Yoruba And Benin Kingdom - Culture - Nairaland
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Nigerian Man Visits British Museum, Spots Stolen Benin Kingdom Artifacts. Photos / Ezelekhae Ewuare: The Crown Prince Of Benin Kingdom Unveiled In Edo (Photos) / Strange Scenes From Coronation Of Oba In Benin Kingdom. (2) (3) (4)
| Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by Haykay80(m): 9:17am On Feb 12, 2016 |
The Statement credited to Esogban in the palace of Oba of Benin that Oduduwa came from Benin and that Oba of benin is greater in position than any Yoruba Oba is a distortion of history. During my findings on the above subject-matter of interwoven history, I dug out some salient facts and records that I feels and thinks as much that history will be kind to me, if I am able to put them on good record and to the knowledge of not only the Yoruba race, but the world at large. For it is true that, the only debt we owe history is to re-write it and rekindle it's perspective without any attempt to distorting and/or tainting its facts in any form, shape and size. In dabbling into the seeming "war of supremacy" between the Yoruba and Benin people, one does not have to be a trained historian, but it is absolutely necessary for one to consciously and cautiously adopt enough empirical evidences and historical references. These shall be revealed in the course of my submissions. Records don't lie. It is we human beings that lie in our efforts to distort history in trying to re-write it! But it is necessary for us to always pay our debts that we are owing history. Our fathers preserved our history for us and we are also duty bound to hand it over to the next generation. It was indicated in one of the "Letters of Junius" (or Junius: Stat nominis umbra) - a collection of private and open letters from an anonymous polemicist Junius, as well as other letters in-reply from people to whom Junius had written between 1769 and 1772, that: "We owe it to our ancestors to preserve those rights, which they have delivered to our care and we owe it to our prosperity, not to suffer their inheritance to be destroyed." Let us start our excursion to history with some indisputable records regarding the supremacy of Yoruba and by extension, Ile-Ife, over Benin Kingdom. I quote thus: "In 1916, when Aguobasimi was installed as Oba of Benin in place of his father who died in Calabar while on exile, and the royal messengers of the then Ooni of Ife - Oba Ademiluyi(aka Lawarikan), went to him after a series of earnest requests, they delivered Ooni's message thus: "YOUR FATHER GREETS YOU." (See Nigerian National Archives: Oyo Prof. 1, File 133, 24th May, 1916). And listen to this: "The place called "Orun-Oba-Ado Bini" is the site from where great Oranmiyan set out to found the Yoruba Dynasty in Benin, and it is to here that the heads of the Kings of Benin were brought for burial. The head and nail pairings of King Adolo, the 34th Oba of Benin, who reigned between 1848AD to 1888AD was brought from Benin to Ife in 1888 AD, during the reign of Ooni Derin Ologbenla (1880–1894) - the last occasion on which the tradition was kept." - (See "Ife: The Genesis of Yoruba" p240-1), by Late Dr.(Chief) M. A. Fabunmi." Note: Fabunmi was the Personal Secretary, for over 20 years or there about, to the Late Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife, who reigned for 50 years from 1930 - 1980. The late Ooni was born in 1891 and he died in 1980. And again, in 1982, when the then Oba of Benin paid an official visit to Ile-Ife, a speech of welcome presented by Ooni to the Oba was at that time prepared for the Ooni by Prof. (Sabiru) Biobaku, and I think that the man or people who knew this are still alive. He was a former Vice-Chancellor of University of Lagos and a Professor of History (like Ade-Ajayi). Part of the speech read: “We welcome Your Royal Highness most heartily back to Ile-Ife, the cradle of our common culture, the origin of your dynasty and ours. Today is really a very good day for us in us and its environs because since you left in 891 AD, we have come to know that your dynasty has performed wonderfully well." Biobaku is not just an ordinary historian but one of the best Yoruba and African historians. Oranmiyan - the famous and an unequaled Yoruba prince and warrior was the only Yoruba royal enigma to have ruled over Benin Kingdom, founded and became the very first Alaafin of Oyo and later came back to become the Ooni of Ife! He, it was who restructured Benin Kingdom, married in Benin, had two sons who later became Oba of Benin monarch. It is on record that Ogiso troubled dynasty was discarded and subsequent kings in Benin became known and addressed as "Oba" till date, based on the order established in Benin Kingdom by Oranmiyan. Even up to 1939, Yoruba language was the official palace language in Benin. No wonder then that many Benin families bear Yoruba names! And what about designs of the Benin palace after the renowned and historical Oduduwa palace in Ile-Ife? And from Wikipedia comes this introduction: "The Ọọ̀ni of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ is the traditional ruler of Ile-Ife, whose dynasty goes back hundreds of years. Ife-Ifè is an ancient Yoruba people city in south-western Nigeria. Ọọ̀ni Lajamisan, who was the 8th Ọọ̀ni of Ile Ife, was a Son of Ọọ̀ni Oranmiyan, (Ọọ̀ni Oranmiyan was also The first Oba of Benin, First Aláàfin of Oyo and the Father of Oṣile of Oke-Ona Egba). Ọọ̀ni Lajamisan the son of Ọọ̀ni Oranmiyan, was also the Father of Ọọ̀ni Lajodoogun, the 9th Ọọ̀ni of Ile Ife, through whom the genealogy of all succeeding Ọọ̀nis of Ile Ife until the reigning Ọọ̀ni Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II , Arole Oduduwa and the Head of the