₦airaland Forum

Uncovering Suppressed Histories: Aro-Igbo Settlements, Yoruba Origins, and the Hidden Frontier in Western Nigeria

1. Origin of the Yoruba Name and Historical Territory

The term "Yoruba" is not originally indigenous to the people now referred to by that name. It was popularized in colonial ethnographic classifications, especially through the works of Samuel Johnson in the late 19th century. Before this, different Yoruba subgroups—such as Oyo, Egba, Ijesha, Ekiti, and Ife—identified themselves primarily by town-based identities, not under a single umbrella ethnic label. The name "Yoruba" itself derives from the Hausa word "Yoruba", which originally referred specifically to the Oyo people in Hausa chronicles (Clapperton, 1829; Johnson, 1921).

This externally imposed label was adopted and institutionalized under British indirect rule, which grouped various western polities under the “Yoruba Province,” thereby fixing a formerly fluid identity into a rigid ethnic category for administrative control (Falola & Aderinto, 2010).

In terms of southern reach, Yoruba polities did not control most of the southern forests or coastal deltaic regions pre-1900. Most of these areas were populated by Aro-Igbo shrine settlements, Bini satellite clans, or autonomous trading city-states (Talbot, 1926). The claim that Yoruba extended to the Atlantic coast as far as Dahomey is largely a colonial-era myth used to justify indirect rule and provincial expansions (Ikime, 1980).

2. Awori: Identity, Origins, and Mixed Heritage

The Awori are often claimed as the original inhabitants of Lagos, yet their identity and origin are multi-layered. Oral traditions reveal that many Awori communities in Lagos and Ogun States were founded by migrants from Ile-Ife, Aro-Igbo priest-clans, and even Bini exiles or warriors.

For instance:

Isheri, one of the oldest Awori towns, shares foundational toponymic links with Igbo and Benin linguistic roots.

Ita-Igbo in present-day Lagos Island indicates an Aro-Igbo settlement linked to trade outposts and shrines (Ajayi, 1965).

Otumara, Onikan, and Oke-Ira were originally trade or shrine hubs founded by Igbo-speaking groups before Bini militarization of the Lagos area in the 1600s.

Colonial records (e.g., Lagos Colony Gazetteers, 1901–1914) confirm that these settlements had non-Yoruba origins, though later absorbed by the Oba of Lagos under British supervision. The Bini war expeditions, which reached Lagos around the 17th century, established military posts that contributed to the fusion of Awori, Bini, and Aro elements.

Thus, while Awori today are seen as a Yoruba subgroup, historically they were a hybrid people, with Bini, Aro-Igbo, and Ife influences depending on the town or clan (Adefuye et al., 1987).

3. Oduduwa Myth and Ife Origin Story: Myth or History?

The story of Oduduwa descending from heaven to found Ile-Ife, from whom all Yoruba kings claim descent, is a powerful mythological charter. However, the Oduduwa narrative was codified into a central doctrine primarily in the 19th century (Johnson, 1921), and lacks early corroboration in precolonial documentation.

Notably:

Portuguese, Dutch, and early British explorers in the 15th–17th centuries made no reference to such a figure or centralized Yoruba dynasty (Ryder, 1965).

Oduduwa’s name itself may be a deified ancestral or priestly title rather than a singular person (Ogunremi, 1998).

Some archaeological findings around Ile-Ife suggest a more cosmopolitan settlement, not exclusively Yoruba, in early centuries CE (Willett, 1967).

Thus, the Oduduwa myth served colonial and postcolonial Yoruba political consolidation, but does not accurately reflect the diversity or origin of the people now grouped under "Yoruba".

