₦airaland Forum

pazienza:
It's the matter.
If a people migrate to a place and establish their own independent towns. Chances are that their original language will survive, if there are no colonial force at play, even if they are surrounded by a dominant language.
At worst, their language would survive in form of a second dying language, as names of words rooted in antiquity.

Your Ubulu example is misleading, you were suggesting that the entire Ubulu town were originally Yoruba speaking people who switched to Igbo because of Igbo neighbors, but so far, it had been established that Ubulu was already a large Igbo speaking town before a people from Yorubaland became assimilated as part of a section of one the many villages of Ubulu ukwu.

In this part of our world, people don't lose their language entirely, traces remain,especially if they establish independent towns of their own.

Yes, I made phone calls, I don't care about your bogus articles, I am more interested on first hand accounts, as a matter of fact, I'm planning to visit Ifira before the year runs out, I will get you pics from the kings palace and other important places as poof.

Ifira and Ipesi are like the smallest towns in AkSE, between Epinmi , Isua and Ipe, AKSE is almost finished.
I'm very versed in the area, and can speak very small amounts of Ipe, Epinmi and Isua
You depend on online sources to get info on the area, I depend on first hand experience and real people on ground.

Yes, their history reeks of inferiority complex, A Yorubaphilic people who claims Ife origin, but whose first language is an Edoid one , and whose everything rooted in antiquity has an Edoid name.
Distorted oral history that defies rationality means nothing to me.

This is not about separating Akoko SE from Yoruba , as I have no interest in that, this is about standing for rationality.

I have an Ose friend who reliably informed me that his town have an Edoid origin, even though they had embraced Yoruba entity of recent.
I will try and extract more information on this from him, when next we meet.

Give me a break!

We get it, it's a section of Ubulu uku, even the source I gave suggests so, I'm not claiming otherwise. You are so fixated on this, I'm moving on.

So far so good those "bogus" articles are more reliable than your first-hand accounts. Remember that according to your first-hand accounts, Ifira and Ipesi are Edoid speaking when in reality they are actually Yoruba speaking. Rodger Blench is a renowned linguist who helped classify numerous Nigerian languages. I won't call his work "bogus."
You say it's not about separating Akoko SE from Yoruba, but you said earlier they have no reason being part of Ondo state. If that isn't an attempt to create a political rift in the people's identity then I don't know what is.

If I'm not mistaken you said that there are many Edoid-speaking communities in Ose which means you should have no problem giving me a list of such "many" Edoid speaking communities in Ose. Saying there is something is not enough, you have to give me some sort of proof so that I can believe you. We all know that claiming that you have Edo origin and speaking an Edoid language are not the same. What are the many Edoid speaking communities in Ose?

pazienza:
Just a section of one of the villages in Ubulu uku claims Yoruba origin from the link you posted, how exactly that translates to Ubulu ukwu having a Yoruba origin is what I don't understand.
The Yoruba group didn't found a new town, they were assimilated by already settled Igbo speaking Ubulu ukwu people, and form just a segment of one of the villages that make up Ubulu.

You are right on the Ifira and Ipesi, they actually speak a Yoruba dialect as a first language. I had to make phone calls from my friends there to confirm.

I lived amongst Isua, Epinmi, and Ipe people, these three towns are the most important towns in AKSE, and they are all Edoid speaking.

There are also many Edoid speaking communities in Ose LGA of Ondo.

Whether it's a section or not is not the matter. My point is that people can loose their native tongues after migrating to a different location and their true origin can often be traced via their oral history.

Ok, so I'm guessing you made those imaginary phone calls to your Ifira "friends" after you were confronted with solid facts. Maybe they are the same Ifira indigines you met in Isua. You do know that you are not fooling anyone?

In a mischievous attempt to cause a rift between the people and their Yoruba identity, you tagged the entire Akoko SE as native Edoid speaking when you aren't even well versed in the area. You also dismissed their oral history, all so that you can claim they have an inferior complex. Anyways, that asides, what are the "very many" Edoid speaking communities in Ose other than Iyayu section of Idoani? I would love to know.

Probz:
The very 9jakool. I was expecting your input in that Akoko Edo thread I made

You weren't the only who asked for an input of Akoko Edo; scholes0 also asked. I apologized for the misunderstanding; I wasn't ignoring you. You can see me respond here that I can't do a breakdown right now, because I am not as knowledgeable on Akoko Edo as Akoko Ondo, that's why I limited this topic on Akoko Ondo area. https://www.nairaland.com/3980637/highlighting-ethno-linguistic-groups-make-up#59567703
However I can tell you that Akoko Edo settlements are more dispersed than those in Akoko Ondo since it's not as populated. While native Yoruba speakers form the majority in Akoko Ondo, Akoko Edo is dominated by native Edoid speaker. I believe the largest Edoid speaking group are the Okpamheris. The rest are comprised of the isolated Igarra language, that's similar to Ebira and some native Ukaan and Yoruba speaking communities along the border.

pazienza:
Ubulu ukwu people have no such claims of descending from Ilesha , you must be confused to suggest so.
Other than Odi ani, no Western Igbo group have Yoruboid origin.

