I didnt know untill I heard the story of its formation

Pls tell us the story. I know there are Yoruboid groups in Kogi but some of them don't like being referred to as Yoruba. I think people from the Kabba area like being called yoruba.

Wow!!!! Wats the story my dear?

Nobody in nigeria is yoruba.

Ok?

tpia@:

Nobody in nigeria is yoruba.

Ok?

Yo tpia, why u keep runnin.Whats up with u,swerry?

the kogi west senatorial zone led by senator smart adeyemi is a subgroup of yoruba nation
you can see them in LGAs like yagba east and west, kabba etc

but majority of them don't like to be called youbas, they said they are OKUN---distinct from their kinsmen in the west

Sorry for keeping you waiting for this long. Here:
Very long time ago, some people were to spread out from Ile-Ife and acquire more lands, before the spread out, they were told to report once a year for meeting. At the head quarter(ile-ife). So this man that travelled to a location (now yagba). At the end of the year, He didnt show up for the yearly meeting. So the following year, he showed up. He was asked why he didnt attend the meeting the year before. He apologised and said in yoruba, ''ÌYA ÀGBÀ LÓ JEMÍ''(suffered cos of no adult). Meaning that his territory was invaded, and since he left with only young people, he suffered because there were no adults to fight for him. So others started joking with him,calling him Iya-agba. Still the name was stucked to him.

^nice story.

You should really open a different thread for things like these because this one was opened solely to cause strife.

And i have no idea why people dont consider it a priority to collate the history so the younger generation can have an idea of their heritage cos currently far too many yoruba youths (especially the ones abroad) dont know much about even their hometowns talkless other places.

afam4eva:

Pls tell us the story. I know there are Yoruboid groups in Kogi but some of them don't like being referred to as Yoruba. I think people from the Kabba area like being called yoruba.

nwaigbo_mg:

the kogi west senatorial zone led by senator smart adeyemi is a subgroup of yoruba nation
you can see them in LGAs like yagba east and west, kabba etc

but majority of them don't like to be called youbas, they said they are OKUN---distinct from their kinsmen in the west

God grant that not only the love of liberty but also a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: “This is my country.” – BenjaminFranklin.

THE Okun people, a fragment of Yoruba race, politically ceded to the Northern protectorate by visionless Lord Lugard, the Governor-General of Nigeria, constituted what was known as Kabba Division of Kabba Povince now Kogi State. This people now constitute six local government areas {namely Lokoja, Kabba/Bunu, Ijumu, Yagba East, and Yagba West} of Western Senatorial District of Kogi State.

The peope , like the Ekitis, are a fountain of knowledge producing the highest graduates, Phd holders and professors in Nigeria.

Based on their contributions to the development and progress of the Nigerian State, in spite of their apparent minority status in Kogi State, nay, in the North Central Zone of the country, their labour alongside other nationalities and ethnic groups that constitute the zone, their will to serve and live harmoniously anywhere in Nigeria, the sacrifice of their people during the civil war to keep Nigeria together, they stand firmly, wholly, committed and unequivocally in their support for the preservation and furtherance of Nigeria as one nation, they will therefore, never support the break-up of the country and will readily fight, if need be, once more, against the Balkanisation of Nigeria.

Creation of Kogi State
Some Okun indigenes, particularly the writer, rose against the move to create a Kogi State in 1987 and 1991 all because I had my secondary education in Dekina in the eastern axis of the state. When an Igala tells you ‘Omi na kaye, ma joje ma mu du’, he is telling you he would consume whatever is available in his surrounding. And true to type, happenings at state creation shows that the Igalas remain the consumers of all the goodies meant for the state, marginalising other ethnic groups, capitalising on so-called high population.

History of Kabba Province
Kabba Province embraced Akoko and Owo Districts until Chief Obafemi Awolowo fought for their harnessing with the southwest. There were three native authorities, namely, Kabba, Yagba and Kotonkarfe in Western Senatorial District, leaving Igala and Igbirra Divisions with one each till the mid-sixties. It is surprising the manipulation of the Igalas’ population to have overshadowed the other two senatorial districts’ in the 1991 population census. And progression in population figure in ten years is said to be five percent.

Position of the Okun People
The Okun people as of February, 2005 at a meeting at Kabba found their position as part of Kogi State and belonging to the North-Central Zone as anomalous. As of then they constituted about 20 percent of the state population. They belong to a major ethnic group in Nigeria and with whose territories they are contiguous – the Yoruba.

It is, therefore, anomalous that they should, in the circumstances sojourn as a disadvantaged minority in any state for that matter. The fear of marginalisation is not imagined but real.

The Igalas have, in the interim, carted away all the tertiary institutions of learning like Federal Polytechnic, Idah, College of Education, Ankpa and Kogi State University, Anyigba to their territory.