4. Aro-Igbo Founded Settlements in Western Nigeria

Aro-Igbo priest-merchants established permanent, shrine-governed, sovereign settlements across present-day Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos, and Ogun States. These included:

1. Oke-Igbo (Ondo) – founded as an Aro-Igbo outpost, likely linked to Okigwe-Aro shrine traders. Original name: Uhu-Oke.

2. Ita-Igbo (Lagos Island) – "Ita" means market/square; "Igbo" denotes the clan. A major shrine trading post.

3. Araromi (Ondo Central) – Aro migrants from Arochukwu and Bende settled this area; "Ararọmụ" (peaceful retreat).

4. Ijara-Isin (Kwara border) – founded by Aro clans via Awka diviners on shrine missions.

5. Ijofin-Igboho (Oyo–Benin corridor) – controlled by Aro traders before Oyo expansion.

6. Igbokoda (Ondo West) – name itself means “Igbo–River mouth”.

7. Okegun-Igbo (near Epe, Lagos) – a shrine community linked to Uzuakoli-Arochukwu networks.

8. Iselu, Igbo-Aje, Odo-Ara, Igbo-Ora, Igbo-Otun, Igbo-Elerin – all documented in local oral traditions and colonial records as Aro-founded or shrine-affiliated towns.

These towns functioned as nodes in a long-distance trade and religious intelligence network managed by the Aro Confederacy through the oracle of Ibini Ukpabi, destroyed by the British in 1902 (Jones, 1958).

5. The Ogun River: Western Boundary of Aro-Igbo Frontier

The Ogun River, flowing from Oyo through Ogun State to the Atlantic, marked the western boundary of sustained Aro-Igbo penetration. This river route allowed Aro priest-merchants to:

Establish shrine towns and trading posts along the banks (e.g., Igbo-Aje, Ibo-Ora).

Interface with Bini, Nupe, and later Oyo networks.

Defend shrine sovereignty through spiritual sanctions and alliances with local communities (Ajayi & Crowder, 1974).

The Ogun River frontier became a collision zone between the Aro and expanding Oyo and British influences, culminating in military assaults and reclassification of towns into Yoruba polities under colonial administration.

6. Legal and Spiritual Reclamation: Status of Arochukwu Monarchy

The Arochukwu monarchy, led by the Eze Aro, survives today as a spiritual and traditional monarchy, though severely weakened by the destruction of Ibini Ukpabi in 1902 and the outlawing of its oracle jurisdiction.

However:

The Aro Confederacy’s royal and priestly houses continue to maintain genealogical, spiritual, and ancestral rights over former settlements.

The Eze Aro still convenes annual Ikeji festivals to affirm ritual sovereignty.

Legal sovereignty, while politically denied, is being revived through oral record preservation, land reclamation efforts, and diaspora court cases.

Groups such as IPOB and heritage-rights activists increasingly recognize the centrality of the Aro system in reclaiming Igbo precolonial frontiers.

References (APA Style)

Adefuye, A., Agiri, B., & Osuntokun, J. (1987). History of the Peoples of Lagos State. Lagos State University.

Ajayi, J. F. A., & Crowder, M. (1974). History of West Africa. Longman.

Ajayi, S. A. (1965). Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1841–1891: The Making of a New Elite. Longmans.

Clapperton, H. (1829). Journal of a Second Expedition into the Interior of Africa. London: John Murray.

Falola, T., & Aderinto, S. (2010). Nigeria, Nationalism, and Writing History. University of Rochester Press.

Ikime, O. (1980). Groundwork of Nigerian History. Heinemann.

Johnson, S. (1921). The History of the Yorubas. CMS Bookshops.

Jones, G. I. (1958). The Trading States of the Oil Rivers. Oxford University Press.

Ryder, A. F. C. (1965). Benin and the Europeans, 1485–1897. Longman.

Talbot, P. A. (1926). The Peoples of Southern Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.

Willett, F. (1967). Ife in the History of West African Sculpture. Thames and Hudson.

What’s this supposed to mean OP?
Agenda agending again?

DMCY:
What’s this supposed to mean OP?
Agenda agending again?

The true history of Yorubaland. This is why they don't want the indigenous Lagosians to have control over Lagos.

