ghostwon:
From Tao: "First of all: Margaret B. Plass is the Curator of African Art at The University Museum, The University of Pennsylvania --- an academic position she held from 1965.

She is also among Penn University's diverse team of authors who may independently (or in interdisciplinary collaboration with other academics and experts) publish articles in the prestigious Penn University Museum's Expedition."

Reply:

That doesn't change the fact she doesn't have a PhD and doesn't know what she is talking about. Rather you should be showing me her proof. Instead you have based all your speech on her reputation w which once again shows she is not an academic. Just a person publishing uneducated thoughts highly influenced by Yoruba fraudsters.

TAO11:


Thanks much! I have seen the video many, many times. Edo children like ghostown love to keep live in denial though, even after explicit statement in the documentary at time-stamp 47:16 to 49:00 states clearly that:

The kings of Benin kingdom pay homage to Ile-Ife.

But to the Edo nairalanders, all the experts are colluding with Yoruba people to conspire against Edo.

#PersecutionComplex at its finest.

davidnazee:



An editorial by a renowned Yoruba professor and historian.

Vanguard (Lagos)
EDITORIAL
July 7, 2004
Posted to the web July 7, 2004

The origin of the Benin and Yoruba empires of old have come to the fore and they have been subject of intense debate.
No doubt the origins of the two empires are obscure being deeply buried in legend and mythology and it is not easy to say what amount of history or the amount of embellished history they contain. In truth these traditions which on the surface try to account for the origin of these empires are perhaps little more than ideological chatters legitimizing the political systems, traditions, cultures, etc. of the people. This general position not withstanding, it is worthy of note that the Benin through their well renowned Arts and Craft recorded their history and event in addition to the account of the guild of oral recorders. The most contentious of this debate for now, however, is the Benin-Ife historical connection.

Many historians and social anthropologists especially the Yoruba historians have been greatly impressed by the tradition that the Yoruba Kingdom fathered the second Benin empire. According to Prof. A.B.Aderibigbe, "obviously there is an attempt in this story to gloss over what in fact was an alien imposition." Along the same line, Prof Michael Growder said that this tradition could be "a convenient legend to disguise what in fact was a conquest by the Oduduwa party".

Here however, the following points are worthy of note: First the Ife-Benin connection has been vigorously questioned by Prof. A.F.C. Ryder. He had pointed out that this tradition which seeks to connect Benin with Ife is suspect. He argues that throughout four centuries of contact between Benin and various European nations, in particular Portugal, there was no hint or reference to this relationship between the two empires. The tradition was not mentioned or recorded by any writer until after the British occupation of Benin in 1897. He also pointed out that the city of Ife is believed to be younger than Benin and therefore could not have fathered the second Benin Empire.

Second, according to Prof Ryder, by 1485 Benin was an impressive and large city. Judging by the evidence of European visitors, it was perhaps the largest and most impressive city which the Portuguese saw along the west coast of Africa. Recent archaeological evidence would seem to indicate that Ife was built probably not before the first decade of the 16th century while the capital of old Oyo, Yatenga, was built much later. This would seem to show that the complex political system of the Yoruba which the Benin Kingdom is believed to have descended must have originated much later than the Benin Kingdom.

Third, much of the evidence which is believed to corroborate the claims made in the traditions comes from enthnohistory, that is, historical speculations based on assumed logical sequence of development in the political system. This is most unreliable.

By the 15th Century, the Benin Kingdom had achieved the height of its greatness. It remained the most powerful and the largest Kingdom in the forest region of West Africa until about the end of the first half of the 17 century. During these two centuries of its ascendancy Benin empire stretched as far west as Lagos, Badagry and Whyidah (Dahomey). On the north-west it stretched as far as Ekiti, Akure and Owo. Towards the north, it stretched to Ishan Country and the southern position of Idah. Finally on the east it incorporated at various times various portions of Ika-Ibo and as far as the River Niger.

