femi4:
What's this one saying? Benin is part of the Yoruba kingdom

you don't know what you are saying.. Go read your books!

sagaciousblog:
you don't know what you are saying.. Go read your books!

kilomode e mo?

Go and read the life and times of Okanbi

laurel03:
Alaafin of Oyo is #Num 1 quote me anywhere... Awujale of ijebu no even dey yoruba history ... Ijebu migrated from Sudan (Obanta)

Na from India ijebu people migrate from. Olodo

nrdgeek:


Your analogy does not stand when challenged by accurate facts. The Oooni does not even come close to the place of a 'father' in this supposed 'family analogy'. When Oranyan left Ife in an expedition against Mecca, he left all his treasures in Ife and made the High priest, Adimu 'caretaker' of the throne and the royal charms. Note that the Ooni is not even of the bloodline of Oduduwa or Oranmiyan, for that matter.

Here's an excerpt from Samuel Johnson, History of the Yorubas, one of the earliest and forthright accounts of Yoruba history:



We don't want any revisionist history, please.

Your introduction sounded promising, you probably need to flip through pages of NL for better understanding of this history.

Scrap Samuel Johnson's account, Oduduwa and Ife had nothing to do with Mecca. Oduduwa came from Oke Ora in Ife, do further research on this.

Furthermore, after Odede had founded Oyo, he came back to Ife to settle down till he passed but he had a son Lajoodogun (Ololajuologun), who had Lajamisan - the father of Giesi, Osinkola, Ogboru (who left to found Ife Odan) and Lafogido.

The Oonis after Oduduwa (starting from Ogun) till Oranmiyan came back were all (Otun Ife) the Obatala people whom Oduduwa defeated to become king; Oranmiyan came back from Oyo, defeated them again and sent them off the throne.

Reason we have Ilaje/Mahin in present day Ondo and the reason for Edi festival.

aleshmotors:
Na from India ijebu people migrate from. Olodo

prof dejo sanyeri google obanta history

lharstborn:
The Alake seems to be high on dried Ugwu leaf.. The Awujale of Ijebu is way ahead of Alake of Egbaland. It is only Ijebuland whose ancestry can't be traced back to Ife. Get your facts right,Alake of Egbaland. Awujale no be ya mate!!

u correct

jerseyboy:


Now let us do some serious thinking. So Oduduwa fell out from the sky? And you believe that over the Bini version of a prince of the Ogiso (Gods of the sky) dynasty escaped persecution and wandered into Ife a small settlement and was proclaimed King because of his prowess. Which story do you think is more plausible?

Nobody fell from the sky.

Oduduwa came from Oke Ora in Ife, part of the 13 hamlets.

He was from Ife, reason he was able to study the politics and weakness of Obatala. Reason he was able to communicate with Obameri, Gbonkaa, Lokore, all who led his band.

Or you believe a person walked through the thick forest covering a very long distance without getting killed by mosquitoes, wild animals or snakes. He walked for years then suddenly emerged from the bush then Ife people voluntarily submitted their confederacy to him. How was he able to communicate since they spoke different languages? Ife and Bini didn't have prior interaction, how did he know where he was headed? If Oranmiyan left Bini over clash in culture and language, how was Oduduwa able to immerse himself and held the throne?

Now from the first and second, which do you think is more plausible?

arazanbal:




it shows you rily dont knw the binis hestory,evidence about the bini empire are every where in the world.ask the portuguese and the british, it the third empire in the world my friend.

Bini was never an empire, a kingdom, yes.

Bini that couldn't even conquer Owo, her neighbour. The Bini whose hold on Lagos was limited to the island while the Otto, Ikate, Iru, Ikorodu, Epe all thrived.

All that Bini has to show is her artworks and guess what? These artworks still shows heavy Ife influences on Bini.