There is even a new book on Ubulu ukwu, by Ubulu ukwu indigenes,connecting Ubulu ukwu to Ozubulu in Anambra ,Uburu in Ebonyi, Uvuru in Enugu, and other numerous ubulus scattered all over Igboland.

Every Odiani town have a dead or dying Yoruboid language spoken by the elders.

Ifira and Ipesi languages are Edoid.

I can't speak Ifira language, but I had made my enquiry on them, when I was in isua from Ifira natives themselves.

I couldn't care less what the origin of Ubulu Uku is. It's none of my concern. I was just drawing parallels that people can easily loose their original tongue after migrating to a new location, and you can use oral tradition to trace their origin, which you dismissed.

So, you didn't even visit the towns or actually hear the languages spoken and you are jumping into conclusion that they are Edoid speaking. There is no language called Ifira or ipesi. I've heard of Uhami AKA Isua language spoken in Isua which is an Edoid language. I've never heard of Ifira or ipesi as a standalone language in Akoko Ondo. This should tell you that Ifira and Ipesi are simply Yoruba dialects. Yoruba dialects have very vast differences that they can often feel like different languages. Rodger Blench, one of the leading linguist on Niger-Congo languages identified Ifira as a dialect of Yoruba. Here you can also see Afo being listed as a dialect. Afo is the next town over from Ifira and it's also classified as a Yoruba dialect. Afo and Ifira like most of the Yoruba dialects in Akoko are variations of the Akoko dialect. The worst thing you can do is generalize the people when the towns are all interwoven. If you want to go deeper, I suggest you check out the Atlas of Nigerian languages by Rodger Blench. Ipesi and Ifira are both listed as Yoruba dialects. I didn't just concoct my info from thin air. So far so good, I'm sticking with what I have up there.

pazienza:
Just to point a few things.

Ifira And Ipesi first language is not Yoruboid, it's Edoid.

Odiani people have their Yoruboid language as first language, and then Enu ani( Igbo) as second language, it's only logical when they claim Yoruboid origin, no sensible Igbo will argue that.

Everything rooted in antiquity in Odi ani is Yoruboid.

In contrast, Akoko SE communities have Edoid languages as first language, only speak Yoruba as a second language. Everything rooted in antiquity in that part of Ondo is Edoid, right from words for things like King, Land, sky.

I don't need a soothsayer to know when someone is tampering with history for economic/political goals when I see one.

I say this not because I care about Edos, because they too play this same game with Igbo speaking, but Edo origin claiming Igbo towns.

You are wrong when you assume the entire Akoko SE is Edoid speaking, which is not. Like I said Ifira and Ipesi only speak Yoruba, the maybe you are not as familiar as you say you are. Ok, what is the Edoid language spoken in Ifira because I want to know?

Also, not every towns and villages in Odinani speak a Yoruba language, some only speak Igbo. The inhabitants of Ubulu Uku claimed descendants from migrants from Ilesha for example; they are also not Olukumi, and only speak Igbo. Does it make sense to suggest that they tweaked their oral tradition to fit their present political location when they have nothing to gain.

KingOvoramwen1:
Awolowo bribed most of them too with money he stole from Edo cocoa plantation that's why I am not even surprised he died a miserable death

Maybe Awolowo is still bribing them with money in 2017.

MadamT:
Good post.

Been meaning to log in to hail this brilliant thread. Will do in a mo. But first, I'd like to comment on aspects of this post and the bolded.

It's a shame that our native language is seen as too 'loki'. It's been going on a long time though and seems to have gradually got worse since my time in Nigeria. I remember back in school in the 70s, when we got to Form 3 and were choosing our key subjects, those who chose one of the three main languages as part of their chosen subjects were usually sniggered at. Most students who, for example, chose Yoruba did so, not because they loved it but just to add numbers to their other chosen subjects

In class, we were penalised for "speaking vernacular". Some students who were not so good at speaking the English language would remain mute in class so as not to pay the fine or be laughed at by their peers.

I totally agree about the bolded. I think the lack of promotion of the Yoruba language (or any of the other native languages) stems from ignorance. The ignorance belief that English is superior to our indigenous languages and/or that we must only speak it to our kids so they can be fluent in it. Many don't know or believe that actually, children are born with the innate ability to learn and speak more than one human languages fluently.

Our Asians brothers here don't joke with their native tongue. All their children are spoken to and are taught to speak their language of origin. These children also speak English fluently.

Like you said, it's not that most Nigerians speak perfect, plum-in-the-mouth, queen's English anyway so why not perfect and promote the language native to us?

You are 100% correct. The bolded in itself grind my gears so much. The postcolonial mentality is destroying Nigeria.

pazienza:
Claiming Ife origin means nothing. Oral history in this part of the world are usually tainted to reflect present political realities.

Many communities in Akoko SE claim Ife origin, yet they all speak Edoid languages, from Isua to Ipe, Epinmi, Ipesi, Ifira, Sosan, they all speak Edoid languages as first languages and Yoruba as a second language.

From my encounter with these people , I believe they are Edo people who are suffering from inferiority complex and are striving too hard to become Yorubas when it's obvious they are Edo. They all claim to have migrated from Ife and that the current Edoid languages they speak was as a result of their interactions with Edo people during their journey From Ife to their current location.
Their identity crisis is reminiscent of those of Ika and other Bini origin claiming, but Igboid speaking Igbo communities.