Prof. Biobaku has suggested that the eastern fringe of what is now Yorubaland was in pre-Yoruba days thinly inhabited by the ancestors of the modern Benin people, a people which he called the Efa. And if recent archaeological evidence would seem to indicate that Ife was built not before the first decade of the 16th century thereby making it to be younger than Benin, then the Oranmiyan tradition has been miscon-strued and the Benin version (The Oba of Benin's version,), not Egharervba's version, becomes more tenable.

According to this version the boy disinherited through the conspiracy of the barren wives of Oba Owodo (The last of the Ogiso dynasty) was called Ekaladerhan. The embassy sent by the leading personalities in Benin after the failure of Evian to establish his dynasty was to help locate this disinherited boy (Ekakaladerhan) to come and occupy the throne which rightly belonged to him.

Before he was located, however, he had settled at Ife (Uhe) on the eastern fringe of the Yoruba Kingdom and he was now called, Oduduwa which was corrupted from Imadoduwa (meaning I have not missed the destined road to greatness). On receipt of the emissaries from Benin, he sent his son, Oranmiyan as he was too old to return to Benin. Oranmiyan and his party took up residence at Uzama and from there they sought to rule Benin. But Oranmiyan, having been born and brought up outside Benin tradition, found it difficult to rule the kingdom and therefore met with so much opposition to his rule that he decided to withdraw from Benin. Fortunately before he withdrew, he has put a daughter of a Benin chief in a family way and the offspring was called Eweka who thus became the first king of the Eweka dynasty which rules in Benin till date.

From the above historical facts provided by seasoned indigenous and foreign histo-rians, corroborated by archa-eological evidence, it is incon-trovertible that Odudu-wa (Imadoduwa) is the same Benin prince (Ekaladerhan) who left Benin and finally settled on the eastern fringe of Yoruba Kingdom where his sudden appearance was a fulfilment of a divine prediction of Ifa that God (Olodumare) would send them a king to settle the existing rift over succession. It is not surprising therefore that the Yorubas generally believed that Oduduwa came from God and descended from the sky.

davidnazee:


It seems the title "spiritual overlord" is exciting you and thereby confusing your small brain.. You don't even know what spiritual overlord implies because you are dumb like I said.. Please go find out what that term really means..
The pope in early times was spiritual overlord to kings of England, France and many European countries.. Does that mean Vatican was a powerful kingdom/empire or the pope greater than those kings?
Boy you are really dumb.. Go learn some more before you keep talking rubbish..
Nobody knows Ife.. Even you dont know Ife, only times Ife is mentioned is when discussing Great Benin..
Ife was never a kingdom, only a place of worship.

ghostwon:

This Tao guy just drowns you with long rubbish as if you should spend your entire life debunking him. He has no shame. You debunk his claims one after the other only for him to come up with other claims (more and more ridiculous) and quote other quacks and write longer rubbish. There goes your life, day after day debunking rubbish...

ghostwon:


The person he was quoting (Margaret Plass) obviously didn't know what she was talking about. She didn't even hold a PhD. She is just a person who printed stories from the Yoruba guys who swindled her into believing they were feeding her with historical facts.
Don't fall into his game.
The Oni of ife was nobody's spiritual overlord. Jeez

davidnazee:


Boy I can bet anything that any thread you create about Ife will only recieve a few comments, because nobody gives a damn about Ife.. Ife wasn;t great like you decieve yourself, wasn't an empire, no army, no conquests, nothing interesting about it.. Create a thread and see how disappointed you will be.. Even your Yoruba brothers won't comment because there's nothing to say about Ife.
But write one sentence about Great Benin and see thousands of comments, even you and your Yoruba brothers will comment over a 100 times.. Because Imperial Benin was great and mighty and powerful compared to all Yoruba kingdoms.

TAO11:


Hahaha somebody is already scared of what is to come.

No! Scholars the world over, and Yorubas generally at home and in the diaspora including as far as the Ga people of Ghana care about Ife so much.

Moreover, you should be worried that the earliest extant documentation of West African monarchies makes no mention of your Benin kingdom.

But instead discusses the Mâlli kingdom and its lavishly rich sovereign as well as the Ife country and its "powerful" sovereign. Lol.