Thank you.

omoiseselagba:
THESE KINGS ARE CHALATANS.THIS IS WHY I LOST THE LAST RESPECT I HAVE FOR THEM WHEN SOME OF DEM BITCH ASS NIGGAS LAID THEIR OPA ASE ON JONATHAN DURING THE LAST ELECTION.ON THE ALAKE OF AKE-EGBA STATEMANT,HE KNOWS NOT WHAT HE IS SAYING.ABEOKUTA WAS FOUNDED IN THE 18TH CENTURY,AND THEY WERE LED OUT OF IBADAN AND OYO BY SODEKE AND LATER ON BY SOMOYE,HOW WILL A KINGSHIP FOUNDED/ESTABLISHED IN THE 18 CENTURY COMPARE HIS THRONE TO THAT OF THE AWUJALE OF IJEBU LAND WHOSE KINGDOM WAS IN EXISTENCE BEFORE THE OYO ESTABLISHED OYO BEFORE IT BECAME AN EMPIRE.HOW DEAR HE COMPARE HIS PEOPLE WITH THE IJEBUS WHOSE ACTION LED TO THE FOUNDING OF IBADAN AND ABEOKUTA.ABEOKUTA AND IBADAN WERE BOTH CREATED AS A RESULT OF THE IJEBU DESTRUCTION OF OWU ILE NOW IN OSUN STATE.THE OWUS WERE SO POWERFUL THEN THAT THEY FIGHT WITH ANY SUB YORUBA KINGDOM THE COME THERE AND REGARDED THEMSELVES AS THE ONLY POWER IN YORUBALAND THEN,THEY HAD ISSUES WITH THE IFES AND THEY IFES WERE CRUSHED TWICE BEFORE THE OWUS BROUGHT THEIR MADNESS TO THE IJEBUS.THE IFES CAME UP TO FIGHT WITH THE IJEBUS TO DESTROY OWU.THE OWU WERE MAD WITH RAGE THAT THE IJEBUS WERE COMING FOR THEM.IJEBU HAD AN ADVANTAGE.THEY GOT guns.......bajinatu.THE OWU CAME OUT WITH RAGE TO CRUSH THE IJEBUS BUT MET THEIR FIRST DEFEAT.THE IJEBUS DECIMATED THEM WITH GUNS AND THE OWUS RAN HOME TO DEFEND THEIR HOME.IJEBU N IFES WHEN ALL THE WAY TO THIER HOMES AND LEVELLED THE PLACE.ALL THE REMAINING OWU RAN OUT OF THE TOWN AND TO A NEAR BY VILLAGE.THE VILLAGE WAS ATTACHED AND DESTRYED TOTALLY BY THE RAMPAGING IJUBUS AND IFE SOLDIER.A spell was casted on the owu land that no one should rebuild the town.after some time,the ijebu soldeirs and ife camped in ibadan and some other oyo element expelled from their land came and settled in eba odan,the rank swell and ibadan was founded,Maye the leader of the ife killed the oyos in the town because of an egba man and their was wahala between the ifes and the oyos in ibadan,this and many other thing led to the exodos of the egbas movement to abeokuta.before the,egbas were never under any king as they were just scattered in ibadan ijaye and other oyo sub towns.how come the ake of ake as i will not call him the ake of egba land because egba land has four kings when abeokuta was created in late 18 century rate himself above a king over all the whole ijebuland that had his own kingdom outside main yoruba/oyo enpire?some should lecture this slowpoke king the history of abeokuta first and then that of yoruba land.imo lo ladini ,ogbon o gbe!.it is only the children born in the indomie era that can br brainwashed with bulshhiitttt!.omo ises will know his/her history.ni awujo gbogbo yoruba,ijebu is king.lets get it straight,the egbas were slaves to oyo,the ekiti were slaves to oyo and ibadan,the ifes were once slaves to modakeke which by culture and tride are oyo,the ondo were slaves to oyo.IT IS ONLY THE IJEBUS THAT WERE NEVER AT ANYTIME UNDER THE OYO ENPIRE.we sold the ekiti,oyo,ibadan as slaves to whites ni.ILU IJEBU AJEJI OWO.A STRANGER THERE NOT ENTER IJEBU LAND.IN THOSE DAYS,ENTER OUR AND THE WORLD SEES YOU NO MORE,eni ba fi ijebu sere,ounfi iku sere ni.

eweeso omo yeemi,tell dem more

Nwaoguta:
Oba of benin is like a father to ooni of ife,Quote me anywhere.