However, the current Chief Executive of the State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, had deemed it expedient considering the Okun land for the siting of a College of Education{technical.}This is a segment of the state that is highly educationally endowed.

The first satellite campus of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, College of Agriculture, Kabba has not been transformed to a full-fledge university like its junior sisters – the Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto, Bayero University, Kano, and the University of Maiduguri. This is part of the marginalisation.

Rotational Governorship
The chances of an Okun man/woman emerging as governor of Kogi State are very slim. If the ‘majority’ does not want it, it can never be.

The Okun people might be the only people in Nigeria compelled to join a state, which they had protested vehemently and formally that they did not want. And so, the people are making it clear, as a fact of history that they are not in Kogi voluntarily. It is unjust and unfair to treat them as has been done. There must, in justice, be a necessary adjustment.

The people want to be constituted into a state and should fall under a zone that shall be homogenously or predominantly Yoruba.

They will prefer any boundary adjustment which returns them to their kith and kin as an act of fair play and justice.

The Chief Emmanuel Olorunyomi Otitoju-led National Executive Committee gave it all it demands to pursue a separate Okun State.

A[b]jagun is outgoing National Secretary of Okun Development Association in Kogi State (1999 – 2010).[/b]

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/opinion/10022-marginalising-okun-people

afam4eva:

Pls tell us the story. I know there are Yoruboid groups in Kogi but some of them don't like being referred to as Yoruba. I think people from the Kabba area like being called yoruba.

i think this is very ignorant to say as you have not been to kogi before, either have you spoken to kabba okun people

this is from okun association website itself

http://okundevelopmentassociation.org/origin.html


Until quite late in their history, the ethnic groups known as Yoruba today, seemed not to have adopted a common name to describe themselves. According to Robin Law, the word Yoruba was used by the Hausa to refer to Oyo Kingdom or people of Oyo extraction.

Furthermore, it is believed to be a corruption of the Yerribawa, a Hausa term in, reference to the Oyo. By an intriguing inference, therefore, the word itself is probably not Yoruba origin.

But all theories, albeit all hypotheses are tentative as they are, in most cases, based on the assumptions of the moment, but propositions which could be dismissed later in their entirety as unrelated or realities by the discovery of new and compelling evidence.

In essence, the origin of any group of people could be slippery deductions and unreliable conclusions rather than being unalterable affirmations.

Today, the Yoruba people occupy the geographical west of Nigeria, South-Western part of North Central Zone, parts of the eastern corridor of Benin Republic, (formerly Dahmey) and sometimes an irredentist group in Western Togo.

More,
The sub-ethnic Yoruba nationalities in Nigeria are Oyo, Ife, Ijebu, Ijesa, Anago Awori, Egba, Egbado, Owu, Ekiti, Akoko, Ikale, [size=14pt]Ilaje[/size], Ilorin, Ibolo, Igbomina and Okun (Yagba, Ijumu, Owe, Abunu, Oworo).

According to John Ogunsola Igue, and O. J, Yai, both of the National University of Benin, in Cotonuon, the Yoruba speaking people of Benin Republic are Ketu, Isabe (Sabe or Save), Ohori and Idasa (Dassa) and in Togo, and Ife.

The Yoruba, as one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria have played important roles in all the aspects of the national life of a country reputed to contain more than four hundred ethnic groups. Many of these entities number just hundreds of thousands of people while the major three are more than twenty million souls each.

Naturally by this type of disparity in number, and wide differences in geographical locations, and spread of their population, there have been variations in economic development, disproportion’s in educational advancement, discrepancies in industrial and commercial growths, all inevitably leading directly to what some prudes describe as socio-economic dislocations.

The Okun-Yoruba

The people known today as Okun Yoruba occupy a general area referred to, during the colonial era, as Kabba Division, in the old Kabba Province. As one of the thirteen provinces in the former Northern Region of Nigeria, it was once described by a colonial officer as ‘a dust bin province’ due in part probably to its remoteness from the regional capital of Kaduna and perhaps its location in the heart of the so called “pagan areas” during the heyday of the British Rule. What was described as Kabba Province is today Kogi State.
The Designation, Kabba Division, seemed to have been changed to Oyi Division, possibly after Oyi River, and in conformity with the general approval of the people. A popular decision, probably arrived at to give a clear identity to the various ethnic groups within the area who were sometimes called Kabba people or even Kabba tribal group. An oddity, resented by the majority of the people of the area, the name soon lost any luster it could have garnered before independence.

The military administration of the Kwara state later changed the name to Oyi Local Government Area. But its sprawling landmass resembled a state rather than a territorial unit designed to serve local administration. Soon it was slit by the government, in their wisdom, into smaller and manageable districts.