The 1352 documentation of Ibn Battûta further describes Ife as the country where no white man can enter because the Ife people would have killed them even before they woukd approach.

[These are sneakpeaks more is to come in my upcoming post]

We comment so passionately about Benin kingdom for no other reason but to kill your lies right there and then as y'all are widely reputed as notorious unrepentant liars.

ghostwon:


I didn't read this your fraudulent statement.
If you have this "citation of Ibn Battûta's 1352 Voyages" and it proves your point then why not post it and shut me up I stead of talking about a document whose existence you still haven't proven talkless if it being relevent.
You are just crazy and I can't go down this path of engaging a mentally ill person.

I'm out. I have already said too much to a person who can not be educated. The teacher in me knows when a pupil should be abandoned. Don't expect any further reply except a reposting of this and previous comments.

ghostwon:


The story about ife is a myth.
There is no record of ife being any kind of power.
The british made the ooni of ife relevant and he served the british interests, he was very faithful to the british.

Oyo was never recorded as an empire, too much rewriting of history is going on.
The only empire recorded in the south is Benin empire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp8flCwvoAU&t=110s

But out of low self esteem nigerians all want to create their own version of history in which their ancestors were conquerors.
As if that would change anything in their lives.
Let us just accept history and stop distorting it.
We can't change the passed but we can build the future.
Israelis are all descendents of slaves, yet their country is very powerful today (among the strongest 8 nuclear world powers).
History is important, because when you know your history, not some fables, nobody can push you around and say things like: "blacks had no civilisation before the whites arrived" or "blacks lived like monkeys before the coming of the whites". A lot of black youth have an incredibly low self-esteem because the fables being told to them do not withstand the test of logics, and when they understand that they have been told a lie, they fall from a very high horse and lose all self-esteem.
So people, stop passing fables as history.
Let us teach the actual history to our kids and adults.

Thank you.

Sewgon79:


Please do tell me the story or history of when Yoruba were enslave by Benin kingdom. Cuz I haven't heard about it before.

davidnazee:


So you don’t know that almost half of Yorubaland was under Benin rule..
even before the British carried out the punitive expedition against Benin, Benin have been carrying out punitive expeditions against Yoruba anytime they misbehave.
Read below..

Warfare, Banditry and Rebellion: Ethnicity and Slave Recruitment in Northeastern Yorubaland, 1820-1893

Eastern Yorubaland also felt the impact of its powerful eastern neighbor, Benin. When Benin invaded Ekiti between 1818-1823, the aim was to quell provincial revolt and regain control over the region’s economy. Indeed by reasserting control over the trade routes, which linked it with Yorubaland, Benin strengthened the position of its long distance traders, the Ekhengbo (from Ekhen Egbo) (ekhen, traders; egbo, forest). Akure and Benin traditions agree that the invasion of Akure was precipitated by a commercial dispute following an attack on a Benin tobacco trader, Ogonto, who was accused of violating an Akure law. Even though the information is scanty, it is possible to situate the Benin invasion at this time and the economic dispute at its root, within the context of the rise in the supply of slaves by the wars in Yorubaland and Hausaland. Benin traders would have desired to tap into the northern Yoruba slave fields as well as send foreign goods into the interior. They would have also wanted alternative markets, even if temporary, to counterbalance the disruptive effect of the Nupe political crisis on Benin’s trade with the Niger. Consequently, Benin soldiers, under Ologbosere Imaran and Ezemo Erebo, carried out punitive expeditions, which left so much destruction that the fear of Benin lingered on till the early years of colonial occupation. Several Ekiti, Akoko and Owo towns were sacked and in them were created Benin colonies under the Balekale (consuls).