The entire Akoko SE is Edoid, and have no reason being part of Ondo.
But the people are currently Yorubaphilic and Edophobic, and are currently striving hard to kill off their indigenous Edoid languages and replace them with Yoruba languages.
They had already done this with their names, as most of them now bear Yoruba surnames and first names, Edoid names are becoming a rarity amongst these Edoid speaking people.
It's truly amazing.

First of all, all the bolded are false. Not all the towns in Akoko SE are Edoid speakers. Towns like Ifira and Ipesi are monolingual Yoruba speaking.

The people in akoko SE are not Edo, but Edoid speaking the same way Igalas aren't Yoruba but Yoruboid. Also, the cultural ties with Yoruba or claim to Ile-Ife is not a new phenomenon for them. It's been present in their oral tradition which has existed for centuries before the present day political boundaries. I mean their culture says it all. Centuries ago, the only dominating force in Akoko wasn't even Yoruba, but in fact Edo. How come after centuries of these people being under Edo, they preferred being associated with Yoruba? As for them not being part of Ondo state, it doesn't change anything. As we speak there are towns in Akoko Edo or Edo in general that claim Ile-Ife origin despite being in Edo state. Imeri was such town in Edo state that asked to be ceded to Ondo. Sobe, which used to be part of Ondo state was ceded to Edo state due to its people's wishes. It's more complex than an Edophobic or Yorubaphilic situation.

There are many possibilities as to why a few speak Edoid languages, not just what you have up there. It's highly likely they migrated to their present location from Yorubaland and they happened to loose their tongue. It's the same way that the Apoi in Ese Odo are still Ijaw despite not speaking Ijaw but rather a Yoruba dialect. In comparison, the Edoid speaking settlements in Akoko predate the Apoi settlements by far. Furthermore, there are Nupe subgroups that claim origin from Yoruba despite not being able to speak a drop of Yoruba. How do you know they have Yoruba origins? It's not just because they have deep oral accounts, but because there are tons of evidence for it which backs up their oral history. These Nupe groups are Nupe by all ramification but they claim they originate from Okunland in Kogi which makes sense considering that Okun settlements were raided by Nupe. It also makes sense because among other Nupes, they are credited for introducing weaving and indigo dying to Nupe country with the same technique found among the Okuns.

Also, before jumping to conclusion, I am not taking away from the fact that some of the people in Akoko SE might have Edoid blood, but the people have spoken for themselves so neither both of us have the right to define their origins for them. Those that have Edoid blood are so intermixed with Yoruba for centuries that it doesn't take away from anything if they claim to be Yorubas. Intermarriage in Akoko is very common and has been in existence since the dawn of time.

Yorubas don't joke with oral history. It is because the Olukwumi preserved their oral lineage that we are able to know exactly where they originate from and how they got to their present location. There are even pure Igbo speaking communities in Aniocha that claim that they migrated from Yorubaland. Does it make sense to say that they changed their origin story to reflect their political realities when in all means they are surrounded by Igbo.

Till date, there are Yoruba speaking communities in Edo state in Ovia NE and SW like Siluko, Uhen, Olumoye, etc. Despite being in Edo state, their native language is still Yoruba and they cannot hold a conversation with Edo speakers in their native language.

ModsWillKillNL:
I am a staunch believer of restructuring.

We shall be eating our cakes and having them.

Every man to his own opinion.

kn23h:
More brilliant post.

NL keeps chasing away people like this Soon all Seu.n will have are flat heads claiming to dominate NL. I no kuku pity am before.

It's all right. I am for whatever benefits the people. The federal government is too big as it is. If regionalism or separatism is the way to move forward, then so be it.

What's even more painful is the cultural aspect. In Africa, it's hard to find a country where the official/institutional language of education isn't foreign. Instead of promoting Yoruba's culture, Yoruba culture is being thrown away and you are considered more posh if you speak English and not your native language. Funny enough is most Nigerians aren't excellent in the English language. I want an autonomous state where Yoruba is the language of government and education institutions where local dialects will thrive and English will be a side language reserved only on the international stage.

ModsWillKillNL:
There are so many factors to consider.

Do you think an independent Yorubaland will be politically stable enough to attain it's full potential?

Yorubaland is stable enough to attain its full potential. Most of the religious and political strives plaguing much of Nigeria are not common in Yorubaland. An independent Yoruba state has a full potential to succeed. It's perhaps one of the least exploited areas in Nigeria. Yorubas have the longest coastline of any ethnic groups in Nigeria. Do you know how many mineral deposits like gold and iron ore found in Yorubaland? Do you know the billions of barrels of untapped hard oil found in the bitumen deposit of Ondo state. Do you know how much arable farming land is in Oyo, Kwara, and Ogun states? Do you know that most of the limestone deposit and cement production in Nigeria can be found in Yorubaland. Do you know that the largest cement plant in the whole of Africa, the Obajana cement plant is in Yorubaland?

