nolongtin:

Vanguard

How Oba of Benin goofed, by Ooni of Ife



Sunday, May 09, 2004

[b]"Records in the archives made it clear that since 1191AD, the Ooni of Ife had to be informed, and clearance must be given by him on the new Oba of Benin to be installed up to 1916" [/b]We have to thank God Almighty for the life of our great mother whose memoirs we are launching today. Before I continue my speech, I would want all of us to rise for a two minute-silence while we pray for the repose of the soul of our late revered father and leader of our people - Papa Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory. Our mother has laid good examples for the women in this country to follow, and in her excellent ways of doing things she can be described as the mother of the blue whales which are the biggest creatures on earth. It is worthy of note that even at this age mama could still write her memoirs for both this generation and the generation unborn to read.

For several decades, mama has gradually metamorphosed from a simple woman to a housewife, the jewel of inestimable value, and holder of the all-significant title of Yeye-Oba of Ife and now the ultimate: Yeye-Oodua. Our prayer for our very dear mama- Yeye Oodua is to physically live forever if it is possible.

At this juncture, it is just right to allow the entire world to know that the name Oduduwa, the founder of our dynasty and from where we derive the present title of Mama can never be corrupted or bastardized by any living being in an attempt to create for himself an unnecessary distortion of historical fact.

Oduduwa the legend, the father of the bigger Yoruba dynasty has no connection whatsoever with Ogiso dynasty in Benin history as portrayed by the Oba of Benin, because Oduduwa descended directly from heaven through a chain to where is now known as Ife today in company of four hundred deities

Last Thursday 29th April 2004 Omonoba the Oba of Benin goofed during the launching of his book titled “I remain, Sir, your obedient servant’ in this same building where he described Oduduwa on page 205 as one Ekalederhan, a Benin Prince who had once escaped the community’s axe-man, later reappeared in weeeks after wandering in the bush from Benin for a very long time.

According to him, the same Ekalederhan, having become the ruler in weeks refused to go back to Benin on request, but instead sent Oranmiyan his son basically on a” home-coming mission” to start the present dynasty in Benin. It will interest the public to know the facts about the Ife-Benin relationship which are as follows: 1. The Oba of Benin whose dynasty commenced in 1191 AD was an Ife Prince borrowed to the people of Benin on their request after the rule of the Ogiso have ended in Benin history.

2. It was a request that Ife must help to provide them with a ruler, then Oduduwa the legend, decided to send Prince Oranmiyan who established that dynasty and whose first son in Benin from a Benin woman was Owomika (Eweka) the progenitor of all Benin Obas including Omonoba since l191 AD.

Since Oranmiyan dynasty started in Benin, all the heads of the Obas of Benin on demise were buried in Ife in a sacred place called “Orun-Oba-Ado” up to the year 1900. 4. Records in the archives made it clear that since 1191AD, the Ooni of Ife had to be informed, and clearance must be given by him on the new Oba of Benin to be installed up to 1916.

5. The official language in the palace of Oba of Benin till 1934 was Yoruba. 6. The father of the present Oba of Benin was a member of the House of Chiefs in the old Western Nigeria under our late revered father Sir Adesoji Aderemi, my predecessor and the First African governor in the whole African continent.

The Oba of Benin should go and read what his fore fathers told the Portuguese explorers during their visit to Benin on 2nd July 1550AD about the relationship between Ife and Benin. So, it is too late for Omonoba to rewrite our history. The word Oba, which is part of any of Benin oba’s title, shows clearly that they are from the bigger Yoruba dynasty. It is rather too late in the day to rewrite our history, which cannot be backed with any documentary evidence.

I have to[b] thank the Benin first historian Jacob U. Egharevba for his publications, which contained the correct account of the relationship between Ife and Benin which the Oba of Benin is now condemning[/b]. At this stage, Mama, you are Mama Oodua. Covering the entire Yoruba nation both here and in diaspora including the Benin Kingdom where Omonoba Erediauwa by the grace of God is the Oba.

•Excerpts from the address of Ooni Ife at the launch of H.I.D Awolowo's biography.