With the victory, Benin reasserted its control over trade in Ekiti, Owo and Akoko, and Benin enclaves in Owo, Akure, Ikere and Ado-Ekiti became the nexus of trade between Benin and Yorubaland. Both Akure and Idanre traditions agree that owing to Benin commercial activities, a nineteenth century ruler, Deji Gbogi and an influential woman, Olokoju both of Akure founded Alade village/market (near Idanre) as a meeting point for Ekiti, Idanre, Ondo, Owo, Ijebu, Benin and Ijesa traders. Imported items such as guns, salt and metal implements from Benin were sold as far as Ilesa, Ekiti and Ilorin. This earned the Ekhengbo the distinction of being called the “first long-distance traders in Ekiti.” Although the Akure king’s list seems to put Igbogi in an earlier century, the reference to the importation of guns would put his reign in the mid-nineteenth century. Most significant was that commercial metal products point to the position of Akure as a regional market. As we shall show in chapter four, Benin traders undermined direct commercial contacts between Ekiti and Ondo for a greater part of the century.

Sewgon79:


I was thinking you said they enslave Yoruba, who doesn't know that Benin went back to claim their brother who are in Àkókò and those Ondo State Ekiti that share same similarities and traditions with Benin.

What I am expecting to hear is that they, overcame Ijebu. Because me I know my IJEBU people, we will finish you guys with invisible Juju. The one you can't see.

Sewgon79:


I was thinking you said they enslave Yoruba, who doesn't know that Benin went back to claim their brother who are in Àkókò and those Ondo State Ekiti that share same similarities and traditions with Benin.

What I am expecting to hear is that they, overcame Ijebu. Because me I know my IJEBU people, we will finish you guys with invisible Juju. The one you can't see.

davidnazee:


See proof.

davidnazee:


Ok so you agree Benin ruled Eastern Yorubaland for hundreds of years.

Sewgon79:


What is a just an idea, no fact. According what you posted, it said Jebou, well IJEBU is IJEBU not Jebou. And all the theory in your book have no concret fact. Just hearsay or idea.

davidnazee:


Lol. Stop fooling yourself.
Benin conquered Ijebu.,

Sewgon79:


Or you should stop dreaming over your so call kingdom that is backward in nature and everything. At first you guys say your king don't travel.

When he say His Imperial Majesty, Oonirisa modernising the throne by travelling to showcase the beauty of Yoruba throne Internationally . I realise your king is a learner. He too start going from village to state. I was thinking he will be invited and honour abroad the way His Imperial Majesty Oonirisa was honoured in America, Uk, Brazil, Canada, to mention but few.

ghostwon:
Right from the beginning of yoruba history rewriting, the aim has been to basically take Benin history and replace one word with another: erase the word Benin and replace it sometimes with the word ife and other times with the word oyo.

I would not be surprised if one day, the Yoruba invent the expression:" Bight of oyo" or "Bight of ife".

The king in the picture below is non other than the Oba of Benin. Ruler of an empire, and this fool believes the ooni of a small village was his overlord. Wow

davidnazee:



An editorial by a renowned Yoruba professor and historian.

Vanguard (Lagos)
EDITORIAL
July 7, 2004
Posted to the web July 7, 2004

The origin of the Benin and Yoruba empires of old have come to the fore and they have been subject of intense debate.
No doubt the origins of the two empires are obscure being deeply buried in legend and mythology and it is not easy to say what amount of history or the amount of embellished history they contain. In truth these traditions which on the surface try to account for the origin of these empires are perhaps little more than ideological chatters legitimizing the political systems, traditions, cultures, etc. of the people. This general position not withstanding, it is worthy of note that the Benin through their well renowned Arts and Craft recorded their history and event in addition to the account of the guild of oral recorders. The most contentious of this debate for now, however, is the Benin-Ife historical connection.

Many historians and social anthropologists especially the Yoruba historians have been greatly impressed by the tradition that the Yoruba Kingdom fathered the second Benin empire. According to Prof. A.B.Aderibigbe, "obviously there is an attempt in this story to gloss over what in fact was an alien imposition." Along the same line, Prof Michael Growder said that this tradition could be "a convenient legend to disguise what in fact was a conquest by the Oduduwa party".

Here however, the following points are worthy of note: First the Ife-Benin connection has been vigorously questioned by Prof. A.F.C. Ryder. He had pointed out that this tradition which seeks to connect Benin with Ife is suspect. He argues that throughout four centuries of contact between Benin and various European nations, in particular Portugal, there was no hint or reference to this relationship between the two empires. The tradition was not mentioned or recorded by any writer until after the British occupation of Benin in 1897. He also pointed out that the city of Ife is believed to be younger than Benin and therefore could not have fathered the second Benin Empire.

