Nowenuse:
Ilorin city is not a yoruba city ethnically. U have yorubas, yorubanized hausas and yorubanuzed fulanis and pure fulanis and pure hausas who speak yoruba as a second language as co owners of the city.

Infact when u talk of Ilorin emirate which includes Moro and Asa LGAs, native nupe speakers are now included as part of Ilorin emirate. So Ilorin emirate which includes the 3 LGAs that make up Ilorin city + Moro & Asa LGAs is a multi ethnic kingdom.

Nowenuse:


Yes, thank God u said 'historically' hausa. Now, a new identity called Hausa-fulani has emerged and most hausas and hausanized fulanis are okay with their new identity.
Both pure fulanis, hausanized fulanis and hausas are now co and equal owners of katsina, so no single ethnicity has rights over the city

uwagimboo:
It's true, they re not criminals but blood sucking vampires..

Emir Ndi ara..

AjaanaOka:


You do know that people still regard all these places - Katsina, Kano, Zaria, etc - as Hausaland, and no one has a problem with that. Even other Fulanis, especially from the Northeast will readily tell you these places are in Hausaland.

What of Bida that also has a Fulani-descent emir and other elements of Fulani and Hausa origins? Has it stopped being a Nupe city because of that?

But you people want to make an exceptional case out of Ilorin, because of a handful of Hausa and Fulani elements that emigrated and settled in what was and still is essentially a Yoruba town.

Your bias and one-sided logic is showing.

Nowenuse:


Yes, northwest is still referred to as hausa land, but fulanis also have an equal stake in the region and can claim those places as part of fulani homeland.
Dont mind those fulanis from northeast, these are the same people who will claim that Buhari and Yar'adua are fulani men forgetting that these are northwestern hausanized fulanis and tomorrow they will say that all hausanized fulanis are hausas and that they are the real fulanis. Confusion.


See where u are making the mistake. As for the Nupes and the hausas, their whole lands are culturally incorporated into the Emirate/Sultanate system, hence this has become part of their culture and origin in entirety and they no longer have an origin independent of the emirates. This is very unlike the yorubas whom their majority populations have a traditional custom rulership as part of their culture, history, heritage and identity, so when u remove that in the case of only Ilorin, a big question mark appears as to where the identity of the people has to fall!

lawani:


All Ilorin people are Yoruba people. Is that difficult to understand? They are under Yoruba culture, whether the founders of their family compound were Fulani, Bariba, Hausa, Portuguese, English does not matter. They are now Yoruba and even their DNA will say this! Quit going up and down. In a place like Kano, there are millions of Hausas from the Yoruba quarters of the town. Abeg wise up!

Nowenuse:


All Ilorin people cannot be under yoruba culture, because yoruba identity and culture is largely defined by a traditional system of rulership where the people are purely ruled, guided, directed and united by a common traditional system. This is absent in Ilorin!
Most Ilorin indigenes see islam more as a uniting factor unlike what u may observe in other parts of yoruba land where culture is the factor of unity and religion plays a second role.
The average ilorin muslims for instance will most likely prefer a hausa, fulani or any other muslim to assume positions of leadership in their land than a fellow indigene Ilorin christian.

Culture is not just about language alone!

There is no Hausa or Fulani indigene of Ilorin. Just one Hausa compound and one Fulani compound by origin and not present identity. Both are Baloguns. Then you have Ajikobi and Alanamu who are the biggest Baloguns, then Baba Isale, Magaji Aare and etc who trace descent to Oyo, igbomina and etc. It was Ajikobi that signed the protection agreement with the British and he was the traditional ruler then. Alanamu and Ajikobi were exiled by the British. however Ilorin was ruled by Muslims in the past just like Iwo that adopted sharia. At best you say Ilorin was a Muslim state. A Yoruba Muslim state not a Fulani jihad state. A Yoruba Muslim state bounded to the North by jebba a traditional Yoruba state to the Northeast by Borgu a traditional Bariba state.

If we even talk about dressing, about half if not majority of Ilorin people dress like Northernerns than normal yoruba dressing.
Their mentality is more like middlebelt and core northern muslims.

