LastSurvivor11:
Afonja can never be trusted..

Even his people don't trust him..
They can do anything to please there masters in detriment to his people..

Commandoabdul:
The Oluwo of Iwoland in Osun State, Oba
Abdulrasheed Akanbi, said on March 31 that he
should henceforth be addressed as "Emir of
Iwoland" (he later declared himself “Emir of
Yorubaland” before saying he only meant that
Hausa people could call him that if they
wanted). This provoked a gratuitous cyber fight
between Yorubas and Hausa Muslims. The Oba
was derided by Yoruba people as taking on a
“Hausa title,” and Hausa people became the
target of derision. This, of course, ignited strong
reactions from Hausa people.
This intervention is merely linguistic; it is not
intended to justify the Oba’s choice of “Emir” as
his title. I personally think that the Oba is either
being deliberately provocative or is literally out
of his mind. When I watched a video of him
insulting a whole host of people and wildly
gesticulating in ways that, in my opinion,
demeaned his status as the king of a people, I
thought he needed more help than attacks.
Having said that, his use of the term “emir” to
refer to himself isn’t nearly the linguistic
sacrilege his critics think it is. Here is why:
1."Emir" is NOT a Hausa word. It's actually an
English word by way of the Arabic " amir," which
simply means ruler or leader or commander. So,
in a literal linguistic sense, every Oba, Obi, Sarki,
Suno, Tor, Ochi, Olu, etc. is an "emir."
As I pointed out in my June 15, 2014 column
titled, “A Pragmatic Analysis of ‘Emir,’ ‘Sarki,’
‘Oba’ and ‘Chief’ in Nigerian English,” the word
“emir” didn’t come directly into English from
Arabic. It was first domesticated in French as
“émir" before it was loaned to the English
language in 1593. (As the reader can see, the
English rendering of the word is unaltered from
French, except for the dropping of the grave
accent on the letter “e.”)
So “emir” has been an English word for more
than 400 years, that is, at least 200 years
before the Usman Dan Fodio jihad and about the
time Islam became widespread in Hausaland,
Yorubaland and elsewhere in Nigeria.
Another prominent, widely used derivative of
“ amir” in English is “admiral.” It is derived from
the Arabic " amir-ul-bahr ,” which translates as
“commander of the sea.” ( Amir ul or amir al
translates roughly as “commander of”). So if
you think “emir” is a Hausa word, what do you
think of “admiral” since it shares the same
lexical origins are “emir”? Like “emir,” admiral
was also first domesticated in French as
“ amiral ” and came to English as “admiral”
around the early 1200s.
It should be admitted, though, that although
“emir” is an English word with lexical roots in
Arabic, it’s often associated with Muslim rulers,
and evokes connotations of Hausa-Fulani
Muslim overlordship in Nigeria. I think that’s the
basis for the resistance against the title among
Yoruba nationalists. The successors to the
prophet of Islam (called khalifa or “Caliphs” in
Islamic literature) were often called “ amir-ul-
muminin,” which roughly translates as
commander of the faithful (i.e., Muslim
faithful).
(Interestingly, Hausa people don’t call the most
prominent traditional ruler in the Muslim north
the "Sultan of Sokoto"; they call him “ Sarkin
Musulumi ,” which translates as leader of
Muslims—obviously a domestication of “amir-ul-
muminin”; it’s also more natural for Hausa
speakers to say “ daular Usmaniyya ” than to say
“Sokoto Caliphate”).
2. Hausa people call their traditional rulers
"Sarki," not "Emir." (Ironically, "Seriki," the
Yoruba domestication of Sarki, is a common
Yoruba personal name, and even appears in
titles like " seriki adinni of Yorubaland," which
means the leader of religion/Islam in
Yorubaland). So both the Oba and his critics are
wrong in thinking that “emir” is a Hausa title.
The ethnic binaries Yoruba nationalists erect to
call attention to the absurdity of his change of
royal title would have been justified if he had
addressed himself as the “Sarki of Iwoland” or
the “Sarki of Yorubaland.”
3. It is unnatural for Hausa people to call their
traditional rulers "emir"—or even the original
Arabic "amir"—when they speak Hausa. It was
British colonialists who introduced the words
"emir" and "sultan" to northern Nigerian royal
lexical repertoire, but the words haven't even
been domesticated in the Hausa language,
showing that the people aren't quite enthused
about them. Saying “emir” or “sultan” while
speaking Hausa is generally understood as
code-mixing, that is, interspersing a
conversation with foreign words.
