₦airaland Forum

IkpuMmadu:
Okun Peoples is the term generally used to describe groups of Yoruba speaking communities, ... Furthermore, some still hold the opinion that they are not Yoruba


The term Yoruba was not used to refer to an ethnic group or a set of people with related dialect until it was used in the 16th-century treatise written by the Songhai writer, scholar, and political provocateur, **Ahmad Baba al-Massufi al-Timbukti. ** The term was originally used and restricted to people of the Oyo empire. It is more of an identity for a language than of a group or race.

Its etymology just like the many histories of the Yoruba is unsubstantiated by historians. The veracity of folklore is believed as a form of patriotism and pride than a standard reference to history. The standard reference book for Yoruba history wasn't written until 1921 by Samuel Johnson and Dr. Obadiah Johnson. Although the Yoruba language is older than the English language which emerged in the 5th century about 1,500 years after the Yoruba language it was codified until the 1930s.

The name is believed to have emanated from indigenous ethnonyms Ọyọ (Oyo) or Yagba - two Yoruba-speaking groups along the northern borders. The name was adopted by Sultan Muhammad Bello (who later became the second Sultan of Sokoto) who referred to Oyo people as "Yoruba" in his treatise on the Oyo Empire. Yoruba is popularized by Hausa usage and the 19th-century ethnography written in Arabic and

IkpuMmadu:
WHI OKUN DONT LIKE THE YORUBA NAME


1. Yoruba was cuin from the word “Yarriba” used by the early Huasa slave merchants to identify their slaves from the oyo dahomey axis. Yoruba was identity of Slaves.
2. The word Yoruba have been ignorantly use in and out of Nigeria to tag a people that do not inherit the ancestral slave statues, especially in the south west. Yorubas were major product of labour, captured and bought by Europeans and shipped to the Americas during translatlantic slave trade 16th and 18th century. Most were shipped to haiti, cuba etc
3. The tag “Yoruba” can be liken to the tag “Nigga” used on African Americans.
4. Yoruba is a negative derogative name that should be ambolish because free men dont maintain the identity of a slave.

To call somebody Yoruba is to insult that person, you either call him an Egba Man, an Oyo Man, an Awori or whatever clan he is from, don't call him Yoruba because it is like calling him "SLAVE" do they really answer when you call them that name? Maybe that man that answers you don't know the root meaning of that word Yarriba and how the lingua came about.
South west of Nigeria:They are either Egba, Awori, Ijebu, Oyo, Ife etc men and women
It is like calling all Black men in America Niggas, why do you call them that name because you can not identify where they are from in Africa. Because slave masters from the north couldn't identify where each clave was from, they called them YARRIBA, like, how many YARRIBA (slaves) do you have and the answer would be 10 or 20.

For political simplicity then, we were called Bendel, was Bendel a tradition, culture or heritage? Was it a language? But all over, people from that region were called Bendelites. that is exactly what Yoruba means, Slaves according to the Hausa-Fulani identity for them, it does not mean where they were from, even if they were Ibo or Ijaw, they were Yarriba (slaves.) This name was then adopted for political reason because there was now millions of slaves that returned from slavery, that had nowhere to go but to stay in Oyo where they were put in slave camps before taken across the Atlantic. Same thing happened in Liberia and Free Town.

For lack of self-knowledge, blacks in America still call themselves NIggas, is Nigga a pleasant word? But it was used to identify black slaves from Africa. Yoruba was a term used to identify slaves bound for the Americas by the Hausa man, he called them Yarriba. the question is, how did the name become famous with the people around the western part of today Niger-Area?https://ihuanedo.ning.com/m/group/discussion?id=2971192%3ATopic%3A145857

TAO11:
smiles ...

I think you really don't need to be cunning and deceptive.

I think you should stop it in your own interest. It damages your ego and esteem rather than help it.

I think you should desist from this path

TAO11:
smiles ...

I think you really don't need to be cunning and deceptive.

I think you should stop it in your own interest. It damages your ego and esteem rather than help it.

I think you should desist from this path

IkpuMmadu:
I didn't write that I just quoted it deal with the link and not me

Opiletool:
You see, one thing I have come to conclude about this migrations in the southern part of Nigeria is that, the immigrants mostly meet other people at their settlements today. The later might heavily influence the former, or vice versa. Take for instance Ifon in Ondo state (beside owo) was said to have migrated from the Ifon in Osun state. The migration was said to have been caused by the dispute between two prince's, one of them left the kingship thrown to the other, taking the crown with him, and followed by his sympathisers. But today, their dialect is so different. While the Ifon in Osun retain its original tongue, the one in Ondo state speaks a dialect very similar to that of Owo.

To me, I believe that the prince that left with his people must have met with the original settlers of the town, and may have, due to his powerful status or some other tricky method, been made king. This is not far from the truth, as it is evident even in other ancient cultures such as the Greek. I do not know if you have heard or read 'Oedipus the King' by Sophocles (Adapted by Ola-Rotimi as 'The Gods are not to blame') , such a scenario played out in the drama. The King and his people been few, must have accepted the culture and language of the people he met, with a little influence of his on culture.

