I would like to add that for the Yoruba folks, apart from praise poems and such, notable events are etched in cultural festivals and coronations.
To understand the origins of Oduduwa one may need to investigate the legacies he left behind or those legacies that are said to be connected to him. An instance is the Ooni’s coronation. Once a candidate has been selected by the combined efforts of the Otun & Osi Ife, the procession for coronation begins at Oke Ora. The Ooni-elect will go to Oke-Ora (he used to spend a number of days back in the days), eat certain things & dress a certain way, then walks down from Oke Ora with certain people (who are now chiefs), he takes a certain pathway and stops over at certain compounds where he is joined one by oneby certain people and led to the first place Oduduwa was settled called Idio.
In specific terms, looking at festivals in Ile-Ife where lineages are strictly founded by deities and thus reflecting on the structural planning of the town. One may need to look at festivals and one of such notable examples is Odun Idio (Oduduwa festival) which features Idio group (those who were Oduduwa’s people) and Aloran/Omitoto group led by Obaloran who was one of Oduduwa’s sons who is hardly ever talked about.
Also, one would find that certain families/compounds derive their relevance from the roles their ancestors played alongside other deities - this is besides the families started by major deities. One of such notable figures is Ejio, Oramfe’s son. Ejio was one of the few people who knew Oduduwa & his groups were coming. And on the day Oduduwa decided to walk down from his abode, Ejio was thhe first to walk down a certain path to receive him and led him to a certain quarter where he was settled (Other quarters rejected the idea of the re-division of lands to accommodate hill settlers who wanted access to the fertile land for farming). This Ejio is the progenitor of Obajio.
Another notable personage was Orunto. He spear-headed the unification of the fragmented autonomous communities into a single unit. He was one of the notable figures of the pre-Ife period who would rather have a unified system with a centralized government than a scattered one. He succeeded and became Obalufe (Oba of Ife).
If you look at the Ooni’s chiefs to the right, the Obalufe, Obajio, Obaloran are chiefs/town kings who co-rule with Ife. The essence of their positions stem from their place in Ife early history. The latter additions of Akogun (added during Oranmiyan’s time), Ejesi, Waasin & Jagunosin were added during Ademiluyi & Osinkola’s times respectively.
In conclusion, Oduduwa did not migrate from Mecca. The Mecca migration theory is Oyo’s history of Oduduwa. It is Oyo’s attempt at reconstructing Ooni’s position as that of a chief priest of slave progeny in order to catapult their own king, the Alaafin, to the fore of Yoruba monarchy. Looking at the history of Ile-Ife, none of the legacies left behind during the Oduduwa period reflects Mecca or Bini, everything is totally local. The festivals and historical re-enactments are considered evidences enough in Historiography. Thank you & pardon my intrusion.
I would like to add that for the Yoruba folks, apart from praise poems and such, notable events are etched in cultural festivals and coronations.
To understand the origins of Oduduwa one may need to investigate the legacies he left behind or those legacies that are said to be connected to him. An instance is the Ooni’s coronation. Once a candidate has been selected by the combined efforts of the Otun & Osi Ife, the procession for coronation begins at Oke Ora. The Ooni-elect will go to Oke-Ora (he used to spend a number of days back in the days), eat certain things & dress a certain way, then walks down from Oke Ora with certain people (who are now chiefs), he takes a certain pathway and stops over at certain compounds where he is joined one by oneby certain people and led to the first place Oduduwa was settled called Idio.
In specific terms, looking at festivals in Ile-Ife where lineages are strictly founded by deities and thus reflecting on the structural planning of the town. One may need to look at festivals and one of such notable examples is Odun Idio (Oduduwa festival) which features Idio group (those who were Oduduwa’s people) and Aloran/Omitoto group led by Obaloran who was one of Oduduwa’s sons who is hardly ever talked about.
Also, one would find that certain families/compounds derive their relevance from the roles their ancestors played alongside other deities - this is besides the families started by major deities. One of such notable figures is Ejio, Oramfe’s son. Ejio was one of the few people who knew Oduduwa & his groups were coming. And on the day Oduduwa decided to walk down from his abode, Ejio was thhe first to walk down a certain path to receive him and led him to a certain quarter where he was settled (Other quarters rejected the idea of the re-division of lands to accommodate hill settlers who wanted access to the fertile land for farming). This Ejio is the progenitor of Obajio.
Another notable personage was Orunto. He spear-headed the unification of the fragmented autonomous communities into a single unit. He was one of the notable figures of the pre-Ife period who would rather have a unified system with a centralized government than a scattered one. He succeeded and became Obalufe (Oba of Ife).
