₦airaland Forum

Nowenuse:
It cannot be Lokoja because the Ebira koto, Kakanda and Bassa indigenes of Lokoja LGA will not join Okun state.

Oh YES it could be Lokoja. If you have taken anything from this thread, you would know that many Yorubas want a homogenous Okun State. No need to fret. Ok? Like you said, those ethnic groups cannot join and the Okun don't want them to join either. The Yoruba parts of Lokoja will be ceded to Okun state. Not a single Okun territory will be left behind in creation of an Okun state.

Nowenuse:
Igalas never lay claim to Lokoja. They have no land boundary with the city whatsoever.
Yeah we know now that Lokoja is not Igala, an actual Igala has confirmed this. As for the bolded, I've already said it.

I did not mention those ethnic groups because I'm not daft supremacist nor am I looking for petty arguments. I know those ethnic groups have more legitimacy over Lokoja. I mentioned the Hausa and Igala, because any claim of ownership by these two groups is completely illegitimate.

How come you did not talk about the Kakanda, Kupa and other Nupe speakers of Lokoja?
Hausas can only lay claim to Lokoja through the Nupes (Kakanda). The Maigari of Lokoja is a subject of the Etsu Nupe.

FYI, I'm familiar with Lokoja, the Kakandas are not native to the city. Kankada district of Lokoja LGA is actually far from the city of Lokoja. Before you reach Lokoja city from Kakanda district which is tucked away in the Niger border far away from the confluence, you have to pass through Oworo. However, I know that some like Nupe-Tako (Bassa Nge) have more claim to the city as they were one of the first to settle in Lokoja.

Kirigidi:
Wait! Are those your claimed sources books or what? If they are written books, what is the name of the writer or writers? Who are the publishers? And what date was it published? Concerning who is a negro, I have since corrected my assertion in my earlier reply to someone here. A negro is simply a general term for all blacks. In other-words, all blacks are negroes. Mistake corrected.

It's an online database that's constantly updated as the status of the languages change. You simply cannot cite a database like a book. The last updated date of ethnologue is 2016 as they do yearly updates.
Here is the reference list Ethnologue cited for India:
Bradley 1997, Bradley 2005, Breton 1997, Campbell and King 2011, Hugoniot 1970, Marrison 1967, Masica 1991, Matisoff et al 1996, Singh 1994a, Singh 1994b, Singh 1995a, Singh 1995b, Van Bik 2006, Van Driem 2001, Van Driem 2007

For Nigeria:
Bendor-Samuel and Hartell 1989, Blench 1992, Blench 2003, Blench 2011, Blench 2015, Campbell and King 2011, Connell 1994, Crozier and Blench 1992, Dimmendaal and Voeltz 2007, Hansford et al 1976, Hon et al 2014, Nengel 1999

Now back to you, I'm still awaiting that source for your figures for India.

Negro comes from the Latin word for black, so it's good that you've addressed that.

Kirigidi:
Where is the credible source you claimed you gave? Don't be trickish! I can't find any source in your write up.

Yes I gave a source for my figures for number of languages.
Ethnologue India
Ethnologue Nigeria

I specifically asked you to provide yours that's if you can. If you can't, then we can move on to that question I've been trying . What makes a person a negro?

Kirigidi:
I'm not twisting facts. The records are there in the internet and you can help yourself out with it. Go to google and type: how many tribes are in India or how many indigenous languages are in India. It will bring out the information.

Simply give me a source. Remember that anyone can put up random figures online. I've provided a credible source for my figures. Give me a source for your figures.
Oh yeah,you haven't answered my question. What makes a West African negro?
"Negro is a sub-division of the Black race" no be so?