Modern day expansionist. The era of empire building is over.

In addition, the word "Yoruba" was recorded as far back as the early 1600 by Arab travelers that explored Mali and passed through West Africa. A popular one was recored by Ahmad Baba.

Ajayi crowther was not born until over 2 centuries later.

Slytiger:
Modern day expansionist. The era of empire building is over.

In addition, the word "Yoruba" was recorded as far back as the early 1600 by Arab travelers that explored Mali and passed through West Africa. A popular one was recored by Ahmad Baba.

Ajayi crowther was not born until over 2 centuries later.

which Yoruba was recorded? Show us any record of people of southwest being addressed as Yorubas before the 1800s by historians, colonialists, sailors or missionaries?Deceit cannot pass as history.

Igbo in your report means forest and not the ibo people.

Biafrannuke:
which Yoruba was recorded? Show us an record of people of southwest being addressed as Yorubas before the 1800s. Deceit cannot pass as history.

Yoruba is derived from OriOba then it became Oruba, then it became Yoruba.

Stop this history revisionism. Yoruba and igbos are not cousins. We never met until the Ajai Crowther ventured into the east.

Eni ti won fe sun ni ina tele to tun fi epo pupa.ra ara.

Please continue rewriting the ancient History of Yorubaland

Those you are depending on as your backbone will flee in 7 different directions when nobody is pursuing them

The few Yoruba words that made it into the Igbo lexicon were via our cousins (The Igala or Igara) that enslaved the ibos people for 2-3 centuries..

Slytiger:
Igbo in your report means forest and not the ibo people.

continue scrambling for defence.

Biafrannuke:
The true history of Yorubaland. This is why they don't want the indigenous Lagosians to have control over Lagos.

Please don’t make me laugh! Who are the indigenous people of Lagos o? Don’t tell me you don’t know igbo means forest and not what you’re purporting!.

Biafrannuke:
continue scrambling for defence.

What Ajayi crowther wrote when he entered Iboland..

Stop this unity begging and attachment by force. Yoruba and Igbos are not cousins. Our cousins are the Igala and the Itsekiri, both Yoruboids.

Slytiger:
Yoruba is derived from OriOba then it became Oruba, then it became Yoruba.

Stop this history revisionism. Yoruba and igbos are not cousins. We never met until the Ajai Crowther ventured into the east.

still scrambling for defence by quoting modern works that can't even make any claims. I gave you one challenge to show me pre 1800 evidence of the people of the southwest being addressed as Yoruba.

There are several historical records from missionaries, sailors, slave traders etc addressing people of southeast in 1700 as Ibos, ebo heebo etc.

DMCY:
Please don’t make me laugh! Who are the indigenous people of Lagos o? Don’t tell me you don’t know igbo means forest and not what you’re purporting!.

only someone who lacks points laughs of logical arguments.

This is beyond madness. The persistent attempts by certain individuals to insert the Igbo identity into Yoruba history are not just misleading—they are disgraceful and, frankly, sinister.

A warning bell was rung decades ago. In a letter published in the Times Literary Supplement on 24 October 1975, D.A.N. Jones foresaw the confusion that could arise from shifting the spelling of “Ibo” to “Igbo”(see attached). He specifically used the example of Ijebu-Igbo to illustrate how such a change could distort geographical and historical understanding. What Jones could not have anticipated was the emergence of mischievous revisionists like ChurchillNwagwu, whose objective seems less about historical clarity and more about historical colonization.

Here are the facts. Up until the mid-1970s, "Ibo" was the most commonly used spelling in literature and documentation. While variants such as "Igbo," "Heboe," and "Eboe" appear in texts, "Ibo" dominated most records. Regardless of spelling, the term was coined outside the present-day Igbo region. It was a label applied externally, mainly by slavers and slave traders.