AgeWise? yes. Ranking wise? Naaaa. its beta dey accept dia third like dat. It all started from Ile-Ife.

This yoruba people are very foolish I swear. I've never met a tribe as dumb as yoruba people. No yoruba king or monarch is up to the Oba of Benin.

femi4:
What's this one saying? Benin is part of the Yoruba kingdom

in your smelly ewedu dreams abi?

omoiseselagba:
THESE KINGS ARE CHALATANS.THIS IS WHY I LOST THE LAST RESPECT I HAVE FOR THEM WHEN SOME OF DEM BITCH ASS NIGGAS LAID THEIR OPA ASE ON JONATHAN DURING THE LAST ELECTION.ON THE ALAKE OF AKE-EGBA STATEMANT,HE KNOWS NOT WHAT HE IS SAYING.ABEOKUTA WAS FOUNDED IN THE 18TH CENTURY,AND THEY WERE LED OUT OF IBADAN AND OYO BY SODEKE AND LATER ON BY SOMOYE,HOW WILL A KINGSHIP FOUNDED/ESTABLISHED IN THE 18 CENTURY COMPARE HIS THRONE TO THAT OF THE AWUJALE OF IJEBU LAND WHOSE KINGDOM WAS IN EXISTENCE BEFORE THE OYO ESTABLISHED OYO BEFORE IT BECAME AN EMPIRE.HOW DEAR HE COMPARE HIS PEOPLE WITH THE IJEBUS WHOSE ACTION LED TO THE FOUNDING OF IBADAN AND ABEOKUTA.ABEOKUTA AND IBADAN WERE BOTH CREATED AS A RESULT OF THE IJEBU DESTRUCTION OF OWU ILE NOW IN OSUN STATE.THE OWUS WERE SO POWERFUL THEN THAT THEY FIGHT WITH ANY SUB YORUBA KINGDOM THE COME THERE AND REGARDED THEMSELVES AS THE ONLY POWER IN YORUBALAND THEN,THEY HAD ISSUES WITH THE IFES AND THEY IFES WERE CRUSHED TWICE BEFORE THE OWUS BROUGHT THEIR MADNESS TO THE IJEBUS.THE IFES CAME UP TO FIGHT WITH THE IJEBUS TO DESTROY OWU.THE OWU WERE MAD WITH RAGE THAT THE IJEBUS WERE COMING FOR THEM.IJEBU HAD AN ADVANTAGE.THEY GOT guns.......bajinatu.THE OWU CAME OUT WITH RAGE TO CRUSH THE IJEBUS BUT MET THEIR FIRST DEFEAT.THE IJEBUS DECIMATED THEM WITH GUNS AND THE OWUS RAN HOME TO DEFEND THEIR HOME.IJEBU N IFES WHEN ALL THE WAY TO THIER HOMES AND LEVELLED THE PLACE.ALL THE REMAINING OWU RAN OUT OF THE TOWN AND TO A NEAR BY VILLAGE.THE VILLAGE WAS ATTACHED AND DESTRYED TOTALLY BY THE RAMPAGING IJUBUS AND IFE SOLDIER.A spell was casted on the owu land that no one should rebuild the town.after some time,the ijebu soldeirs and ife camped in ibadan and some other oyo element expelled from their land came and settled in eba odan,the rank swell and ibadan was founded,Maye the leader of the ife killed the oyos in the town because of an egba man and their was wahala between the ifes and the oyos in ibadan,this and many other thing led to the exodos of the egbas movement to abeokuta.before the,egbas were never under any king as they were just scattered in ibadan ijaye and other oyo sub towns.how come the ake of ake as i will not call him the ake of egba land because egba land has four kings when abeokuta was created in late 18 century rate himself above a king over all the whole ijebuland that had his own kingdom outside main yoruba/oyo enpire?some should lecture this slowpoke king the history of abeokuta first and then that of yoruba land.imo lo ladini ,ogbon o gbe!.it is only the children born in the indomie era that can br brainwashed with bulshhiitttt!.omo ises will know his/her history.ni awujo gbogbo yoruba,ijebu is king.lets get it straight,the egbas were slaves to oyo,the ekiti were slaves to oyo and ibadan,the ifes were once slaves to modakeke which by culture and tride are oyo,the ondo were slaves to oyo.IT IS ONLY THE IJEBUS THAT WERE NEVER AT ANYTIME UNDER THE OYO ENPIRE.we sold the ekiti,oyo,ibadan as slaves to whites ni.ILU IJEBU AJEJI OWO.A STRANGER THERE NOT ENTER IJEBU LAND.IN THOSE DAYS,ENTER OUR AND THE WORLD SEES YOU NO MORE,eni ba fi ijebu sere,ounfi iku sere ni.