Kirigidi:
Don't even go there! Nigeria is not a mate to India when it comes to religions. India is the mother of diverse religions. Several major religions practiced in different parts of the world today originated from India, namely; Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Besides, Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Baha'i Faith are widely practiced in India. Indians don't worship the same entities, and the feud between Hinduism and Islam within India is still there! Ghana is not an Akan country. The people of Northern half of Ghana are not Akans. Akan influence is concentrated in the Southern part [Ashanti, Fante, Axim]. Even at that, Akan is not one ethnic group. Rather, Akan is a conglomerate of closely-related tribes which include the Ashanti, Fante, etc. There are other major tribes in Ghana such as the G-Adangbe [who own the Capital City Accra], the Moshi, Manprussi [both found in the North] and the Ewe [found in the Eastern part [Ho, Volta]. What you should have said is that the Akans are the majority in Ghana. Moreover, Islam is major religion in Northern Ghana. In the case of Kenya, Bantu is neither a tribe nor a language. Rather, Bantu is a sub-division of the Black race just as Negro is a sub-division of the Black race. You should know that virtually all the black people in West Africa [apart from the Fulanis and the Tuaregs] are grouped as Negroes, likewise virtually all the black people in East, Central and Southern Africa are known as Bantu. In otherwords, Igbo, Yoruba, Bini, Urhobo, Nupe, Akan, Mossi, Mende, Mandingoes are all Negro tribes, while Kikuyu, Kamba, Acholi, Alur, Kikongo, Lingala, etc are Bantu tribes. Put differently, there are two major sub-divisions of the black race, namely [1] Negro and [2] Bantu. Negroes are mainly found in West Africa while Bantu are found mainly in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa.

I hope you are not using defunct 1800-1900 debunked European pseudo-scientist racist theories. Actually, assuming your Negro and Bantu classification is correct. I know what ties Bantu together. Can you tell me what ties your apparent "Negro" tribes together?

Guseh:
Ayetoro-Gbede base on some reasons though.

I was not expecting that.
Why Ayetoro-Gbede?

Kirigidi:
Do proper research man! India [with over 600 tribes and languages] is more diverse than Nigeria yet they are still a united country. Even Kenya that you mentioned have more than 62 tribes speaking different languages. Furthermore, there are over 100 tribes/ ethnic groups in Ghana but they still love themselves. You confirm these facts from the internet. Ethnic diversity is not the real cause of disunity in Nigeria!

Give me a source for that figure.

Secondly, "ethnic groups" varies by different definition. In order to tell what country is more diverse, then you would compare the same country using the same source. One of the largest database for ethno-linguistic research, ethnologue lists 462 languages (448 living and 14 extinct) for India and 527(520 living and 7 extinct) for Nigeria. In majority of sources you can find, Nigeria is the 3rd most ethno-linguistically diverse in the world after Indonesia.

I don't know what mirage you are trying to play. In fact, the British Indian colony was divided mainly into Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, and India that we know of today.

Also, the first attempt of unification of Nigeria as we know it was done by the British, an outsider force just around 100 years ago. The first unification of India happened over 2,000 years ago. During the Mauryan empire, Ashoka expanded into far reaches of Southern India (Kalanga) in 265 BC. Prior to the British arrival, there were multiple unification attempt by the Gupta empire under Chandragupta II around 400 AD and again by the Mughal empire prior to the British history.

These supremacy battle are getting ridiculous. You don't need to twist facts.

Guseh:
Well said bro, but i have not heard the Igalas lay' claim to Lokoja before. I know they flocked to Lokoja being the state capital and for the fact that their brothers had occupied some strategic political positions in the state.

I've seen some claim, especially online.

What do you think the capital of a proposed Okun state should be? Kabba? Lokoja?

Markfemi2:
Yoruba land ends in river niger -JEBBA which is after ilorin so we want all
No to local colonisation

Exactly!

sEGXY2:
All hail the great Oduduwa nation!

Unlike the other group we don't have to start staging violent protest and spewing hate statement before we get our own nation when we want it cos we'll get it on a platter of gold, that's sophistication.

The Okun and Kwarans has and will always be loyal to our brothers in the west, check election results if you're skeptical.

Omoluabi reporting from Egbe, kogi state.