What has been accepted in our own time, as an authentic nomenclature or fitting appellation for our people, was a novel idea popularized through consistent usage by some university dons, and later accepted, with great aplomb by the generality of our people.

The name Okun was first suggested by Eva Kraft Askari during a field investigation in 1965, into Owe traditions in line with the manner of the greetings of the people. In the words of this researcher, “to eliminate confusion, the expression Okun or Okun-Yoruba be used for the group of five tribes formerly known as the Kabba-Yoruba”. But this fascinating suggestion, laden with rare historical perception was not without serious objectives.

John Onaiyekan )now Catholic Archbishop of Abuja) in particular frowned at the suggestion. In his doctoral thesis on Owe-Yoruba, he states, “we find it hard to see how this eliminates confusion when it only introduces [/b]a new and unheard of expression to replace a term that has already become widely acceptable, even though it may seem “loosely used” to a foreign ethnographic out for precision at all cost”.

[b]But the general acceptance of the term Okun-Yoruba by the Yagba, Ijumu, Abunu and even Owe people as a fitting replacement of their age old ethnic identities, most have convinced many of its popularity as a proper group label.

Its currency within Kogi State today is well known and while outside of the state it has established itself properly, as if it originated from some venerable antiquity.

H[b]owever, some other ethnic sub-groups namely, Akoko, Ekiti and even Ijesa have queried our present monopoly of the word “Odun” as they too greet in similar manner. However, by the tenacity of our historians, the name has since gained immense popularity and wide acceptance amongst our people. But amongst those who promoted this name vigorously through their writings and seminars, Ade Obayemi stands out as a colossus.
[/b]
In his rather erudite but aesthetic academic listing of Okun people, he suggested the following as those belonging to Okunland; Iyagba, Ijumu, Igbede, Owe, Abinu, Ikiri and Oworo. This particularly novel rendering of the names seems to have been an attempt at rejecting, ostensibly, a colonial orthography, and apparent angelicized spellings.

It would perhaps serve no useful purpose nor germane to the understanding of Okun history by devoting extra time here to prove that the Okun Yoruba are indeed of the same stock as the other Yoruba. There are sufficient proofs in their dialects, cultural and social life. Though being fringe or border people, some of their manners, attitudes, and general worldwide have been modified by their long years of close contacts and association with their non-Yoruba neighbours. This has led, in effect, to mutual and continuous borrowing from each other’s cultures and unabated intrusions in varied manners, into each other’s mode of living and ownership.

The pristine reference to the East, Saudi Arabia, Egypt of Sudan and the possible origin home of the Yoruba were favoured by early students of Yoruba history such as Samuel Johnson Olumide Lucas and even Biobaku. But in thesis of these eminent authors are today considered untenable in the face of overwhelming evidence contradicting the main thrust of their arguments.

They have been criticized as unacceptable for reasons of great distances between these countries and Yoruba land, the incongruent nature of the spoken languages, traditions, and the oral stories of the people themselves indicating local origins.

The worlds of men and women are often not closely governed by them nor controlled in absolute terms by their kind. Other forces at work, remote, sometimes alien and even unknown, often put beyond their immediate reach and use such important aspect of their persons.

Until recently, and probably by the stout academic protests by radical and diligent scholars and authors, the area known today as [size=15pt]Okun Yoruba was neglected by researchers in Yoruba history. References to the region were only in peripheral terms as part of Northern Yoruba. Okun was routinely omitted on maps delimiting the extent of Yoruba country. The main map in the autobiography of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, left Yoruba country. The main map in the autobiography of Chief Obafemi Awolowo left out the area while the producer (of the map) clearly indicated that the Itsekiri were related to the Yoruba people! This seems to me to be an omission, which the sage himself would have corrected promptly, had he noticed it. H visited Okunland many times from the early 1950’s.[/size]

Now, having dismissed the earlier assumptions about the origins of the people, where is their primeval home located?

Ade Obayemi, once described by an academic colleague, of his Robin Horton, as the prince of the Iconoclasts for his widely known penchant for attacking most acceptable views on Yoruba history, worked tirelessly on Okun history. A thorough and indefatigable researcher, immersed in modern historical, methods, fine archaeological, and art historical processes, he employed these tools and techniques in his radical arguments and scientific approach, in arriving at unassailable conclusions. But as the Economist Magazine once suggested in reviewing a book on “Louis XIV and Europe” edited by R. Hatton, “once function of history is to undermine orthodoxy’s”.

Before we comment further, however on Obayemi’s position and the views of others with similar academic dissension and variance, it is perhaps proper and important to examine the oral traditions of Okun people from their own stories.

In most community of Okun, there are hints of aboriginal population sometimes designated as autochthons who claim they have been occupying their territories since the beginning of creation; and that they do not know where they came from nor their original homes. But the generality of the people often claim Oyo Ile and Ile-Ife and some other polities outside of Yorubaland.