Looool.

My Ijebu nyggahs aren't playing - they know their history. Olowu of Owu is the only Egba king we know - Alake is a 19th century creation. And if anyone should be talking, based on being the first son of Oduduwa - it should be Olowu, not Alake. Then again, Owu was decimated by Ijebus and they all became refugees in Abeokuta under the rock. So, you can never rank any Egba king over Ijebu.

Even Ife owes Ijebu cos without Ijebus, Ife would've been sacked and turned to a ghost town time ago. We protected Ife with thousands of Ijebu warriors with guns. Only Oyo is up there based on influence, reach, military might, and the fact that we all speak the Oyo dialect today. Then we can throw the Ooni up there with Alaafin cos Ife represents the peak of Yoruba civilisation, the origin, and the spirituality of Yorubas.

Eweso.

arazanbal:

where were the yoruba clan when the british/portuges invated the bini dynasty.the world at large hav evidece of the bini empire.make una goooooooogle am oooooo

Lol. You mean the same Bini that was utterly destroyed and robbed blind by the colonial British forces?

At least, the Ijebus went to war with the colonial Brits and fought like bravehearts. Also, they never sacked Ijebu Ode the same way the relics of Bini kingdom was decimated. And they fought the Ijebus with more firepower.

proxillin:
[size=15pt]was Benin even half of what the great Oyo empire was ? Noise makers[/size]

shut up. What bloody Oyo empire are you talking about? The whole of modern day Southern Nigeria was under the Benin empire. Benin empire is amongst the greatest empires of medieval times. Oyo empire was never mentioned. Stop trying to twist people's history. The Binis never came from any yoruba.

comos:


Oduduwa (Izeduwa) was a Benin prince that wander from Benin kingdom to Ife, where he was eventually crown the first Ooni of Ife.

Please why does Oba of Benin required to go to Ife for whatever sacrifice before his final coronation (thats d normal tradition)
And why do the Benin has the tradition of burying the head of Oba of Benin in Ile Ife, why was he not buried in Benin.
Even Alafin of Oyo's body will still have to relate with the Ife when dead.

Why?

Have you seen a king buried outside his kingdom before without cause? Or traditional buried in the kingdom of his subordinate?

http://www.gamji.com/article4000/news4738.htm

HateU2:

Kilode Mr Morufu .
Ayam talking to my fellow original yoruba goons not fake

ooni I believed you,oba ereduwa Bini no be small oba ooo,powerful made

femi4:
You need to read about the great Oduduwa too and what Ile Ife stand for

oduduwa story was taught to me in secondary school social studies under the topic 'myths the bini story is fact'

bigfrancis21:


The name 'bini' could have come from anywhere and not from 'ile ibinu'. Just as someone mentioned earlier, the Yorubas had an educational headstart and advantage and by virtue of their position wrote historical books before the Binis and used this advantage to their favour.