4. Similarly, in their quotidian conversational
encounters, Ilorin people call their "emir" Oba,
even though the "Oba" traces ancestral descent
from Fulani people. The market near the emir of
Ilorin's palace is called " oja oba," which means
"market of the oba" in Yoruba.
The following was my recounting of the
sociolinguistic complexity of the term “emir” in
Ilorin in my June 15, 2014 column:
“That is why Yoruba nationalists who want to
‘reclaim’ Ilorin resent the labeling of the
traditional ruler of the town as ‘Emir of Ilorin.’
Every so often, Yoruba cultural nationalists
spearhead the advocacy for the appointment of
an ‘Oba of Ilorin.’
“When I was a reporter for the Weekly Trust in
2000 I was assigned to cover a controversy over
the calls for an ‘Oba of Ilorin.’ In the course of
my investigation, I spoke with people from all
classes of the Ilorin society.
“One thing that struck me throughout my stay in
Ilorin for the story was that everybody in the
town, including members of the ruling family,
called their traditional ruler ‘Oba’ when they
spoke in Yoruba. ‘Emir’ sounded strange, even
forced. Like Hausa people up north, the Ilorin
people don’t relate well to the word ‘emir’
unless they are putting on airs or speaking in
English.
“A particularly insightful encounter for me was
an interview I had with an old, uneducated man
who identified himself as a descendant of
Afonja, the Yoruba founder of Ilorin who lost
power to the progenitor of the current ruling
family. I asked him if he wanted an ‘Oba of
Ilorin.’ He was genuinely befuddled. His
response, in Yoruba, was: ‘What are you talking
about? We already have an Oba.’ Using the
categories that have been popularized by the
Nigerian news media, I said, ‘No, you don’t have
an Oba; you have an emir.’ His comeback threw
me off. He didn’t know what an emir was. ‘Kilo
je be ? [what is that?],’ he said.
“That was when it dawned on me that ‘emir’ is
an English word that only western-educated
northerners use to refer to their traditional rulers
when they speak in English. Just like Hausa
speakers call their traditional rulers ‘sarki,’ Ilorin
people call theirs ‘oba.’ Every Ilorin person calls
the emir’s palace ‘ile Oba’ (which literally
translates as ‘the Oba’s house’). The biggest
market in Ilorin, which is close to the emir’s
palace, is called Oja Oba,’ which translates as
'the market of the Oba.'
“So ‘emir’ is rarely used in Ilorin—as in other
northern Muslim places—outside official
communication and in English-medium
conversations. A more appropriate question for
the old man should have been “do you want an
Oba who is Yoruba rather than this Oba whose
ancestors are Fulani?” I actually did rephrase
my question like that after realizing that the old
man couldn’t relate to the term ‘emir.’”
5. The roots of Islam in Iwo go back to several
centuries. The town had sharia courts and was
the center of Islamic scholarship several
decades before many northern Muslim
communities. Perhaps it is the basis for the
Oba’s decision to bear the title “emir.” The
colonialists who imposed the term “emir” on
northern Muslim traditional rulers could have
called Muslims obas in Yorubaland "emir" if they
wanted to, and it would have stuck.
Consider this: The very name “Yoruba” isn't
native to the Yoruba people, as I've written in
several columns; it's a colonial imposition,
which Ajayi Crowder helped to popularize. The
colonialists actually toyed with the name
"Nago" (the name of a Yoruba subgroup in
Benin Republic) but later chose “Yoruba,” which
is the corruption of Yoruba, the Songhai exonym
for people in the old Oyo Empire.
Even the Oduduwa myth of origin that Yoruba
people cherish about themselves came about as
a colonial project to foster a sense of oneness
among members of the cognate but
nonetheless disparate language groups that now
fancy themselves as Yoruba. (The colonialists
wanted to reduce Nigeria's ethnic and linguistic
complexity to just three ethnic groups, which
was unsuccessful. They also promoted the
Bayyagida myth and several other myths of
origin in Nigeria. I know this will be hard to
accept, but it's true).
Anyone who chose your very collective name
and fostered a collective identity where none
existed before could have done anything. The
colonialists (although it's the Portuguese) called
Eko "Lagos," and that's what we still call it
today. The colonialists decided that Yoruba
people in parts of what is now Kwara and Kogi
would be northerners, and that's what they are
today. So don't discount the power of
colonialists to shape identities. Had they chosen
to call obas emirs, that's what they would have
been.

