There are two demeaning and insulting names that the Fulani gave to Southerners: “Nyamiri” (meaning ‘fetcher of water’) in reference to the people of the South-East and “Yoruba” in reference to the people of the South-West.

The South-East rejected that name but the South-West accepted it. The name “Yoruba” derives from “Yoruba” and it means “shady and unreliable”. I reject that strange name and label and I hope and pray that the good people of South Western Nigeria will see the wisdom in doing so, too.

I am not a “Yoruba” or “Yoruba” but an “Omo Karo Jire” or an “Ooduwan” and my language is not “Yoruba” but “Anago”. We are what we call ourselves. We are not “shady and unreliable” (Yoruba) and we must not accept names that are given to us by our historical adversaries.

Any Omo Karo Jire or Ooduwan that continues to call himself a “Yoruba” is lost and does not know the implication of what he is doing to his own people. He is simply affirming and confirming an insulting label which has deep sinister, mystical and spiritual connotations.

The word “Yoruba” did not even exist until the 18th century and even then most of the tribes of the South-West, including the Oyo’s, rejected it due to its origin and meaning. The word “Yoruba” is alien to our culture and not known in the Anago language. Ooduwans please take note.

The first time the word “Yoruba” was used as a generic term for all people of the South-West was in the 19th century by Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. He did us a great disservice there given the fact that it derives from the word “Yoruba” which the Fulani used to describe our people.

READ MORE: https://thebelltimesng.com/2019/10/23/we-are-sons-and-daughters-of-oduduwa-not-yorubas-by-femi-fani-kayode-2/