Of course! You are absolutely right!
There are Okun settlements in the SW and there are Igbomina and Ibolo in the SW as there are in Kwara and Kogi. The only divide is the imaginary line created by outsiders.

Guseh:
Lokoja is a Yoruba town own' by Oworo(weak hand) people. They are also part of Okun but under a local government that is not fully occupied by Okuns unlike order 5LGA' in Kogi that are 100% Okuns.
Ajaokuta is a Yoruba name bt not a Yoruba town. Ajaokuta is fully Ebira town.

I also agree that Lokoja is an Oworo town, especially judging by how it's mainly sorrounded by other Oworo settlements. Lokoja is surrounded to the North and West by Oworo people and to the East by the Niger river. The only border that's neither an Oworo nor a geographical border is the Southern border which is Ebira.


The Igala claim to the Lokoja is futile as the Igala actually largely settled on the Eastern bank of the Niger. The closest areas to Lokoja across the Niger is occupied by Bassa-komo, Bassa-Nge, and Ebira Koto peoples in Bassa lga, which is the local government area directly east of Lokoja. There are no Igala lgas that border Lokoja lga at all.

I think the weakest claim to the city is the one by Hausas. The obvious reason is because Hausaland in Nigeria is limited to the core north and Lokoja does not form a contiguous border with Hausaland. Also the name Lokoja phonetically is odd in Hausa. In the Hausa language, the open "O" found in LOkOja is absent in Hausa language; the "O" in Hausa is more closed and similar to the "O" in Ocean.

Anyways, I believe the Okun can stand alone as a state. The population of Okunland in Kogi state as of now should be between 1-1.5 million. If you also include Okun(Yagba) towns in Kwara like Eruku and Koro as well as other Okun towns in Northeastern Ekiti state like Aiyede, Itapaji, etc and I think(i don't know) to an extent to the border parts of Akoko Ondo; then an inclusive Okun state can have a population that approaches 2 million. I think this is enough for a state. Size is also not a problem because as of now, the Okunland in Kogi alone is larger than Ekiti state and it's comparable in size to Osun state and that's not including the Okun territories outside of Kogi.

ColonelDrake:
Nope, it will be the other way around. The yoruba Muslims will be pushed back to futa jalon to do a full time job licking the abokiiissss hairy assesss. One Nigeria is the reason why we haven't see the bad side of islam yet in the SW. I already have a notion of what you guys can do. The bunch of islamic extremists I saw in my undergraduate days will not be forgotten so soon. I'm not even a christian, yet preaching on the bus by Christians doesn't affect me in any way. Even if it infringes on my right, hey jts something i can let go or overlook. The Muslims on the flip side wont tolerate such. You see them scattering and destroying school facilities and declaring fatwah abi fatai just because of preaching that doesn't hurt anyone. They forget how they disturb everyone's sleep in the morning as well but heck no one makes a fuss about it. Since then i will never forget how violent and intolerant you guys are.

And I have also seen here on Nl how oau has now become breeding ground for islamist extremist. All these happening in the SW.

Now they want to make our children study arabic, and guess what, yoruba muslims have no problem with it, hence the reason why the defend this islamic evil apshit govt with their blood. Islam must be propagated. Ko le werk

let's get some things right
-Secularism will be promoted in a Yoruba state.
- Freedom of religion will be upheld which would guarantee rights of believers and non believers.
- Yoruba will be the official language of the land, not Arabic.

You say you are being realistic, but you are not being pragmatic. If you have an issue with something put out a practical way to resolve it. What do you propose to do with the problems you noted? Does deporting millions of people to Fouta Jallon and separating millions of families a realistic way to deal with extremism? Your ideas are a bit radical and it's quite ironic that you are tagging others as extremists, when you yourself seem to be one.

Omofunaab2:
Oh, sorry, I meant to say the awujale has distanced the ijebu people from the general belief that all yorubas have their roots in ile-ife.

