₦airaland Forum

It is apparent that most Igbos have no idea what the word Igbo means. They need to look West in the Yoruba country for the meaning since it is academic knowledge that the Igbo and Yoruba language are related. Yorubas too can look East to know the indepth meaning of some of their words.

Ndi Owerri for instance means People of Owerri.

Ndi Onitsha means people of Onitsha. And etc.


Come to the West in Yoruba land.

If I say Idi kanna ni wa. It means we are from thesame family.

Idile Ajayi means family of Ajayi

Idile Adewale means family of Adewale

Idi generally means base. It also means arse which the Urhobo call ikebe. It can also mean reason. For instance, I can say 'Kini idi ti o fi ribe?' Why is it so? Or what reason is it like that?. For the use to mean base, take for instance Idi Araba which means 'The base of the Araba tree'. Idi Agbon means the base of the Agbon tree and that is the name of General Tunde Idiagbon's father who was known for sitting at the base of the coconut tree in Ilorin. Baba Idiagbon. So idi means 'point of coalescion' which can be of people or even of an idea or ideas or simply of mass.

So those are the uses in Yoruba land which is not at all different from its use as Ndi amongst Igbos. Ndi and Idi mean thesame thing.

So what does NdiGbo mean?
Come West for the meaning again.

Gbo is thesame as Gbogbo which means ALL in Yoruba language. Akarigbo of Remo for instance means paramount ruler of ALL or Gbogbo Remo. I believe Odenigbo, an Igbo name might have a similar meaning just like Onuigbo, another Igbo name means 'Mouthpiece of all'. It is sad that some Igbos say the word means Heebo or Hebrew.


So, when you say Ndigbo, it means Everybody as against Ndi Onitsha which means people of Onitsha. Ndigbo means 'Everybody' and Gbo kwenu means Everybody shout! The Yoruba will say Gbo yin e ke! Which is more or less thesame thing. The difference is more or less dialectical.


So in the past when Ndi Onitsha meet Ndi Owerri, Ndi, Enugu and etc. The congregation is addressed as NdiGbo by speakers which means Everybody. Break it down into Ndi- Family of and Gbo- All.

It is apparent that most Igbos have no idea what the word Igbo means. They need to look West for the meaning since it is academic knowledge that the Igbo and Yoruba language are related. Yorubas too can look East to know the indepth meaning of some of their words.

Ndi Owerri for instance means People of Owerri.

Ndi Onitsha means people of Onitsha. And etc.


Come to the West in Yoruba land.

If I say Idi kan ni wa. It means we are from thesame family.

Idile Ajayi means family of Ajayi

Idile Adewale means family of Adewale

Idi generally means base. It also means arse. For instance Idi Araba means. The base of the Araba tree. Idi Agbon means the base of the Agbon tree and that is the name of General Tunde Idiagbon's father who was known for sitting at the base of the coconut tree in Ilorin. Baba Idiagbon.

So those are the uses in Yoruba land which is not at all different from its use as Ndi amongst Igbos. Ndi and Idi mean thesame thing.

So what does NdiGbo mean?
Come West for the meaning again.

Gbo is thesame as Gbogbo which means ALL in Yoruba language. It is sad that some Igbos say the word means Heebo or Hebrew.

So, when you say Ndigbo, it means 'Everybody' and Gbo kwenu means Everybody shout! The Yoruba will say Gbo yin e ke! Which is more or less thesame thing. The difference is more or less dialectical.


So in the past when Ndi Onitsha meet Ndi Owerri, Ndi, Enugu and etc. They address the congregation as NdiGbo which means Everybody. Break it down into Ndi- Family of and Gbo- All.

Okay, please do. Being a non-linguist, I feel super-awkward (even arrogant and stupid) having to disagree with some of these guys' conclusions on proto-Igbo words.

Roger Blench, for instance, argued that proto-Igbo for leopard was agui. His argument was that since leopard in Ogba was agi, and agu in many of the remaining lects, the proto-Igbo word must have contained both i and u at the end - hence, agui. Now, I don't understand his argument for why both sounds must have been present in proto-Igbo, instead of one sound replacing the other in some of the lects at some point during the evolution of the Igbo 'language'.

(Personally, I had thought that proto-igbo for leopard would be a word like egu or possibly eku.)

Now, coming to alia, I immediately sense that Ohiri-Aniche must have used a similar argument to support that reconstruction. That is, the i in ali/ani and the a in ala/ana suggested to her that both the i sound and the a sound must have been present at the end of the proto-Igbo - hence alia.

I like that she has an alternative reconstruction that takes into consideration non-Igbo cognates. Personally, I have always felt that these non-Igbo relatives (Edoid and Yoruba languages, most importantly; but also Idoma and Nupe) and Ekpeye must be taken into consideration by scholars attempting to reconstruct proto-Igbo words. Taking these relatives (and Ekpeye) into consideration, I had long thought proto-Igbo for 'earth' would sound close to ale.

This is just me voicing out my thoughts. They are the professionals in this; I'm not.

That is possible because ale is the word for land in SE Yoruba dialects.

Why is immigration an issue? It should not be an issue at all because in the past, it was not an issue but land and territory control were issues. In the past, immigration was encouraged. For instance in the 19th century when Offa was deserted and the Olofa was staying in Osogbo, the people of Ilorin were sending emissaries to urge him to return home with his people because Offa is adjacent to Ilorin and if the people are there, life would be fun and more interesting. We, the Yoruba carry a Neanderthal component in our DNA which must have been gotten from the Egyptians from whom we got the Kemitic Egyptian language we now speak. Those Egyptians got the genes from proto Celts, Greeks and Germans who lived in Kemitic Egypt with them thousands of years ago before a huge population of them relocated to West Africa some thousands of years ago. The Tuareg and Mandinke are genetically closely related to the Yoruba or Ife people with whom they share no land border. The Yoruba have never been nomads, so the link points to a time when the Tuareg were sedentary and when the Mandinke and the Ife people were one. The Ijaw speak a language similar to Dogon in structure which in turn is similar to the Basque language in Europe pointing to a common past. All three languages are isolates in their areas. So, in the past, migration used to be rife but with all groups holding on to their territories while seeking to add more if their neighbours are not up to the task of nation building. Adding territory to your existing territory is the only thing that can no longer be acceptable in the modern world but the competition for people can restart if the United Nation member nations agree to put measures in place to ignite it.



Let us look at a scenario where the United Nations join hands together for an integrated electrical power project for the globe which will reduce the cost of electrical power by 80 percent the month it becomes operational all over the globe and continue driving the cost South thereafter. I have already described in past notes how this can be done with solar PV arrays, microwave plants and power broadcast stations using the DARPA built 16 bit phased array antennae system to broadcast power. People will give up some lands here and there for the PV arrays all over the globe and within some years a 60,000 GW PV capacity for the globe can be reached which will solve the power problem globally.


With power for homes, industries and even automobiles thus provided by a UN global joint venture, there will be more or less nothing left to struggle over and immigration can be easily solved.




SOLVING IMMIGRATION.



A simple United Nations treaty agreed to by all can solve immigration problems once and for all. All UN member nations can agree that all national governments on Earth must restrict their income to income tax especially, then corporate tax, land use tax and other sundry taxes. The use of money from natural resources as government revenue should be banned globally. If a nation has oil money income, that Earth nation should be bound by a United Nations treaty to share the money out to the citizens bank accounts. Income tax may be put at a minimum of 30 percent of personal income in all nations with a global ban on the informal economy.


Such a move will change the world, as the only source of government revenue will be workers, small businesses and corporations and a struggle by nations to attract workers to their cultural or national sphere will commence at once across the globe. With electrical power for factories, homes and industries at mediocre costs, all nations including the China and India said to be overpopulated will do all in their power to keep their people, even swell their population by attracting tax paying workers from other places. It must be noted that China and India produce more than enough food, more than enough clothes even now. Their not being industrialized is because of no other thing than because they are not exerting themselves enough like Japan. Japan has much less natural resources percapita than either China or India. Japan has too import coal from Australia, yet Japan sits on top of the industrialization index.