Owe

Z. O. Apata, in his thesis on the old Kabba Province, indicates that OW people believe they are from Ile-Ife through their ancestors variously called Odide, Ereju and Aseda, probably three persons or the same personage who passed through Akure and such other places as Ayere, to found their settlement.

But traditional at Ayere indicate that their ancestor, Olu Orere had a sister called OWE who established a settlement at Oke Aba (Okaba or Kaba) and thus the land was named after her. Furthermore, Ayere claim OWE people are their offspring through their daughter OWE. But Apata intimates that the relationship between Ayere and OWE in which the former claims seniority is stoutly disputed by the latter.

However, there is a language spoken at Ayere beside Yoruba, which is not understood by its neighbours. Perhaps this is from the antiquity and a direct hint of autochthonous population.

Abinu (Abunu or Bunu

T[b]he Abinu people are said to have come from Oyo Ile by way of Iddo, perhaps, in Ekiti country. But Apata again infers, quoting II.S Brilano, Adulu and Iyearu. The eldest brother settled in Ike. But Ade Obayemi points to an Igala origin with their claims to Attaship title, though Apata argues that this is likely to be a remote possibility with the present knowledge of OKUN history, however, an Igala origin of any group is likely to be a rarity indeed.
[/b]
IJUMU

The general claim in Ijumu is either Ife or Oyo origin. But there is an oral tradition recorded in Iyah Gbede by a British officer named HB. James, in 1926 which indicates that Iyah Gbede, is the dispersal point of the princess who in turn established such politics as Yagba, Gbede, Bunu, Akoko, Aiyede and their homeland, Ijumu.

However, my interviews with Aderemi Adeleye, our well-known historian and scholar, in 1990, indicate that Iyanmoye is the dispersal point of the princes mentioned by HB. James. Adeleye further pointed out that Iyah Gbede itself claimed they came from the oldest settlement in the area.

The settlement in question, he indicated, was Iyamoye – “the point of dispersal of the princes”.

In his work on Gbedeland, “The Making of Gbede”, MK Ogidan claims “Gbede originated from Ile-Ife and their ancestral FATHER WAS CALLED Owa.

The story recorded by James and amplified by Adeleye together with the piece by Ogidan, point to some uniformity in the origin of Ijumu or Gbede people. The claim by Ijumu that most other Okun elements including Akoko and Aiyede descended from them, if anything, will seem to indicate internal migration. Although they are silent about this particular primacy they refer to other polities as their places of origin.

EAST YAGBA

Many communities in East Yagba, especially South East Yagba claim to be descendants of Iya Agba, an Oyo Princess who settled at Ilac or Awoyo somewhere between Ife – Olukotun and Ejuku. But the story of an ancestry traceable to Iya Agba seems not to be uniform in East Yagba. According to Apata, Bridel recorded an oral tradition also indicates that Isanu maintains regular contacts in their history to date, their primogenitor being an Ife prince called Isanlugbara.

Oba Atobatele of Ife Olukotun in 1977, informed me that the most potent proof of Ile-Ife origin of the community was its place name of Ife. But in his usually giddy and often unorthodox aggressive and academic prowess and academic prowess and forays into history and archaeology, Ade Obayemi dismissed this contention by indicating that similarities in names such as Ife, Ufe, Iffic, do not necessarily confer a primacy in antiquity of one place over the other. As with othergroups, the Nupe wars affected the history Amuro Group, Ponyan, Ilai, and Igbagun reflecting internal migrations and places of origin within Yagba land.

WEST YAGBA – Iya Agba is believed to be the primogenitor of most of the area. She is said to be a Princess from Oyo ile settled at Akata from where she sent her brothers or sons to establish new settlements in different parts of West Yagba

But the story appears to be a variance of the one told in Eat Yagba. Thus Iya Agba could have been the same person who settled at llac or Awoyo and at Akata or probably two different personalities.

In his latest book, “The History of Yagba”, full of useful information but not properly organized, Bolaji Iyekolo claims that the whole of Yagba originated from Akata. But from the above, many historians, specially Hae centric Oral historians will dispute this claim.

At Egbe the story is slightly different as Oyo communities or clans there, claim they are descendants of Aremo Kelaye who was a Prince from Oyo ile. But Ife clans there claim Ife leaders were their scions. On the other hand there is a general hint of aboriginal groups, especially at Ododi. In addition there are those who believed Ido Egbe is a typical Nupe or Tapaclan. But this appears to be a general phenomenon in the whole of Okunland.

The oral tradition which attempts to link Eri, Ere, Egbe and Ogbe in reinforcing the Iya Agba connection between these communities, has been dismissed by Ade Obayemi as a probable play on words, although Ade Ijagbemi seems to disagree with him. In my interviews and examination of the local stories at Egba, indigenes find the story strange.