Very insightful.benin was a vassal state to the yoruba empire which was why oranmiyan wa sent there in the first instance to resolv the chieftancy

crisis following the collapse of the ogiso dynasty.the word ''oba'' has no link with benin language.

Yoruba people and their attempt to always claim Edo and Delta state.

hehehe. I dey laugh o.

^^^

  See someone posting a newspaper report as evidence lol, 

People sha!

wot else could have been an evidence?its not just a newspaper evidence its a lecture giving by the oni of ife,the cradle of the the yoruba race,

The word "Oba" has no  link with the Benin language? Are  they going to claim every shared wordcan only be found among Yorubas now? How can you claim what does and does not have a link to the Benin language when you don't have an idea of the sound and character of all of the Benin language?

If anyone thinks Yoruba was the official language in the Benin palace this debate is almost not worth having. A Benin palace that where Yoruba is the official language but where virtually every title, group, and object is given an Edo name?

If anyone thinks the heads of the Benin kings were buried in Ife because of another later alteration of his own story by Egharevba, I also have to wonder whether it's worth discussing this. The heads and bodies of the kings of Benin were buried whole, not with the sovereign's head decapitated, in Benin, and worship shrines were set up nearby. Also, upon the death of a king, subjects willingly died with him and viewed it as an honor to do so. I will post a specific quote with regard to this later. This nonsense about the dead Oba being decapitated and having his head sent elsewhere is a complete fable.

Also, does the Oni of Ife know that Egharevba said Oduduwa was not Yoruba?

Ife was a religious state and the Oni of Ife was not an overlord of Benin. The Pope in Europe played a part in crowning the sovereigns of Catholic states in Europe and legitimizing their reign. Does that mean that every Catholic European kingdom that ever existed was a vassal state of the Vatican?   

I'll be back with a quote which precedes Samuel Johnson's 1897/1921 History of the Yorubas and precedes P. Amaury Talbot's claims about the perceived connection between Benin and its neighbors that I'm pretty sure all these people were completely oblivious to.

In 1863, Benin had an extremely different opinion of the Benin+Yoruba connection that matches up with the version advocated by Oba Erediauwa. The

I have a lot of respect for Egharevba, but the truth is that he glossed over some things and made mistakes.

Doesn't 'Oba' mean red in Edo. The Yoruba influence in Benin seems to be limited to religion.

ezeagu:

Doesn't 'Oba' mean red in Edo. The Yoruba influence in Benin seems to be limited to religion.

Yeah, it not only means king, it also means a shiny kind of red. That's why I laugh at somebody telling me what words the Edo language can and cannot have when he doesn't have the slightest idea of sounds and words in the language.



The Yoruba influence was also artistic, apparently.

PhysicsMHD:

The Yoruba influence was also artistic, apparently.

Oh, in what areas?

ezeagu:

Oh, in what areas?

Terracotta heads.

I'm still astounded at this claim of the Edaiken and his brothers sitting back and letting the head of their father be hacked off instead of burying him in dignity. What palace chiefs were responsible for this supposed hacking off of the Oba of Benin's head and packaging it to be sent to Ife? Name them. Or do the people who propagate Egharevba's fairytale of every third  Oba's head being sent to Ife, not know that there were three specific groups of palace chiefs responsible for the upkeep of the Oba, his harem, and the palace itself? So who did the hacking? Who was the messenger (head carrier)? The Binis don't know, the Yorubas don't know, yet the Oni of Ife swears by Egharevba's fable.


http://books.google.com/books?id=QlW3ZMxrCKMC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=1888+head+oba+benin+ife&source=bl&ots=B_8gZ4Eg2Z&sig=Xg9w8jOT1WTlPiQ4zmzVbnxbBEo&hl=en&ei=urhZTfSPHtSltwef57z2DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=1888%20head%20oba%20benin%20ife&f=false


^^^^^

The claim is just bizarre.




"Ramusio, c. I540, said that "all are anxious for the honor" to be buried with the Oba, as this was an "ancient custom" in Benin."

Source: John W. Blake, Europeans in West Africa, 1450-1560, London, 1942.

PhysicsMHD:

Terracotta heads.