Yoruba Nation, is traced down to Ọọ̀ni Odùduwà, The Ancestral Father of the Yorubas Globally." From Oba (Dr) Adedapo Tejuoso’s 212 page book, titled: "Oranmiyan: What’s in a name?" , I quote: "In Yoruba parlance, a name is given to signify situation of birth in a home, posterity, sense of character and projection into the future. Oranmiyan was one of the seven sons of Okanbi, the only child of Oduduwa, and he reigned as the sixth Ooni of Ife. He was famed as a strong enigmatic leader, who led his people into a path of greatness that lasted several centuries, leaving a heritage that last till today. After several wars and conquests, and establishing the Benin and Oyo kingdoms, he was to later become the Ooni of Ife. The throne he held till he joined his ancestors." It is my salient advice that, we must not allow ourselves to be hypnotized by the hollow rhetoric and any distortions of facts of history. We must not let any overpowering effluvium envelop our sense of history. Before I draw curtain on this important historical argument, I want to borrow some facts from the submission of Kunle I Sowunmi, a Yoruba man of Abeokuta origin, who had earlier wrote from Dallas Texas, in the United States of America, in his writing titled: "Ile Ife - The Final Resting Place of History." And I quote, in extenso, "Ooni who is not a direct son or descendants of Oduduwa may not necessarily be considered viable in this discussion. Alafin of Oyo who is a descendant of the acceptable link between Yoruba and Edo must examine his place in history and that of his senior brother Orangun of Ila the first son who had disappeared into history because he never challenged Oranmiyan. The abdication of the throne is a loss of right for Oranmiyan to his son in Benin but if the son (Eweka) and his descendants according to history continue to respect tradition and be buried at Ife or received blessing before being crowned then we can conclude that Ife is superior to Benin and Edo’s must have in fact originated from Ife. The question is this: Can a son be greater than his father? No. Or can a river be greater than its source? No. Otherwise it will dry. The fact of history of allegiance of Oba of Benin to Ile Ife the cradle of Yoruba race before being crowned and after death is an indication that Ife is the source of scientific and foolproof history to support this argument.
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| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by Nobody: 9:54am On Feb 12, 2016 |
why confusing everybody before? when there's fact |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by oyalunasamuel(m): 10:08am On Feb 12, 2016 |
I think you are totally wrong. First of all how are the Edo people related to the yoruba people when the traditions and gods differ? |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by oyalunasamuel(m): 10:17am On Feb 12, 2016 |
1). Their story of kingship began with an Edo prince called Izoduwa as recorded by unimpeachable historical records and corroborated by Benin recorded History. (2). Ayayi Crowder,a recaptured Yoruba Slave who later became a bishop said, little were know about yoruba existence, clearly meaning they were not originally part of the Nigeria of today and neither were they settlers within its geographical boundaries but were in small settlements close to Dahomey. Most Yorubas today are either Muslims or Christians and those with African traditions copied or got them from Benin civilization. It doubtful if they are not immigrants from dahomy 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 dublicity of kingships with the process highly polarized than being traditional.A system they tried to copy from Benin but have not been able to get right 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. Note that due to celestial and customary taboos,the Edo monarch cannot eat out and cannot be diverted from full time palace duties to hustle things that have no beneficial value to his domain. (4). Most traditional religions being practiced by the Yorubas today are of Benin Origins.Olokun, Ogun, Iha oguega(ifa), oronmila, Esago(shango), Ayelala etc.Benin traditions,mystic and spirituality are stillfully documented and yorubanized by Yorubas in positions of affluence. Edo people today are predominantly Christians with some denying their traditional religious origins. But,it has not been possible to exterminate our traditional practice because it is embedded firmly in our ways of life. Although the Great Edo (Benin) Kingdom was not 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 have still been substantial on the people of the Americas. According to Mason (1996), it has been widely accepted that Olokun (god of the sea) worship originated with the Edos 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, known as Osiris in Egypt) 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 his 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 a King of his new community called Ilefe, which could be what yoruba call IFE. . From Ekaladerhan Izoduwa’s loins, the Yoruba dynasties may have began. 