there were so many other Odu'a descendants that had moved out earlier than him but he returned back to IFE to rule as Ooniorisa (Ooniosa).

This thread is about the Alaafin not the Ooni. The Alaafin's supernatural power over all the Obas in Yorubaland. The Alaafin is the head of the Yoruba Empire called Oyo. The Ogboni you mentioned are the police and military of Oyo Empire. This combing, the previous people, those ones who originally owned Ile Ife, with Oduduwa's people was a great achievement. Without the marriage between these two forces the empire of Oyo would have not been possible. Ogboni goes back before Oyo, this I know. But Ifa didn't come from Yorubas but Nupe people. There's is so much you are leaving out like the fact the Ooni's mother was a concubine and a common woman. I don't want to say she was a slave because that's an European word, but the Ooni's mother was a servant elevated to queen. The other sons of Oduduwa and daughters mothers were royal princesses who married Oduduwa to become Ile Ife queen mothers.

Ase

Love Sango

KingSango:


This thread is about the Alaafin not the Ooni. The Alaafin's supernatural power over all the Obas in Yorubaland. The Alaafin is the head of the Yoruba Empire called Oyo. The Ogboni you mentioned are the police and military of Oyo Empire. This combing, the previous people, those ones who originally owned Ile Ife, with Oduduwa's people was a great achievement. Without the marriage between these two forces the empire of Oyo would have not been possible. Ogboni goes back before Oyo, this I know. But Ifa didn't come from Yorubas but Nupe people. There's is so much you are leaving out like the fact the Ooni's mother was a concubine and a common woman. I don't want to say she was a slave because that's an European word, but the Ooni's mother was a servant elevated to queen. The other sons of Oduduwa and daughters mothers were royal princesses who married Oduduwa to become Ile Ife queen mothers.

Ase

Love Sango

Ogbonis are the military or police what? Ooni's mother was a slave? No no no! I can't engage you on the history of Oyo anymore.

Olu317:
Ogbonis are the military or police what? Ooni's mother was a slave? No no no! I can't engage you on the history of Oyo anymore.

I never said the Ooni's mother was a slave only a she was a concubine. And Ogboni is the police and military of Oyo Empire.


