Yoruba and Benin civilization history
50 REASONS WHY YORUBA NEVER HAD OYO NOR IFE EMPIRE BUT CIVILIZED BY BENIN
OYO EMPIRE…A YORUBA KINGDOM CREATED ON PAGES OF YORUBA HISTORIAN’S TEXTBOOKS. AMIDST, Contradictions, and false claims
(1). Their story of kingship began with the Edo prince and the Benin recorded History.
(2). Ayayi Crawder said, that little was known about Yoruba’s existence, meaning they were not part of Nigeria of today’s border or were in small settlements close to Dahomy. Yoruba are half Muslim and those with African traditions copied or got them from Benin civilization. I doubt if they are not immigrants from Dahomey mixed with Benins or other fulani-hausa from Niger. Bishop Samuel Adjayi Crowther (c. 1809 – 31 December 1891) Was the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria. Born in Osogun (in today’s Iseyin Local Government, Oyo State, Nigeria). His grandson was Herbert Macaulay
(3). Yoruba have duplicity of kingship with the process highly politized to being traditional.A system they try to copy from Benin but can’t get it real like the Benin Kingdom. Edo Obaship is one of the most revered institutions in the world because of the way it has sustained its awesome prestige with strict and meticulous attention to ancient traditions of valour, discipline, and integrity. Edo chieftaincy titles cannot be bought or conferred on non-indigenes or frivolously. Every Edo chief performs a peculiarly sacred duty and responsibility to the people of Edo. It does not make sense, therefore, to think that a people who would not and have never conferred their chieftaincy titles on non-indigenes, would voluntarily invite, accept, or surrender to non-indigenes as their kings. Due to celestial origins, the Edo monarch could not eat out and could not be diverted from full-time palace duties to hustle for contracts.
(4). Most of today yoruba religion are Benin Origin, Olokun, Ogun, Iha oguega(ifa), oronmila, Esago(shango), Ayelala etc. Many Benin traditions and spirituality are stillfully documented by yorubas in high places as YORUBA? (Never mind the Edo man’s Christian mindset quickly denying Edo have nothing to do with African traditional religion, agreeing they are foreign to Edoland…LIE).
Although the Great Edo (Benin) Kingdom was not a major participant in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, because the Obas (Kings) believed that their subjects were too valuable to sell away, and their noblemen had need of war captives on their own farms, the influence of Edo religion and medicine has still been substantial upon the people of the Americas.
According to Mason (1996), it has been widely accepted that Olokun (god of the sea) worship originated with the Edo and spread to the Yoruba (p.2). In fact, the most prominent part of Edo cultural traditions that has made its mark in the New World is Olokun worship. Olokun (god of the Waters) worship originated from Urhonigbe and then became prominent at Ughoton around the Ethiope (Olokun) River. The priesthood and rituals were firmly established at the time. Some of the possible points of contact happened early. During the Ogiso Period, trade with the Yoruba and Igbos was quite extensive. Olokun worship may have spread to those areas through traders. Prior to the Oba Period, Ekaladerhan Izoduwa was initiated into Olokun as a chief Priest while he stayed at Ughoton, before moving westward with his followers to establish Ilefe (Ero,1999,p.108-109).
Once he arrived, Ekaladerhan Izoduwa brought Edo traditions to those areas and was the king of his new community called Ilefe, which could be what Yoruba called IFE. From Ekaladerhan Izoduwa’s loins, the Yoruba dynasties may have begun. However, it is certain that Olokun is an Edo divinity whose worship spread to the outlying Yoruba areas. During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, slave raids were launched upon Yoruba and Ibo territories. Europeans were able to obtain some of the greatest amounts of West Africans from both Yoruba and Ibo land (Crosby,1992, p.136). In the 18th century in Iboland at Isseke, slave raiders took a famous Edo subject named Olaudah Equiano, who later wrote about the encounter. Olaudah traveled to the New World and then to England, learned to read and write English, and shared his religious and cultural experiences.