So, with such a move and with God's help, immigration will immediately seize being an issue across the globe.

The US should not be slit down the middle between Republicans and Democrats. That is wrong. In the Washington Post article referenced below that is authoured by Governor Jeb Bush, he said in the November Presidential elections of the USA, he would either vote the Libertarian candidate or write in a candidate which may mean himself, Mr Kasich and etc. He wrote about strong families being the most viable anti poverty measure, a family headed by two parents, living in a strong community, I will add 'where the community helps to raise the children'. He opined that the USA must be more assertive and must maintain leadership on the globe, the USA must take on, headlong, the threat of Islamic terror, I will add, Christian bellicosity and war mongering as well.


As a Republican deeply meshed in the politics of the USA, he did not have nice words for President Obama and Mrs Clinton who are Democrats. For as long as the divide lasts in the US, I am also a Republican, for obvious reasons.


Governor Jeb Bush wrote about term limits and putting white house power under check, I will add that the power in the white house has always been under check since the USA was inaugurated in the 18th century but term limit is ridiculous. It is part of the problem. The focus should be on making state administration just another job, the job of state Chief Execcutive Officer should be just another job, another job from which the employee can be fired without much ceremony. That can only be possible in an Ogboni system where thousands of people are legally privy to everything the government and individuals in government does in a place like the USA and those watchers will be a supreme court over the government. The Ogboni council will be the only party and the government CEO will be a direct employee of the Ogboni whose prime member is the Oluwo who can not speak in public on government issues. There will be Ogboni councils for every tier of government and Ogboni councils are not remunerated. However, the council carries the residual blame if things go wrong. The government CEO will nominally carry the blame as CEO. It must be noted that the United Kingdom has no term limit for the Prime Minister but they have elections.


Opposition Party politics is dirty and it is not beneficial. It is not necessary for nation building in anyway. Nations that have beaten the US to realise this includes North Korea, China, Singapore and etc, even Russia to a large extent. The USA ought to adjust. Party politics is not needed to debate policies. If you have a sound idea as a concerned citizen, then start to articulate that idea on twitter, facebook and etc, even if you have no other resources or platform to use. The world is now a global village!. If you are making sense, it will eventually carry the day and of course you might be called upon to implement it by the Ogboni council. That should be the way forward, even across the globe, not only in the USA.


There should be only one party in any nation. The party for development, conservation, prosperity and progress. Politics is not needed for nation building. Nation building needs only statesmanship and not politics. A statesman is totally different from a politician who is generally a two faced individual in most climes. Ancient people in ancient empires and states had no politicians but states men. No need for politicians. Julius Caesar and etc were no politicians. Stalin, Hitler, Lee Kuan Yew, George Washington were also no politicians. Those were serious minded, business minded statesmen who succeeded or failed according to their character. With an efficient Ogboni system, somebody with a deficient character would not be in place for six months, even today, such a person as US President would not last six months.


The above is my rejoinder to Governor Jeb Bush's Washington Post article.


Reference

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jeb-bush-trump-does-not-represent-the-future-of-the-country--or-the-gop/2016/07/15/370bb6f8-49be-11e6-90a8-fb84201e0645_story.html

oweniwe:
I get your point very well...

Actually, I didn't know what was in my mind when I made that post.

On Igbos having more issues than yoruba, that is very wrong.... And that's part of the problem with Nigeria ... It is only when someone succeeds that he is a Nigerian. .. Or when they want to share money. Every other time, you're yoruba, hausa or igbo.

If Chukwu Amadi wins gold, he is a Nigerian
.. but if Chukwu Amadi traffics drugs, he is not a Nigerian, he is igbo!

Nevertheless, all tribes in Nigeria (have their own perculair vices) ..... Hausa have theirs in religious extremism..... The reason why these ethnic vices have not been solved is because the Government itself is tribalised.... If people from the tribe of the Executive in power commit crimes, they are overlooked or if it involves other tribes, the executive ignores the crime for fear of stocking up ehnic wars....

On Igbos not voting for yoruba, it's really not their fault cos Nigeria ' s system is based on North -South divide... It does not take into recognition that there are two major tribes down south... And the northern politicians ruthlessly exploit this shortcoming to divide southern votes.

If you have a Yoruba presidential candidate and igbo vice candidate, igbo will vote for the party.... But when the candidate is Yoruba moslem and Vice also Northern Moslem, ... Give me a good reason why any sensible igbo man should vote for that party.

On the other hand, if a Northern politician picks an igbo vice, ... Igbos will not be compelled to vote for the Party with Yoruba-Hausa candidates ... Especially when both are Moslems. ...

Awo and zik cannot run together because the Nigerian system complells they must pick vice and other important candidates from the north .... So it is not as if igbo does not want to vote yoruba... Its Just that anything that has too much hausa and Muslim inside it, count most igbo out of it.

On the civil war... I personally detest the way ojukwu ran it.... He was confused about whether he wanted biafra or southern Nigeria. If he wanted Biafra alone, he should have respected his boundary or pushed his army up instead of west.

Ojukwu ' s thought at the time must have been that he could win by quickly taking over Lagos which was the capital at the time so he wouldn't have to spend more on defending his flanks..... And that was beyond the mandate given to him by the Eastern House of Assembly which is stritcly limited to Biafra.... Instead of Negotiating with people and carrying them along, he forced his personal opinion on them... No world super power suport...He deserved what he got.

The assumption of the average igbo man is that it would be far easier to develop the south as opposed to attempting to develop the whole Nigeria at the same time... They think the North is the problem with Nigeria .... Just look at how Buhari has scattered everywhere ...

Though igbo want southern Nigeria free of the north, .. half of the yoruba are divided over whether they want one Nigeria or if they want restructuring. ... Not their fault though since the Moslem yorubas often oppose and flow along with the north... This kind of "hesitatation", or indecisiveness is what igbo ppl dislike about yoruba

I'm not trying to sound Ipob. .. I'm only trying to Make you see things from the "eastern " angle

Cheers

Awo used an Igbo VP but still failed. Then if you say Yoruba are undecided about seceding, what about Igbos? Which Igbo leader as in Governor, Senator or elder is supporting secession? None. No notable Igbo has spoken up whereas Prof Soyinka has spoken in support of Biafra.


Moving troops into friendly regions without clearance can not be excused and no self respecting people would take such. Nobody is stopping Igbos from leaving since we are in a democracy and Igbos have people in high positions all over the world. So they can break the country if really they want to but Igbo leaders like Yoruba leaders are dragging their feet. If any group want to break the country they can do it easily without war.

You have not done a single research because answers are available all over. The word was first found in the works Ahmed Baba al Soudan of Mali of the University of Timbuctu who lived in the 16th century. The word is either of Arabic or Mandinka origin because Ahmed Baba was Malian Muslim. The word is said to mean 'the ungovernable people towards the South'. Meaning people who would not submit to Islam who live in the South. Mali was a state that had a mini Jewish holocaust. Askia Mohammed presided over the expulsion of Jews from Mali same year Jews were expelled from Spain. Mali was a Sharia state.

Then all these people we are calling Balogun Fulani, Balogun Gambari are Yorubas. Even their DNA will say this. They are Oyo Yorubas. If you go to Kano, you will find people of Balogun status who are traditional chiefs of Yoruba descent. It is like that everywhere but the issue is that Yoruba land is distinct and have to be sovereign. Enough of fooling around.