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 up to Eko (Lagos) in the west. Both Edo religion and medicine have already 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 through Oba Orhogbuan founded lagos and ruled Lagos through royal viceroys whose descendants are today the traditional rulers of Lagos.The rights of who owns Lagos is not disputable.Lagos was a Benin town with a Benin Duke 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 there were some migrant yorubas 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. We will explain citizenship rights to you later in another treatise. (7). Benin first to meet Europeans ( . "Oba" is a word adopted from Benin and not Yoruba as many made us to believe. There is no king of Yoruba's people. and if there is, what was his title?;how many Yoruba prominent traditional leaders/rulers carried the title Oba? since when?.if Yoruba calls their king Oba,it doesn't mean we derived our king's 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 slave hunters. (10). "Edo" have no linguistic relationship with Yoruba. Words like Eko,Idu Ganran,Yaba,Oshodi,Osa,Eti-Osa,idu-magbo,Idu- mota have no Yoruba origin but Edo's. (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 forefront of Nigeria history writers wrote history textbooks used in Nigeria institutions and thus had the benefit of making their yoruba look like leading culture with the richest history for nigerians. (13). Yorubas exploiting their privilege of imbibing the whiteman's education first have been peddling falsehood in Nigeria,British and other western universities misleading Africans with grammar and academic titles. They confuse other external scholars about the true realities of African history, implanting those false history into African -America books without the knowledge of the Edo King. (14). Yorubas engaged the highest in slave raiding in their togo-oyo region which stretched to lagos during slave trade. see http://ihuanedo.ning.com/ …/to…/ yoruba-enslavement-of-african (15) Yoruba never colonized Benin but Benin colonized many Yoruba settlements. (16) Yoruba is not in anyway related to Igbo ancestral history (17) Yoruba was not in anyway related to itsekiri history. There could be later migrants during the European exploration and commerce but not related to the itsekiri ancestral lineage. Never mind all the title of "Olu" in the region,it is a title contrived to replace the original which is "Ode" of Itsekiris. (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 were invented and stillfully documented into dubious historical records. (20) Most of their books and publications are mere opinions of the writers concocted inside their rooms without scientific researches or facts-finding visits to Ancient Benin for archaeological veracity. Covered up with self hate, jealousy and envy of the Great Benin, bias and leftish in many of their so called Nigerian history,they tried to re-invent a history that diminishes our political greatness. (22) Many Yorubas in Lagos today came as migrant workers for British companies and their construction projects.That is why you have a lot of their photographs with whites. Britain also used them as colonial officers. (23) Before Britain or before the punitive expedition of 1897, Yorubas have no mega state to be found as the recognized major ethnic group in lagos were Edos. (24) Where is Yoruba ancient flag or before 1897? ( Quote) ( Report ) (Like ) (Share ) Re: 50 Reasons Why Yoruba Never Had An Empire But Civilized By Benin by thekingisback : 10:30pm On Feb 09 (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 Yoruba.The fulani used to call the Oyo people Yoruba.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 clearly for political mileage.The ones 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 records 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 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 communities 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, 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 Ovoramwen Nogbaisi was the one they eventually clashed with. Recall that as early as the 14th 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 trading. (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, Ubinu, gave rise to the term “Benin City,” which was generalized to cover the entire kingdom, and was subsequently applied to the adjacent sea. We have never doubted our relationship with the Yorubas. Everything natural points to the fact that they are our cousin. What We 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. (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 Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/ …/ File:1770_Bonne_Map_of_West_… 4 Likes 3 Shares |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by paradigmshift(m): 12:21pm On Nov 01, 2016 |
wowwwwwwww...happy I found this.....thanks.. Benin is great, now I see where d envy comes from |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by paradigmshift(m): 12:22pm On Nov 01, 2016 |
[quote author=oyalunasamuel post=42852888]1). Their story of kingship began with an Edo prince called Izoduwa as recorded by unimpeachable historical records and corroborated by Benin recorded History. (2). Ayayi Crowder,a recaptured Yoruba Slave who later became a bishop said, little were know about yoruba existence, clearly meaning they were not originally part of the Nigeria of today and neither were they settlers within its geographical boundaries but were in small settlements close to Dahomey. Most Yorubas today are either Muslims or Christians and those with African traditions copied or got them from Benin civilization. It doubtful if they are not immigrants from dahomy 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 dublicity of kingships with the process highly polarized than being traditional.A system they tried to copy from Benin but have not been able to get right 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. Note that due to celestial and customary taboos,the Edo monarch cannot eat out and cannot be diverted from full time palace duties to hustle things that have no beneficial value to his domain. (4). Most traditional religions being practiced by the Yorubas today are of Benin Origins.Olokun, Ogun, Iha oguega(ifa), oronmila, Esago(shango), Ayelala etc.Benin traditions,mystic and spirituality are