You can consider the immense potential that can come from agriculture and cash crops alone like rubber, cocoa, oil palm, banana, orange, coffee, sugarcane, and cotton. The cocoa produced during the autonomous Western region was the reason why Nigeria was the largest cocoa producer in the world exporting cocoa to the various Western countries. Today, due to the neglect of the Nigerian government, the country has fallen to fourth place behind Indonesia. The same thing happen with the production of oil palm, which Nigeria was the largest producer, but has now been surpassed by Indonesia and Malaysia.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, the same Indonesia and Malaysia used to come to Western Nigeria to take back saplings to their home countries. The oil palm isn't even native to Indonesia and Malaysia, but the west coast of Africa and yet these people are the largest producers after decades of investment in their agriculture and neglects of Nigeria's. The cocoa house, the only sky scrapper in Nigeria at the time and the tallest in Africa at the time was erected by the cocoa proceeds from the region under Odu'a Investment Company Ltd. Back then, it was referred to as "ile awon agbe."

When you look at a vintage picture of western Nigeria in the 70's and compare it to now, one always seems to wonder what happened along the way. For one, unemployment and poverty was lower then compared to now. The quality of education, security, health, and life was better. Isn't it that as a society ages, its people progresses. Why is it the reverse in Nigeria?

KingOvoramwen1:
[s][/s]


Guy you are talking Rubbish ...Arrrant Nonsense I don dey look you since .... It is on record the Ado in ekiti stands for Edo as that is what Edo is called in eastern Yoruba land who were under the servitude of the empire..

You better sit down for one corner dey spread your mumu lies and don't come up spewing nonsense around

Well, you can go tell that fabricated lie to the Ado-Ekiti indigines who claim that the name of their city is derived from the phrase "ibi a do si re."

EdoNation:
;DD

And the funny thing is that 50% of the people in ekiti trace their origin back to Benin ... That's why it was even named Ado(Edo)Ekiti, we haven't even gotten to Ondo yet... The guy is here mentioning Hamlets not even villages

Common sense is really not common

1% of Ekiti people don't even claim Edo origin, so where did you get that from? Also Ado Ekiti settlement predates the expansion of the Benin empire under Ewuare. As for the meaning of Ado Ekiti, it comes from "ibi a do si re" meaning "on this land, we encamped."

scholes0:
Woow, Elaborately dissected.

I knew of the Edo south Yoruba seaking communities, but decided to keep them out for now since we are focusing on Edo North.

Some of them in Ovia NE include.
Usen
Olumoye
Agopanu
Egbeta
Ogbese
And many other very small communes.

While in Ovia SW, we have the likes of
Gbelemotin Oke
Gbelemotin Odo
Madagbayu
Siluko (which actually speak similar to Okitioupa and Ode Irele people, i.e Ikale)
and Others.....

Once again, thanks for the response.

Those are just mainly towns, there are many more villages. You can also look for towns with Yoruba origin with the name Ugbo attach to their names in the Ovia areas just like found in parts of the SW.


The reason why there are Yoruba communities in Edo might be due to the fact that much of the boundaries between Edo and Ondo state were based off of rivers, since I'm guessing they are easy natural barriers for political demarcation. The two rivers here are the Osse river in the North and the Siluko river in the South. In reality rivers can be use to gage borders but they can't be the only factor in border creation. This is why there are Yoruba speakers found across the Siluko and Osse river in Edo state.

scholes0:
Except that they Okpe and many other communities there both speak Yoruba, and trace their origin to Ife.
The only places that peak edoid dialect in Ondo that I know of, has already been shown by the OP.

Maybe you should ask actual people from the towns in question instead of running your mouth on something you have only limited knowledge about. I don't understand anything about what you said on Itsekiri, Their language is Yoruboid, not Yoruba.

You are only being emotional, I will excuse you till the real OP returns.


http://www.afemaipeople.com/okpe-kingdom

I might do a breakdown of Akoko Edo in the future, but these kind of things require a lot of time and research. The only Edoid speaking parts of Ondo state are Isua area, Ipe, Ekpemi, and Iyayu quaters in Idoani. Now let's make a distinction between Edo and Edoid. These four communities don't identify as Edo, because they are not Edo, but Edoid speaking groups. Your average Edo speaker from Benin cannot hold a conversation with these people because while their language are related, they are not the same. It is the same way Igalas aren't Yorubas despite speaking a Yoruboid language (that is not necessarily mutually intelligible to Yoruba). In fact, these particular four communities identify as Yoruba and trace their origin to Ile-Ife like most if not all the peoples in Akoko Ondo area. Most of their kings have Yoruba titles and claim descendant to Oduduwa.

Yes, good observation about the Okpe people. There are quite a number of Yoruba speaking communities in Edo state. It's a known fact that there are ethnic groups in Akoko Edo and Owan areas that claim origin from Ile-Ife, practice Yoruba culture and religion and speak Yoruba language in additional to their own distinct languages. There are also some monolingual Yoruba communities that speak a dialect of the Yoruba language such as Imeri, that was only ceded to Ondo state just a couple of years ago.


Aside from these communities in the Afemai area, there are a few Yoruba communities even found in the heart of Edoland. I'm talking specifically about the Northern parts of Ovia SouthWest and the Western border areas with Ondo state. The town of Usen, as well as the surrounding towns and villages are not native Edo speaker. Your average Edo speaker cannot hold a conversation with an Usen speaker since they speak a Yoruba language. To this day, the traditional ruler of Usen is referred to as Olu Awure.