GorkoSusaay:
You have the truth of it. From Ilorin, Oyo used to raid in the North Central Nigeria. Many Nupe, Hausa and other Hausa-speaking ethnicities were enslaved by the Yoruba (originally, the name for the Oyo, as Ijebu, Egba refer to specific groups).
That is why the proverbs are so on point. Afonja and Shehu Alimi used this mass of Hausa-speaking enslaved groups to build an independent army. They spoke Yoruba, knew the country, every hill and brook in the West, and yearned for freedom. But while Shehu Alimi would free and settle those that flocked to them and those that they captured in war, earning their gratitude, Afonja had a haughty demeanor towards them. This is how some in Afonja's army came to be increasingly more loyal to Alimi than to Afonja.

Definitely there were Hausa Habe refugees in Ilorin just like they were in Nupe, Gwari and Borgu. They even set up a successor state in Abuja and Suleja or so when the Fulbe displaced them. They must have been aristocrats. Habe aristocrats but to say they were the majority in Ilorin would be wrong. Nowadays they are only one out of the six main ruling families in Ilorin Balogun Ajikobi, Alanamu, Fulani, Gambari, Magaji Aare, Baba Isale. So how could they have been the majority back then? Those who overpowered Afonja were brainwashed Yoruba Muslims mainly but there were Hausas among them. Balogun Gambari Karara became a force to be reckoned with in the 1840s and he was definitely an Habe refugee just like Ajikobi was an Oyo prince but later the most prominent Baloguns were Alanamu and Ajikobi during their other campaigns and it was Ajikobi that signed the protection agreement with the British in 1897.

GorkoSusaay:
Yes, Clapperton could be another source. I don't think there's mention of Bello's concern with slave raids from Yoruba though.
Infaq al-Maysur was written between 1812 and 1817 and it is certain that it was widely available in Bornu, Kano and Ilorin in the 19th century. This could be another gateway

There have been Arabic scholars all over Yoruba land over the centuries, so any work can be found anywhere, not only in Ilorin. My own family were Muslims for centuries and I might have ancestors who studied in Timbuctu sef. There are still manuscripts in the possession of many families.

For one reason or the other, writing and reading was not popularized in Yoruba land but it has been known for thousands of years.

2prexios:
I'm new to this inferiority complex you talk about, but you may want to know Johnson reported Sultan Bello's view of the Yoruba as at the time. It depends on which perspective suits what argument but such is not a Yoruba character.

I was not there too but it was Rev Johnson's opinion in his book 'History of the Yorubas'. He went to the extent of saying that the Yoruba people preferred to ally with the Fulani but that the reigning Alaafin refused to agree with the majority and rather alligned himself with the King of Borgu to the North East. He said the Yoruba were not happy with the Alaafin for doing this at the time. But the inferiority complex would apply to Muslims alone since they are constantly being told that the culture they are born into is barbaric and archaic by the Fulbe Islamic preachers who had no sedentary culture of their own to protect being newly settled nomads, they became Islamic purists and started to condemn non Islamic cultures as inferior. Such a situation will lead to the Fulbe having airs while the Yoruba will have inferiority complex. Only a strong government can deal with such an issue. SUCH IS STILL HAPPENING TODAY.

oweniwe:
Tinubu abandoned Ribudu few days to election to support PDP...

Yoruba are very deceptive in nature... GEJ learnt his lessons in a hard way...

If yoruba have something to gain by working with igbo, they fight, scream and shout... But if they think they have more to gain with Hausa, they will swertly tell the igbo man they will support him... On the D day... The igbo man will be suprised to see them licking hausa bum bum...

After "deceiving " igbo ... They will now go out and start chest beating....

Adeboye... Oyedepo... Those guys are cunning... Its not about smart.. but deceit ....

If a igbo man say he will help you.... He help you even when he has nothing to gain..... If yoruba man say he will help you, look very well oooo... Cos in the last minute... When you're almost there... They will quietly leave you to go lick hausa bum bum....

Though therr are unique yoruba people who stand by their word but majority are not trustworthy

You see, there was no where that Tinubu campaigned for Jonathan back then and Yoruba are not his slaves, you understand? Igbos have more issues than Yorubas nowadays. I mean more moral issues. More drug peddlers, 419s and armed robbers. Though Yoruba too have theirs but Igbos are leading in that sector. Igbos have traditionally voted against Yoruba in all elections. From Awo to Abiola to Falae while Hausas supported Awo and Abiola. So what cooperation are you talking about? Igbos have never cooperated with Yoruba and that is because of the civil war but if your ancestors hand land over to you and an army division enter it without your consent, believing you are cowards, what will you do? Will you fail your ancestors and submit yourself to the rule of a people junior to you in everything? That would be foolish, it would be a betrayal of our ancestors. So we responded thesame way the Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri responded (They killed 50 Biafran soldiers in a single attack) with mortal fire to defend our lands and the Biafrans went into a retreat and that ensured their loss. Prior to the invasion of the West, no Yoruba or Midwesterner was fighting the Biafrans. Not a single one. Rather some Midwesterners and Yorubas were fighting for Biafra. Igbos would have done same. So why blame the Yorubas?

tevinsolt:
Lack of foresight, begets chaos. The premise this nation has built upon would never allow it, to move forward ever. Forced unity can only last for so long.
Biafrans (as they refer themselves) were forced into staying Nigerians after their first attempt of seceding. The first trial is all that's needed to sow a seed that will continue to bear fruits season in and season out. No matter how long Nigeria lasts, unborn generations from the SE will continue to be a pain to the Nigerian establishment. They will and can never be satisfied with Nigeria, someone will always try to avenge the deaths of his/her kinsmen whenever they feel they are being suppressed, in our time or the future. Massob, and as of recent Ipob headed by Nnamdi Kanu are testament to my account.

Nigeria needs to let go of Biafra, and a possible result is the total disintegration of Nigeria as we know it, which is fine, it is not a do or die affair like many take it to be. We can all separate and focus on developing distinctly.

I'm Yoruba, If Biafra wants to go, I say the Nigerian Government let her go, so that the important things in life all Humans regardless of race, religion, tribe long for have can be achieved.

Iba o! Thanks for the submission. You are blessed.

Ballmer:
Was there an igbotic country before Lugard ? Cancelling the Lugard fraud with an igbotic fraud will not hold. You are not talking to fools.

Igbos will be together just like Yoruba, cant you see that? If not together, then in 2 or 3 sister nations with close affinity like Austria, Germany, Liecheinstein and etc in Europe. That is the worst case scenario. The question is if all Igbos join together, will Ijaw, Efik and etc join them? That is the question.

2prexios:
A Yoruba adage says 'kosi bimu alagbaro sele gun to, eni to gboko fun loga re'. The Yoruba were not awed by Fulani in those days cause they see them as kith and kin of the Hausa (Gambari pa Fulani o lejo nnu), a typical Fulani is imale, as in "a Malian" to the Yoruba forebears.

The Yoruba used to keep both group as slaves until the decline of the slave trade and Oyo empire. And that's what sultan Bello was saying that they Yoruba sells people from the north to the whites as slaves.

A tale to buttress this point is the way this proverb came to being: won o feo nilu, oloofe darin, booba da tan tani o bao gbe?" The proverb belonged to Sheu Alimi when he ordered the death of a Yoruba masquerade.

The masquerade was an itinerant one from igbomina and it used to flatter people from place to place. he flatters Alimi thus: "ebami ki Alimi, eru sewa doba?" meaning "salute to Alimi, how did a slave become king?".

The word filter to the palace and when the masquerade was on homeward journey that pass through Ilorin, he was arrested. At the point of death, he said he like to make a song and he still kept saying the word that he was about to be killed for.

The word of the song is how Yoruba viewed the fulbe in the 19th century, except you lived at a different epoch of it. Aole shot in different directions and says that the slaves will lord it over the Yoruba.

It is the mentality of the time he was referring to, as typified in Muslim mass movement (Jamma) that's going on then at Ilorin under the influence of Alimi, their leader, as orchestrated by Afonja.