The places of origin and internal migrations are important in Okunland when related to the other fringe populations of the region. But of all border non-Yoruba peoples, the Nupe have influenced Okun more than the others beginning from the 16th century; their pre-colonial activities including their short lived hegemony during the colonial era are also significant in this. They left, if only irritating glimmers, permanent land marks on the cultural evaluation of the Okun.

Titles such as Osu or Esu (Etsu), Shiaba (Sha’aba or duty ruler) Kpotunor Potun, Saki 9Saki or Ruler by way of Hausa) and common names like Igunu, Bagudu, Jia are of Nupe origin. The red caps favour by the Okun chiefs would seem to be of Nupe origin.

Similarly by association and use, many words of Yoruba have crept into Nupe and Ebira language especially Ebira Tao.

Now the main thesis of Obayemi revolves around the people of the Niger-Benue Confluence Area as the forebears of Okun people.

We are informed by Horton, Obayemi and Akinkugbe that about the year 3000 BC there was a great dispersal of the peoples believed to be the ancestors of those known today as Yoruba, Igala, Igbo, Benin, Isin, Itshekiri, Nupe and others. Between 500 BC and 500 AD, the proto-Yoruba seemed to have separated from their Igala cousin, crossed the Niger and spread to the present day South East and South West Yorubaland; North West and North East to be present territory of Okun, establishing the early Yoruba politics.

From the estimates of these scholars, by about 1000 AD Ife emerged from these dispersals as a thriving military and commercial centre by AD 1650 the filial states of Oyo, Owu, Ijebu, Ondo, Ekiti, Ijesa, Benin, Ketu, Lagos (Eko,) Ede, Owo Benin and Ijesa commercial and military incursions were made into other parts of Yorubaland including Okun. Trade routes were also established with Bida, Kano and Gao (Mali) in the north, and the Delta in the South. References to Oyo Ile and Ile Ife origins by the Okun people are connected with these epochal developments. It should be pointed out that the hints of aboriginal populations in many parts of Okunland, especially at Egba and Ayere, were properly those migrants left by the Proto-Yoruba on their westward march away from their original homes in the Niger Benue Confluence region. As Obayemi, Horton, AKinkugbe seem to have convincingly proved, references to eastern origin of the Yoruba people would seem to mean this area not any other art of the world.

References to royal conflicts at Oyo and Ile Ife by migrants believed to have established most of Okun polities appear to be part of the commercial and military incursions by Ife and Oyo elements into these areas. The claim of Ife and Oyo origin common in many areas should be seen in this light inspite of the autochthonous population. But internal migrants seem to account for claims of origins of other group who believe they came from nearby communities, or non Yoruba areas such as Bupe or Igala. This may be in fact recent movements especially during the prolonged tribal wars and skirmishes in the region. This seemed to have started in about 1500 after the establishment of a powerful Nupe polity north of the Niger.

This expose is perhaps important for a range of reasons. It is essential for instance, for all Okun men and women to have adequate information on their antecedents. They should be able to locate their places in Yoruba History and the Nigerian State.

Okunland, left, as it were, in the backwoods of the Yoruba modules of mosaics, Albert, in the Nigerian heartland of variegated beings, as if the whole area belonged to a forbidding region. As it has turned out the people today are considered part of the Yoruba whole by sheer force of character, and the Nigerian project by visible contributions.

But even then some of the artifacts and antiquities known to exist in Okunland today predate those of the well recognized Yoruba Polities with better documented past and exposure to modern developments.

Yet those voracious readers and consummate researchers with rate intellectual tastes, and scientific perception in historical methods have now produced impressive works on Okun people.

As if votaries of Okun history, they tacked with relish the reduction of the oral traditions of the area into acceptable and respectable corpus of academic tomes worthy of intellectual examination and further scholarly critiques.

We are indeed grateful to these coteries of foreign and national commentators who have devoted much time to the establishment of the truth and the basic historical facts of Okunland. In their monumental tasks they seemed to have distilled and worked mountains of raw historical materials into acceptable academic products in readable prose. Thus the seemingly impregnable and towering skyscrapers created by the early authors of Yoruba history, crumbled under the crushing weight of historical evidence and facts verifiable by scientific investigations.

By direct implications, Okunland has a vital place in Yoruba history Okun people are in essence and by that qualification, integral part of the Nigerian State, for which we should work to sustain.