Ase

Love Sango

The history of the Yoruba peoples as portrayed by the Yorubas on this thread is incomplete and a lot of false information was thrown in to big up your royal lineages. There is a lot of accuracy and inaccuracies as well and the influence of the Oyo empire was over exaggerated. Some Bini chiefs flame that Oduduwa was a Bini crown Prince who went to Yoruba land on exile (not known as Yoruba in that timeline) some say he came from Mecca at the dawn of islam. Either was he is not a genetic Yoruba man. Your history says so. He came from somewhere so place Yoruba royal history to a date and time frame. Dahomey is now known as Benin republic ��so as to show the entire world the origin of their nation. They probably came from ancient Bini probably during an ancient rebellion to end slavery over 1500 years ago and it’s probably why the raised the Yoruba nation for slaves during the train Atlantic slave trade with their female Amazon warriors of Dahomey. Where was the mighty Yoruba nation or its warrior Oyo empire when a bunch of girls raided your people and sold them as slaves to the west? And you deluded people thought Oyo empire was that great and it ruled all of Yoruba land? Seriously, is anyone that stupid to believe that nonsense? Lagos was a Bini colony that was founded by Bini war chiefs just as half of the Yoruba land from Ondo upwards to Bini at least were colonies of the Oba or emperor of the Bini empires. Even Delta state and some parts of Igboland and rainforests closer to Delta have traditional rulers, chiefs or kings that originated from the Bini empire and the ceremonial crowns proves that even if they changed their names to blend in. Go and read book titled: Oba Ovonramwen Nogbsisi written about Bini and the Ondo colony in the timeline when the British conquered and colonised Nigeria. There was never a time when any Yoruba kingdom was strong enough to challenge Bini let alone conquer and rule it so forget that imaginary illusion. The waters of the Atlantic Ocean under Nigeria and parts of west Africa is known as the Bight of Bini. There was a time in pre recorded history when the Bini empire ruled the waters of west Africa’s Atlantic Ocean and their people were seeding civilisations across west Africa and their military influence went all the way to Ghana and Senegal. They didn’t rule the north of West Africa because they preferred the jungles and rain forests around the river Niger or else the ancestors of the Fulani and Hausa related people wouldn’t have found any land to settle on when they arrived in Nigeria. This is probably due to an even more ancient ancestry that happened 25,000 years ago after the last global ice land and the Sahara desert claiming lakes, trees and jungles across Africa. Some of them came from ancient Egypt, the Congo region and Nubia hence the advanced technologies that they had below the British empire burnt down the city and destroyed their civilisation. The Yoruba peoples also influenced pockets of settlements across west Africa and so did the Igbo people. In fact recent dna tests showed that the core of the dna � of the Igbos and the Yoruba’s came from the same genetic ancestry thousands of years before they became a distinctly different people who dislike each other as it is today. The current oba of Bini is the 25th king of the second dynasty of kings in Bini. Yes, that means that the throne has been passed down continuously in an unbroken line of emperors and kings from one father to son or sons in the same family for over 2,500 years. How old is the Yoruba race again? The Igbos are much older and the Hausa race and the Fulani are the new arrivals to Nigeria in terms of centuries. Bini is thousands of years older in different incantations of it. I myself I am a Delta Igbo speaking man born and raised in Lagos. My ancestral Kingdom 4th king reigned in the 16th century before he was buried alive and kingship stopped until less than two decades ago when another brave prince became king with the blessing of the government of Delta State. My people came out of the Bini empire and our king has an Igbo title (Eze, means king Igbo land) and my family name is still a Bini name denoting our rich history. Our culture is like the Bini and we still marry from people who came out of Bini. The Bini civilisation is the greatest in West African history of all times in terms of success, wealth, military history, art and craft and the development of city defences. The Bini city ancient wall and the defensive moats of water to defend it is the biggest man made city wall in the recorded history of our planet earth. Not e en the mighty Roman Empire ever dared to built anything close to that or any European civilisation past present and future. At best the white man built moats and walls around a single building called a castle. Apart from tiny city walls or Roman emperor Adrian’s wall in Britain. There were times when black giants lived in Bini city as well as ancient Egypt. And point of correction for those historical idiots who compared the Yoruba culture or empire to that of ancient Egypt. It is incomparable in any way. The ancient Egyptians were thousands of years more technology, sociocultural, religious and generally more advanced than the Yorubas were or will ever be. I know that for a fact because I am an historian who came directly on the male and also female lines from the ancient god kings of ancient Egypt. The Bini empire was ruled by mortal god kings nice as well so compare that, yes mighty kings worshiped as gods by their subjects. Which Yoruba king was worship while they were alive? Yes the mighty Songo after his death, what a great man that was. A real ancient god king who reigned in the age of Islam unfortunately and wasted by the Fulani. The Egyptians ruled the whole land all round the waters of the river Nile at some point in their history. As for that idiot again the river Nile is longer than the Niger. The Nile is the longest river on the planet. Check your facts again that person saying false and inaccurate nonsense. The Egyptians also ruled ancient Israel in biblical times with historical verifiably facts and knowledge written in stone and that includes the lands going half way to the boundary of the ancient city of or empire of Babylon. Ancient Egypt survived the fall of all ancient civilisations of the early and late Bronze Age when super powers of the late Bronze like the mighty warrior race of the Assyrian empire collapsed. Only two black African nations (the First Nations in the known last history of man kind in the last 25,000 years at least) Egypt, Ethiopia and Nubia (Kush) survived that age intact. My direct ancestors and their family led by house of Ramses under pharaoh Rameses the great slaughtered the sea people (a combination of subjects of all the fallen empires and more) nine nations in all who had a mighty navy and raided Egypt and many nations with a mighty fleet of ancient war ships greater than the Viking’s who came thousands of years later. The fought with iron for the first time and used warriors who sprinted at Calvary and chariots and were like Alexander the Great’s armies at times. They were unbeatable and they probably helped to destroy most of these mighty military empires nations. Egypt was the dominant and unrivalled great and mighty super power on the planet in that age and rightly so. They were greater than the USA is Today. They built cities of stone while the Yoruba built cities of mud (no disrespect intended just stating facts) giants lived in Egypt in ancient time too and they were as tall as giraffes �. There are pictures on Egyptian temples supporting this claims even Today despite the fact that the Smithsonian museum in the USA has bought and stored away all the burial bones of giants found all over the world despite a hundreds of USA newspapers articles proving this. They have convinced the world that giants didn’t exist. It’s sad and pathetic that intelligent humans today believe in dinosaurs and yet they don’t believe in the possibilities of giants existing despite the Bible saying that the world was full of them once upon a time. They doubted the planet that made dinosaurs and dinosaurs mammoths and their smaller cousins elephants, giant lions and smaller lions including sabre tooth tigers and smaller tigers. Know your history Africans. Ancient Egyptian god kings or pharaohs of upper and lower Egypt built statues of stone so tall that they are taller than palm trees and they built so many within each city and my ancestors built so many cities like this and some are bellow water today like Heraclyon. My dna states that my mothers direct ancestors has lived in what is now known as Nigeria for 25,000 years continually and in ancient Egypt and the Congo previously before that. 300 thousand years of recorded history in our bones. What were our ancestors doing during all of this time that we should allow the white man to tell us who we are or should be? They tested the mummy of the pharaohs and my dna matched many. Blood � don’t lie. Yes black peoples did cross the Sahara desert into Nigeria as was claimed by one story of Oduduwa that I learned as a child and it was confirmed to me during my visit to the palace of the ooni of Ile Ife before he went to a Yoruba festival in Brazil. Ancient Egypt was built by giants and black peoples before they gave land to their military their servants and other migrants as they were not racists as racism was created by the white man intentionally to diminish and demote us black Africans because of how great we once were and our potentials. They fear us so they abuse us racially to put us down. The servants and migrants were the ancestors of the later period Egyptians that the people who live there today came from apart from the dark skinned Egyptians. The pharaohs married Princess from all over the world. Their scholars studied the stars of Milky Way galaxy thousands of years before NASA just like their friends in South America did. The planet was connected once in trade and travel so it’s not the current western civilisation that connected it. They didn’t discover anything apart for themselves as they were tourists who became terrorists everywhere they go because they ended up conquering people who helped, them, welcomed them and showed them kindness. In fact Europeans couldn’t read, write or create meaningful and advanced work of art until they schooled in ancient Egypt and that included the Greeks, study their earliest written work. The Bini empire were equals of the Portuguese for 100 years until they let their guards down and paid the price for trusting the parasite British empire servants who destroyed them. Our ancient Egyptian kind prefer the shades of the jungle and when their world was being killed by the Sahara desert they migrated to west Africa in different migration waves at different times of the history but only after they saw off the ancient world and left rulers behind. They went everywhere, been there, done that and got the T-shirt and the world is still inspired by them and continue to learn about them today. They were so awesome the white man stole their dead bodies to the west (mummies) Please don’t ever compare Egypt to any Nigerian tribe again, it’s pure stupidity and lack of knowledge. It’s like illiteracy, Nigerians are too intelligent for that so please study the written and oral history of West Africa at least before you talk nonsense on these platforms before falsehood becomes history like the west did to us. Only Bini and a few empires achieved greater things. Some of the people who built the Bini empire came from this batch of migrant mixing with locals. Not everyone have the Egyptian blood sorry. It’s rare royal blue blood. Rameses the great grant child of SETI had over 100 children. Yes black people also lived in West Africa continuously for over 25,000 years before that. There is 250,000 years or more of African history destroyed or unaccounted for. Egypt gave the world the current calendar we used. The Phoenicians of Africa and rulers of Sicily in Italy before the Greeks and Romans gave the knowledge of advanced ship building to Europe including mathematics etc and trading skills as well as the alphabet that made education possible in the continent of Europe and they were wiped out and sold into slavery for their contribution by the Romans. The British destroyed Bini and reduced its influence to what it is today. A tiny minority in Nigeria. Bini is to west Africa what the tiny city of Rome is to Europe. Bini had bronze and copper the currency of the world in that timeline as decoration on their walls. It’s like pasting £100 or $100 notes on buildings to show how rich you are. See how rich this civilisation was? Their art work is priceless and the white man refused to give it back despite returning white owned art work stollen by the Nazi during World War Two. Gold was melted and sold. These are unrecorded history only found in the over 1.5 million pieces of Bini art that was looted by the British empire when they intentionally burnt Bini city to the ground to hide their crimes. They did the same in Ghana, the golden symbol of the country was melted and sold never to be seen again. Nigerians and Africans need to learn their history to know the great things their ancestors did and know that greatness is in our blood and if we all unite and stop our stupid religious, political, ethnic and tribal divides we can lead Africa into a great future so Europe can stop looting our continent and pissing on us as a continent. Now the Chinese fancy their chances to buy us out because we are now known as the stupid race while our leaders sing cumba ya and wave Chinese flags on projects like a bunch of unpatriotic illiterates. The Yorubas are a great people and can be greater instead of becoming the puppets of the Hausas we should all Unite as on true and equal Nigerian individual home nations in diversity committed to the development of our continent. We are the home lions of Africa and our ancestors were the first men to be worshiped as gods by other men. How awesome is that? And please stop saying Ase when you talk about Oyo empire. Mentioning facts and errors within facts would not make it true like a prayer. We are all students of history and we need to continue to learn and write down our continents history someday so our descendants will not forget how great they were and can be.