So how does Oyo view Fulbe again?

Yoruba forebears had great value for valor and pride in their way of life, they began to feel inferior after the incessant attack on their culture by foreign religion, not before it.

They lose their cultural pride and their hitherto 'superior will' decapitated. The new religion is about proselytizing with incessant arguments that Yoruba were not conversant with in their native intelligence.

A house divided against itself.

The town Fulani carried their newly acquired Islamic religion on their head and it gave them airs. It was Rev Johnson's opinion that the 19th century Yoruba viewed them as superior because of that but obviously it applied only to Yoruba Muslims because the Fulbe carried themselves as Islamic purists. It would not apply to the Saros or Afro Brazillians of course who were seen as Yoruba Europeans back then. I am quoting Reverend Johnson on the Oyo view of the Fulani in the 19th century which played out in Ilorin.


Then Imale are totally different from Fulani. Imale are Malians, Aganyin are Ghanaians, Geesi are British and I believe Aguda means German and etc.


With a strong government headed by a strong Alaafin the equilibrum would have remained with the Oyo as the masters of the Muslims to the South but the Muslims too were Masters to the North. I believe if Alaafin Aole were not petty as an individual, the story would have been different.

Then Afonja did not attack Oyo. It was when Abdulsalam became Emir that Oyo ile was burnt down by Ilorin but that was even after Oyo ile had made several unrelenting attempt to dislodge the Muslims from Ilorin. The Ilorin had earlier besieged Oyo but refused to burn it down only for Oyo to regroup and attack them. It was after then that the tables turned and Ilorin burnt down Oyo Ile. Not the Fulbe but Yoruba Muslims. Only a handful of Ilorin families claim Fulbe origin.

Basic Education should be high quality, free and compulsory for all, while higher education should be free and encouraged. By free, I mean tax funded like the army, police and judiciary. It is a security and development measure. After that is instituted as state priority, it will not be wrong for there to be elite schools that charge fees in the private sector.

How are the mighty fallen!

Tell it not in Gath!


Gone are those days

When the children of Pa Odutola, Lawrence Omole, Ajanaku, Oba Aderemi and etc attended thesame schools as did the children of their lowest ranked employees.


In Yoruba land today, young Yoruba children of under 10 are used as house helps or shop helps while their age mates are in school. I only buy from such shops when I have no choice.

GorkoSusaay:
It is my belief that Aare Afonja has been unfairly lampooned by later generations as a traitor, a turncloak when he was much more than that.
Alaafin Aole antagonized Afonja and wanted him dead, but the latter was much shrewder than him. Alaafin Aole's exactions are well documented by Samuel Johnson's History of the Yoruba.

Afonja was antagonized by Aole, betrayed the Alaafins, overreached in his quest for power and lost everything. But he was good general and administrator by all accounts, as his nomination as Aare attest.

The funny thing is that Afonja has been used as a scapegoat for the Fulani conquest of Ilorin. He is to blame but many other "Baale" whose descendants know hold the title of "Oba" rebelled against the later Alaafins. Old Oyo was not sacked by Ilorin but by a Yoruba ally of Emir Abdussalami who was intent on overthrowing the Oyo suzerainty.

There's much to say about that very interesting period in Yorubaland.
And Lawani, you are as ever wrong about the Emirs of Ilorin. Denial is a hell of a drug

In Yoruba land, a man named Tapa is a Yoruba man of Nupe descent. An Aguda is Catholic descent. Saro is Sierra Leonean descent. Gambari is Hausa descent. How do you mean a Yoruba man named Gambari is not Hausa descent?


The thing is that 19th century Oyo viewed the Fulbe as superior because they carried themselves like that, cramming the Quran and etc. That was what contributed to what happened in Ilorin where Alimi was respected and his son put as Imam in his father's stead. What you should know is that an Oyo or Ijesa aristocrat appearing in Europe in the 10th century carrying himself properly would be viewed as superior by local Europeans and could have been given a title or even made King of England or Germany. Infact if Oduduwa had headed North to Europe instead of SW to Yoruba land, he could have been crowned King in Europe as well as he was in Ile Ife. Na packaging. So the newly civilized Fulbe had enthusiasm and were seen as superior by the 19th century Yoruba for a short while. So a Fulbe Imam was turbanned in Ilorin by Yorubas later styled Emir but now the Emir is a Yoruba of Gambari (Hausa) descent. That is the issue. Ilorin was never and is not a Fulbe state. Ilorin is no different from Abeokuta a breakaway Oyo territory fighting the Oyo in the South. If Ilorin is a Fulbe state, how come Jebba is not a Fulbe state?


So, the Emir of Ilorin is not a Yoruba man of Fulani descent. The man is Hausa descent. No Fulani descent is Oba anywhere in Yoruba.

You can not say all Igbos should move to Ala Igbo if they want Biafra as not even all Igbos want Biafra, you can not get 100 percent of anything. After the USSR broke up, all the new countries still had nationals from all the parts. There are Russians in Ukraine, Belarussia, Uzbekistan and etc. So, people who have economic interests or other interests in a place will stay back there even if their people form a new country.


No reasonable people either in Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Onitsha, Port Harcourt or Jos will seize the properties of people that are not criminals. That will not happen anywhere. Then can you refuse citizenship for people born on your land? No. What you can do is to ban dual citizenship, so those who hold Biafran or Yoruba passports in Kano would need visas to work and live in Kano and etc. India has such an arrangement in place and Indians with Nigerian passport need visas to visit India. So, the position of many on social media, that Igbos will be driven out of Lagos or Kano if Biafra is declared is not informed. That is not an informed opinion.


Also, there are millions of Hausas in Igbo land and Yoruba land earning their living there. We all buy Dangote products too as well as those of other Hausas but Dangote is more popular. We buy Honeywell by Oba Otudeko and etc. So, it is all interwoven and no group has it all. Some Igbos may have small shops in non Igbo cities as do Hausas in non Hausa cities and as do the Yoruba as well but the shops are filled with products made by mainly non Igbo owned companies who are also gaining from the arrangement. Many Igbo boutiques are supplied by Yorubas who buy stock in Europe, some Yoruba boutiques are supplied by Igbos and etc. It is a mix. However, a breakup is better because people will then be able to rule themselves, they will move from mere trading to producing their own things and thereby increasing their GDP while cooperating with other West Africans and the rest of the world under United Nations and/or ECOWAS sanctioned terms.


So, the persistent threat of asking Igbos to leave Kano or Lagos is infantile and should be dropped. PH is an Igboid city and probably the combination of Ikwerre and Ogba is the largest Igbo subgroup in the old Eastern region. PH is as cosmopolitan as any city and Yoruba presence there is comparable to Igbo presence in Lagos. I have friends from Ilesa settled there and our late Captain Haastrup of Eagle Cement, Concord Group and etc made his fortune there and not in Yoruba land. I met Yoruba people from Ilesa in OAU who grew up in Enugu and etc. PH in particular is a territory of Ijesa people just like Francophone countries are the territories of Ejigbo people and those people will not leave PH, whatever happens. They might opt for dual nationality depending on the laws in place.