The earliest written reference to the name dates back to 1627, when Spanish priest Alonso de Sandoval used it in a list describing “a group of forty to fifty independent villages who recognized no king, fought regularly, often sold their women and children as slaves, and were all cannibals.” In several Niger Delta dialects, “Igbo” meant “slave,” and even among communities west of the River Niger, the term carried a similar derogatory connotation.

Because of its pejorative foreign origin, the term was rarely adopted as an ethnic self-identifier until much later. It was often used to describe “others,” “strangers,” or “slaves.” In Onitsha, for example, the term was commonly applied to people from the interior with a connotation of 'backwardness'. Even Nnamdi Azikiwe, in his 1930 article Fragments of Onitsha History, used “Igbo” to refer to neighboring tribes. It was only in the 20th century, with the rise of pan-ethnic consciousness, that the term was retroactively enriched with ethnic content to describe a unified Igbo identity.

In contrast, Yoruba history is well documented and internally consistent. As a group, the Yoruba had limited contact with the Igbo until the 1930s. Yet, in recent times, we are seeing audacious attempts by some Igbo writers to claim ancestral links to Ife, the spiritual home of the Yoruba. Entire books, authored even by PhD holders, have been written to justify this fantasy, often citing a single recent royal gaffe as their “evidence.” But the historical record contradicts them. The Ugbo people, whose name is often misappropriated in these narratives, still exist and are indisputably Yoruba. Their oral traditions and the Ife creation myth corroborate each other, firmly rooting them in Yoruba cosmology.

Moreover, Yoruba towns like Ijebu-Igbo, Igbo-Ora, and others being claimed by these revisionists predate any known use of “Igbo” as an ethnic identifier in southeastern Nigeria. These are towns with rich, established histories, well before any collective identity known as “Igbo” emerged in its current form.

This rewriting of history is not only intellectually dishonest - it is an act of cultural theft. To impose a fabricated narrative on Yoruba heritage in the name of “shared ancestry” or “common identity” is to erase the real histories of real peoples. And we will continue to resist all such attempt.

This is laughable. Krrikriririkri. Kkkkkk.

Forest now means a whole ethnic group.

Don't deceive yourself. There was a census in 1891 but there was no single Igbo living in Lagos as at then.

They were busy fighting war with the British.

Slytiger:
What Ajayi crowther wrote when he entered Iboland..

Stop this unity begging and attachment by force. Yoruba and Igbos are not cousins. Our cousins are the Igala and the Itsekiri, both Yoruboids.

If i was ibo as well, I will try everything to get rid of my bad history and latch unto an ethnic group with outstanding history and arts.

The igbos were enslaved by Igala, Itsekiri, Benin, Urhobo, Isoko e.t.c hence, they want to gum body with the Yorubas

I am giving Yorubas a challenge

1) tell me the Yoruba name of Lagos
2) show me any evidence where the Yoruba appellation covered the people of southwest before 1800

Indigenous Lagosians are largely not Yorubas by origin. Even the British recognised this and administered Lagos separately, and this continued till after the civil war when the north paid Yoruba back with the control of Lagos. Most native Lagosians harbour resentment for Yorubas and has never hidden their disdain for having Lagos as a part of western region. The suspicion from Yorubas has lead to artificial control of Lagos by the Yorubas where the indigenes are not allowed close to the corridors of power.

Trying to suppress the indigenous Lagosians puts you on a collision course with the owners of the land not Igbos.

Biafrannuke:
still scrambling for defence by quoting modern works that can't even make any claims. I gave you one challenge to show me pre 1800 evidence of the people of the southwest being addressed as Yoruba.

There are several historical records from missionaries, sailors, slave traders etc addressing people of southeast in 1700 as Ibos, ebo heebo etc.

Olodo
An Arab explorer called Baba Ahmed wrote about the Yorubas he encountered in his 1615 manuscript.