Nowenuse:


All Ilorin people cannot be under yoruba culture, because yoruba identity and culture is largely defined by a traditional system of rulership where the people are purely ruled, guided, directed and united by a common traditional system. This is absent in Ilorin!
Most Ilorin indigenes see islam more as a uniting factor unlike what u may observe in other parts of yoruba land where culture is the factor of unity and religion plays a second role.
The average ilorin muslims for instance will most likely prefer a hausa, fulani or any other muslim to assume positions of leadership in their land than a fellow indigene Ilorin christian.

Culture is not just about language alone!

There is no Hausa or Fulani indigene of Ilorin. Just one Hausa compound and one Fulani compound by origin and not present identity. Both are Baloguns. Then you have Ajikobi and Alanamu who are the biggest Baloguns, then Baba Isale, Magaji Aare and etc who trace descent to Oyo, igbomina and etc. It was Ajikobi that signed the protection agreement with the British and he was the traditional ruler then. Alanamu and Ajikobi were exiled by the British. however Ilorin was ruled by Muslims in the past just like Iwo that adopted sharia. At best you say Ilorin was a Muslim state. A Yoruba Muslim state not a Fulani jihad state. A Yoruba Muslim state bounded to the North by jebba a traditional Yoruba state to the Northeast by Borgu a traditional Bariba state.

If we even talk about dressing, about half if not majority of Ilorin people dress like Northernerns than normal yoruba dressing.
Their mentality is more like middlebelt and core northern muslims.

lawani:


Go and make research. Not all Hausa land fell to the Fulani jihad but majority did. However, no Yoruba land or Borgu land fell to that jihad, part of Nupe fell. The Oyo empire lost territory to the jihad but no present day Yoruba land fell to the jihad. No Yoruba land was signed under British protection by a Fulani descendant and the chief Imam of Ilorin now styled Emir is of Hausa and not of Fulani descent now. Then there are some Yoruba of Hausa, Fulani, Bariba, Nupe and etc descent even in Lagos as indigenes. that does not mean Lagos or Ilorin is not a Yoruba land especially when they are bounded by Yoruba states with Obas to the North and South. This Ilorin debate is a non issue. No depth. let us see how Ilorin is a Fulani town but Jebba is not.

lawani:

There is no Hausa or Fulani indigene of Ilorin. Just one Hausa compound and one Fulani compound by origin and not present identity. Both are Baloguns. Then you have Ajikobi and Alanamu who are the biggest Baloguns, then Baba Isale, Magaji Aare and etc who trace descent to Oyo, igbomina and etc

Nowenuse:
@ lawani
I'd like to know, are u from Kwara?
I schooled with an Ilorin girl from Bello family, her mother is hausa, so she speaks yoruba and hausa fluently. She never for one day claims yoruba as her tribe. If u ask her her tribe, she just says Ilorin.

Late Abubakar Olusola Saraki, the elder statesman came out before the whole world and said that he is not a yoruba man even though his mother's tongue may be yoruba and that is how it has been with the whole Saraki family in Ilorin, as well as so many other big families and elites of Ilorin. Have u really met true indigenes of Ilorin emirate?? If not i doubt you will talk that way!
And pls when i say Ilorin indigenes, i dont mean Offa or other parts of Kwara south, i mean Kwara central (Ilorin emirate proper)?

lawani:


Let them be! Face your own land!. Where are you from in North central? I repeat no single ethnic Fulani, Hausa, Malian or Nupe in Ilorin but there are people whose compound was founded by founders from those lands. Same applies to Ilesa, even Lagos but Ilorin came under Nigeria with Ajikobi signature, an Oyo prince.


But let them be. If Ilorin joins Kano or Mali, Jebba will not. So face your own issues. Dont be caught napping! Where exactly are you from?


Then having Emirs does not mean you fell under the Fulani. Even the Obaro of Kabba was wearing a tall crown in the past to resemble a turban, even the Attah Igala and etc. So the Borgu did not at any time fall to the Fulani jihad. No present Yoruba land fell to the jihad but a fulani descendant was made chief Imam now Emir in Ilorin but now removed, replaced by a Hausa descended man. If Hausa cant be Emir in Kano, they should be one in Ilorin pending when the show will come to an end.


Then if you are intelligent, you would ask

1. Is Ilorin contiguous with Fulani controlled territory? No

2. Is Ilorin ruled by a Fulani descendant traditionally? No.

3. Was Ilorin signed under British protection by Fulanis as is the case with Hausa land? No. Ilorin was put under Britain by Balogun Ajikobi an Oyo prince.