I was in PH and I worked for my Aunt's friend for a month on Aba road in her supermarket while trying to secure a part time job as IT in ARCO an oil servicing company. I ran into a number of my friends there from Ilesa who are in automobile dealership with their seniors. That was around 2001 or so. 3 out of 5 times, I take taxi and the driver will be an Ilesa person. My Aunt's friend that I worked for had like 4 big supermarkets in PH and her younger brother is the overall manager. In the complex where I worked, one floor was owned by the supermarket and the ground floor was a fast food owned by another Yoruba person. In ARCO were Yoruba people. The MD, one Mr Carew who gave me a leter from Lagos is Yoruba. PH has Yoruba and Hausas of all economic status. The Yorubas are business owners, transporters, civil servants, oil workers, tailors, carpenters and etc. Some who are born there can hardly speak the Yoruba language. I have not stayed in Enugu, Aba, Onitsha but I have met Yorubas in university who grew up in those places. Where do you see Igbos in Yoruba land? Mainly inside certain markets where they dominate, other places are sparingly. Same with Hausas and their population in Yoruba land is similar. We can not know which is higher unless there is proper organisation leading to a proper census. Only that Igbos are more integrated. You go to the North and even the East, you find the Yorubas dominating some sectors as well, In Igbo markets are Yoruba artisans. And if you add all aliens in Yoruba land together, the number of Yoruba abroad will still be higher. Ejigbo people in Cote d'Ivoire alone may be up to a third of Igbos in Lagos and etc.
On a per capita basis, Ejigbo people may be five times outside the country in West Africa than Igbos. Their second language is French. Go to the town and you see even signposts in French https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejigbo


May God assist us to peacefully break up the Nigerian contraption into viable entities with well alligned interests and uniform values.

If you put a man with a low quality of character at the head of any organisation, be it a company, cooperative society, public company, church, nation state or a mafia network, then the fortunes of such an organisation will respond accordingly. The fortunes of that nation will nosedive. A man should not be petty and vindictive but purpose driven and visionary to be a good leader. Alaafin Aole's character determined the fortune of the Oyo empire, though there were extant factors, the character of the Oba determined the fate of the empire at the end. In addition to being purpose driven and visionary, a leader should be balanced and proportional in action and reaction. A leader must know his or her boundaries. Alaafin Aole failed in those. He ordered Iwere Ile attacked when he knew the Aare Ona Kakanfo by tradition must not attack the place. He ordered Apomu attacked when he knew Apomu was an Ife outpost and all Alaafin as part of their inauguration rites must agree never to attack Ife, the representation and continuation of Ife Ooyelagbo, the first Earth civilization after Ife Oodaye was destroyed, yet he ordered those places attacked for things that happened to him there when he had not yet become the Alaafin of Oyo. He had clearly veered off the narrow path of rationality, he had failed Esu onile orita by falling short of integrity. So, it was a matter of time before his cup became full.


By the time everything matured, he was on one side and the state apparatus was on the other side. The Onikoyi, head of Royal Guards, the Bashorun, head of the Oyomesi and Afonja, head of the Imperial Army marched on and surrounded the capital to remove him from power. He went into a frenzy and went fetish, preparing charms to pronounce curses on the Oyo, he did this and then committed suicide. Aare Afonja who had earlier contested for the Alaafin stool did not contest for the second time but another person was made the Alaafin. Aare Afonja did not effect the removal of Alaafin Aole alone, he did it as his constitutional duty in conjunction with others and of course in the furtherance of the Oyo, nay Yoruba national interest back then. So, the practice of singling him out for blame is unfair and should be stopped.


Aare Afonja unlike Lisabi who spearheaded a massacre of 600 Oyo Ajeles in one day during the Egba uprising against the Oyo did not actually breakaway from the empire but he was nevertheless involved in a power struggle with the Alaafin as has always been the case. The Aare Ona Kakanfo being a constitutional power broker with territory under his control. He employed Sheu Alimi a Fulani onion merchant and Islamic preacher to work for him as a marabout and the man's students who were Yorubas followed him to Ilorin from Iseyin and Ogbomosho, among them were Oyo princes and others.


Sheu Alimi was a servant of Aare Afonja and never a contender with him for anything but he used to lead the Muslim prayers in Ilorin, so he was the chief Imam. He served Afonja till death according to accounts by the ADU, Afonja Descendants Union in Ilorin.


On the death of Sheu Alimi, a new person had to be leading the Muslim prayers in Ilorin. So Aare Afonja said Solagberu, a Yoruba Muslim must take over as Chief Imam, saying blood is thicker than water and that he must support a Yoruba candidate instead of Abdulsalam, Sheu Alimi's son. Sheu Alimi's students insisted on their teacher's son. Those students who thus insisted, were mainly Yoruba people who were brainwashed Muslims unlike Aare Afonja who was a Yoruba nationalist and who was clear headed and saw into the future. It became a civil war during which the Aare Ona Kakanfo was killed and burnt in the market square. He died standing up with hundreds of arrows sticking on his body but was tipped over by people who approached stealthily. He was burnt by renegade Yoruba Muslims in the station of a Yoruba patriot and hero. Thereafter, Yorubas in other cities turned on Yoruba Muslims and attacked them in support of Afonja. This led to an exodus of Ijesa, Ife, Oyo and etc Muslims to Ilorin, swelling the population. It was what caused Mohammed Shitta Bey to flee to Sierra Leone where he made a fortune, from Oyo ile, he relocated to Lagos and was later given the Bey style by the Ottoman Turks for his contribution to Islam. His brother, Ajikobi fled to Ilorin and was styled Balogun Ajikobi. Both were sons of Alaafin Abiodun.


Afonja was a just ruler, so his family was not expelled from Ilorin. They control Idi Ape and have their title as Magaji Aare. The Late Mohammed Lawal, Kwara governor was a member. Olola Kasum is a member and etc.


The Ilorin Imam was just an Imam while the five principal chiefs controlled the town. Ilorin was the only Oyo successor state that at one time or the other went to war against Ibadan, allying with Ijesa, Ekiti, Ijebu and Egba.


After independence, a Balogun Alanamu compelled the NPC to make a non Fulbe of Balogun Gambari origin, the Ilorin Emir.
That was a successful bid to tell the whole world that Ilorin is not a Fulbe Jihad state. Ilorin like Ibadan and Ogbomosho was an Oyo successor state with the Igbomina state of Jebba on its rear with a full fledged Oba, flanked to the West by the independent state of Borgu. It was their fault that a Fulani was made the chief Imam, now styled Emir and they corrected themselves. The Balogun Alanamu was also a Yoruba nationalist. The Balogun Ajikobi too was a Yoruba nationalist and traditionally in charge of Ilorin as at the time of colonisation in 1897. He signed the agreement with the British. Both Ajikobi and Alanamu were exiled by the British. Ajikobi to Yola and Alanamu to Jebba later Lokoja. That was when the Balogun Fulani descended Imam came into his own, the people laughed him off but the British upheld his authourity. The situation was salvaged by the post independence Balogun Alanamu who insisted that the Imam position now known as Emir be given to a scion of the Balogun Gambari who is Hausa descent.

So, Aare Afonja was a Yoruba nationalist and not a traitor. He died as a Yoruba nationalist

fulanimafia:
You think anyone takes your secession talk seriously?

When the millions of your kinsmen leave Kano and other parts of the North and SW, we will know you're not just making noise.

You'd really think Soyinka would support your exit if it's not in the better interest of his region? You'd really think I'd support your exit if it's not in the best interest of my region?

Trust me, you won't be missed. Just remember the caveat.

No reasonable person will seize properties of people that are not criminals. That will not happen anywhere. Then can you refuse citizenship for people born on your land? No. What you can do is to ban dual citizenship, so those who hold Biafran or Yoruba passports would need visas to work and live in your country. India has such an arrangement in place and Indians with Nigerian passport need visas to visit India. So, your position is not informed. Also, there are millions of Hausas in Igbo land and Yoruba land earning their living there. We all buy Dangote products too as well as those of other Hausas but Dangote is more popular. So, it is all interwoven. Breakup is better because people will then be able to rule themselves while cooperating with others under UN or ECOWAS sanctioned terms.

Nice and informative thread. Kudos to Katsumoto and others. I am Ijesa but I salute Basorun Oluyole, Ogunmola, Ibikunle and Latosisa for their vision of Yoruba unity. It is sad that it never materialized. It is incumbent on us, the 21st century Yoruba to unite our lands and people in West Africa under one government. Yoruba, Ewe and Fon have been together for centuries and we are all Ife people without controversy. Same culture and etc. Unity should be what we should focus. We must unite to start contributing our quota fully to human advancement. May God help us.