Many Edo traditions were directly and indirectly incorporated into the New World through its far reaching colonies. The Edo Kingdom extended from the boundary with Oyo in the north (Otun) to the Atlantic in the south, beyond Asaba to River Niger, and upto Eko (Lagos) in the west. Both Edo religion and medicine had been taken to those domains, following traditional practices originating in Edo land.
(5). Benin ruled over what today known as Yorubaland, IFE, EKITI, LAGOS, OGUN, OWO, ONDO ETC
(6). Benin founded lagos and ruled lagos: The rights of who own Lagos are clear Lagos was a Benin town with a Benin Oba who paid tribute to the Oba of Benin indeed his chiefs were the descendants of noble Benin families. The Benin empire ran Lagos for over 400 years before the colonial powers took over.
Though were some migrant yoruba from togo during british presence in lagos, but they formed not the rulers of the town but the subjects of the Oba just like we find in the United Kingdom today where people are subjects of the queen of England and not citizens. I would explain citizenship rights to you later.
(7). Benin first to meet Europeans
(
. “Oba” adopted from Benin not the other way round as many made to believe. There is no king of Yoruba’s people. and if there is, what is de name of his title? and how many Yoruba prominent traditional leader/ruler carried the title Oba? since when? if Yoruba called king Oba doesn’t mean will derived our king name (N’Oba) from them. Everyone has a name for king in the their native language/tongue. The Oba of Lagos is Eleko of Eko not Oba, the British change it to Oba. the Origin of word “oba” is Benin
(9). They never conquered any territory but rather struggle with their neighbours before and after the first encounter with Europeans looking for slave hunting.
(10). “Edo” have no relative with the word Yoruba. Words like Eko,Idu Ganran,Yaba,Oshodi,Osa,Eti-Osa,idu-magbo,Idu-mota have no Yoruba meaning but Edo
(11). Note history is subject to scientific diagnosis and many historic writtings in the past about Benin yoruba have been proved by archaeologies and scientist as erroneous and false.
(12). Many Yoruba being those in the forfront of Nigeria history writters,used in Nigeria institutions had the benefit of making their yoruba look leading culture and history for nigerians
(13). Yorubas all along paddling lies in Nigeria, US and British universities. deceivng Africans with grammar and academic titles. They confuse other external scholars about the true realities of African history.. buy their lies into African America book, which Benin in the Palace have no ideal.
(14). Yoruba had and did the highest slave rading in their togo-oyo region stretched to lagos during slave trade.
(15) Yoruba never colonise Benin but Benin colonize Yoruba
(16) Yoruba is not in anyway related to Igbo ancestral history
(17) Yoruba not in anyway related to itsekiri history. Their could be later migrant during the European expliotation and commerce but not related to the itsekiri ancestral lineage. Never mind all the title of “Olu” in the region, its all inventions
(18) Bishop Ajayi crowder and Obafemi Awolowo made Yoruba known today as an ethnic group in NIgeria
(19) How can an Empire be inside an Empire? Many so called yoruba territories of today never existed in the past but invented and stillfully documented into their borrowed history
(20) Yoruba copied Benin-Edo history, twisted them and publish as Yoruba History. Most of their books and publications are mere opinions of the writers inside their rooms without a singgle scientific research or a visit to Ancient Benin for true archaeological discovery. Covered up with self hate, jealousy and envy of the Great Benin, bias and leftish in many of their so called Nigerian history.
(21) If cameroon was inside Nigeria today , Yoruba would have as well say they are their ancestors..
(22) Many Yorubas in Lagos today came as migrant workers for British companies and construction project. that why you have alot of their fotos with whites. Britain also use them as colonial officers.
(23) Before Britain or before the punitive expedition of 1897, Yoruba have no were to be found as recognized major ethnic group in lagos but Edos.
(24) Where is Yoruba ancient flag or before 1897? Yoruba had no flag but Benin Yes.