It is widely said amongst the Yorubas and some Binis that Bini comes from 'ile ibinu', whereas in reality it could have come from somewhere else. Also, there is this tendency by Yorubas to interpret or ascribe meanings to any word from the Yoruba language, totally ignoring the possibility of the word's origin from elsewhere or the existence of word co-incidences amongst languages in the world. If the word doesn't make any direct sense or meaning, then it is concocted into something else or twisted into a 'proper' Yoruba word or sentence.

You are right. It could come from anywhere but in this case, the account of ile ibinu came from Bini traditional historians. And they have acknowledged it was Oranmiyan that gave them that name.

Yoruba and Benin Kingdom: Ile Ife The Final Resting Place of History
By
Kunle I Sowunmi
kshoid@2wayexports.com


Introduction

The first edition of this article was titled “Yoruba and Benin Kingdom The Missing Gap of History” following the Statement credited to Oba Ereduwa Omonoba Polopolo, that the Yoruba race originated from Benin Kingdom, was very rich in details and calls for re-examination by historians of high repute from all the Nigerian Universities and recognized institutions not from uneducated and bias sources of chambers or shrines of some Obas or traditional rulers as presently being envisaged or contemplated. The statement from Ooni of Ife disputing the fact of Oba of Benin was not strong enough or capable of influencing any academic exercise. The statement from the two kings and the follow up from Oba of Lagos and host of others had generated lots of discussion worldwide but some questions still remain unanswered. This has given this writer the opportunity to further ask questions hopefully it will lead to getting the solution about the source of the Yoruba and Edo with the publication of this second edition now titled “Ile Ife the final Resting place of History”.

I was often fascinated by the different versions of uncoordinated folk stories we were told about the origin of the Yoruba. As a very young Yoruba man from Abeokuta I was told Oduduwa was the first man created by God just like the Bible said Adam and Eve were the first to be created by God. The Bible says Cain the only surviving child of Adam and Eve went to another city called Nod to marry his wife. The question is who created the wife, the wife parent or the family of the in-law if any. Just like I asked in my innocent mind as a student in the primary school then who created Oduduwa and how did Oduduwa marry his wife? Where did parent of the wife of Oduduwa come from? My Teacher never told me the answer. We were even told Oduduwa was the son of one Lamurudu from Far East most likely Saudi Arabia and that some of Yoruba cousin can be found in Uganda infact they call the Yorubas in Uganda Akarabas, which is true. Most of these uncoordinated conflicting stories were very difficult to prove or be binding on history for any academic minds.

The Genesis of the Yorubas

Oduduwa had sixteen children we were told and the eldest was Orangun of Ila and the Egbas in Abeokuta were descendants of the female child of Oduduwa named Alaketu. None ever disputed the fact that Oranmiyan the last born of Oduduwa also ruled the Benin Kingdom. Why did Benin or Edos allowed the last child of Oduduwa to be made a king over them or his descendants through Eweka 1st, if there was no blue blood connection? Oba of Benin gave a detail account of fact of history that are very difficult to dispute. The Yoruba share so many things in common with the Edo’s in names and culture, which must be part of the reason why it is very difficult to dispute the version Omo noba polo polo Oba of Benin.