The unity of Nigerian should not be subjected to esoteric debates as some are wont to do today. Nigerian remains, by most counts the pride of Africa and the blue eye of the Black world. Okun ought to find its proper place in that peculiar jigsaw puzzle known as Nigerian, the diamond in the crown of the continent. But here is paradox of our time of one considers a person in my position, immersed in internationals affairs becoming deeply involved in the documentation of the local history of our people. Furthermore, I find myself unabashedly encouraging my compatriots to speak our dialects to retain their beauty. The general use of the written Yoruba, which in effect, is a modified Oyo dialect. By the way I have just been installed as the Grand Patron of the National Association of Teachers of Yoruba Language and Culture in Nigeria, while before then I was made the Gbokunniyi of Okunland by the Okun Traditional Council of Oba.

From my extensive research in Okun and Yoruba history, the whole regions seems to belong to a civilization which thrived as far back as 3000BC around the Niger Benue Confluence Area.

What Ade Ijagbemi described as the human hemorrhage” in our modern tale which began in the 19th Century has not ceased. Okun lost population largely to the southern part of Nigeria from the late 19th Century until about the 1950’s when this shifted to the far north. This acute problem was due in part to the location of the area far from the littoral regions of Nigeria, and population centres. The inevitability of mass migrants of men and women attracted by the existence of employment opportunities in these places became a veritable certainty.

If Okun remains underdeveloped, lacking in commercial and industrial centres, it is the fault of everyone. If Okun fails to be at par with others perhaps we should blame its leadership. But if Okun towns are not centres of glittering modernity’s and commercial activities, maybe we should blame our location.

Inspite of all the odds, problems and difficulties of socio economic developments it ought to be borne in mind that the level of development attained no matter how meager are the patriotic efforts of a few individuals of Okun origin. Large-scale industrial developments can be stimulated only by governments and those at the helms of national affairs. The truism here seems to be external.
There is a noticeable increase in population presently in semi-urban centres of Okunland. This would also appear to be in the interest of the local people in view of the latest demography demonstrable by the sudden appearances of sizable but non indigenes in some centres. But these are mostly workers of the local government councils, traders and in some cases a medley of ill-clad, ill mannered adventures who present themselves as cattle tenders, and others who turn to be nomadic miners. They should be watched with Hawkeyes. Incidentally, such ribald persons often turn the tide of development in favour of the natives. These are the uncanny ironies of historical changes and patterns.

From our brief outline, Okunland no doubt belongs to the great antiquity of the Yoruba story. It scions represent a portion of the front of that nation. Okun has been in the forefront of the national movement and evolution. She has been in the centre of the modern Nigerian economic growth. She has been in the midst of its passionate political emancipation. She has established herself, in spite of her diminutive size, as a formidable bulwark. She will remain a crucial connecting bride between the northern and southern perimeters of the Nation

you can read more

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Okunland-Descendants-Forum/141464542555239

nwaigbo_mg:

the kogi west senatorial zone led by senator smart adeyemi is a subgroup of yoruba nation
you can see them in LGAs like yagba east and west, kabba etc

but majority of them don't like to be called youbas, they said they are OKUN---distinct from their kinsmen in the west

this are office holders in okun local government

i mean you people have not been to kogi before but yet you talk

Let us into who the Okuns are?
My understanding of Okun land is five Yoruba local government areas which include the Yagba East, the Yagba West, Mopa/Amuro, Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu and then part of Kogi local government which is the Oworo people. We believe from history, that they come from the same origin and share the same culture. So we would like to bring out this cultural heritage through annual festivals. The ultimate aim, to bring the people more together, to create the awareness that they are one and the same people because when you look at the political situation of Kogi State, the Okun people seems to form the minority based on population. But when you talk about culture, it is either it is rich culture or not rich culture it is not a game of numbers. So if we are not a giant when it comes to political life and we have very rich heritage, we should also be able to showcase that.

http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=31136

Emmyk:

I didnt know untill I heard the story of its formation

this is a proper okun man talking for his people


Y[b]ou are from Odo-ere, in Kogi State; how would you access the politics and implications of belonging to the minority?[/b]


Unfortunately, the Yoruba in Kogi (State) have found themselves as the minority. Personally, I don’t feel good about it and I wished there was something I could do to change it. We have not been given the opportunity to lead the state because of ethnic and tribal sentiments, which need not affect us. I’m looking forward to a time that Nigerians will rise above these sorts of backward ideas and rather look for the best hands to manage our affairs. As an Okun man from Kogi, I feel pained that the excellent talents from that area have not been given the privilege to contribute to lifting the state because they don’t come from the majority tribe. In the same vein I don’t just expect that an Okun man should be given the chance to rule just for the sake of being an Okun man, he has to be worth that position of trust. It’s the same way that I don’t believe that anyone should be made the president of Nigeria because of where he comes from. He has to be competent and possess the right character. I believe that the time will come when those differences would fall apart in Kogi.


So, would you lend your voice to the call for the creation of Okun State?