(25) Their loyalty to slave masters, British merchant gave them the huge presence in lagos, Americas and England
(26) The word Yoruba has it’s roots in yariba.The fulani used to call the Oyo people Yariba.There was no really united Yoruba nation till awolowo came with a cooked up Oduduwa myth with the intention of uniting them under them with advent of Egbe omo Oduduwa.yorubas that came to the Americas were identified as lucumi which is corrupted from olukumi.
(27) The Ooni of Ife,the Alake of Abeokuta ( Egba), the Olubadan of Ibadan,the Oba of Oshogbo, the Deji of Akure,the Oba of Lagos,the Ugbo of Ugboland,the Owu of Owo etc have no historical records that they were ever ruled by an empire with such name. Rather,the Oba of Lagos,the Deji of Akure and all the traditional rulers in present day ondo and Ekiti states have indubitable record that they were once part of the old Benin empire.
(28) The capital of the fathom Oyo empire is alleged to be Oyo-Ile. This is a community that is not as big as Uromi township. It is smaller than many headquarters of south western city states currently existing. It is not as big as Eyaen in Benin city. How come the capital of such great empire ( sic!) is so small and a far cry from any that is known in history? The false historians failed woefully to cover this jigsaw puzzle.
(29) The Kingdom of Nupe was an acephalous community but in the 17th century,it sacked the Oyo . Evicted it from Borgu and made it to relocate its capital to OYO Igoho, another hamlet community that can never qualify as capital of a dukedom let alone an empire. Now, most of the towns of Nupe were tribute payers to the Benin empire and never Benin conquerors.
(30) It is on incontrovertible record that,the colonialist never met an empire called Oyo when they came to Nigeria but they did meet the Benin Empire in all her glory having Suzerainty over many Yoruba speaking city states like Lagos,Akure,Ado,Idoani,Ondo,Igbokoda,Owo,Ifon,Ekiti,Owu etc. infact, it is the admission of the fact by many of these coastal states that their overlord is the Oba of Benin that led to the European interest to visit the Oba and settle supremacy once and for all. Oba Overanmwen Nogbaisi was the one they eventually clashed with. Recall that as early as the 15th century, the Oba of Benin has had positive and co-equals interactions with the Portuguese Empire.
(31) Look closely at the map in pix one hereto. That is the colonial Map of Benin. It is less than half of what it was before the whiteman came. Still at that, it shows the whole of the current Midwest,nearly the whole western states including the whole Lagos, some eastern states and north central communities as part of the empire of Benin they met. Now, tell me, where is the geo-political delineation of the mythical oyo empire created by Ola Biola,Olatun Bonsun et al?
(32) How come Oyo-Ile the capital of the contrived OYO is today not the most important city in Yorubaland as Benin city is in Edo. Many old cities that survive still remain the seats of governments. Sokoto,Benin city etc. but the alleged Capital of old oyo hardly ranks as a local government headquarters. This is not consistent with the Yoruba nature which accords much respect to traditional authority and culture. The explanation is simple. There never was such an empire with such a small community as capital city. The proud Yoruba man can never accept such scandal. The capital of their city states like Ibadan,Abeokuta etc is enough to take care of their territorial pride,not the scandalous hamlet of OYO-Ile.
(33) Do you know that there is hardly a Yoruba community except the much mentioned Oyo-Ile,that has no exclusive language of its own that is not Yoruba. These various Yoruba languages are mutually unintelligible to each other. The current general Yoruba evolved from markets that was then mainly that of slave trade.
(34) Now, unlike the Benins and most indigenous Nigerian kingdoms,the Yorubas have the most exported slaves in diaspora. They are very many in the Caribbeans and in Brazil. Do you know why? This is because,it is easy to sell people who are not from the same stork with you.except for criminals,Benin and other kingdoms do not sell their citizens. This again clearly show that a monolithic oyo empire was a lie. The Yorubas had warring and hostile city states and were never united under one pre-colonial power. Chief Awolowo was once rejected by them at the polls as Ijebu( fake) Yoruba. Ironically, it was the same man that came out with the concept and in fact united them as one common political people. That is why they worship him second only to Oduduwa.