Again, in the Bible, Adam and Eve who were believed to be the first human creation by God never told or shown Cain the only surviving child the Garden of Eden where God created them, just like Oduduwa never shown the place and real evidence how he was created by God. The idea of a rain and dove as the method of earth creation sounds more like magic than real. Archeologically, the Yoruba race is not more than 2000 years meaning other tribes excited before the Oduduwa appearance. None availability of any other serious fact to negate this lend credibility to Oba Benin’s version in which he the Oba of Benin himself has not proved positively where the Edo’s also came from. Did the Edo’s also come from heaven? Or emerged from the Igbos that often regarded themselves as the lost tribe of Israel? Why does is necessary to bury the head of any late Oba of Benin at Ile Ife or why is it compulsory to receive the blessing of Ooni before a King or Oba is crowned in Benin. All these are missing gaps of facts and history, which the academic institutions must trash.

Aside fro

proxillin:


Ile-Ife was a spiritual center. Ife is not meant to fight any war. Ile-Ife was like a church.

Oyo was the administrative center. Thats why its fights wars.

Even the Agbekoya war. Ile-Ife did not openly cooperate with Ekiti-Ijesha alliance
You need to get these basics.

Spiritual centre indeed. A city must have military no matter the truce you signed. that isn't an excuse not to have a standing army or a reserve army

ajademola2000:
They are not weak, they are meek people and that doesn't mean they are weak.

meek indeed

Yoruba oba i stand by my ranking!

This does not call for battle

Oba (ruler)
ABOUT:
Oba is the word for King in the Yoruba language of contemporary West Africa Nigeria. Kings in Yorubaland are known as Obas, for example Oba Sijuade of Ile ife, Oba Aromoralan of Ijeshaland, Oba Adeyemi of Oyo, Oba Eriediewa of Benin. The Benin people adopted the word from the Yoruba. The Benin word for King is Ogie or Ogiso changed to Oba when Eweka l son of yoruba prince Oranmiyan came to the throne in Benin.

.

Benin will neva accept dey came from Yoruba lailai, awon Omo odudua

kaybababa:
Oba (ruler)
ABOUT:
Oba is the word for King in the Yoruba language of contemporary West Africa Nigeria. Kings in Yorubaland are known as Obas, for example Oba Sijuade of Ile ife, Oba Aromoralan of Ijeshaland, Oba Adeyemi of Oyo, Oba Eriediewa of Benin. The Benin people adopted the word from the Yoruba. The Benin word for King is Ogie or Ogiso changed to Oba when Eweka l son of yoruba prince Oranmiyan came to the throne in Benin.

pls let them know oooo, Benin row sayin oba is Benin language, that Yoruba adopted it

Yoruba ppl dn cme agn?? Benin ix not Yoruba but they conquered Yoruba.

9jacrip:


Bini was never an empire, a kingdom, yes.

Bini that couldn't even conquer Owo, her neighbour. The Bini whose hold on Lagos was limited to the island while the Otto, Ikate, Iru, Ikorodu, Epe all thrived.

All that Bini has to show is her artworks and guess what? These artworks still shows heavy Ife influences on Bini.

Thank you.

Lol. At least Europeans who followed Oba of Benin to war to observe have different account in their diary.

Even some Owo historians admit that even though Benin defeated Owo, Owo kept much of its autonomy. Now the level of leniency when negotiating terms of surrender depends on various things link blood relationships/previous intermarriage, bitterness of the war, etc.

Except you have a new research finding that Benin wasn't an empire, your attempt at trying to reduce Benin greatness and influence will make no dent at all. Please bring forward your new research.

Benin knew how to fight war, what was important, what could be maintained in terms of topography, corridor of supplies, etc. While go fighting in insignificant areas or opening up large war fronts?

Napoleon & Hitler, though almost 150 years apart, both made one and same mistake: Opening up a gargantuan war front in bitterly cold Russia. It decimated their soldiers mercilessly in winter.

For a relatively modest core Benin tribe, it needed soldiers from its imperial provinces and paid mercenaries to fight. Cleverness in choosing battle fronts was paramount.

Benin & Oyo were the only really influential empires in the South/South-Eastern part of West Africa, from about the middle of 15th century towards end of 19th century. Both (Oyo & Benin) set their boundary at Otun, which is now part of Northern Ekiti.