He said the ijebus migrated from Waddai in Sudan.. So he might oppose the name "oduduwa Republic"

Funny enough the Wadai kingdom he was referencing is largely located in Chad and not Sudan. The language connection is also flawed as the people from Wadai speak a Nilo-Saharan language called Maban which is closer to Kanuri than anything Ijebu.

Last of all, the Wadai kingdom he's trying to glorify is younger than Ijebu kinngdom. Ijebu kingdom predates Wadai kingdom by centuries
We know that the Ijebu kingdom predates the Portuguese arrival to Ijebu Kingdom in the 1400s which would make the claim that Ijebu came from Wadai improbable since Wadai kingdom/sultanate was founded in 1635. One Awujale alone cannot revise the history of Ijebu people. The previous Awujales before him did not acknowledge that claim, Obanta was always a man from Ile-Ife.

SuperS1Panther:
We cannot be totally homogenous. We have contiguous ethnicities we have interacted with for centuries and mingled for years.

The Nupes, The Eguns, and even the Igbiras or Ebiras. Spome even bear full yoruba names as First Middle and Last names. IT is extremely difficult to take them out of the Republic. Loyalty and patriotism to the nation is fundamental and not negotiable.

People should take time to read Awolowo's book on how he was sent to prison and we should be wary of parliamentary system. Every mistake in the constitution that the North and East fully exploited to connived against Awolowo must be blocked.

My major headache is -- what do we do with the issue of Ilorin (mind y word -- not Kwara).

If you've spent a lot of time in Ilorin, then you would know that the Ilorin natives are outnumbered by Yorubas from outside of Ilorin due to Ilorin's admin status. In fact, minorities like Nupe populate Ilorin more than Fulani. In Ilorin, you can't really look at the way they dress to tell, because the Yoruba, Yorubanized Fulani, Bariba and Nupe dress similarly a lot of the time. The dressing style is more of a conservative/Islamic dress mode than an ethnic one. Many of the Fulanis are actually mixed because the only major criterion for intermarriage for Fulanis in Ilorin is shared religion (Islam). The Bororo Fulani in Ilorin are less mixed due to their way of life, and even they speak Yoruba.

Ilorin is not a battleground as it may seems, it's just that some Yorubas from SW have fallen into the propaganda, especially pushed by some very special band of bigots.
It would be very difficult to carve out an Ilorin enclave in Kwara state as it's completely surrounded by Yoruba speakers and it would be completely cut off.

laudate:
Hmmn.... with all due respect, would this measure not be too drastic? There are people from minority groups like myself, who have lived, worked and studied in the SW region for years. I even know a few people who are not Yoruba, but are so assimilated into the Yoruba culture, that they are even alienated from their own paternal culture. Some of their maternal grandparents can trace their origins to border towns within the SW region. Would they be deported too? This needs a lot of careful thought & consideration...

Don't worry, you have little to worry about. I thought you were Yoruba from the way you have conducted yourself. People who contribute to the development of Yoruba are welcome.

FFKfuckedBIANCA:
You are mistaken a Herbal concoction for a vegetable soup.

The Ijaw Militancy in Lagos-Ogun-Ondo is much more than the activities of street gangster. Theirs is an insurgency against the Yoruba people in particular and the Nigerian State in general.

In what appears to be a shift from a guerilla campaign to conventional combat, the Ijaw Militants are now capturing and holding on to territories in Yorubaland. Few weeks ago, Igbeyin Island at Ijebu Waterside was sacked, and is currently under the occupation of Ijaw Militants whose aim is to completely capture Makun Omi, Ode Omi and beyond

If the threat of the Ijaw Militants is not urgently checkmated, the whole of Ijebu Waterside will fall before the Harmattan season.

Dont forget that the aducted pupils of the State Model College Igbonla, Epe, are still in their captivity since last month

You know the ijaw, wherever the water flows, they follow. What in the world concern Ijaw with Ijebu? Every Ijaw militancy element must be eliminated completely from Yorubaland. The Ijaw militancy used to be confined to Ondo state, now it's spread to Ogun and Lagos state. Due to the immigration nature of Ijaw, I even question the claim to Ese odo as it's completely cut off from the Ijaw mainstream by Yoruba and Edo people.