Second, according to Prof Ryder, by 1485 Benin was an impressive and large city. Judging by the evidence of European visitors, it was perhaps the largest and most impressive city which the Portuguese saw along the west coast of Africa. Recent archaeological evidence would seem to indicate that Ife was built probably not before the first decade of the 16th century while the capital of old Oyo, Yatenga, was built much later. This would seem to show that the complex political system of the Yoruba which the Benin Kingdom is believed to have descended must have originated much later than the Benin Kingdom.

Third, much of the evidence which is believed to corroborate the claims made in the traditions comes from enthnohistory, that is, historical speculations based on assumed logical sequence of development in the political system. This is most unreliable.

By the 15th Century, the Benin Kingdom had achieved the height of its greatness. It remained the most powerful and the largest Kingdom in the forest region of West Africa until about the end of the first half of the 17 century. During these two centuries of its ascendancy Benin empire stretched as far west as Lagos, Badagry and Whyidah (Dahomey). On the north-west it stretched as far as Ekiti, Akure and Owo. Towards the north, it stretched to Ishan Country and the southern position of Idah. Finally on the east it incorporated at various times various portions of Ika-Ibo and as far as the River Niger.

Prof. Biobaku has suggested that the eastern fringe of what is now Yorubaland was in pre-Yoruba days thinly inhabited by the ancestors of the modern Benin people, a people which he called the Efa. And if recent archaeological evidence would seem to indicate that Ife was built not before the first decade of the 16th century thereby making it to be younger than Benin, then the Oranmiyan tradition has been miscon-strued and the Benin version (The Oba of Benin's version,), not Egharervba's version, becomes more tenable.

According to this version the boy disinherited through the conspiracy of the barren wives of Oba Owodo (The last of the Ogiso dynasty) was called Ekaladerhan. The embassy sent by the leading personalities in Benin after the failure of Evian to establish his dynasty was to help locate this disinherited boy (Ekakaladerhan) to come and occupy the throne which rightly belonged to him.

Before he was located, however, he had settled at Ife (Uhe) on the eastern fringe of the Yoruba Kingdom and he was now called, Oduduwa which was corrupted from Imadoduwa (meaning I have not missed the destined road to greatness). On receipt of the emissaries from Benin, he sent his son, Oranmiyan as he was too old to return to Benin. Oranmiyan and his party took up residence at Uzama and from there they sought to rule Benin. But Oranmiyan, having been born and brought up outside Benin tradition, found it difficult to rule the kingdom and therefore met with so much opposition to his rule that he decided to withdraw from Benin. Fortunately before he withdrew, he has put a daughter of a Benin chief in a family way and the offspring was called Eweka who thus became the first king of the Eweka dynasty which rules in Benin till date.

From the above historical facts provided by seasoned indigenous and foreign histo-rians, corroborated by archa-eological evidence, it is incon-trovertible that Odudu-wa (Imadoduwa) is the same Benin prince (Ekaladerhan) who left Benin and finally settled on the eastern fringe of Yoruba Kingdom where his sudden appearance was a fulfilment of a divine prediction of Ifa that God (Olodumare) would send them a king to settle the existing rift over succession. It is not surprising therefore that the Yorubas generally believed that Oduduwa came from God and descended from the sky.

davidnazee:



An editorial by a renowned Yoruba professor and historian.

Vanguard (Lagos)
EDITORIAL
July 7, 2004
Posted to the web July 7, 2004

The origin of the Benin and Yoruba empires of old have come to the fore and they have been subject of intense debate.
No doubt the origins of the two empires are obscure being deeply buried in legend and mythology and it is not easy to say what amount of history or the amount of embellished history they contain. In truth these traditions which on the surface try to account for the origin of these empires are perhaps little more than ideological chatters legitimizing the political systems, traditions, cultures, etc. of the people. This general position not withstanding, it is worthy of note that the Benin through their well renowned Arts and Craft recorded their history and event in addition to the account of the guild of oral recorders. The most contentious of this debate for now, however, is the Benin-Ife historical connection.