FYI, I have blood links to both Owo & Benin.

dontea:
Benin will neva accept dey came from Yoruba lailai, awon Omo odudua

And reason is because they didn't come from Yoruba. We are at least educated people.

Anthropological & philological research do not put Yoruba & Benin in same language group, though both are East Kwa/Volta-Niger languages (West-Benue-Congo) of Niger-Congo language family like Igbo, Fon, & Ewe in Ghana. Yoruba & Benin diverted from a proto language long ago, almost when Ewe, Igbo, & Fon did. Proximity meant certain words were assimilated both ways.


Benin people like me with known links to Yorubaland are very proud of it and kept a lot of the culture.

Anybody with royal blood knows they are related to Ooni of Ife.

Benin was an Imperial City and Igbo, Yoruba, Ijaw and many others from provinces came to live there.

Benin is not so much a tribe but a nation with common history & culture.

Most Yoruba people who argue here online have never lived in Benin and know nothing about the place.

While Yoruba see Ododuwa as some superhuman mythical being, the Benins (not Binis, such exists not despite widespread misspelling), see him as a real person, a Benin prince who suffered adversity/injustice, anguish, pain, desperation, hopelessness until providence finally smiled on him in Ife.

To make him superhuman takes away from his suffering as a human being and even dehumanises him.

AreaFada2:


Lol. At least Europeans who followed Oba of Benin to war to observe have different account in their diary.

Even some Owo historians admit that even though Benin defeated Owo, Owo kept much of its autonomy. Now the level of leniency when negotiating terms of surrender depends on various things link blood relationships/previous intermarriage, bitterness of the war, etc.

Except you have a new research finding that Benin wasn't an empire, your attempt at trying to reduce Benin greatness and influence will make no dent at all. Please bring forward your new research.

Benin knew how to fight war, what was important, what could be maintained in terms of topography, corridor of supplies, etc. While go fighting in insignificant areas or opening up large war fronts?

Napoleon & Hitler, though almost 150 years apart, both made one and same mistake: Opening up a gargantuan war front in bitterly cold Russia. It decimated their soldiers mercilessly in winter.

For a relatively modest core Benin tribe, it needed soldiers from its imperial provinces and paid mercenaries to fight. Cleverness in choosing battle fronts was paramount.

Benin & Oyo were the only really influential empires in the South/South-Eastern part of West Africa, from about the middle of 15th century towards end of 19th century. Both (Oyo & Benin) set their boundary at Otun, which is now part of Northern Ekiti.

FYI, I have blood links to both Owo & Benin.

Congratulations on having blood links of both places.

Now to business.

- You Bini folks are quick to reference Portugal(uese) recorded forgetting they chronicled what happened during their contact and in no way lends credence to what the record was in the past. So, if you'll school me, what wars did Portuguese record?

- There's no negotiation between the conqueror and the conquered. If Bini had to negotiate with the Owo it conuered then they must have been at par.

- Owo historians generally believe Owo to be the only town in existence that has never been conquered since its first dynasty. This is not to say there were no attempts by Bini but they were repelled and Owo retained her independence and autonomy.

- Maybe we need to look up the definition of 'empire' and use it as our launching pad for this discussion. Bini did not conquer large expanse of land encompassing different cultures and tongues. Bini set up an outpost on Lagos Island pepper farm where no one occupied. It didn't colonize the awori settlements all over all over Lagos. Historians world over refer Bini as a kingdom, only Bini writers refer to it as 'Empire'. I wonder where the empire started from and ended.

Here:

'An empire is a multi-ethnic or multinational state with political and/or military dominion of populations who are culturally and ethnically distinct from the imperial (ruling) ethnic group and its culture.'

Does this apply to Bini?

Oyo would have remained a kingdom, going as far as Togo changed the game.