Sanchez01:
Often times, people misconstrue them to be one and the same but truth is they differ.

What is tradition?
Tradition is the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice.

What is culture?
Culture is defined as the behaviours and beliefs of a particular social, ethnic, or age group, as well as the ways of living built up by a group, from one generation to another.
http://www.esdaw.eu/the-difference-between-heritage-tradition-and-culture.html

The most important thing to differentiate between them is to consider that, if the beliefs and behaviors have been forwarded from the previous generation to the next generation, then it is considered a tradition otherwise not, whereas culture reflects the beliefs, governments, and ways of life that makes a community distinct from the other. It is important to note that the word ‘traditional culture’ is used to describe the culture that has retained the traditional values.
http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-tradition-and-culture

No one is arguing that tradition and culture are the same. Culture is a general term encompassing all the aspects that make up a way of life. Traditions are an integral part of culture. Culture includes religion/beliefs, traditions, language, custom, festivities, oral history, etc.

deedeedee1:
@9jacool. I visited cotonou. We have many of our people there.

Did you passed through Porto-Novo?

deedeedee1:
Japan and south korea are also mono-ethnic. And they one of the most innovative and developed countries today

I think it's a matter of common interest rather than being mono-ethnic per se. Indonesia is more ethnically diverse than Nigeria, and it's more developed. Somalia is largely mono-ethnic and they can't get their acts together because of the different interest groups. The case of Nigeria is because the ethnic groups have varying interests that differs coupled with the distrust.

deedeedee1:
I have stayed in Benin republic before. They are not monoethnic at all. They have many ethnic groups. Even ghana has lesser ethnic groups than benin. Yorubas indigenes make up 14 percent of benin republic sha, but the fongbes and ajahs are the largest. I heard there are 33 ethnic groups in togo.
You can use botswana as an example even though they are not mono-ethnic but in the african sense, you can can call them one.

The percentage according to the 2006 cencus is 17.6%. Also what part of country did you visited, was it near the coast or more in the interior?

Sanchez01:
You seem to be lumping culture and tradition into one giant, big ball. Traditionally, they share quite some practices with the Yorubas, as well as belief in gods, but culturally? Heck no.

Traditions are an integral part of culture. Belief systems, naming systems, legends and traditions like umale, and egungun are all integral part of culture. What's your definition of culture if I may ask?

sukkot:
brah, you are the one begging for freedom remember ? only slaves beg for freedom. yoruba has you under lock and key. we will release you when we are ready

Don't engage him at all. Ignore him like everyone else on this thread. He's not worth your time.

AkinPhysicist:
I tell you, I was greatly moved. It took a great deal of self-control to hold back tears. Their thirst for knowledge about the culture is deep and genuine. And they truly want to look up to us to help guide them in their journey.


Indeed. But make no mistakes. Our connection across the Atlantic will be repaired. It is only a matter of time. But first, there must be a cultural revolution within the core Yoruba enclave of SW Nigeria. And you shouldn't be surprised when I say that these Yorubas in South America, Carribean and West Indies are gonna play a major role in this revolution.

I can't wait for that cultural revolution. I agree that the work start from the Yorubas in Nigeria. They need to promote more culture: making Yoruba history mandatory in schools in Yorubaland, using Yoruba as a language of education, further development of the language including the various dialects, promoting traditional Yoruba arts and institutions, preservation natural grounds, preserving archaeological sites and allowing further archaeological exploration in Yorubaland.

I also believe in revitalizing many of the aspects that defined the old Western region. This include the revitalization of agriculture, especially the cocoa industry, bringing back the universal health care and universal primary education. I also believe in extensive development that will raise the standard of living for the people. I imagine cultural tourism in Yorubaland, where those from the Americas or those interested would come to explore and gain some knowledge about Yoruba culture, but that's a long way from now.