If you look at the Ooni’s chiefs to the right, the Obalufe, Obajio, Obaloran are chiefs/town kings who co-rule with Ife. The essence of their positions stem from their place in Ife early history. The latter additions of Akogun (added during Oranmiyan’s time), Ejesi, Waasin & Jagunosin were added during Ademiluyi & Osinkola’s times respectively.
In conclusion, Oduduwa did not migrate from Mecca. The Mecca migration theory is Oyo’s history of Oduduwa. It is Oyo’s attempt at reconstructing Ooni’s position as that of a chief priest of slave progeny in order to catapult their own king, the Alaafin, to the fore of Yoruba monarchy. Looking at the history of Ile-Ife, none of the legacies left behind during the Oduduwa period reflects Mecca or Bini, everything is totally local. The festivals and historical re-enactments are considered evidences enough in Historiography. Thank you & pardon my intrusion.
Movingon: Normally I try my best to ignor stupidity but in this case I will make an exception for posterity sake. Now LISTEN CAREFULLY
The oba of benin is far & above the oni of ife. He went to see Prince Charsle for a valid & concrete reason unlike some other kings and if you must compare him with any yoruba kings it should be the Alafin of oyo who is truly thr number one king of the yorubas not the oni who's stool never attained the status of an empire & traditional is just a traditional priest who the british later coined to become a king. If you look closely you will see other kings staff being told to wait behind but the oba of benin's stood at his back firmly portraying the kings supreme authority and also you should be reminded that the kingdom of ife originates from benin. If you want to argue go ask ODUDUWA or any of your truthful Elders. That being said the BENIN EMPIRE in all its regin & glory never imposed its tradition & language on its subjects rather free will & kindness was always the order of the day. All that was needed was for the fallen kingdom in quote must become subservient & pay the require royalty to the CAPITAL & its KING. this mistake made the benin language to be exclusive to the benin people & not the entire empire. This is was diminished the benins after the fall of their empire & of course in todays nigeria, priority is given to major tribes based on their population & the number of states they occupy & as you know it comprises of the fortunate yorubas. This favours the oni much more than the oba. Then again what you are seeing are the first class kings in mordern day Nigeria & they are as well representing their geo political zones of which the oba is from the south south & the oni from the south west. For the avoidance of doubts there is body of NIGERIA TRADITIONAL RULERS & in this body again by the standards I have explained the Sultan of Sokoto & the Oni of Ife are the Co chairmen while the OBA of BENIN is the SECRETARY. All this are facts which can be easily verified if you are willing to know the truth but if you are still confused by their sitting arrangements then I bid you GOODBYE.... & GOOD RADIANCE. ....
This your post is stupid but I will interpret the picture for u..
First, the sitting arrangement was done by the British. They prefer to have their loyal subject/slave (Oni) who they conquered easily without a fight sitted besides the prince and have the formidable adversary who battled them to a standstill sitted at the back.
Secondly; from the picture you can see that it’s only the Oba of Benin that has his symbol of authority and power by his side.. the Oni’s own was chased far away from Oni. It shows that while the Oba of Benin is still recognized and revered, the Oni is not.
To the Oni, sitting besides the prince is a great achievement that is why he is smiling like a boy boy.
You've basically provided no reason, proof, or evidence to substantiate your claim that the Oba of Benin is greater; so it is as good as you didn't say anything at all. It's called empty claims that doesn't hold water.
However, listen to the confession of the present Oba of Benin during his two days visit to Osun State earlier this year, where he also paid homage at the "Orun Oba 'Do" shrine (where many Benin kings were buried) in Ile Ife.
He stated that Oranmiyan from Ife became the first Oba of Benin. This clearly means that the KINGDOM known today as BENIN was founded by an Ife man.
See video link below from time 13:22 to time 13:41 for evidence:
Furthermore, the European chroniclers who stayed in and around Benin for about 500 years (from generation to generation) documented based on Benin traditions that:
The Oba of Benin regards the Ooni of Ife as his "spiritual overlord".
Hence, according to Benin traditions documented by these Europeans (Portugese particularly), not only does the Oba of Benin consider the Ooni of Ife to be superior, he actually considers the Ooni to be a god for him.
These ancient accounts of the Europeans does actually indicate that, to compare any monarch in ancient times (in sub-Saharan Africa at least) with the Ooni is actually considered sacrilegious even according to Benin traditions.
Guess what! The word "Oghene" used for "God" today in some languages of Southern Nigeria is actually based on a Portugese rendering of the royal title of the monarchs of Ife "Oghne" (from: "Ooni" ).
This is not to say that I consider any Ooni of Ife to be God almighty, no. It is only to indicate the high reverence that the Ooni's throne is accorded by other monarchs in this region of the world in ancient times.
This information can be found in the account of these Europeans (most notably the 15th century Portugese seafarer Joao Afonso de Aveiro) documenting the Benin traditions