Many historians and social anthropologists especially the Yoruba historians have been greatly impressed by the tradition that the Yoruba Kingdom fathered the second Benin empire. According to Prof. A.B.Aderibigbe, "obviously there is an attempt in this story to gloss over what in fact was an alien imposition." Along the same line, Prof Michael Growder said that this tradition could be "a convenient legend to disguise what in fact was a conquest by the Oduduwa party".

Here however, the following points are worthy of note: First the Ife-Benin connection has been vigorously questioned by Prof. A.F.C. Ryder. He had pointed out that this tradition which seeks to connect Benin with Ife is suspect. He argues that throughout four centuries of contact between Benin and various European nations, in particular Portugal, there was no hint or reference to this relationship between the two empires. The tradition was not mentioned or recorded by any writer until after the British occupation of Benin in 1897. He also pointed out that the city of Ife is believed to be younger than Benin and therefore could not have fathered the second Benin Empire.

Second, according to Prof Ryder, by 1485 Benin was an impressive and large city. Judging by the evidence of European visitors, it was perhaps the largest and most impressive city which the Portuguese saw along the west coast of Africa. Recent archaeological evidence would seem to indicate that Ife was built probably not before the first decade of the 16th century while the capital of old Oyo, Yatenga, was built much later. This would seem to show that the complex political system of the Yoruba which the Benin Kingdom is believed to have descended must have originated much later than the Benin Kingdom.

Third, much of the evidence which is believed to corroborate the claims made in the traditions comes from enthnohistory, that is, historical speculations based on assumed logical sequence of development in the political system. This is most unreliable.

By the 15th Century, the Benin Kingdom had achieved the height of its greatness. It remained the most powerful and the largest Kingdom in the forest region of West Africa until about the end of the first half of the 17 century. During these two centuries of its ascendancy Benin empire stretched as far west as Lagos, Badagry and Whyidah (Dahomey). On the north-west it stretched as far as Ekiti, Akure and Owo. Towards the north, it stretched to Ishan Country and the southern position of Idah. Finally on the east it incorporated at various times various portions of Ika-Ibo and as far as the River Niger.

Prof. Biobaku has suggested that the eastern fringe of what is now Yorubaland was in pre-Yoruba days thinly inhabited by the ancestors of the modern Benin people, a people which he called the Efa. And if recent archaeological evidence would seem to indicate that Ife was built not before the first decade of the 16th century thereby making it to be younger than Benin, then the Oranmiyan tradition has been miscon-strued and the Benin version (The Oba of Benin's version,), not Egharervba's version, becomes more tenable.

According to this version the boy disinherited through the conspiracy of the barren wives of Oba Owodo (The last of the Ogiso dynasty) was called Ekaladerhan. The embassy sent by the leading personalities in Benin after the failure of Evian to establish his dynasty was to help locate this disinherited boy (Ekakaladerhan) to come and occupy the throne which rightly belonged to him.

Before he was located, however, he had settled at Ife (Uhe) on the eastern fringe of the Yoruba Kingdom and he was now called, Oduduwa which was corrupted from Imadoduwa (meaning I have not missed the destined road to greatness). On receipt of the emissaries from Benin, he sent his son, Oranmiyan as he was too old to return to Benin. Oranmiyan and his party took up residence at Uzama and from there they sought to rule Benin. But Oranmiyan, having been born and brought up outside Benin tradition, found it difficult to rule the kingdom and therefore met with so much opposition to his rule that he decided to withdraw from Benin. Fortunately before he withdrew, he has put a daughter of a Benin chief in a family way and the offspring was called Eweka who thus became the first king of the Eweka dynasty which rules in Benin till date.

