If not that the Yoruba are one people, one language, one culture, one loose nation in West Africa, I would be Ijesa by nationality. My ancestors were opposed to the Oyo who are also Yoruba and an Ife people but in actual fact, it was just a competition among siblings, as all were sister nations, structured thesame way, controlled by the Ogboni and they referred to their land as ile kaaro ojiire. Before Oduduwa, we called ourselves omo Olofin, Olofin was the title of the Kings that ruled all the Yoruba from Ile Ife, the political, administrative and spiritual headquarters. Later, the Ife title changed to Ooni when it was no longer one empire administered as a whole, as one single unit. So I would say the Ooni of Ife title was inaugurated when the Alaafin, Onipopo, Owa Obokun and etc became independent, the old imperial title was Olofin which is still used in places like the Isheri Olofin among the Awori in Lagos, it is also very popular among the Lucumi in Cuba and etc. Olofin from Ofin, means perfect and Omo Olofin thereby means children of the perfect ruler or Christ as it is rendered in ancient Egypt. During the time of the Olofins, all Yorubas were one and I would say the extent was much larger if not the whole Earth originally as of ten thousand years ago, than it is today. This is because the title of the ruler of ancient Ife in full was Olofin Aye which means 'The perfect one who rules the Earth'. It is not Olofin Ife but Olofin Aye referring to the Earth as a whole but in my opinion, the territory shrank until it became what we have today, the Egyptians left and came back again due to some reasons and it is their language we now speak. The first Ooni was a very junior member of the new royal family inaugurated when a Meccan royal and descendant of Nimrod was crowned Olofin Aye in Ile Ife after the Muslim takeover of Mecca, infact the first Ooni was a minor as rendered in Ijesa accounts. He was left as a place holder in Ile Ife by his much more experienced and more senior elder brothers who were fathers before he was born. They ostensibly changed the title to Ooni from the more majestic Olofin Aye to reflect the new status.

Hence, the last set of rulers or administrators to rule over all the Ife people as one were called Olofin hence our ancestors called themselves Omo Olofin. The inauguration of the Ooni of Ife title apparently reflects the point at which Ile Ife ceased to be the political and administrative center of all the Ife people. The Ooni traditionally ruled over only the immediate Ife territories while the Olofins of the past ruled over all the extent of the Yoruba or Ife lands which may have meant the whole word ten thousand years ago. This I believe is the difference between an Ooni and an Olofin. However, the Ooni was left in Ile Ife by the senior ones for so that he will be handling some issues and when it comes to those issues, the opinion of the Ooni is respected by the rest just like you respect the opinion of your secretary on certain issues. Not that the Ooni is traditionally the most senior Oba.

So all the sister nation states came into their own, had their issues and warred against each other but they see still saw each other as one, from ile kaaro ojiire as different from their neighbours. Their ordeal in Nigeria has forged a new national identity for them. So the Ijesa who were sworn enemies of the Oyo, Ilorin and later Ibadan at different times in the 19th century, now see them all as brothers and etc. There is strength in numbers and there is a basis for unity, we speak same language have same culture, language and origin, have same world view and can tolerate each other while respecting differences. We have the Ogboni. Outside that, the Ijesa and others would prefer to stay independent of others like during the olden days, so far trade is not allowed to be impeded by any group.


So, once Nigeria breaks up, rally your people to form a single nation when possible, the forged unity of the Yoruba resulting from Nigeria also applies to Igbos. The Hausa were nevertheless united to a large extent by the Fulbe jihad in the 19th century, if people do not agree to unite because their language or origin is different, then form an alliance with them as friends, support them to comtrol their own space and have an understanding with them. We are not going back to the 19th century when some groups were able to capitalise on their control of the ports on the coast to take advantage of others. That will not be allowed in the 21st century because it is not fair and it does not make any sense, the United Nations will not support it. So every groups' minds should be at rest.

Boring.

I am an history student.let me comment before reading so that what happened in 1978 will not repeat itself