CC: Kagawa10, YourNemesis, Scholes0, zoolezoo, Diademk07, macof, Laudate, Guseh, Asiwajufoward, Konquest, Akinphysicist, Shym3xx, aljharem, abakalikipress, deomelo, Markfemi2, omofunaab, Ooduavanguard, Oxtonguy, kn23h, dejavski, AworiLagosian, ODVanguard, NeoOduduwa, Dunsin89, totit, others,

Here are some maps of the highlighted area that I created.

Akoko land is sure an interesting region rich in diversity in culture and language. The entire Akoko region is populated by well over a million people. It's made up of dozens of different tight-knit communities spread accross 4 states in 3 different geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The Greater Akoko region is not just limited to Ondo and Edo states; it also include parts of Kogi and Ekiti state, specifically Ogori-Magongo and parts of Ijumu local government area of Kogi state, as well as parts of Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti state. These three local governments area form a contiguous boundary with the main bulk of the Akoko population in Ondo and Edo state.

My focus is specially concerning the Akoko Ondo region and a few neighboring groups which holds the majority of the Akoko population. These groups have a trial ethnic identity of not only theier respective ethno-linguistic communities, but also the larger Akoko umbrella identity and the broader Yoruba identity. I couldn't find a list or map that represent the people well, so I took it upon myself to accurately highlight the area to the best of my abilities. While acknowledging the immense diversity in the Akoko region, I have simplified the ethnic breakdown based on affiliation of the communities and the similarities in the dialects. All Akoko groups speak one branch of the Volta-Niger languages with the common lingua franca of the people being Yoruba.
There are roughly ten native ethno-linguistic groups that make up Akoko Ondo and a few surrounding communities and they can be categorize further into 5 main bodies.

YORUBA (YORUBOID
No doubt, the Yorubas for the largest group in Akoko Ondo region. The largest town in the region, Ikare is inhabited by them, as well as many other large towns in the area. There are two Yoruba subgroups found in Akoko region: The Ekitis and the Akokos.

1.) Akoko Yoruba
The largest Yoruba subgroup and largest entity in Akoko are the Akoko Yoruba speaking people. Out of the 4 local government areas ( Akoko NW, NE, SW, SE) that make up Akoko Ondo, they largely occupy 3 of them. They can be found in Akoko SW and Akoko NE where they form the majority of the population as well as the Southern half of Akoko SE. The Akoko Yoruba dialect is a South Eastern (SEY) Yoruba dialect that is similar to other SEY dialects (Owo, Ondo, Ikale, Ijebu etc). The major towns inhabited by the Akoko Yoruba include Ikare, Oka, Akungba, Supare, Boropa, Ipesi, Sosan, Ifira, Idoani, and Imeri.
The Akoko dialect is considered one of the closest Yoruba dialect to the original Proto-Yoruba.
I want to note that the town of Imeri used to be part of Edo state until it was ceded to Ondo state (Osse LGA) only a few years ago after boundary readjustment.
I also want to mention that the town of Idoani is still part of the Akoko region, it just happens to fall politically in Osse Local Government Area. Idoani kingdom is a confederacy that is comprised of 6 different people with different historical backgrounds similarly to Abeokuta in ways. These 6 groups are Amusigbo, Iyayu, Isure, Okedo, Ako and Owani. I want to note that the Owani quarter is actually not in Idoani town itself. Owani quarter is a separate town known as Idosale. Yoruba is spoken natively in Idosale (Owani) and most Idoani quarters of Isure, Amusigbo, etc. The most distinct quarter where Yoruba isn’t spoken natively is the Iyayu quarters of Idoani.
2.) Ekiti Yoruba
Even though majority of Ekiti people live in Ekiti state, Ekiti people can also be found in surrounding states like Kwara and Ondo. In Akoko, the Ekiti Yorubas can be found in Western parts of Akoko NW. Their major towns are Eriti, irun, and Ogbagi. Ekiti people speak a Central Yoruba (CY) dialect similar to Akure, Ijesha, Igbomina, etc.

TheKingIsHere:
Yes, I have been to Ilorin before.

You have? Then you won't mind answering these questions.

What is the largest ethnic group in Ilorin after Yorubas?

Can you give me an idea of Ilorin's religious breakdown?

What is the largest/main market in Ilorin?

What color are Ilorin's iconic taxis?

What color is Ilorin's old central mosque and what is the color of the new one?

If you are traveling on the main highway from the South that connects Ajase-ipo with Ilorin, what is the name of the town, you reach right before entering Ilorin?

Anybody who have stepped foot in Ilorin should be able to answer most if not all of these questions.

oya I am awaiting my answers.

RisingSun1:
The name "Lagos" is Portuguese Language

The name "Eko" is Bini Language

If Lagos is Yoruba. Then what is the indigenous Yoruba name for Lagos?

I guess Lagos will soon be included in the recent Bendel Republic by the Binis

What is your point?
Eko is also the word for farm in the Awori dialect.
In fact, you can find towns across Yorubaland with the name "Eko."

dreamwords:
Come and tell me that egun people are Yoruba people, attachee by force, Lagos is not Yoruba land

Why don't you focus on your Ikwerre and Anioma saga and stop carrying Lagos matters over your head.