I’m one of those who believe that Nigeria does not need to create more states. In my opinion, we have enough already. What we need is good governance. The clamour for Okun State owes to lack of equity in governance. If the Igara man leading the state will be fair and not site every social and economic monument within his people; if he spreads the benefits round all equally, who cares where the man governing comes from? No one cares where a good leader comes from. Take Gen. Yakubu Gowon in the oil boom season for example; we were all happy not caring where he came from. What I’m saying is let there be fairness in governance and it would not really matter where the governor comes from anymore.


How true is the tale of frontline Okun leaders trading off their people’s heritage by claiming to be northerners?


It is the same problem of greed and selfishness that made some of those people make statements saying Okun people are northerners. In terms of geographical division, Kogi State falls under Northern Nigeria (by political segmentation). [size=15pt]But every Yoruba man knows his ancestral roots.[/size] All Yoruba come from Ile-Ife; whether directly or indirectly. History has it that people migrated from Ile-Ife.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201104230501957

Thanks alj.Harem and every contributor. I'm loving Okun more. We want our state! My dad told me the story last monday. I'm gonna tell ma pikins. LOL. Both my dad and mum are from Egbe. We have one of the best secondary school (titcombe college) and hospital (egbe teaching hospital) in Kogi. Have I told you Egbe is Jerusalem in Nigeria? Okay, maybe I will tell ya all some oda times.
But wait, why do Ijaws and Isokos (delta) denounce been Igbos

Emmyk:

Thanks alj.Harem and every contributor. I'm loving Okun more. We want our state! My dad told me the story last monday. I'm gonna tell ma pikins. LOL. Both my dad and mum are from Egbe. We have one of the best secondary school (titcombe college) and hospital (egbe teaching hospital) in Kogi. Have I told you Egbe is Jerusalem in Nigeria? Okay, maybe I will tell ya all some oda times.
But wait, why do Ijaws and Isokos (delta) denounce been Igbos

Are u okun ? if u are, then congrates

ijaw and isoko are not igbo because they are not

have u heard of apio-ijaw and other other ijaw clans in ondo state and speak only yoruba although they acknowlegde there ijaw heritiage

awori and ileja have ijaw connection as well but they do not claim ijaw for obvious reasons which is they are now different in there way of life.

ijaws leaders hate igbos for reasons as u can see for yourself( they talk without knowing anything they are talking about)

so ijaw is out, moreover i know some apoi-ijaw that hate been called ijaw

also isoko people are not igbo because there way of life is different to igbos

although if u go to ika or ikwerri, those are igbos they are just asking silly to deny there igbo heritage, just like few years ago when some aniomas were doing the same but now they are back to there senses

so my brother, isoko and ijaw are not igbo

You made me interested in the CULTURE section. Gracias. And this is my dëbêu on CULTURE. Lol. And yeah, I'm okun.

Emmyk:

You made me interested in the CULTURE section. Gracias. And this is my dëbêu on CULTURE. Lol. And yeah, I'm okun.

i am glad i did

if u are an okun person from kogi then u are part of the yoruba ethnic group just like the egba, awori etc

can u tell us more about okun if u do not mind

I dont mind. Reference to Book EGBE CHRONICLES:
Set in a picturesque chain of hills and valleys, Egbe is surrounded by seven wooded hills. Together with the old earthen walls, they formed a defensive bulkwalk for the community during the Yoruba and Nupe raids, last century (19th). Partly because of its role as a place of refuge for the oppressed, a missionary once referred to Egbe as a Jerusalem in Nigeria.

Quite unknown to many, Egbe has been for quite a long time, an important market centre for traders from nupeland,ekiti,igbomina, akoko,owe,abunnu, ijumu,ebira, ilorin and other parts in Yagba.

Long distance traders from Bida,okene,ado,ilorin,pategi, lafiagi and lokoja brought their goods to Egbe. The often passed true Egbe to far away places such as Lagos,calabar,in d south or north to Kano. They were to transform the community, in later years,into a modern town, but d civil wars in Yoruba and Nupe countries in the 19th cent. and the resultant impact on the people they affected directly,asisted greatly in swelling the population with refugees frm many surrounding comunities.

The historian, Rev. Samuel Johnson, in his classic work The History of The Yorubas From the Earliest Times to The British Protectorate ,wrote this about Egbe when writing about Ibadan raids into Ekiti and Yagba countries

'"The people hid themselves in caves, ravines,and dens,some escaped as far as Egbe. The Ibadans pursued on and on the untill they reached the borders of the Emir of Bida's territory''. It also seems d community is an old one, infact, more ancient than some nupe and yoruba towns and cities which have now gained prominence. The internal disorders and disruptions which ensued in Oyo and Nupe led directly to the foundation of Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ijaiye, Lafiagi and pategi. Iloko. The forefather of Iloko clans is called iloko. He is said to have come from Agbaramoko, an Ife community, to Egbe.