And by the way the great Oduduwa the mighty ancestor of the Yoruba land is not a Yoruba man. He is either a Bini man as the Bini empire claim or he is an Asian man who migrated from Mecca � in Saudi Arabia Arabia with a little nation of people and followed to join and rule the people that would later be known as Yoruba peoples. Either way that mighty man of legend is not of the same dna as the Yorubas. If this debate is to be settled then the Yoruba nation should have a petition and petition the kings or Obas who are direct descendant of Oduduwa to do a dna test or dig up and re-bury the great man himself with a mighty national ceremony just to obtain his dna for tests and millions of people would probably be found across the world who carry his genes � in the blood. Wouldn’t you want to know if you came from such a mighty man? His teeth and dna will tell us where he was born and who his ancestors were. Plus his dna would settle the date and history of his origin for once for all time of he was a Bini man or from across the Sahara desert on the other side of Africa or from the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. I am not diminishing the strength or greatness of the Oyo empire but you have over exaggerated it’s boundaries. The river Nile is the longest river on the planet and ancient Egypt ruled the whole of it and lands inside Arabia all the way to the borders of Babylon including ancient Israel. Read the Bible it’s mentioned inside. Where is the written or historical facts in stone, clay tablets or statures for the Oyo empire? Even Dahomey a former Bini colony invaded Yoruba land, captured and sold its peoples into slavery during the cross Atlantic slave trade with an army of women the Amazon warriors. Where was the mighty Oyo empire during this time if it was so great? Sleeping?