What kind of joke is this?
What a bunch of pathetic clowns pretending to be heroes under the banner of "saving" the Niger Delta. The average Niger Deltan suffer as well because of the behavior of these self-proclaimed freedom fighters. I pray everyday that the Niger Delta take full control of its resources from Nigeria. However, while I want this, you pathetic clowns pretending to be messiahs are not part of the equation. Bombing pipelines, causing environmental havocs, and extorting money for personal gains in the name of freedom just make you look like criminals not heroes.

I am sure there are more Niger Deltans living in SW than Yorubas living in Niger Delta, since we all know that Yorubas don't like to do business beyond their region or at least they like to claim.

Akoko land is sure an interesting region rich in diversity in culture and language. The entire Akoko region is populated by well over a million people. It's made up of dozens of different tight-knit communities spread accross 4 states in 3 different geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The Greater Akoko region is not just limited to Ondo and Edo states; it also include parts of Kogi and Ekiti state, specifically Ogori-Magongo and parts of Ijumu local government area of Kogi state, as well as parts of Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti state. These three local governments area form a contiguous boundary with the main bulk of the Akoko population in Ondo and Edo state.

My focus is specially concerning the Akoko Ondo region and a few neighboring groups which holds the majority of the Akoko population. These groups have a trial ethnic identity of not only theier respective ethno-linguistic communities, but also the larger Akoko umbrella identity and the broader Yoruba identity. I couldn't find a list or map that represent the people well, so I took it upon myself to accurately highlight the area to the best of my abilities. While acknowledging the immense diversity in the Akoko region, I have simplified the ethnic breakdown based on affiliation of the communities and the similarities in the dialects. All Akoko groups speak one branch of the Volta-Niger languages with the common lingua franca of the people being Yoruba.
There are roughly ten native ethno-linguistic groups that make up Akoko Ondo and a few surrounding communities and they can be categorize further into 5 main bodies.

YORUBA (YORUBOID)
No doubt, the Yorubas for the largest group in Akoko Ondo region. The largest town in the region, Ikare is inhabited by them, as well as many other large towns in the area. There are two Yoruba subgroups found in Akoko region: The Ekitis and the Akokos.

1.) Akoko Yoruba
The largest Yoruba subgroup and largest entity in Akoko are the Akoko Yoruba speaking people. Out of the 4 local government areas ( Akoko NW, NE, SW, SE) that make up Akoko Ondo, they largely occupy 3 of them. They can be found in Akoko SW and Akoko NE where they form the majority of the population as well as the Southern half of Akoko SE. The Akoko Yoruba dialect is a South Eastern (SEY) Yoruba dialect that is similar to other SEY dialects (Owo, Ondo, Ikale, Ijebu etc). The major towns inhabited by the Akoko Yoruba include Ikare, Oka, Akungba, Supare, Boropa, Ifira, Ipesi, Sosan, Idoani, and Imeri.
The Akoko dialect is considered one of the closest Yoruba dialect to the original Proto-Yoruba.
I want to note that the town of Imeri used to be part of Edo state until it was ceded to Ondo state (Osse LGA) only a few years ago after boundary readjustment.
I also want to mention that the town of Idoani is still part of the Akoko region, it just happens to fall politically in Osse Local Government Area. Idoani kingdom is a confederacy that is comprised of 6 different people with different historical backgrounds similarly to Abeokuta in ways. These 6 groups are Amusigbo, Iyayu, Isure, Okedo, Ako and Owani. I want to note that the Owani quarter is actually not in Idoani town itself. Owani quarter is a separate town known as Idosale. Yoruba is spoken natively in Idosale (Owani) and most Idoani quarters of Isure, Amusigbo, etc. The most distinct quarter where Yoruba isn’t spoken natively is the Iyayu quarters of Idoani.

2.) Ekiti Yoruba
Even though majority of Ekiti people live in Ekiti state, Ekiti people can also be found in surrounding states like Kwara and Ondo. In Akoko, the Ekiti Yorubas can be found in Western parts of Akoko NW. Their major towns are Eriti, irun, and Ogbagi. Ekiti people speak a Central Yoruba (CY) dialect similar to Akure, Ijesha, Igbomina, etc.

AKOKOID
The next largest group after Yorubas are the Akokoid group. Akokoid languages are a number of dialect clusters spoken. Akokoid was originally classified as Defoid branch which comprised of Yoruboid, Ayere-Ahan and Akokoid languages. Defoid was a contraption which came from Ede + Ife + oid in reference to the fact that both Akokoid and Yoruba communities claimed the same lineage and Ile-Ife origins. The Defoid classification is now considered defunct as the relationship between Akokoid and Yoruboid languages is now considered more distant within the YEAI (Yoruboid-Edoid-Akokoid-Igboid). Within the YEAI branch, Akokoid scores the highest lexical similarity with Standard Yoruba with a shared cognate score of 55%.

3. Akoko
There is no single Akoko language. Akokoid languages are really just a series of related dialects with each community speaking their own variety and some communities like Oke Agbe having 4 dialects spoken in different sections of the town. There are 10 dialects of Akoko language cluster and they all have a degree of mutual intelligibility. The main Akoko towns are Oke Agbe, Arigidi, Erushu, Oyin, igashi, and Uro Ajowa. The Akoko people are found in Akoko NW where they form the majority of the population.

