https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWE9lDL3nhQ

Before the name Nigeria came into formal use in the early 1800s, each geographical region in the north
and in the south existed independently. A British journalist from the London Times Newspaper, named
Flora Shaw, was the first person to suggest the use of the name Nigeria. She suggested the name Nigeria
on 8 January 1897

As the title ‘Royal Niger Company’s Territories’ is not only inconvenient to use, but, to some
extent, is also misleading, it may be permissible to coin a shorter title for agglomeration of
pagan [southern parts] and Mohammedan states [northern parts] which has been brought,
by the exertions of the Royal Niger Company, within the confines of a British Protectorate
and thus need for the first time in their history to be described as an entity by some general
name.

In 1897, Frederick Lugard, a British Brigadier-General, came to West Africa and married Flora Shaw. He
came to West Africa as a member of staff in the British government. Lugard so loved the name Nigeria, as
suggested by Shaw, that he bestowed the name Northern Nigeria to the Northern protectorate, which comprised of the region occupied by the Royal Niger Company. The official naming ceremony of Nigeria took place on 1st January 1900. In order to promote the use of the name Nigeria, as initiated by Shaw, an editor of the African Mail, E.D. Morel published a book in 1912 entitled Nigeria: Its Peoples and Problems.

The amalgamation of the Southern and the Northern protectorates of the Nigerian territories
by the British government in Nigeria took place on 1st January 1914, which resulted in the official naming
of the entire country as Nigeria. Since the beginning of the 18th century CE, the people of the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria were more
advanced in the acquisition of formal education and in international exposure, mainly due to the presence
of British imperialists and Christian missionaries in the region, who supported the educational training of
many local people. Murray believed that the amalgamation of the various regions of Nigeria not only
facilitated equal opportunities for all citizens of the protectorates, but also served to “balance the
administrative deficits in the north with the surpluses from the south.

Despite the amalgamation, the two halves remained quite distinct culturally, commercially and administratively. Today, Nigeria as a nation
is divided into six geo-political zones; South-South, South-East, South-West, North-Central, North-West
and North-East. The Yoruba occupy the South-West region of Nigeria.
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https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1a3e/ca94f54393270cd2ca13682d6512014807b4.pdf
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The South-West-region of Nigeria, which the Yoruba occupy, comprises of six states or provinces which
includes Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo. Indigenous Yoruba people are also found in Kogi and
Kwara states of North-Central Nigeria.

The Yoruba of Nigeria alone are about 35 to 40 million people, thus making it one of the largest ethnic groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. There
are many Yoruba people that are also indigenes of Benin Republic and Togo. Professor Ade Dopamu described the Yoruba as a people who would not forfeit their culture and beliefs despite their geographical distribution.

Individual Yoruba regard the history of their families and lineages as vital aspects of life. The Yoruba believe that the documentation of their history is not just the responsibility of Yoruba elites but “…everybody’s business. In Yoruba societies, a person is regarded as a fool if they have no historical
knowledge of their family background.