No region has suffered under the malfeasance and evil of Christianity than Europe. So, France belled the cat by declaring France a post Christian state. France also belled the cat by abandoning the hereditary monarchy in Europe. France with headquarter in Paris has been a major player in the post industrial revolution global society.

In the 19th century, Europe was under the siege of Christianity and there was not a single mosque in Europe nor Muslims, only Judaism was the other spiritual ideology in Europe and they were allowed only because they do not convert people but despite their apathy towards militancy or conversion of Gentiles, Jews were nevertheless expelled in places like Spain and Britain. So, is it now that France is a self declared post Christian state that Islam, (a worse spiritual ideology than Christianity in all forms since its founder, Mohammed was a militant from the onset with a divine instruction to attack, rape and/or kill non Muslims who do not pay the Jizyah to Muslims) will be allowed to slip into and take over Europe through the back door? It should not be so. No one should support that. If you are going to France or even Europe, the rule should be 'Drop all foolish spiritual ideologies inaugurated by mad megalomaniacs, that is, men who saw themselves as something other humans can never become (God and last prophet) at the gates of Europe. When you enter Europe, you should be a changed person, not a follower of Jesus or Mohammed who were mad men. You dress normal, eat normal and behave normal. You should not want to make Europe uninhabitable for normal humans like in the past or as is the case in your home country. The God of Europe is a Gentleman, not a thug.



France is a self declared post Christian state that is afraid to bite just like India is a Hindu state that is afraid to bite!. The bad news is that if you do not take a stand now, you may not become a Muslim or Christian but your descendants surely will and that will be your fault.


The Muslims and Christians are clear with their aim, they are not mincing words or pulling punches. They are saying 'You have to submit to us or you get blown to smithereens both here on Earth and in the hereafter'. So, they can only be met with a co measurate resolve propelled by logical arguments to demystify all their claims, exposing them as evil and thereafter, they should be banned. You do not meet them with secularism which is what they need in the maintime before they launch their final bid to take over the world or destroy it.


May God help France and India, two countries with clear laws against religion to follow those laws and save at least their countries.


Reference.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/14/europe/nice-france-truck/

There were people who felt strongly that the Yoruba should unite into a formidable nation and the Yoruba state that carried that idea on their head in the 19th century was Ibadan. It was pure nationalism and these people should be commended. After the exit of Alaafin Atiba (Ojo pa sekere mode!) who was the last real Alaafin. Ibadan was re established by Oluyole, a grandson of the Alaafin Abiodun. The first Ibadan was established by people headed by the Jagun of Ile Ife but it was ordered sacked by Alaafin Sango when the people on a market committed the taboo of derobing an Eegun, a representative of the ancestors. The place was sacked by the Oyo by the order of Alaafin Sango (Oba ko so!). The remnants of the people hid in the forests and ate oro fruits, snails and etc hence the oriki 'Ibadan omo ajorosun, a jegbin jekaraun'. Those people were headed by Lagelu. However, the modern Ibadan was founded by Oluyole who was born in old Oyo to a daughter of Alaafin Abiodun and her husband.

Iba Lagelu

Iba Oluyole.


After the Northern territories of the Oyo were lost, the Oyo relocated South in large numbers to populate Ibadan, Ijaiye, Ilorin and Ogbomosho. All these entities at one time or the other struggled to become pre eminent maybe apart from Ogbomosho, a sprawling metropolis second only to Ibadan. The Alaafin at the new Oyo founded by Alaafin Atiba became less than a figure head, though he was nominally recognised by all. Ijaiye was sacked by Ibadan and the people added to Ibadan to swell the population. Ogbomosho remained as a bulwark against Ilorin ambitions. Ilorin had been taken over by renegade Yoruba Muslims with expansionist ambitions but with Ogbomosho just a stone throw from there, they put themselves under restraints. When other Yoruba to the South were accepting Islam, Ogbomosho accepted Christianity, the Baptist variant. Obviously as a security measure. Back then, an Ilorin moving an army across Ogbomosho territory to Islamise the South would have been like a 14 year old challenging a 20 year old to a wrestling bout.


With Ogbomosho guarding the rear, Ibadan started the effort of uniting the Yoruba into a formidable nation in the 19th century. Ibadan had no ruling family and a Portuguese could become the Olu back then. The Iyalode Efunseohungbogbotan Aniwura was an Egba woman who advanced loans to the Ibadan government headed by Aare Latosisa back then and her refusal to offer further loans to the government led in part to her being forced to commit suicide by Ibadan people under Aare Latosisa Latosisa means 'Prosperity ends in the cemetery' a name that means the pursuit of wealth should not be anyone's main concern while Efunsetan means 'The white chalk solves everything'. A name indicating devotion to Obatala.


So, to the 19th century Ibadan leaders who were Yoruba nationalists, we must pay homage. They saw into the future.

Iba Oluyole

Iba Ibikunle

Iba Ogunmola

Iba Latosisa

Latosisa the last of them died on the warfront during the Kiriji war. He died of old age. The person leading the other side, Ogedengbe Agbogungboro, Balogun Ijesa was someone who graduated from Latosisa's war college in Ibadan and if Ogedengbe had stayed in Ibadan, he would have risen to the leadership cadre and might have become the Olu as well as the leadership was not by hereditary right but by promotion. It was open to all. Then Ibadan used locals, only locals as their representative in all the land they held. With the benefit of hindsight, I believe they should have used only people approved by the resident Ogboni council of a land or territory as Ajele or District officers but then maybe they did, I would not know but the attempt at unity resulted into a civil war.


Ibadan's efforts came to naught as Yoruba land was colonised by Britain but people, we, who are seeking the unity of the Yoruba today must acknowledge the efforts of those who came before us and the place that was their headquarters.


After that opportunity was lost, the next person to seek unity was the Oluwo of the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity ROF, Sir Adeyemo Alakija, an Afro Brazillian of mixed Oyo and Egba parentage. He established the Egbe Omo Oduduwa which later transformed into the Action Group.


Iba Oluwo Adeyemo Alakija!
He died in 1952 but with the Egbe as a legacy.


The next person to carry on was the Action Group Leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo who may have succeeded in achieving sovereignty for the Yoruba in 1967 after a series of crisis in Nigeria. Elections were rigged against the AG in the West and thousands of Yoruba protesters were slaughtered by the Nigerian government, later the AG leaders were jailed, there was a coup, a counter coup and then the AG leaders were released. Biafra seceded and Chief Awolowo made it clear that Westerners (Yorubas) would not fight the Biafrans, the Midwest Governor Col Ejoor whose region was part of the West also made thesame statement for the Midwest. However, the opportunity to have a Yoruba state was lost when the Biafrans invaded first the Midwest and then the West of the Yoruba with the excuse that Lagos which is Yoruba land was the Federal Capital territory. Thus the West and the Midwest were drawn into a struggle that was initially entirely between the Biafrans and the Northerners. It ended in the reunification of Nigeria, a British empire successor country, a fraudulent entity that is a poster boy for how a nation should not be run. So, the Yoruba remain at the rung of the ladder of human development with no sovereignty over their lands or affairs despite being the chief people of West Africa. Alaafin Atiba, Bashorun Oluyole, Bashorun Ibikunle, Bashorun Ogunmola, Bashorun Latosisa, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Chief Obafemi Awolowo has done their part to the best of their ability, the ball is now in the court of the present generation. Alagemo ti bimo sile o. Aimojo, o ku si owo omo Alagemo. Toto o se bi owe o.

