₦airaland Forum

I have been watching, with equal parts amusement and worry, the latest fuss between two of Yorubaland’s most respected thrones: the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo. This quarrel is anything but a new development; it is simply a replay of an old Yoruba truth: the Yoruba are often more divided among themselves than Nigeria as a whole.

What makes it even more troubling is how quickly people are picking sides, waving banners of allegiance. As expected, many Oyo sons and daughters stand solidly behind the Alaafin, while Ile-Ife and its sympathizers rally around the Ooni. Instead of speaking as one family of Odùduwà, loyalties are split along hometown pride and historical grudges. And is this not the same story we see in Nigeria at large? The Igbo instinctively back the Southeast, the Hausa-Fulani defend the North, and the Yoruba close ranks around the Southwest. Ethnic loyalty first, national identity later: if at all.

Yes, we all love to declare with pride, “Awa omo Odùduwà!” as if that chant alone makes us united. But scratch beneath the agbada and beads, and what you’ll see is not a smooth family tree, it’s one where the branches keep poking each other in the eye.

People love to blame Lord Lugard for everything that is wrong with Nigeria: Traffic in Lagos? Blame Lugard. Dollar rise? Blame Lugard. Bad governance? Lugard again. But the truth is, Lugard did not invent the quarrels. He only helped package them into a colonial gift box called Nigeria.

In fact, the word “Yoruba” itself is relatively new. Historically, people identified as Oyo, Ijebu, Egba, Ekiti, Ife, Ondo, etc. It was Samuel Johnson, a 19th-century Yoruba clergyman and historian (from Oyo), who helped popularize “Yoruba” as a collective identity in his “History of the Yorubas” (published in 1921, though written earlier). Before then, it wasn’t unusual for an Egba man to insist he wasn’t the same as an Ijebu man, even though they both descended from Oduduwa.

So, if today you see Yoruba leaders dragging chairs over who is more senior, don’t blame Nigeria alone. The quarrels pre-date Nigeria itself.

The Kiriji War; when Cousins Fought each other is a good example (1877–1893). That war lasted sixteen years; longer than Nigeria’s entire civil war (1967–1970). And who fought it? Yorubas against Yorubas.

On one side: Ibadan. On the other side: Ekiti Parapo (an alliance of Ekiti, Ijesa, Egba, and others). Why the fight? Power, land, and who should control who. By the time it ended (through British intervention, by the way), thousands were dead, towns destroyed, and family ties permanently strained.

So, when I hear people say, “If Nigeria breaks today, Yorubaland will automatically become peaceful,” I just shake my head. If Nigeria breaks, you might need a new Google Map just to locate all the “mini-republics” that will emerge in Yorubaland.

Yoruba unity is a bit like party rice. It only shows up during big occasions. During colonial times, Yoruba united against British taxes. In the 1950s, under Obafemi Awolowo, Yoruba rallied behind free education and regional development. During June 12 (1993), Yorubas spoke with one voice in defending democracy.
But after each “big occasion,” the usual quarrels resume: Who is the rightful heir to which throne? Who should lead the political party? Which town’s jollof rice is superior? Even in religion, Yoruba Muslims and Christians sometimes argue like eternal rivals, despite attending each other’s naming ceremonies.

Let us be frank: if Nigeria breaks today, don’t expect a single united “Oduduwa Republic.” We might have:

Ife Kingdom (capital of spirituality and “source” of creation).

Oyo Federal Republic (with a strong constitution, but Alaafin will still be supreme commander).

Ijebu National Bank Republic (their anthem will start with “Money stops nonsense…”)

Ekiti Democratic Republic (where every family produces a professor and a governor).

Egba Confederation (they will insist they are different from Ijebu, again).

Lagos International Airport City-State (where nobody will even admit they are Yoruba, they will just say, “We are global citizens”).

Each will have its own flag, currency, and probably an embassy in the next town.

The Yoruba problem, like Nigeria’s, is not ethnicity. It is the inability to accept one another fully, beyond convenience. Yoruba unity shines when there’s an external threat, but fades when it’s time to build internal strength. This is not just a Yoruba issue. It is a Nigerian issue. The Igbo have their internal rivalries. The Hausa-Fulani are not monolithic either. The so-called “Middle Belt” is itself a patchwork of dozens of ethnic nations.

If the Yoruba want to be taken seriously as a model for Nigeria, then unity should not just be about “banding together against outsiders.” It must also mean genuine acceptance of one another inside the same family.

Until then, if Nigeria collapses tomorrow, the Yoruba will likely collapse faster into smaller units. And in the distance, Lord Lugard will still be laughing from his grave, sipping palm wine, whispering: “I told you they weren’t ready.”

Lol. Very very funny article. Anyways, Nigeria will be Great.

WhizdomXX:
Lol. Very very funny article. Anyways, Nigeria will be Great.

That is our earnest prayer: Nigeria shall rise and be great in our lifetime.

ibabz:
That is our earnest prayer: Nigeria shall rise and be great in our lifetime.

WhizdomXX:
Lol. Very very funny article. Anyways, Nigeria will be Great.

With the type of behaviour Yorubas are dishing to other Nigerians?

Some of you don't really understand what having a country is, you can't be wishing a certain part of the country evil and expect your country to be good or doing injustice to a certain people in your country and expect your country to progress, some of you don't know what it is to have a country that will make progress....