(35) Do you know that even their historians admitted the truth in their text books that Oramiyan after leaving Benin founded OYO empire. It is very obvious that Benin is older by far than the fathom Oyo Empire. What is however curious is that, if Ajaka,Shango,Ogun all later children of Oramiyan were deified to be worshipped by the Yorubas, how come Oramiyan’s eldest son ( Eweka) who established the most powerful dynasty on earth was not included in their list of deities. This further lend weight to the argument that the history of the Yoruba empire was all about tribal glorification. Anyway, Oduduwa their alleged founder was actually Prince Izoduwa ( Ekhalederan) the only son of the last Ogiso of the first Benin dynasty-Owodo who was banished so that his father could have other children. This is a story for another day.
(36) It still beat me why other Africa historical states only have Benin on their record not OYO empire. Dahomey the alleged neighbour of old OYO recognized Benin as not only its cradle but its main powerful neighbour. Find this extract from Wikipedia interesting…
(37) According to the Wikipedia article on the People’s Republic of Benin, the new name was chosen to reflect the Benin Empire “that had once flourished in neighboring Nigeria.” Most sources, however, maintain that the new name referenced not the Empire but the Bight of Benin, the adjacent stretch of the Atlantic Ocean. The country’s new leaders rejected the name “Dahomey” because they considered it too ethnically exclusive, since the old kingdom of that name had been closely identified with the Fon people of the coastal zone. The new name, based on physical geography, seemed less divisive—even though the term “Benin” ultimate derives from the former Benin Kingdom of the Edo people in what is now Nigeria. The capital of that state, Ubini, gave rise to the term “Benin City,” which was generalized to cover the entire kingdom, and was subsequently applied to the adjacent sea.
I have never doubted our relationship with the Yorubas. Everything natural points to the fact that they are our cousin. What I however disapprove is their attempt to use their privileged premier schooling by the whiteman to re-write history by distorting the true one and concocting a fake one that undermines the superiority of the old Benin empire over their city states.
THERE WERE NEVER AN OYO EMPIRE..
(38) Here is a beautiful example of Rigobert Bonne’s 1770 decorative map of West Africa. Covers from the Gold Coast (modern day Ghana), south around the Bight of Benin to Gabon, Congo and Angola. Includes the modern day countries of Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and Angola. As with most maps of Africa, this map shows excellent detail along the coast and only speculation in the interior. Give evidence of significant Belgian mapping activities throughout the Congo. Names numerous African Kingdoms including Anzico, Mujaco, Bembe, Lubolo, Pemba, Dembi, Calbongo, Bake-Bake, Benin and others. Attempts to map the Niger River as to flows into the Desert de Seth or Saghara, but most of this cartography is speculative at best. Drawn by R. Bonne in 1770 for issue as plate no. B 30 in Jean Lattre’s 1776 issue of the Atlas Moderne .” here there was no mention of any empire or people called yoruba or oyo empire.
_Geographicus_-_WestAfrica-bonne-1770.jpg
(39) All European explorers arriving West Africa Maps have no Yoruba as a people or Empire but Benin
(40) Real Yorubas are from dahomey while others from the north, never was an Empire in any time of West Africa history.
(41) Language is a legitimate tool for constructing history and all the names
associated with Oduduwa have deeper roots in Edo language than in the Yoruba.
The Arabs or the Yoruba, do not have words like ‘Uhe’ (the sacred name for Edo
and Ile-Ife, or words ending with ‘duwa,’ ‘noyan’ or ‘miyan,’ which are typical
Edo vowels. ‘Uhe’ is perhaps the most powerful and revealing of all the Edo
names associated with Ile-Ife because depending on how it is pronounced, it
could refer to something sacred or taboo (such as Virgin or Virginity or
Vagina), interpreted as innocence, source, birth canal.