4. Is it possible for a Yoruba Muslim city totally surrounded by Yoruba traditional states and populated by Yorubas to identify as Fula or Hausa? No. Because the people are no different from Ibadan people and Ilorin was not the only Yoruba Muslim state in history.


Please park well.

Nowenuse:


Well, i dont think it makes any difference we arguing or wasting our time about this issue because whether we argue or not, there are some facts we cannot change!

I wish the Ilorin indigenes were here to speak for themselves so that we can hear from the horses mouth directly.
So far so good, majority of the most influential families from Ilorin have never claimed to be yoruba publicly, some like the Sarakis (the most influential family from Ilorin) have publicly disclaimed yoruba identity.

I dont know if u have ever studied the emirate system of rulership and how it functions, pls go and study more about this and use hausa land as a case study. The emirate system promote religion above ethnicity and cultural values. As long as Ilorin is concerned, the traditional leadership of the land will welcome a fulani muslim from Katsina more than the average yoruba from the Southwest when it comes to issues of paramount concern, this is something alien to yoruba culture at large.


Many Ilorin indigenes, leaders and big shots who the society look up to for leadership do not participate in Pan yoruba associations, they never speak on behalf of yoruba people or yoruba issues, they do not celebrate or believe in yoruba traditional festivals and rituals and they never take pride in yoruba culture, history and origin.

If the entire yoruba leadership can accept the extreme differences of Ilorin people and the fact that most Ilorin people will take the command of the fulani controlled Sultanate and oneness as supreme or first before any yoruba influence, then thats great and i wish them goodluck.

The question then remains, what do Ilorin indigenes think of themselves? Do they prefer to declare and identify with yoruba culture and identity or the hausa fulani ones? Which do they emphasize on more? Are they perfectly Okay with the northerner tag or they wish to be united with the southwest just as Okun and Offa (Kwara south) people have been wishing? These are the questions their leaders and elders must come out to answer, it is not by any of us sitting down in our rooms and punching our keypads to declare where these people stand when in true life the case may be different.

Alas, from what we can see so far, the most influential people and traditional leaders of Ilorin tilt towards the North and northern hausa-fulani islamic union and identity than the Omo Oduduwa union and identity and this is something we cannot wish away, it is the reality on ground.

Nowenuse:
According to your theory, the Nupe speaking parts of Moro LGA (under Ilorin emirate traditional council and part of greater Ilorin urban area) are now yorubas.
Congratulations for that discovery @lawani

Nowenuse:
Ignorance is really a problem that sometimes defer treatment.

The most influential families and leaders from Ilorin have disclaimed yoruba identity publicly, deal with that @lawani

lawani:

I am speaking of Ilorin city, apparently, the pre Nigerian state of Ilorin contained some Nupe settlements. Those are not Yoruba, they are Nupe but Ilorin is Yoruba. Jebba is not under Ilorin and they are to the North 100km North of Ilorin, adjacent to them would be some Nupe. The state of Ilorin was signed under the British by balogun Ajikobi a Yoruba man. Nupe are not Yoruba, neither are Yoruba Nupe.

lawani:

Nobody in Ilorin will ever say they are Hausa, at best they say they are Ilorin, the way I will say i am Ijesa. To me, they are Oyo, not different from Ogbomoso or Ibadan. Four of the 6 Ilorin ruling families know their founders as Yorubas, other two are Hausa and Fulani. The masses are Yoruba in everything. you see ebos here and there in Ilorin at junctions. Ajikobi, Alanamu. Magaji Aare, Baba Isale do not deny their Yoruba foundation. Gambari and Fulani dont deny their Yoruba heritage. so how do you think the result of a vote will look like?.

Nowenuse:



See, stop making generalizations for God sake, u are not from Kwara and neither are you from Ilorin emirate. Me i am from neither places and i dont make generalizations about the place because i have met Ilorin indigenes who claim fulani, nupe, yoruba and ilorin tribe itself.