English publication of the 𝟭𝟲𝟭𝟱 manuscript, by J. Hunwick & Fatima

Biafrannuke:
I am giving Yorubas a challenge

1) tell me the Yoruba name of Lagos
2) show me any evidence where the Yoruba appellation covered the people of southwest before 1800

Indigenous Lagosians are largely not Yorubas by origin. Even the British recognised this and administered Lagos separately, and this continued till after the civil war when the north paid Yoruba back with the control of Lagos. Most native Lagosians harbour resentment for Yorubas and has never hidden their disdain for having Lagos as a part of western region. The suspicion from Yorubas has lead to artificial control of Lagos by the Yorubas where the indigenes are not allowed close to the corridors of power.

Trying to suppress the indigenous Lagosians puts you on a collision course with the owners of the land not Igbos.

Eko Akete is the Yoruba name of present day Lagos.

Other towns called Eko derived from Oko (farm settlements).in Yorubaland.

Eko Akete, Lagos Island LG - Lagos State
Eko Ende, Ifelodun LG -Osun State
Ekosin, Odo Otin LG -Osun State
Eko Ajala, Ifelodun LG -Osun State
Ekotedo, Ido LG - Oyo State
Eko kan, Shaki West LG - Oyo State
Oko Eko, Ijebu East LG - Ogun State
Eko Efun- Olukumi land in Aniocha North Delta state
Ade Eko, Iseyin LGA - Oyo State
Eko Tedo Ibadan north LGA dubbed, Oyo state.
Eko, Ife Ana, Atakpame, Togo

As per the Yoruba in your question 2. See my last last post.

Goodvibes007:
This is beyond madness. The persistent attempts by certain individuals to insert the Igbo identity into Yoruba history are not just misleading—they are disgraceful and, frankly, sinister.

A warning bell was rung decades ago. In a letter published in the Times Literary Supplement on 24 October 1975, D.A.N. Jones foresaw the confusion that could arise from shifting the spelling of “Ibo” to “Igbo”(see attached). He specifically used the example of Ijebu-Igbo to illustrate how such a change could distort geographical and historical understanding. What Jones could not have anticipated was the emergence of mischievous revisionists like ChurchillNwagwu, whose objective seems less about historical clarity and more about historical colonization.

Here are the facts. Up until the mid-1970s, "Ibo" was the most commonly used spelling in literature and documentation. While variants such as "Igbo," "Heboe," and "Eboe" appear in texts, "Ibo" dominated most records. Regardless of spelling, the term was coined outside the present-day Igbo region. It was a label applied externally, mainly by slavers and slave traders.

The earliest written reference to the name dates back to 1627, when Spanish priest Alonso de Sandoval used it in a list describing “a group of forty to fifty independent villages who recognized no king, fought regularly, often sold their women and children as slaves, and were all cannibals.” In several Niger Delta dialects, “Igbo” meant “slave,” and even among communities west of the River Niger, the term carried a similar derogatory connotation.

Because of its pejorative foreign origin, the term was rarely adopted as an ethnic self-identifier until much later. It was often used to describe “others,” “strangers,” or “slaves.” In Onitsha, for example, the term was commonly applied to people from the interior with a connotation of 'backwardness'. Even Nnamdi Azikiwe, in his 1930 article Fragments of Onitsha History, used “Igbo” to refer to neighboring tribes. It was only in the 20th century, with the rise of pan-ethnic consciousness, that the term was retroactively enriched with ethnic content to describe a unified Igbo identity.

In contrast, Yoruba history is well documented and internally consistent. As a group, the Yoruba had limited contact with the Igbo until the 1930s. Yet, in recent times, we are seeing audacious attempts by some Igbo writers to claim ancestral links to Ife, the spiritual home of the Yoruba. Entire books, authored even by PhD holders, have been written to justify this fantasy, often citing a single recent royal gaffe as their “evidence.” But the historical record contradicts them. The Ugbo people, whose name is often misappropriated in these narratives, still exist and are indisputably Yoruba. Their oral traditions and the Ife creation myth corroborate each other, firmly rooting them in Yoruba cosmology.