He settled in the Iloko Hills and forests, where he kept leopards as pets. Thus his descendants are known as omo ekun, 'children of leopards', a name now generally applied to the whole of Egbe (Egbe 'M' Ekun). Egbe will remain unique for quite a long time in Yagba history for having the distiction of being the largest community in Yagba-land.

Tada! My dad's from the Iloko clan!! And my Oriki is MONRI EWORO ABELU IGBO, MONRI EKUN A MEJIDOR. (lol, dont try it with yoruba,luks similar though). Meaning I saw a rabbit and flee to the bush, but saw a Leopard and wait for it ferociously without shaking. That is just a little from the, WHAT IS EGBE pages. The book is an interesting must-read 142 pages. Hope u enjoy my story??

Emmyk:

Tada! My dad's from the Iloko clan!! And my Oriki is MONRI EWORO ABELU IGBO, MONRI EKUN A MEJIDOR. (lol, dont try it with yoruba,luks similar though). Meaning I saw a rabbit and flee to the bush, but saw a Leopard and wait for it ferociously without shaking. That is just a little from the, WHAT IS EGBE pages. The book is an interesting must-read 142 pages. Hope u enjoy my story??

hmmm

quite interesting history

i would go check the books out when i have time

oludashmi:

thumbs up alj harem
. . . you ve done a good one here,

thanks

Emmyk, I actually understood your oriki, without the Mejidor, part. It's purely Yoruba.

Wow. Really interesting thread.

I hope this vision for Okun State comes to pass.

(I'm from Ekiti btw, Okun's neighbor to the west)

Desola:

Emmyk, I actually understood your oriki, without the Mejidor, part. It's purely Yoruba.

Seriously? Temme you called the ABELU part WE JUMPED INTO/RAN INTO. Haha. Gotcha! It's personal pronoun with us. What part are u from?

ekt_bear:

Wow. Really interesting thread.

I hope this vision for Okun State comes to pass.

(I'm from Ekiti btw, Okun's neighbor to the west)

Gud to know, brotha. I passed along Ekiti state just once (July 28,2010) while heading to Ayingba. Lol. We just seeing Ekiti this,Ekiti that, Ekare Ekiti. :-)

alj_harem:

Are u okun ? if u are, then congrates

ijaw and isoko are not igbo because they are not

have u heard of apio-ijaw and other other ijaw clans in ondo state and speak only yoruba although they acknowlegde there ijaw heritiage

awori and ileja have ijaw connection as well but they do not claim ijaw for obvious reasons which is they are now different in there way of life.

ijaws leaders hate igbos for reasons as u can see for yourself( they talk without knowing anything they are talking about)

so ijaw is out, moreover i know some apoi-ijaw that hate been called ijaw

also isoko people are not igbo because there way of life is different to igbos

although if u go to ika or ikwerri, those are igbos they are just asking silly to deny there igbo heritage, just like few years ago when some aniomas were doing the same but now they are back to there senses

so my brother, isoko and ijaw are not igbo

Aburo, you have started again! Have you heard Ijo people - Ijo Arogbo specifically - and Ilaje people speak before? If you have not, I'd encourage you to go avail yourself of that experience. There is absolutely no connection in their language. The Ilaje are very different linguistically from the AROGBO. The APOIs on the other hand speak a kinda combination of Ilaje and Ikale. Culturally, there are some similarities though. The Bini people also worship AIYELALA and OLOKUN as well. While the IJOs worship AIYELALA, Ilajes dont worship IJO deities.

tpia@:
^nice story.

You should really open a different thread for things like these because this one was opened solely to cause strife.

And i have no idea why people dont consider it a priority to collate the history so the younger generation can have an idea of their heritage cos currently far too many yoruba youths (especially the ones abroad) dont know much about even their hometowns talkless other places.

so e don tey wey u don dey like dis? Who do it? Ehn, mummy?

*Following thread*


Yes, it didnt show I was following it before.

As for u op, shey u dont have a yoruba name ni? So until ur dad told you before u knew? Or u dont go home for xmas etc?

okooyinbo:

Aburo, you have started again! Have you heard Ijo people - Ijo Arogbo specifically - and Ilaje people speak before? If you have not, I'd encourage you to go avail yourself of that experience. There is absolutely no connection in their language. The Ilaje are very different linguistically from the AROGBO. The APOIs on the other hand speak a kinda combination of Ilaje and Ikale. Culturally, there are some similarities though. The Bini people also worship AIYELALA and OLOKUN as well. While the IJOs worship AIYELALA, Ilajes dont worship IJO deities.

Ilaje are fully Oodua people even though they have part ijo origin they are more Yoruba than ijo

Just like Onitcha that has a Bini origin are now fully Igbo, and also some Anioma are of Ife and bini origin