I am happy you acknowledged that, else I'd have bombarded this thread with video evidences

ezeagu:

Oh, in what areas?

Did you get the answer you expected?


Anyway, how much progress have you made in your bid to claim Mukina and her people?

fstranger3:

I am happy you acknowledged that, else I'd have bombarded this thread with video evidences

Lol, video evidence? Pictures, you mean.

Anyways, I have never denied the religious and artistic links between Yorubas and Benin (which went both ways, as the Owo and Ijebu bronzes show).

fstranger3:

Did you get the answer you expected?


Anyway, how much progress have you made in your bid to claim Mukina and her people?

The thing that is worrying you, let it continue to worry you. Iseeee!!!!

ezeagu:

The thing that is worrying you, let it continue to worry you. Iseeee!!!!

At least, you are not trying to claim someone on this thread. I am happy PhysicsMSTP gave you a quick smack-down because before you know it, you'd start claiming Edo people as Ibo.


PS: Ever wonder why no oone wants to associate with you and your people?

fstranger3:

At least, you are not trying to claim someone on this thread. I am happy PhysicsMSTP gave you a quick smack-down because before you know it, you'd start claiming Edo people as Ibo.


PS: Ever wonder why no oone wants to associate with you and your people?

The thing that is making you bang your head against the wall, let it continue to make you bang your head against the wall. Iseeee!!!!

ezeagu:

The thing that is making you bang your head against the wall, let it continue to make you bang your head against the wall. Iseeee!!!!

Right back at you!

PS: Please, Biko, to ri Olorun, stop claiming people ok. That is how some  people started and before you could say 'claim', they ended up as kidnappers. You dont want to end up like that, do you?

fstranger oooooo

Frustration.

^^^^

1800, no exact dat?

What;s his Ibo name?


keep fooling yourself

ezeagu:

Frustration.

OMG

I should have quoted you. . . you are really pathetic


I think you are going crazy!

ezeagu:

Frustration.

Ezeagu, you surprise me oo, so you know Bini that good?

Darn these Yorubas. No wonder the Bini people wanted the Mid-West region to be created out of fear of Yoruba domination.

@poster, do you mean that the Edo people colonized all Yoruba nations, even the Oyo Kingdom? Haba! Do you mean that the Edo colonized the Ijebu as well? Do you even know the history of the Ijebu people who can even trace their history to migration from the Sudan/Ethiopia axis? Do you know that scientists who have been including samples of Yoruba DNA to trace the history of mankind and the neanderthals and denisovans have demonstrated the migration of Yoruba people across the desert and the acquisition of adaptations/mutations in the process?

Do the Edo people even know the origin of the ogiso, even how they (people and ogiso) got to their present abode? What is the pre-Oba history of the Edo people?

My advice, don't live on or be delusional about what may be past glory. Live in the now.

the question i would continue to ask the binis is who the real father of oba eweka is.

A look at the word  OBA in Edo.

Ba--- in Edo light is what "ba", that is to shine. To luminate, to show the way. so it is an illumination.

Oba--- The light. The luminate. The way. The leader.

Oba---- color---Red.

oba--(adjective)---To indicate someone is "on". He/she has arrived.

Baba----- light shine. light show the way. Leader lead.[father]

mama----good(good)--Goodness.

Baba---------- father

A look at EWEKA in Edo.

Ka----------- DRY---- e  we  ka-----will never be dry---continous patency---regeneration.

Ka--------- talk (confess,counting)----- e  we  ka---- will not talk.

and who's oranimiyan ?

~Bluetooth:

and who's oranimiyan ?

I think, He is a son of Oduduwa. position, iam not quite sure.
The father of Oba Eweka. (i'm not historian). Just a curious investigator.

Omonoyan(Oranmiyan)was the son of Izoduwa(Oduduwa) who was the son of an Ogiso(sky chief)of Igodomigodo(Benin kingdom).

PhysicsMHD:

Lol, video evidence? Pictures, you mean.

Anyways, I have never denied the religious and artistic links between Yorubas and Benin (which went both ways, as the Owo and Ijebu bronzes show).

But do you believe that "Edo colonized Yorubaland"?