From the above historical facts provided by seasoned indigenous and foreign histo-rians, corroborated by archa-eological evidence, it is incon-trovertible that Odudu-wa (Imadoduwa) is the same Benin prince (Ekaladerhan) who left Benin and finally settled on the eastern fringe of Yoruba Kingdom where his sudden appearance was a fulfilment of a divine prediction of Ifa that God (Olodumare) would send them a king to settle the existing rift over succession. It is not surprising therefore that the Yorubas generally believed that Oduduwa came from God and descended from the sky.

ghostwon:
.

ghostwon:

[s]This Tao guy just drowns you with long rubbish as if you should spend your entire life debunking him. He has no shame. You debunks his claims one after the other only for him to come up with other claims (more and more ridiculous) and quote other quacks and write longer rubbish. There goes your life, day after day debunking rubbish...[/s]

TAO11:


Talking about rewriting history, can you possibly provide me with one (only one) academic historical evidence/proof which shows that the Yoruba people replaced the name "Benin" with the name "Ife" or "Oyo" at any point in time in history??

But if you can't (and certainly you can't, as such "proof" exists only in your wild imagination) then proceed to sob secretly as always.

Moreover, the naming of "the bight" after Benin is just as arbitrary and inconsequential as the description of "the whole continent" as Ethiopia, or the description of "the whole of the West Africa region" as Guinea.

This is an archaic practice by which the early European imperialists generally give arbitrary care-free taxonomy to a larger region based on a more specific region with which they are more acquainted.

And the specific reason why the early European imperialists (the first Portuguese) were more acquainted with Benin was the topographic advantage of the coast near Ughoton, which was the most accessible as a natural harbour (to the interior) by the ships of the first Portuguese seafarers in the late 1400s.

These Europeans obviously had no other reason to prefer one area/coas of the Nigeria region over another (as the stopping point of their ships) because they were simply visiting for the first time ever, and they would be setting off from their ships unto the coast of the Nigeria region for the first time ever.

This European arbitrary naming of names, therefore, amounts literally to nothing regarding the greatness (or the lack thereof) of the specific regions whose names they've adopted (simply for acquaintance and convinience sake) for the larger regions.

Guinea is not absolute in any way imaginable among the general West Africa people, neither was Ethiopia the mightiest force on the continent at any point in history, nor is Benin absolute in any way possible over the Yoruba powers of the region.

To maraud, therefore, with an arbitrary taxonomy such as Bight of "Benin", or an old map with the name "Benin" (drawn obviously by an imperial cartographer, and labelled on the basis of acquaintance and convinience) is not only mor0nic; it also speaks volume of your low self-esteem.

Lastly, that image which you described as showing a "king in the picture" is not a photograph.

Rather, it is a drawing by an artist (perhaps a Bini) based on his personal imagination.

It is pathetic that you needed me to clarify this for you.

The Ooni of Ife is an overlord to the Oba of Benin. ... Says who?:

Says the experts and academics such as Margaret Plass of The University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with William Fagg.

Says also the British Museum/BBC History & Art Documentary which I've shared on this platform platform many times, and which Sewgon79 has also shared on this particular thread.

TAO11:


And regarding the bit about Oduduwa coming from the sky, that obviously belongs to the strongly held body of Yoruba mythology.

We embrace our mythology unapologetically just as every other nation out there in the world.

Please tell me, do you really believe that the Omo N'Oba N'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa I was just being plain stupid when he said that:

The first Oba of Benin was given birth to by God Almighty Himself as His last born son ??

Reference: Enawekponmwen. B. Eweka, "Evolution of Benin Chieftancy Titles", UNIBEN Press (1992), p. 2. cited in Roger Blench & Matthew Spriggs, "Archaeology and Language 1: Theoretical and Methodological Orientations" (2004), p. 314.

Sewgon79:


My brother, please shows them the picture of Ọba in Yoruba. Where Oonirisa was sitting in middle above all and by right is the father of the recent Ọba of Benin with Colonial Governor.

You can even see that they regard Ooni more than the rest.

Sewgon79:


My brother, please shows them the picture of Ọba in Yoruba. Where Oonirisa was sitting in middle above all and by right is the father of the recent Ọba of Benin with Colonial Governor.

You can even see that they regard Ooni more than the rest.