Read this link below and confirm, it was written by Ilorin indigenes who believe they are yoruba because they are afonja's descendants and they clearly noted the fact that their city is in identity crisis and some of their friends claim to be fulani because they are fulani descendants

http://www.thescoopng.com/femi-owolabi-akeem-addio-ilorin-the-city-wrapped-in-a-crisis-of-identity/

Dont just sit in your room in Ogbomosho and be concluding facts you know nothing about. Hear from the horse's mouth!



This is just like someone claiming that the Anioma people of Delta state are 100 % igbos, that is very wrong. The people of Anioma are mixed, some beieve they are igbos and some do not, some still speak igala, yoruba and edo as their mother's tongue in Anioma till date.

Ilorin emirate is a mixed place and nothing can change that! I have met familes from Ilorin who claim they are fulani and Nupes and you have no right to deny them the choice of their ethnicity!

Nowenuse:



See, stop making generalizations for God sake, u are not from Kwara and neither are you from Ilorin emirate. Me i am from neither places and i dont make generalizations about the place because i have met Ilorin indigenes who claim fulani, nupe, yoruba and ilorin tribe itself.

Read this link below and confirm, it was written by Ilorin indigenes who believe they are yoruba because they are afonja's descendants and they clearly noted the fact that their city is in identity crisis and some of their friends claim to be fulani because they are fulani descendants

http://www.thescoopng.com/femi-owolabi-akeem-addio-ilorin-the-city-wrapped-in-a-crisis-of-identity/

Dont just sit in your room in Ogbomosho and be concluding facts you know nothing about. Hear from the horse's mouth!

This is just like someone claiming that the Anioma people of Delta state are 100 % igbos, that is very wrong. The people of Anioma are mixed, some beieve they are igbos and some do not, some still speak igala, yoruba and edo as their mother's tongue in Anioma till date.

Ilorin emirate is a mixed place and nothing can change that! I have met familes from Ilorin who claim they are fulani and Nupes and you have no right to deny them the choice of their ethnicity!

GorkoSusaay:


Nowenuse, you should know that Lawani is a very thick guy.
He never lets facts, history and logic stand on the way of his childish mumblings.
Nice write-up on Ilorin, by the way

GorkoSusaay:


Nowenuse, you should know that Lawani is a very thick guy.
He never lets facts, history and logic stand on the way of his childish mumblings.
Nice write-up on Ilorin, by the way

lawani:


Gorkosussay who call you here now? Okay let us say other Yorubas ban Ilorin from joining them, will Ilorin now join you? Will they join Nupe or who? Even Bariba will stay alone or join Yoruba! Abeg be serious. Go and join a discussion that can bring you benefit. This one you are joining is a waste of time and energy. You have nothing to gain therein! Are you a child? The Emir of Ilorin is Hausa descent and Hausas are not even allowed to be Emirs on their own land! Abeg wise up! Ilorin will beg to join her kith and kin once Nigeria breaks up and it wont be an issue, they wont even beg, they will just join. If yoy think they will join Sokoto, then you are a sleepwalker! A deluded individual!

Nowenuse:

Abeg my brother, i hear u jare.
Some people should just be left to continue in their ignorance and self delusion.
I decline from responding to him henceforth. He does not even know the settings and division of Kwara state. He just continues saying one the same thing irrespective of the loads of fact i am dishing out to him.

lawani:
IF YOU LACK REASON, WHY NOT STAY QUIET? NIGERIA WILL SOON BREAK UP, LET US SEE HOW IT WILL BE, MAYBE FULANI WILL TAKE THE LAND OF YORUBA AND BARIBA AND NUPE THAT THEY WERE NOT CONTROLLING IN THE 19TH CENTURY! UNINTELLIGENT LOT! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE ABEG. HOW DO YOU THINK A BROKEN UP MIGERIAN SPACE WILL LOOK? WHICH NEW COUNTRIES ON WHICH LAND? WHO WILL JOIN UP WITH WHOM? SAY SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE O!

GorkoSusaay:


Watch out for the High Blood pressure Mr. Akin Lawanson

GorkoSusaay:


You're killing yourself over what happened 200 years ago. My eyes are set on the future.


This guy has a circular mindset. Once, an idea is etched into his brain, all facts and evidence MUST lead to that .
It's fun sometimes to poke at the holes in his reasoning, but I just wanted to let you know

GorkoSusaay:


Watch out for the High Blood pressure Mr. Akin Lawanson