KingSango:


Sango ruled from Gabon to Mauritania. This territory has more square mileage than the Nile Valley. Sango is without a doubt Africa's greatest king. Now what Yoruba, Nigeria, or even West African would want to diminish the greatness of Oyo Empire? Your dispute about the Alaafin holding supernatural power over other Obas is borderline of treason. We need African empires to protect us from Western empires and Asian empires. I only pray I can get the Igbo people to see that. Nigeria is the Giant of Africa and has to potential more than anywhere else to be the next great African empire. This is the destiny of West Africa because Diaspora Africans are all mostly from West Africa. It is our time and I don't want to argue about this anymore. Long live the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ile Ife. We need Oyo and Ile Ife, Benin, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, and the Yorubas in the Diaspora to pull off the greatest upset in history.

Ase

Love Sango

Please Sango is not the greatest African king.. He is a myth, probably not real..

Everything the earlier writer said about the Yoruba tribal history with regards to monarchy in Yoruba land is correct apart from the lies about Bini history. It isn’t factual. Don’t tell me that Oduduwa gave his grandson a time machine to go back in time to found the Bini empire? If you continue to link your ancestry to Bini then your tribe is a child of the Bini empire and it’s as simple as that. The correct Oba of Bini considers himself (office of the Oba of Bini) to be older than the Yoruba tribe as his first direct ancestor sat o. That throne over two thousand five hundred years ago. Yes 500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Sacred Eweka the first and second are not Yoruba and they lived in a different time line over a thousand years before the Yoruba origin history. Sacred Eweka the first conquered 250 villages settlements or towns to form the Bini empire. Some Bini chiefs people believed that Oduduwa is an only son of a Bini king who went into permanent exile (long story). He was asked to return home after his father’s death and he refused because of his vows. He sent his grandson instead. The boy was too scared to live in Bini and he returned to Ile ife after he was ordered to leave a seed behind to continue his grandfather’s ancestral bloodline. He left a song behind and he was never crowned an Oba of Bini. The Oni of Ife and all Yoruba kings are lower than the Bini king according to this history if it was factual. One fact remains that the Yoruba were never ever strong enough to conquer the mighty ancient Bini empire that whose peoples predates the Yoruba by thousands of years just like some of their ancestors in ancient Egypt. It’s why the Bini Obas wear wrappers like their Egyptian cousins and the kings of Ghana. No king in Yoruba apart from the colony of Lagos dress in that manner. It’s more logical for Oduduwa to be a Bini or Arabian man because he is not Yoruba and came from a different land so fact check the origin history of Oduduwa before you try to reduce the ancient age and history of Bini. That is pure ignorance, deception or an abomination on your part. To settle this dispute as that is what it would become someday. Dig up the bones of Oduduwa or his earliest sons buried in the 4 corners of that beautiful palace in ile Ife for a dna test and you will find 75 percent to 100 percent dna test confirmation of Bini bloodline as some descendants of Bini matched with the god kings pharaohs of Egypt. Only an ancient race has that blood. The Yoruba is a young tribe although over a thousand years or more older than the Hausas who are a very young tribe. Kings have been dug up for dna tests all over the world. It’s important to rewrite history correctly so we all can know who we were.