Moreover, Yoruba towns like Ijebu-Igbo, Igbo-Ora, and others being claimed by these revisionists predate any known use of “Igbo” as an ethnic identifier in southeastern Nigeria. These are towns with rich, established histories, well before any collective identity known as “Igbo” emerged in its current form.

This rewriting of history is not only intellectually dishonest - it is an act of cultural theft. To impose a fabricated narrative on Yoruba heritage in the name of “shared ancestry” or “common identity” is to erase the real histories of real peoples. And we will continue to resist all such attempt.

quit diversionary tactics. The topic isn't about the spelling of Igbo. It's about unmasking the true Yoruba history. No Yoruba that either left Yorubaland through slavery or migration identified as Yoruba. Many of them identified as lukumi. The Yoruba you know today is a name imposed by colonialism as an instrument of unity for administrative convenience. Southwest especially Lagos and ondo areas are a product of several cultures and settlements including Igbo. Even the faintest whisper of " no man's land" in Lagos unnerves a typical Yoruba from osun or Ogun because they relate it to the historical truth of a diverse community which Lagos evolved from. Changing street names in Lagos is a laughable attempt to erase the truth and such desperation will backfir.

Goodvibes007:
Eko Akete is the Yoruba name of present day Lagos.

Other towns called Eko derived from Oko (farm settlements).in Yorubaland.

Eko Akete, Lagos Island LG - Lagos State
Eko Ende, Ifelodun LG -Osun State
Ekosin, Odo Otin LG -Osun State
Eko Ajala, Ifelodun LG -Osun State
Ekotedo, Ido LG - Oyo State
Eko kan, Shaki West LG - Oyo State
Oko Eko, Ijebu East LG - Ogun State
Eko Efun- Olukumi land in Aniocha North Delta state
Ade Eko, Iseyin LGA - Oyo State
Eko Tedo Ibadan north LGA dubbed, Oyo state.
Eko, Ife Ana, Atakpame, Togo

As per the Yoruba in your question 2. See my last last post.

can you show me any historical document that so addressed Lagos?

Biafrannuke:
can you show me any historical document that so addressed Lagos?

In the “Précis of Information Concerning the Colony of Lagos”: Intelligence Branch of British War Office. 1888.

Goodvibes007:
Olodo
An Arab explorer called Baba Ahmed wrote about the Yorubas he encountered in his 1615 manuscript.

English publication of the 𝟭𝟲𝟭𝟱 manuscript, by J. Hunwick & Fatima

Gbamest!

Biafrannuke:
which Yoruba was recorded? Show us any record of people of southwest being addressed as Yorubas before the 1800s by historians, colonialists, sailors or missionaries?Deceit cannot pass as history.

Ìgbó in Yoruba is ENTIRELY a different word from the word Igbò/Ibo. Yoruba is a tonal language and this article is a piece of garbage, regardless of how many scholarly sources you cited.


I know say Agbadorianists wey no like me, go like this one wey I talk.

Truth is Truth no matter who says it.

Dalohad:
Ìgbó in Yoruba is ENTIRELY a different word from the word Igbò/Ibo. Yoruba is a tonal language and this article is a piece of garbage, regardless of how many scholarly sources your cited.

I googled the article and it took me to an IPOB page on Facebook. I knew straightaway not to waste my time

Why can't these Igbo not leave Yoruba alone too,is it by force to be linked to Yoruba?

Can you people not do without Lagos sef?

Na by force

Which kind people b ds sef

Goodvibes007:
In the “Précis of Information Concerning the Colony of Lagos”: Intelligence Branch of British War Office. 1888.

1888 is fairly recent and can't pass for a historical record. Colonial narrative has been fully entrenched and the named yoruba had been applied to the rest of the west. Even the name Eko which was given by Benin has become popular among yoruba