ADSactly History : History Of Southern Nigeria [Part 1] - Yoruba In The Pre-colonial Era

Nigeria is home to about 250 ethnic groups with an excess of 500 indigenous languages. Among these ethnic groups, the top three strategic and politically influential ones are Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa (including Fulani). These ethnic groups or tribes are geo-politically situated in the east, South-west and Northern Nigeria respectively. In this episode, we will be looking at the Yoruba ethnic group, their origin and culture during the ancient time.

Yoruba Tribe

Yorubas are geo-politically located in the Southern part of Nigeria and predominantly found in South-western part of Nigeria. Yorubas are, by statistics, the second largest ethnic group in Nigeria with an average of 21% of the entire ethnic groups in Nigeria _[ref]. The story relating to the people of Yoruba and their culture is one that particularly fascinates history scholars because of the cultural diversity of the Yoruba tribe.

Even though Yorubas are predominant in South-west Nigeria, other regions like Kwara and Kogi (North central) have Yoruba speakers. Yoruba scholars believe that Yoruba ethnic group existed long before 2000 BCE and can be found in other places across the globe apart from Nigeria. In this present time, the major religions practised by core Yoruba people are traditional, Christianity and Islamic religion, though we are not focusing on religion here. The account of the origin of Yorubas varies from scholar to scholar. Here, we will be looking at a few of them.

The version of Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson is a very known name in the history of Yoruba. He was a historian and an Anglican priest who lived around the late 19th century to the early 20th century. His account of the origin of Yoruba can be seen in the book published by him "History of the Yoruba". According to Samuel Johnson, the ancient Yoruba ancestors migrated from Northern Africa (the region around ancient Egyptian territory). Observably, the Yorubas share similarity with the present day Egyptians - these include; arts, religious inclination, traditional and customary practices (like burials etc).

These similarities could trace their descent from North Africa. Samuel Johnson also noted in his book that the Yorubas journeyed for many years from Egypt until they found a settlement in South-western Nigerian, Ile-Ife (Osun state) to be precise, which has been recognized as the ancestral home of the Yorubas in Nigeria.

The movement of Yoruba from Egypt to Ile-ife was said to have been led by Oduduwa, who has been recognized as the first and most influential leader of the Yoruba ethnic group. After settling down in Ile-ife, Oduduwa had seven sons and they founded other kingdoms in Yoruba land - that was how the Yoruba tribe spread in Southern Nigeria. Now let's look at another version of the origin of Yoruba.

The version of Oke Oramfe

This version is a creationist account rather than a "migration" account. People from Southern Nigeria must have heard about "Oke Oramfe". There is a popular legend in Yoruba land that states that the creation of the world started in Oke Oramfe (which is situated in Ile-Ife; the ancestral home of the Yorubas) according to this publication on Yoruba history.

This account is very funny though but "oral tradition" has remained a valid source of history. According to the proponents of the account of Oke Oramfe, it has been believed that the almighty creator sent some messengers to Ile-ife with some elements (earth, cloth, cockerel, iron) with which they were to create their own world and rule humanity. These messengers were believed to be immortal and led by Orisa Nla (also called Obatala).

During the arrival of these immortals, their leader got influenced by "worldly things" (wine, in particular) and that was how the elements (which signified authority) were captured by Oduduwa who became the new and true leader of the Yorubas. Even though some of this history have been debunked by evolutionists on the platform that humans evolved from Ape-like hominins, Yoruba creationists still hold this myth and legend as true and they have successfully passed them down from generations to generations through "oral tradition".

However, even among Yoruba history scholars, there has been contention as to which version of this history (whether the Johnson version or Oke Oramfe) holds more potency. One thing is similar to both accounts though; they both recognize Ile-ife as the ancestral home of the Yorubas and even till this present time, Ile-ife (Osun state) is still accorded that honour.

Yoruba Administration and Socio-political organization

To oversee the administration of the Yoruba land, Oyo was chosen to be the capital and seat of power in the ancient Yoruba land. Oyo was believed to be founded by one of the sons of Oduduwa; Oranmiyan. Asides creating the Oyo empire, he has been credited for creating the Benin empire. During the leadership of Oranmiyan, Oyo grew to become extremely powerful and a force to be reckoned with.

The history of structured administration in Nigeria can be traceable to Oyo and they are credited for being the first empire to have an established law that governed the people. To make Oyo even greater, an Alaafin (figure-head of the empire) was established to oversee the entire empire and his title literally translates to "Lord of lands". Even though the authority of Alaafin was almost absolute, he was answerable to an instituted council called Oyomesi (which can be called National Assembly in this present time).

Oyo empire also established a very powerful army led by Are-Ona-Kankanfo who was believed to be very brave and fierce in battle. The leader of the army had only one mandate; "win the battle or lose your life". Anytime an Are-Ona-Kankanfo lost a battle he was presented with an empty calabash that signified he should take his own life, and another warrior would be appointed as Are-Ona-Kankanfo. This made the warriors very fierce and brutal in battle and they became a major tool that made the Oyo empire to exercise dominance throughout the Yoruba land and they captured many territories.

There were other administrations founded by the Oyo empire to assist with law enforcement, like the Ogboni cult et al. All these are part of the success stories and history of Yorubas as passed down by oral tradition.

References: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4