EDOID
The next group is made up of communities who speak Edoid languages, of which there are three in Ondo State. They are mostly concentrated in the Northern half of Akoko SE and in and near Idoani town In Osse Local Government Area.

4.) Ekue-Ehuen
The largest Edoid speaking group in Akoko are the Ekue-Ehuen speakers. Ekue-Ehuen is spoken in Western portion of Akoko SE. Ekue-Ehuen is made up of 2 mutually intelligible dialects, Ekue and Ehuen. Ekue is spoken in the town of Ipe (Ukpe), while Ehuen is the dialect spoken just north of Ipe, in the town of Ekpemi.

5.) Uhami
Uhami communities are Edoid speaking communities found in North Eastern portion of Akoko SE. They are mostly concentrated in and around the town of Isua.

6.) Iyayu
Iyayu people are another Edoid speaking group found in the Idoani confederacy. They are geographically located in Osse Local Government Area in the Iyayu quarters of Idoani town. They are the most distinct of all the people in Idoani Confederacy. The Uhami and Iyayu languages are related and they are even considered the same as they have a high degree of mutual intelligibility.

THE AKPES
The next group are the Akpes. Akpe belong to an independent branch of the Volta-Niger language. It’s not related to any other languages in the Volta-Niger branch.

7. Akpe
Akpe is a group of dialect clusters concentrated in the Southeast corner of Akoko NW and Northeast corner of Akoko NE. All Akpe communities have close cultural affiliation with each other. Akpe towns include Ora Ajora, Akunnu, Gedegede, Ibaram, Ikaram, Efifa, and Eshuku.

AYERE-AHAN
Ayere-Ahan are made up of two groups, Ayere and Ahan. The history of these people are linked, which is very evident in their tongues, even though they are isolated by many groups in the area. Due to high lexical similarity between Yoruba and Ayere-Ahan, it was originally classified as parts of the now defunct Defoid language branch. After some reassessment, it was revealed that despite a degree of lexical similarity with Yoruba, Ayere-Ahan does not behave like any other Yoruba dialect or Yoruboid languages and was later removed and classified as a separate independent branch of the Volta-Niger languages.

8.) Ayere
Ayere is a very distinct language that is not directly related to any other language in the Volta-Niger branch. Although Ayere speakers are found in parts of Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi state, Ayeres are an integral part of Akoko. They can be found found in Ayere and Arima communities of Ijumu Local Government in Kogi.

9.) Ahan
Ahan are an isolated group found in Ekiti East in the Ahan quarters of the town of Omuo. Ahan and Ayere have a degree of mutual intelligibility despite being isolated from each other. Ahan is only spoken by a few hundreds of people in the town and it’s perhaps the smallest language on this list. This means that the Ahan language is very vulnerable to extinction.

UKAAN
Ukaan is another people group who speak an independent language. It’s also the most distinct language in the Akoko Ondo region as it belongs to either Niger-Volta or Benue-Congo branch, since its classification is disputed.

10. Ukaan
Ukaans can be found mainly in Eastern parts of Akoko NE of Ondo state as well as in the communities of Anyara and Ikakumo in Akoko Edo of Edo state. The Ukaan communities in Ondo include Auga, Ise, and Ikakumo-keji.

Obi1kenobi:
No, he did not. We will agree to disagree cos no way in hell I'm buying that. Mapping out areas around Isolo, Ilupeju and Ikeja for industries to build is hardly greater in scale than what the FG did in Lagos. I'd say not even close. What even initially started all this back-and-forth was the incredible claim that FG only built 3rd Mainland bridge and FESTAC in Lagos in 77 years of occupation.

You can't wait for 100% resource control? Let's not kid ourselves: Ondo, Osun, Oyo, and Ekiti would be in massive trouble without allocations from the centre. Those same states often struggle to pay ordinary salary. Even Ogun, while not finished, will be in severe recession.

Resource control will restore economic regionalism where states won't constantly be dependent on the federal government. This is not strange to Nigeria, it has happened before back when Nigeria had regional governments decades ago. It happened at a time where Nigeria's economy was not even dependent on oil, but on agriculture. It's well obvious the grip of the federal government is too much because of the unhealthy bailout of the states. In a politically harmonized society, the power at the state and federal levels have to be balanced. This is simply not the case in Nigeria. If states are left to fend off on their own, they will learn to utilize their resources properly and manage them. This will not only diversify the economy, but will further loosen the grip of the federal government.

kn23h:
Onitsha shouldn't be on the list. Have you been believing the lies by Ibo?

nah!
That was sarcasm at its finest.

So everything I've been told my entire life is a lie? You mean to tell me that Onitsa didn't even make the top 20 in Africa or even top 5 in Nigeria. And this people will come around and tell us that Onitsa has the largest market in Africa or that the East is full of rich people with big mansions in villages and that the West is full of poor people in rusty brown houses.

I was not surprised when I saw Ibadan. Yorubas have had contact with other West African tribes centuries ago before colonial times. Oyo maintained diplomacy, influence and trade with ethnic groups and states accross West Africa. Till today, that legacy is still present as you can find Yoruba traders as far as places like Coutonou, Lome, Abidjan, Ouagadougou, kumasi, Accra etc. Even Kano made it on the list and it's no surprise as the Hausas also share this legacy of as well.

All these far fetched myths need to be debunked.