Sanchez01:
I wouldn't have said it better. Truth is, you would find thread as this with more intellectual contents than insults as opposed to the other people. The Itsekiris, though have their origin deeply rooted in the South West, do not share cultural similarities with the Yorubas. The guys here are intelligent, believe me.

The bolded is a myth which is long regarded that the Itsekiri's culture is Bini and the only thing they share with Yorubas is language. While Itsekiri's culture does have plenty of Bini's influence, it would be incorrect to say that there is no element of proto-Yoruba cultural traits among the Itsekiris. For example there is a lot of similarities between the religion (ebora tsitse), social structure, naming of twins and ifa(ife). There are even Itsekiri communities that claim direct descendant to Yoruba subgroups. Many of these communities predate the arrival of Ginuwa.
The Itsekiri consider the Ilajes, a Yoruba subgroup to be the closest to them even more so than Edos. The umale festival for example is a spectacle only found among the Ilaje and Itsekiri.

I just want to highlight the facts. Anyways, Itsekiris have long claim their distinctness from Yorubas and reinforce their tie to Edos, so they would rather form a union with them I'm guessing.

AkinPhysicist:
Trust me few things are more vexing to me than this Mecca origin business - probably an idea promoted by some Arabs to promote Islam. It makes zero sense. And lacks zero cultural evidence.


Thanks for the emboldened gem.

Your story of the people you met in Brazil spoke to me. The funny thing is while these people are yearning hard to claim their Yoruba/African ancestry that was robbed from them, some of our own people are knowingly throwing away their identity.

FisifunKododada:
Walahi this guy you just spoke my mind. I have been saying this for years. The madness needs to stop. And soon.

There is nothing greater of a loss to an individual than loosing one's identity.

AkinPhysicist:
The writer is absolutely spot on. Nigerians underestimate the extent to which these two foreign religion have devastated our traditional cultures. The Yorubas are still faring better - go to the North and see how entire cultures have gone completely extinct because of Islam. And I mean COMPLETELY.

I see the foolery is getting to a few elements of Yoruba folks as well. You see that some ignorant folks are claiming that Oduduwa came from Meccah, because Mohammed was from there. Also when they go on hajj, they see the glitter of Meccah (which is a result of Saudi's oil) meanwhile forgetting that when Ile-Ife was an urban center of trade and culture, Meccah was just a small village in the Arabian desert.

It even gets more ridiculous when the Awujale was claiming that Ijebus are from Sudan when their founder, Obanta was from Ile-Ife. At the same time, they worry why their brothers, the Remos who are sworn Ife descendants constantly disassociate themselves from the Ijebus. You cannot spit in a pot of soup and expect someone else to eat it with you. I know many Ijebus don't buy that nonsense, but there are some very unfortunate folks out there who would rather claim to be descendant from some far fetched place. Even with this, I agree that Yorubas are faring better in comparison to other ethnic groups.

YungMillionaire:
FK - its quite straight forward:

1. There are two MAIN forces in Niger-Delta:- Ijaw and Bini. So, the incentive (political and otherwise) for non-Ijaw groups to associate with Yorubas is very small. So, the Bini link (which is very weak when compared to the Yoruba link) of the Itshekiris is emphasized more than the Yoruba link. This does not affect the Itshekiris alone. Also, the Olukunmis (another Yoruba group) of Anioma are also affected in similar manner. This does not only affect Yoruba groups because there are Ibo groups in Delta who are affected by the same forces.

2. Simple. Because I am a student of my people's history. I know that Yoruba blood runs deep within our veins. The Nigerian construct has made it difficult for ANY of the minority tribes to trust ANY of the majority tribes (Yoruba, Hausa and Ibo). As far as the Itshekiris are concerned the 'devil' (aka fellow Niger Delta tribes) they know is better than the 'angel' (aka Yorubas) they do not. Most Itshekiris live among Ijaws and Bini-groups and have very little knowledge of Yoruba people. Hence the reluctance.