Another instance is that of Ikere and Ado-Ekiti. You might have heard that the lineage of the ruling families In these towns came from Bini. I could remember been told the history of Ado by an elderly woman, it happened that the former ruler of the town was informed by the oracle that a powerful person will pay him a visit, and was warned to be cautious, the advice he failed to heed, which consequently led to his murder by the visitor who later assumed the throne, and his lineage still ruling till today. Similar thing happened in Ikere, some people are yet to come to terms with this issue, particularly the family of the original ruler of the town. Hence in Ikere today, you have two kings (the Ogoga and the Olukere) claiming to be the recognised one in the town. I guess the culture of the people must have been so strong that that of the immigrants were unable to influence penetrate.

In my Opinion, similar cases are witnessed in most migration story of these towns. Another notable case is that of Lagos-bin, Bini-Ife. So, the itshekiri-bini story might be similar.

Consider the fact that the Itshekiri, Ilaje, and Ijebus speak almost the same. Closer to them are Okitipupa, Ikale, Ondo, Owo, Akure, Ekiti, Ijesha etc. If someone from Ekiti or Ilaje speaks, someone from Oyo fill Jae some difficulty understanding him/her. So you can not classify the Yoruba language under a singular umbrella, because it is a language with lots of variety. Even, an Itshekiri speaker and an Ijebu or Ilaje speaker will understand each other, than Ijebu person talking to someone from Oyo.

Badb0y4lyf:
TAO11 your knowledge is very vast on cultural and religious beliefs I will be looking forward to having a discuss with you

IkpuMmadu:
I have met a lot of folks that bear Yoruba names and surnames here in Lagos and most times they are from middle belt like Kogi ! When I call them this Yoruba boy . They would get angry and say they are not Yoruba , they are Ọkụn ! I wonder what is different ! They bear a Yoruba name and surname and their language sounds like Yoruba ...so I wonder why they don't like the term Yoruba . The same thing I noticed about the Ilorin and kabba axis ! That side would want to be closer to the north than the Yoruba ..

Why do those axis find it hard to be called Yoruba irrespective of the high similarity ..the kabba ,Ọkụn people even lately, some Ijebu folks prefer the term Ijebu not Yoruba


As a non Yoruba , I see this amazing and confusing at the same time . Can you help me out ..THEY MIGHT DENY BUT THEY ARE STILL YORUBA, AT LEAST MAJORITY OF THEM

TAO11:
Regardless of what the average Itsekiri person today thinks, his own tradition claims they are part of the Olukumi folk and as such they are sons and daughters of Oduduwa.

A quick google search on the internet will show u that the Itsekiri language is regarded as "a major branch of the Yoruboid group of languages".

In fact, from my research I have come to realize that the Itsekiri dialect (as well as other Eastern flank Yoruba dialects like Ekiti, Yagba, Owo, Kabba) and to some extent the Ife dialect are the most ancient Yoruba dialects.

We can discuss this further if you're interested

scholes0:
Itsekiri relationship with Urhobo and Ijaw is ephemeral and lateral in nature. i.e it is as a result of the virtue of them being neighbors. It can also change at any time depending on the prevailing circumstances. Consider a scenario where itsekiris became a province in Western Nigeria, their visible culture would significantly shift more towards what you are referring to as the general Yoruba culture now, even if they will still retain some uniqueness. Take for example, even now, despite the fact that Itsekiris are not in the SW, many Itsekiris already wear Agbadas.....

What you don't know is that to a large extent, people's material culture is also shaped by politics and regionalization, especially in a country like Nigeria. On the other hand, The Itsekiri relationship with Yoruba is more nodal/ vertical in nature...i.e (direct descent) and can never be changed. All the primordial villages and clans in itsekiri land came from Yorubaland, except perhaps the Royal Court.
Itsekiris will simply be like their Ilaje brothers after 30 years in the SW, believe it or not.
Apoi a lost Ijaw clan in Ondo state have become fully assimilated as Yorubas, and You think Itsekiri is so different from Yoruba culture, because they eat banga and starch, while Yoruba eat Okra and Eba? Or because Itseke women wear heavy coral beads while Yoruba women tie gele lol

Now all that being said, when comparing Yoruba and itsekiri, the mistake you are making is comparg Itsekiri to OYO which is the face of Yoruba culture, being the hegemonic force in most of Yorubaland for centuries. That is understandable. The relationship between Itsekiri and certain Yoruba groups are much more obvious that others. Compare Itsekiri and Owo or Okitipupa for example it becomes much more visible.

Moreso, Itsekiris do not come from Ginuwa, unless you are suggesting that ginuwa is older than Itsekiri as a people.
Also what is the Yoruba world view pls? You seem to be suggesting that Yorubas as a people have a set world view.... Traditionally, we have monarchies, they have a monarchy, infact the traditional titles of more than a few cities in Yorubaland are Olus; Mushin, Ilaro and Igbokoda immediately come to mind. Clan chiefs in Eastern Yorubaland are known as Olojas, same in Itsekiri as Olajas. Our traditional religion believe in Eboras, Imales, Ifa/divinition Ogun, Olokun, Ayelala (in Ilaje and Ikale)... Etc. SAME obtains in itsekiri

Those are the bone of a culture (LANGUAGE, Societal structure and Traditional RELIGION), every other thing you see are just meat.