Look, I was surprised when I started seeing this attribute of the Yorubas but after some study of their past I now understood, currently Yorubas are only united in hatred against Igbos whom they see as a threat, but somehow Tinubu's presidency has given some of them the mindset that the have won the Igbos, so what next as the article also said( they go back to default and start fighting each other)


I'm very sorry to say, Any Yoruba man who hates, despises or sees the Igbos as threat is not after a working country, is after only tribal supremacy.

I might still write a book about the Yorubas and Nigeria as a whole, apologies to Yorubas who do not involve themselves in these tribal/clannish supremacy battles.

I'm going to bookmark this page.

Brendaniel:
With the type of behaviour Yorubas are dishing to other Nigerians?

Some of you don't really understand what having a country is, you can't be wishing a certain part of the country evil and expect your country to be good or doing injustice to a certain people in your country and expect your country to progress, some of you don't know what it is to have a country that will make progress....


Look, I was surprised when I started seeing this attribute of the Yorubas but after some study of their past I now understood, currently Yorubas are only united in hatred against Igbos whom they see as a threat, but somehow Tinubu's presidency has given some of them the mindset that the have won the Igbos, so what next as the article also said( they go back to default and start fighting each other)


I'm very sorry to say, Any Yoruba man who hates, despises or sees the Igbos as threat is not after a working country, is after only tribal supremacy.

I might still write a book about the Yorubas and Nigeria as a whole, apologies to Yorubas who do not involve themselves in these tribal/clannish supremacy battles.

I'm going to bookmark this page.

Ogbeni, shut the damn crap. The Igbo aren’t any better than the rest. Every ethnic group in Nigeria is soaked in divisions, and all those cracks are what built this messed-up country. So quit whining like the Igbo are saints, they’re just as flawed as everyone else.”

Brendaniel:
With the type of behaviour Yorubas are dishing to other Nigerians?

Some of you don't really understand what having a country is, you can't be wishing a certain part of the country evil and expect your country to be good or doing injustice to a certain people in your country and expect your country to progress, some of you don't know what it is to have a country that will make progress....


Look, I was surprised when I started seeing this attribute of the Yorubas but after some study of their past I now understood, currently Yorubas are only united in hatred against Igbos whom they see as a threat, but somehow Tinubu's presidency has given some of them the mindset that the have won the Igbos, so what next as the article also said( they go back to default and start fighting each other)


I'm very sorry to say, Any Yoruba man who hates, despises or sees the Igbos as threat is not after a working country, is after only tribal supremacy.

I might still write a book about the Yorubas and Nigeria as a whole, apologies to Yorubas who do not involve themselves in these tribal/clannish supremacy battles.

I'm going to bookmark this page.

Lol most of these fights are only online. I was in Ota recently and the love between Yoruba and Igbo that I saw there is real.

ibabz:
Ogbeni, shut the damn crap. The Igbo aren’t any better than the rest. Every ethnic group in Nigeria is soaked in divisions, and all those cracks are what built this messed-up country. So quit whining like the Igbo are saints, they’re just as flawed as everyone else.”

You still don't understand, every ethnic group has their own issues, the bigger problem here is an ethnic group sees another ethic group as enemy and fights them in the same country, ethnic group internal fights can be managed because it more like family, but when it is taken out to another ethnic group in the same country, I doubt that country will ever make progress and that is the situation of Nigeria because it breeds injustice.

How do you want a progressive country with injustice?

WhizdomXX:
Lol most of these fights are only online. I was in Ota recently and the love between Yoruba and Igbo that I saw there is real.

See, Igbos and Yorubas don't have problem socially but you see in leadership there is a big problem, I have more Yoruba friends than Igbo friends, once it is time for election most of them draw line or are indifferent about supporting an Igbo man, that's why I prefer the country to divide so we won't have any issues with the Yorubas...

To many Yorubas it is like competition of supremacy on who leads the country or anywhere they reside as indigenes, so to some of them it is like a constant war that an Igbo man must never rule the country ...

Like Pastor Paul Adefarasin just said these few days, Nigeria is and remains a contraption of the British exploitation greed and wickedness

Brendaniel:
See, Igbos and Yorubas don't have problem socially but you see in leadership there is a big problem, I have more Yoruba friends than Igbo friends, once it is time for election most of them draw line or are indifferent about supporting an Igbo man, that's why I prefer the country to divide so we won't have any issues with the Yorubas...

To many Yorubas it is like competition of supremacy on who leads the country or anywhere they reside as indigenes, so to some of them it is like a constant war that an Igbo man must never rule the country ...

Freedom to vote whoever you like exists.

Brendaniel:
You still don't understand, every ethnic group has their own issues, the bigger problem here is an ethnic group sees another ethic group as enemy and fights them in the same country, ethnic group internal fights can be managed because it more like family, but when it is taken out to another ethnic group in the same country, I doubt that country will ever make progress and that is the situation of Nigeria because it breeds injustice.

How do you want a progressive country with injustice?

I agree with you. You’re absolutely right.

WhizdomXX:
Freedom to vote whoever you like exists.

That's why some people could see no wrong in supporting Tinubu, I'm not calling Peter Obi a saint either but common logic would not put 2 of them in the same category, if tribal, religious or political affiliation is your yardstick to pick a leader to rule your country then wrong and bad choices could be the order of the day like from Buhari to Tinubu, read this article and you will understand better...

https://www.nairaland.com/7802865/only-tinubu-supporters-saw-nigeria

Racoon:
Like Pastor Paul Adefarasin just said these few days, Nigeria is and remains a contraption of the British exploitation greed and wickedness

I find it deeply disappointing that a man who should be at the forefront of championing national unity has chosen instead to peddle divisive rhetoric. Sadly, his generation has left one of the darkest marks on our nation’s history.