I've seen many Itsekiri blurring or downplaying the Yoruba ancestry by saying that they are of mixed ancestry of Bini, Ijaw, Urhobo, and Portuguese, so the Yoruba ancestry is just one of the many ancestries they have. To me, they are just a Yoruboid stock of people who were absorbed by Bini.
I definitely agree that history education in Nigeria is lacking.

walemoney007:
is jebba part of Yoruba land?

Have you been to Jebba before? Anyways, Jebba is a Yoruba town ruled by an oba. Jebba is split into two: the island of Jebba and Jebba(main town). Jebba (main town) is Yoruba and it falls in Kwara state. The of island of Jebba is a Nupe settlement and it's in Niger state just north of Jebba (main town).

deedeedee1:
Excellent contribution! The Yorubas in Benin and Togo speak Yoruba language and even look up to us here in Nigeria. I dont know why the ones in Nigeria don't really focus on them. I guess their obsession with "one nigeria" is the cause. There are "Nigerian yorubas" that dont even know that yoruba language is spoken by many in Benin and Togo
This is the map of Yorubaland in Benin republic and Togo.

It's mainly the Yorubas along the border or well informed people that are very aware of those in countries like Benin. The Yorubas in Nigeria and those in Benin are much closer in reality. This can be especially seen in Ogun West. The Yorubas in Imeko Afon Lga are the same Yorubas found in Ketu in Benin republic. They were under the Kingdom of Ketu and they speak the same dialect. The Anagos in Ipokia LGA are the same Anagos in Porto Novo, Benin.

AshiwajuFoward:
Exactly. Only a minority of those groups still openly identify themselves as Yoruba today. The vast majority have long carved a separate identity for themselves and would rather be identified along those lines.

My view is that we start from our current 6 SW states while consulting with those in parts of Kogi and Kwara. If the Kogi and Kwara ones refuse to commit to the project, that's fine and no hard feelings. After all there are Yorubas in Benin and Togo, and they're cool where they're at while still enjoying good relations with the rest of the wider Yoruba family based on our shared historical and cultural ties.

We mustn't allow any petty excuse to rob us of an opportunity to have a Yoruba country. IMO, Yorubas that are currently not a part of the SW fold but are willing to join their brethren must be vocal and at the forefront of making such ambitions and aspirations known. I am sure the SW states will surely support them if they do. But they must be the ones to make the first moves.

And who was the blind fool that demarcated the Yorubas in Kogi and Kwara to the North. What boundary exists other than the artificial boundary that exist between the SW and the Yorubas in NC. Why do many Yorubas of today act like those in Kwara and Kogi are some type of foreign race. Was that the way it has always been? The Oya overlooking Jebba marks the Northernmost frontier of Yoruba people at least in Nigeria hence the land North of that mark is known as Oke Oya where foreign traders came from.

Somehow one is going to include Ila Orangun, and the Igbominas in Omu Aran are not going to want to join. If Ekiti state is included, won't the Ekitis in Kwara join likewise the Ibolos. Are the Okun in Northern parts of Ekiti somehow more Yoruba than those in Kogi?

Nowenuse:
You did not argue about hausa foot soldiers, but you are playing down their relevance, forgetting that Hausa was the language of the caliphate and spoken by most fulanis who were already becoming heavily hausanized.

It is very pointless adressing Hausanized fulanis as fulanis., cos the former are almost no different from Hausas themselves. So i don't see anything wrong in calling some of the jihadic wars hausa-fulani wars, just as those embarked on by the Nupes can be very much called Nupe-hausa-fulani jihad wars.

Lol, I was downplaying Hausa foot soldiers when I didn't even talk about them. If you are going to talk about Hausa foot soldiers, then you must also talk about other groups like Borgus and etc. In fact, the Borgus had a more important role than Hausas in the fall of Ilorin to Fulanis. Anyways, I am not downplaying anything as I'm simply not interested.

Answer this question for me. Were Dan Fodio, Mallam Dendo, and Alimi Hausas? Again, the Hausanization during the earlier Jihad years of the caliphate was not as strong as the latter years following and leading to colonization.