In every region of the world, there is a chief people which the mantle of leadership is somehow on. In Europe for instance, the chief people are the Germans. Of the over 500 million people in the Euro area, more than 100 million are Germans. However, the industrial revolution started from Britain, a majorly Celtic country speaking a Germanic language. Then we have the French who are a mixture of Celts, Germanic and Romance people but probably more of Germanic who speak a Romance language, the Romance people are in Spain, Portugal, Italy and etc speaking related languages descended from the Roman empire. To the North are the Scandinanvians of Denmark, Norway, Sweden. There are also Slavic peoples to the East, Greeks in Greece and other places and etc but the main European group are the Germans. So, Germany had to be an example for all to follow. German traditional societal structure was such that a man is at the head of his household and he pledges his allegiance directly to the King without intermediaries or any pecking order. It was apparently a carry on of such a tradition in the post industrial revolution era in Europe that made it easy for Adolf Hitler to rise in Germany. He could not have risen in England or the US because of a stricter system that attended to such loopholes. A king had been publicly executed in England in the past and without summoning parliament, an English monarch can not raise any money for anything. English monarchs used to summon and disband parliaments according to their temperament until an already summoned parliament forced a monarch to give up the right of disbanding parliament before they would raise money for the monarch. That permanent parliament is the ancestor of all parliamentary democracies on the globe today. In conjunction with the crown and public corporations, they built the British empire. Any adult with common sense can be the monarch who is just a place holder but the rank is hereditary. Balance is achieved by the house of Lords and house of Commons. The USA is also like that with the CIA network as a watchdog. If you step out of common sense, the CIA top echelon would check you and if there is a need to eliminate the person, it would be done immediately but after due consultations, considerations and rubbing of minds together. This is to maintain the nation on the narrow path of common sense. This makes the USA system superior to and more efficient than the British system. It is why no US name is in the Panama papers. It is why the CIA is an Ogboni organisation while the USA government is semi Ogboni because they still have elections. I digress.


Germany's system was not as sophisticated as Britain's or the US , so there were unnecessary wars ignited in part by German dictators in the 20th century but in the leadership of Europe, Germany has excelled. Germany is highly industrialized and efficient with a very high human development index as well as a high per capita income. Germany is the global leader on a per capita basis in the use of solar power. Millions of homes have solar panels installed, so they generate part of their own power during the day, so, power load can be directed to factories and offices during the day when there is sunlight, then redirected to homes at night when the factories and offices are closed and there is no sunlight. Germany has more than 40,000 MW of solar power installed. Germany is also the leader in automobile exports as well as many other fields of human endeavour. The small German country, Liecheinstein is the nation with the highest export per capita in the world. So, Germany did not fail Europe. Germany has always had a strong and purposeful leadership because if a people think they are inferior and awkward and only one person among them disagrees, then they will not be inferior or awkward so far that one person is their leader. There is a pertinent need for good leadership, so that nation building can be possible. Only good leadership can design a good system. Only good leadership will know how to solve problems. If a leader is not up to the task, he or she will go to a gun fight in fisticuffs and ruin the fortunes of his or ner nation. So that is Germany and the leadership of Europe.


The Han Chinese in Asia did not measure up as did the Germans in Europe. All the large groups in India like the Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and Tamil too. They are all trapped in unorganised India that does not act like Indians deserve the goodies available to North Americans and Europeans. The Javanese too in Indonesia. It is a result of a lack of strong and purposeful leadership, a lack of national pride.



The group to measure up in Asia are the Japanese, South Koreans and Singaporeans. The Japanese are the poster boy for Asian success. It must be noted that the Japanese were behind the Yoruba in the early 19th century as far as exposure to the industrial revolution is concerned. Just like the Yoruba, they had a period of internal conflict and insurrection that lasted two decades, the Yoruba conflict lasted 16 years. In 1853, a United States fleet pressured Japan to open up to the world. After two decades of internal conflict and strife, the Meiji emperor was restored as head of state in Japan in 1868 and the empire of Japan was proclaimed with the Emperor as a divine symbol of Japan. The equivalent of that for the Yoruba would have been for the Yoruba Obas to meet in 1840 and negotiate a peace by themselves and inaugurate a new Olofin Aye in a new Ile Ife, end slave raids across Yoruba lands, selling only criminals into servitude, then go to Brazil, North America as well as Europe to bring Engineers, builders and scientists to Yoruba land to develop the land. The Yoruba with other Ife peoples were best placed to do this. If a person with excellent character were placed in power with the Ogboni providing balance, we would have, as Yorubas achieved as much as the Japanese if not more but events took a different turn as the Yoruba descended into a civil war to stop the unity proposed by Ibadan. Ibadan had abolished the traditional monarchy in favour of leadership by promotion or by turn. Ibadan was a successor state of the Oyo but non Oyos were being appointed the Olu of Ibadan. So it can not be said that Ibadan was a state based on the old system of Oduduwa royal family. It was not. It was a revolutionary state but the Ijebu, Ijesa, Ilorin and etc resisted what they saw as the new hegemony saying 'Only Ibadan can not be the ruler of the whole world' meaning the Yoruba world, it was in the course of a 16 year long civil war with Ibadan fighting on five or so fronts that a British sponsored peace was slammed on Yoruba land leading to colonisation. The Yoruba or Ife people are the leading people of West Africa and the above account is how we lost an opportunity to provide leadership for West Africans as did the Germans for Europe. A second opportunity was offered by the British by 1951 with the independence of the Yoruba controlled Western region of Nigeria. The Western region contained some groups like Igbos who do not see themselves as Ife people as well as part of the extents of the defunct Benin empire that falls out of the Yoruba speaking sphere of West Africa. A large part of Yoruba land fell into Northern Nigeria. The Action Group under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo was in charge. The AG in name and character was a replica of the People's Action Party led by Lee Kuan Yew that transformed Singapore into a foremost industrialized country of the world within a single generation.

The objective of the AG was not achieved because of a singular reason which is because the AG leader believed that western powers do not want Africa to develop. He held on to this belief and worked with it. This is what in my opinion led to the loss of the second opportunity for the Yoruba. In one of his books, he opined that he came to the conclusion when a colonial officer advised him against the free and compulsory education policy of the Action Group. It is to that conclusion of his that the Yoruba lost the second chance to lead West Africa into industrialization. I do not support the Awolowo position because Yoruba thought says if someone or a group of people have something you need, then you need to bow down and worship them, not confront them, especially if they have more resources.

During Nigeria's first general elections, Sir Harold Wilson the then British PM publicly stated that Chief Awolowo was the best and would win if it were Britain. Though not entirely true as a Scots man has never become the British PM. However, he showed his support loudly which is something. Things got worse due to ethnic rivalry in Nigeria and everything dilapidated to the condition we are in today. Chief Awolowo should have debated with the British. They debate in their parliaments too and he should have found a way to continue the AG policies while deferring to the British. Europeans would not wish evil for their cats, dogs or horses, if those animals trust them and cooperate with them, so, how much more West Africans who are fellow humans?. The AG in my opinion should have, with small favours and lots of appeasements, coerced people in the US and Britain top government hierarchy to their side. Even the Norwegians must have had to do this when they went into national business ventures which was against the principles of capitalism. To categorically insist that Britain do not want West Africans to progress and stand by the assertion is totally not different from someone saying an Ogboni meeting is being held for the sole purpose of planning evil against another human being! That is how it ranks and such an opinion or judgement is not of high quality. So it is to that opinion held by the Action Group leadership that the Yoruba lost the second opportunity to provide good leadership in Africa. Who will now provide the leadership?

It must be noted that Ethiopia and Liberia were not colonised and if the Yoruba had united in the 19th century, we would not have been colonised as well. As at that time, the Yoruba had far more access to highly skilled human resources than the Ethiopians and more than the Japanese as well.

The solution to malaria is vaccination. Work is going on on it in Europe and America. Once it is finalised, all kids would be given shorts of deadened malaria parasites which will prepare the body for the real thing.