immhotep:

The spirit of Afonja is alive and active.

cc lzaa onyeoga

SamuelAnyawu:

Dedicating this FTC to my Humble Senator and Chairman Senate Ethics Committee.. Senator Samuel Anyanwu in Whom the Imolites are well pleased With

My Governor Imo2019

revontuli:


What does afonja mean? I see that word thrown around a lot.

Daviddson:
New and high school Nairalanders are celebrating a so-called FTC and you too, who has been here, is doing same. I don't want to ask how old you are - because I 'know' it.

revontuli:


What does afonja mean? I see that word thrown around a lot.

igirabata123:
Yahoo king, that can't differentiate between a religion and traditional positions.

Firgemachar:


How can Oba be an Edo word

Are you mad

It is your father that is useless.

prolog2:

In each kingdom all around the world, the king has a title.


England: King
France: Roi
Egypt: Pharoe
Russia: Tzar
Benin: Oba
Eko: Eleko
ife: ooni
oyo: alafin


I hope you get it now.

Firgemachar:


You don't even know your history.

Firgemachar:


The Bini used to have Ogiso until Oranmiyan came over to establish the current Obaship dynasty.

Firgemachar:


Oba is not a title in Yoruba land. Rather, it is the Yoruba translation for king.

prolog2:
You really believe that I have never heard what you are about to say ?

What you are quoting is not history, it is a fairy tale. I'm tired with yoruba...you guys are just too dumb.

Firgemachar:


How can you call that a fairy tale How did Eweka come about? Don't you have history books Didn't you take Nigerian Peoples and Cultures (GST101) back in university?
Were you a truant

prolog2:
So, it is not a fairy tale because your "historybook" said it ?
How old are you ?
Please toddlers identify yourselves as such.

Firgemachar:


History book is not the same as story book.
You are the toddler here.
Did you do GST in school

prolog2:

what is a "historybook" ?
Let me guess, you have never been to any university.
No university-educated person would quote "historybooks" while talking about history.
Why then did you think you, a toddler, had all the answers ?
Don't you know that you still have a lot to learn ?

Firgemachar:


The last time I checked, History is a course of study in a number of our universities.
So what academic materials do they use there

Are you this dull

prolog2:
Children read "historybooks" whereas adults read .
You are a toddler.

Firgemachar:


Mtchewwww

So 'historical documents and archeological discoveries' alone are all what history students study for 4 years? No books?

You dull gan o.

prolog2:
In my universities (when I was a student), the professors gave lectures and later on turned those lectures into books which they published.
Lecturers often teach things on which they are conducting research and publishing books about.
University is not like secondary school.
You have been bursted, you are a toddler. Now stop.

Firgemachar:


Rubbish!

Oranmiyan established the current Benin dynasty.

I have several read history books at home.
Read several materials online.
And then I took GST back in school.

The fact has been reiterated severally.

Edo is nothing without Yoruba.

prolog2:
Go to bed kid.
Like this you could dream about the fantastic world which you are talking about.
I hope you know that even the yorubacentric adults can clearly see that you are a toddler who doesn't know what he is talking about.

kazyhm:


i cannot join you while wallowing in this you belief system.........liberate yourself first then we can work in harmony