(42) There isn’t and wasn’t any Yoruba Kingdom, Lagos kingdom but there was a Benin Kingdom
(43) “Eko” in Uneme Anegbette (Imiava) dialect means a Settle. And Eko is the indigenous name of Lagos. It was in 1974 that approval was granted Dahomey by Oba Akenzua II to change the name of the country to Republic of Benin. This shows that Benin Empire stretched beyond the entire Yorubaland!. why did Republic of Benin go to yoruba being that they are closer? definitely if there really was an empire as they claim stretch to togo.
(44) YORUBA NEVER HAD ANY CIVILIZATION, BUILT ANY MONUMENT OR ANY WORLD SITE THAT TELLS OF AN EMPIRE OR GREAT KINGDOM LIKE BENIN. An Empire is always self evidence
(45) BENIN AND YORUBA ARE NOT SAME in Origin
(46) YORUBA WAS NEVER AN ETHNIC RACE!!!!!! PRE-BRITISH HISTORY OF NIGERIA
I will leave the Yoruba to defend themselves about questions origins of the name “Yoruba.” As far as Usman is concerned, that name was an imperial donation from the North. I am intrigued by Usman’s argument on this score. Note his words well. He says, The fact is that, the earliest record we have of the use of the very name “Yoruba” was in the Hausa-Fulani language and it seems to have applied to the people of the Alafinate of Oyo. This came from the writings of the seventeenth century Katsina scholar, Dan Masani (1595-1667), who wrote a book on Muslim scholars of the ‘Yarriba.’ But it was from a book of the Sarkin Musulmi Bello, written in the early nineteenth century, that the name became more widely used. The Bishop Ajayi Crowther, the Reverend Samuel Johnson, and his brother Obadiah Johnson, among others, came, in the nineteenth century, to widely spread this Hausa name to the people who now bear it, in their writings. Usman’s proof that the name “Yoruba” is an “Hausa name and It is so, the earliest record we have of the use of the very name ‘Yoruba’ was in the Hausa-Fulani language.
(47) ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD YORUBA (YARIBA) is revealed in the 19th Century.: The word ‘Yoruba’ was first recorded in reference to the Oyo people only, in a treatise written by the 16th-century Songhai scholar Ahmed Baba. It was popularized by Hausa usage and ethnography written in Arabic and Ajami during the 19th century, in origin referring to the Oyo exclusively.
The extension of the term YORUBA to all speakers of dialects related to the language of the Oyo (in modern terminology North-West Yoruba) dates to the second half of the 19th century. It is due to the influence of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first Anglican bishop in Nigeria. Crowther was himself a Yoruba and compiled the first Yoruba dictionary as well as introducing a standard for Yoruba orthography.It’s like classifying all of Northern Nigeria as Hausa. The presence of yoruba inflence in most places today claimed as yorubaland can be traced back to the propaganda nature of crowther.
(48) Do you believe ODUDUWA is the ancestral father of the Yoruba people?
Many Yoruba scholars claim oduduwa fell from the sky to Yoruba land. Where actually did he land? , Any sign ?. Others say he came from the east, ok, did he meet people in the so called Yoruba land? If yes, then how can oduduwa now be their ancestral father?
(49) Does Yoruba have any historic monument like the pyramid structures in Old Benin, Great Benin Moat, Zimbabwe and Timbuktu in Mali? Any sign of an empire in the region as claimed do Oyo?(not talking about clay molded or primitive bronze artifacts many claim dating back to 10BC), or the story of slave raiding westward, east ward or northward. I mean physical structures that tell of an ancient civilization?.Though the two most relevant structures in Oyo-lle, the Alaafin palace and his village market as claimed by Yoruba Historians ?
(50) When and where was Yoruba presence first felt in West African history? Why no reflection of Yoruba in many ancient maps of West Africa?
(51) Was Yoruba territory in British pre- Nigeria creation say 1600-1900, same with, 1914 and again in 1960 to 1967? What expanded it and why? Were there aborigines in those territories say owo, kwara, ondo and Lagos before their presence during the British colonial period? If there were aborigines, then who were they?