Sammy888:
Please dont say most Anambra is Igalla. Read peoples original history well before writing based on assumption. My town came out from nri. We are undiluted nri igbos. Thanks

You can also reply that most Igala s are Igbos. Only a small part of Anambra, ie Nzam and environs are said to be Igalas. There are also Igalas in Delta state.

ODU IDI FUN


This odu will come up for you when what you need to do is to recognise the labour and genuine efforts of someone.


Ka dide fun, Ka bo Eegun ile (Baba eni).

Ka dide fun ka bo orisa oja (Iya eni)

Ka dide fun ka bo Olubobotiribo awo enu.


Awon meteeta lo difa fun awon ero ile aye ti won bu CIA, ti won bu idile Bush ni Amerika ati gbogbo awon ti nsare pe ki aye le toro ati pe ki oun gbogbo le ma lo dede.


Ebo ni won ni ki won o se. Awon to gbon ninu won gbo won sebo, a si fi okun ola, okun aseyori le won lowo, awon to ku ko ti gboin sebo, won o sebo, won ni Obayeje ni CIA, obayeje ni idile Bush ni ile America ti nsare ki aye le gun.


Translation


ODU IFA IDI FUN

Let us rise in respect for and worship Eegun ile (Father).

Let us rise in respect for and worship orisa oja (Mother).

Let us rise in respect for and worship Olubobotiribo, the Awo of our Mouths.


These were the three people who made Ifa divination for the people of the Earth who are always cursing and abusing the CIA, the Bush family in the USA and all the people who are running helter skelter so that the Earth would become a better place for all to live in and that everything on Earth that is good will be going on smoothly.


They were advised to offer ebo, the wise ones among them accepted the advise and offered the ebo and the key to prosperity and success was handed over to them, the rest refused, they insisted that the CIA are spoilers, the Bush family are spoilers. That all are spoilers who are running helter skelter for the Earth to become a better place.......




The junction above is where the global community is at today.


The junction of IDI FUN!


May Olodumare assist us to 'yan' rightly as good 'eniyan'.


Ase Edumare

Edumare Ase.

Everybody must get it clearly that no Christian or Muslim is a candidate for Paradise. Their souls are rejects. This is because there is no segregation in Paradise. If you are worth paradise, you will know without anybody telling you. For instance President Buhari knows he is not going to any paradise, same as Adeboye and Oyedepo of RCCG and Winners respectively. President Buhari does not value human life and does not have empathy. Same goes for Adeboye and Oyedepo who are human ritualists. So you know by yourself who you are working for and where your soul will end up when your body packs up. It is not a matter of belief or religion. It is something you know. Not all souls will Rest In Peace. Not all. Only good souls will rest in peace.


So Christians and Muslims can not make paradise because there is no segregation in paradise. Those among them who have good souls may be sorted out one way or the other but no sane God will put them in a general paradise with other human beings like Aborishas, Wiccans, Shintos and etc. The fanatics will surely go to hell for their lack of common sense.


See Adeboye and Pastor Kumuyi two big Pastors with huge church businesses for instance. They are both ardent supporters of President Buhari even as fanatic Muslims under President Buhari killed an elderly woman each who are members of their churches. The President's response to the first killing was 'People should respect Islam'. No response yet to the second. The Deeper Life member in Kano and the RCCG member in Abuja. The have not said anything, They know the right thing but they know that what they do is gangsterism and profiteering. They have no real love for the masses at heart. You have to be heartless or demon possessed to set up a corporation spreading the doctrines of automatic forgiveness, salvation by sheer luck and etc and reaping profits enough to acquire private jets in the midst of extreme poverty. Using the money of the poor to establish universities for the elite which the poor can not afford. During the time of the AG, there was tax funded education for all. They use private jets. What are they selling? Even most of the highest ranked captains of industry do not have so much money. To keep themselves thus propped up, they have to kill and they have to be heartless.


Irrational is their other name. Take my biological father for instance. A Pastor of the RCCG. Given all my allegations against Pastor Adeboye with my citing the bank and account name in London of the Tola Ekunsanmi into which Adeboye paid ten million naira for her character assassination job against me that she did for him, a normal father who is not a Pastor or Christian, will write a letter at least, to Pastor Adeboye demanding that he takes up the matter with me for closure. Charge me to court. I have gone to the police who blocked me. It would have been straight forward because the court will liaise with the DSS who will bring the tapes in their possession, submitted against me and then name the petitioners, the London police will provide information on the money laundered into the Tola Ekunsanmi account and thereby there would have been exposure. The cat would be let out of the bag, but my biological father elected to be collecting millions of Naira from Pastor Adeboye, he and my mother. Adeboye lavished them with millions of Naira, giving them church board appointments and new offshore church commissions. Those are people who preach paradise to people. Supposedly holy people. So, when my Dad meets the Pastor Adeboye he prostrates flat to greet him, then asks him to pray for him. He failed as a father but excelled as a Pastor.


In thesame way, Adeboye and Oyedepo are licking Buhari's ass while their followers who are old women, gaining money spinning followers for them are being lynched by Muslim mercenaries in Abuja and Kano.


So you do not need to think these men are leading you to paradise. No, they are not. Adeboye, Oyedepo, Kumuyi, Olukoya and etc are leading no one to Paradise. They themselves are not headed in that direction. If you have 'ika' evil in you then your soul will not rest in peace in any paradise.


Again no Christian or Muslim soul can be admitted to any general paradise unless there are many paradises. Wake yourself up before it is too late. A life spent as a Christian or Muslim is a wasted life of under achievement because of a ceiling of Jesus or Mohammed as the case maybe.


Relieve yourself of the yoke. May the souls of the gruesomely murdered grandmothers of Deeper Life and RCCG rest in perfect peace.

Your common sense should tell you that religion is false. It is demon possession. No heaven for religionists. Only normal people like Hindus,Shintos, Aborisha and etc can make any heaven or which heaven can contain religionists with their bellicosity?


No heaven or paradise for people of religion and your religion top shots are nothing more than gangsters.

RedboneSmith:
Loooolooooool!

How can you type this and call yourself a serious person? You are praising Bush for attacking a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, destabilising the middle east and creating the right atmosphere for a terrorist group deadlier and more brutal than al-qaeda to arise. ISIS!

Are you a serious person at all? Even Tony Blair and other people who supported the war now admit that it was a terrible mistake, and here you are writing a treatise.

Do you think if Nigeria that is even more open than the Iraq of the Baath party is suspected of enriching Uranium to weapons grade and Buhari refuse inspection, saying he is a sovereign nation, that the US or Un will allow him to have his way? Just because he is a sovereign nation? And a dictatorship answerable to no one? They will not allow him. It is better to cut a budding totalitarian state in the bud than let it fester. it may cause a few thousand deaths in the main time but if it festers it can cause a billion after maturation.

SUNNYsparkle:
The history is different from that of Itsekiri, in the sense that itsekiris came from Benin noble families and mixed with a proto- Ilaje speaking people. This Ulukwumi or whatever are slaves that were brought into Benin from Owo/Ondo areas of probably Yorubaland, Igala or Ebira. They escaped slavery and ran into a enclave to avert slavery. There's nothing that could've much connected to this. People write history, put lies here and there making history to be so sophisticated and difficult to understand/phantom.

FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME, THE BENIN WERE YORUBAS WHO WERE ADDRESSED ONLY IN YORUBA. NOT THESAME AS THE BENIN OF TODAY WHO DO NOT SPEAK YORUBA. SO WHEN YOU HEAR YORUBA ORIKIS SAYING OMO OBA ADO!. THEY ARE REFERRING TO BENIN KINGS WHO WERE YORUBA PEOPLE WHO USED YORUBA IN THEIR COURTS AND WERE ADDRESSED ONLY IN THE YORUBA LANGU-AGE-------------------------------------------------------------------------