Warship:
The 2015 election result is a proof of your comment about the Igbos being the most populated


Yoruba+Hausa Fulani+ Minorities= 15Mil voters


Igbos + Minorities = 12Mil voters



One Major tribe + Minorities giving Jonathan such a number tells you that we aren't a small tribe

I hate to burst your chest-beating bubble, but I'm going to do it anyways. I bet you didn't know Yorubas gave Jonathan 40-50% of their votes. Buhari only won the Yoruba vote by a small margin. I couldn't care less anyways, Nigeria's politics as far as I'm concerned is a joke. All, I know is that Yorubas are diversed in their political affliation and aren't as swayed by religion divide/sentiments affecting many other ethnic groups.

drake2000x:
So Gala business built this skyline in Lagos? A gala business that pays over 100m naira in taxes to Lagos state government used to pay your father's civil servant salary, Mr. Afonja ewedu filled cone skull?

So from your nestoil tower picture alone, you are inferring that the skyline of Lagos was largely built by Igbos, because that will be untrue, unless you are specifically referring to the skyline of the tower alone. This is also false, because last time I checked, a skyline does not consist of a single building.

Skyline asides, just to make sure you understand, a city is only as good as its leadership. Lagos is only just reemerging due to its new leadership after decades of neglect it had faced.

No one is saying Igbos aren't business oriented, but learn to know your boundaries before you beat your chest and make outrageous claims. Remember that Palms shopping mall (the largest mall in the SE) was built by an Afonja. Am I then right to say Yorubas control Enugu economically?

Vutseck:
"" Yorubas seem to be dominating it politically and culturally""

yet Igbo's dominate it economically


.

Ahh...the same regurgitated lies. It never gets old. As we speak, the biggest investment in the Lagos/SW that is not led by an indigine is led by a Hausa man. We are talking about life-changing economic investments, not gala businesses or corner shops (no offense).

Come to think of it, the Hausas are much more humble, you see them conducting trade in just about every commercial centers and markets you can think of and yet you don't see them making a big noise about it.

Vutseck:
Lagos is no man's land

.
hence we will shot it down

.

For such a no man's land, Yorubas seem to be dominating it politically and culturally. The sooner you get your head around this fantasy you've invented for yourself, the sooner you can face the cold truth that is reality.

These people no dey get shame at all. It's like Oduduwa holding a rally in Port Harcourt or Owerri, what a desperate lot.

You never learned from the last time you were served when you brought your treachery beyond your borders at Ore.

Are Yorubas the ones keeping you captive like animals in this apparent zoo or are you too afraid to go face your real masters in Daura or Kano?

Probz:
A mix of Edo and Niger Delta, yeah. That's what I'm suggesting. Feel free to put me right.

The core of Itsekiri's culture is Yoruba/Yoruboid. If you look at their cultural practices, they bear a close resemblance to Yoruba cultural practices. Itsekiri's core culture contains proto-Yoruba element.
For example, there are a lot of similarities in terms of religion. Itsekiri's traditional religion is known as ebora tsitse, which is shared with Yoruba. There is a large plethora of deities with Yoruba, even more so with Yorubas of Ondo area. Itsekiris also have ifa, which they called ife. There are 256 odu ifa(literary corpus) found in both Yoruba and Itsekiri. Cultural festivals Umale festival for example can only be found among Itsekiri and parts of Ondo state(Ilaje, Ikale area etc). Umale has no Edo origins nor is it observed by them. Yoruba and Itsekiri's masquerades are known as egungun and the masquerade traditions are also similar. The social structures of Itsekiri is also similar to Yoruba's.

I've seen most people who say Itsekiri's culture is closer to Edo reference the clothing style. Funny thing is, wrapper style is also native to Yorubas. Sure, many don't prefer the wrapper style, but it's still heavily present among many Yoruba subgroups. In fact, the common george's wraper/blouse worn by Itsekiri has no real connection with Edo. If we all know our history, the Itsekiris were one of the first people who first made contact with the Europeans and benefited from early trade. They adopted the George's wrapper/blouse before the Edos as they were right on the coast and were at the forefront of coastal trading before reaching Edo. The george's clothing actually has its origins in India and they were introduced to the Itsekiris by the Europeans who had already set up colonies in Asia. In fact the shirt in Itsekiri is known as kemije which is derived from the Portuguese "camisa."

Now, that that's out of the way, we can talk about food. Here is where you don't see much similarities with Yoruba. The Itsekiri's cuisine is more similar to that of the cuisine of the Delta/Edo area.

Probz:
Ile-Ife and Oduduwa, yeah. Can Itsekiri people claim descent from both?

Go ahead and argue that the core of iJekri's
Yoruba. It's entirely possible I'm not aware of these cultural things being an outsider.

No, unless you are descendant of Oduduwa, you don't claim such, it's more in a figurative general sense. Most Yoruba's royal lineage traces back to Oduduwa. All Yoruba weather of royal blood or not trace their origin to Ile-Ife directly or indirectly.

Also, let's get out of the way first, I'm not in any way claiming that Itsekiris are Yoruba. People are free to choose what they believe in. I simply want to know if you are suggesting that they are culturally Edoid and linguistically Yoruboid like most people like to generalize. This is where you and I will disagree.