stillfully documented and yorubanized by Yorubas in positions of affluence. Edo people today are predominantly Christians with some denying their traditional religious origins. But,it has not been possible to exterminate our traditional practice because it is embedded firmly in our ways of life. Although the Great Edo (Benin) Kingdom was not 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 have still been substantial on the people of the Americas. According to Mason (1996), it has been widely accepted that Olokun (god of the sea) worship originated with the Edos 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, known as Osiris in Egypt) 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 his 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 a King of his new community called Ilefe, which could be what yoruba call IFE. . From Ekaladerhan Izoduwa’s loins, the Yoruba dynasties may have began. 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 up to Eko (Lagos) in the west. Both Edo religion and medicine have already 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 through Oba Orhogbuan founded lagos and ruled Lagos through royal viceroys whose descendants are today the traditional rulers of Lagos.The rights of who owns Lagos is not disputable.Lagos was a Benin town with a Benin Duke 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 there were some migrant yorubas 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. We will explain citizenship rights to you later in another treatise. (7). Benin first to meet Europeans ( . "Oba" is a word adopted from Benin and not Yoruba as many made us to believe. There is no king of Yoruba's people. and if there is, what was his title?;how many Yoruba prominent traditional leaders/rulers carried the title Oba? since when?.if Yoruba calls their king Oba,it doesn't mean we derived our king's 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 slave hunters. (10). "Edo" have no linguistic relationship with Yoruba. Words like Eko,Idu Ganran,Yaba,Oshodi,Osa,Eti-Osa,idu-magbo,Idu- mota have no Yoruba origin but Edo's. (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 forefront of Nigeria history writers wrote history textbooks used in Nigeria institutions and thus had the benefit of making their yoruba look like leading culture with the richest history for nigerians. (13). Yorubas exploiting their privilege of imbibing the whiteman's education first have been peddling falsehood in Nigeria,British and other western universities misleading Africans with grammar and academic titles. They confuse other external scholars about the true realities of African history, implanting those false history into African -America books without the knowledge of the Edo King. (14). Yorubas engaged the highest in slave raiding in their togo-oyo region which stretched to lagos during slave trade. see http://ihuanedo.ning.com/ …/to…/ yoruba-enslavement-of-african (15) Yoruba never colonized Benin but Benin colonized many Yoruba settlements. (16) Yoruba is not in anyway related to Igbo ancestral history (17) Yoruba was not in anyway related to itsekiri history. There could be later migrants during the European exploration and commerce but not related to the itsekiri ancestral lineage. Never mind all the title of "Olu" in the region,it is a title contrived to replace the original which is "Ode" of Itsekiris. God bless you...learnt alot |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by samuk: 7:51am On Nov 02, 2016 |
[b][b]Before I draw curtain on this important historical argument, I want to borrow some facts from the submission of Kunle I Sowunmi, a Yoruba man of Abeokuta origin, who had earlier wrote from Dallas Texas, in the United States of America, in his writing titled: "Ile Ife - The Final Resting Place of History." And I quote, in extenso, "Ooni who is not a direct son or descendants of Oduduwa may not necessarily be considered viable in this discussion. Alafin of Oyo who is a descendant of the acceptable link between Yoruba and Edo must examine his place in history and that of his senior brother Orangun of Ila the first son who had disappeared into history because he never challenged Oranmiyan. The abdication of the throne is a loss of right for Oranmiyan to his son in Benin but if the son (Eweka) and his descendants according to history continue to respect tradition and be buried at Ife or received blessing before being crowned then we can conclude that Ife is superior to Benin and Edo’s must have in fact originated from Ife. The question is this: Can a son be greater than his father? No. Or can a river be greater than its source? No. Otherwise it will dry. The fact of history of allegiance of Oba of Benin to Ile Ife the cradle of Yoruba race before being crowned and after death is an indication that Ife is the source of scientific and foolproof history to support this argument.[/b][/b] ........................................................................................................................................................... From your writeup the Oba of benin is the eldest son of Oranmiyan and by implication senior to all Yoruba Obas. The Ooni not being one of the sons of Oranmiyan can not be senior to the Oba of benin, a chief priest of a town can be graeter that the King or Crown price. |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by Legitman22(m): 10:44am On Nov 02, 2016 |
I heard dat in d days of our forefathers, both birds, humans, snakes, spirits, animals, all use to respect d Oba Of Benin Kingdom, but i don't know if its true or not. Benin pple in d house is dis true? |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by Rossikk(m): 10:32pm On Nov 02, 2016 |
Legitman22: How exactly does a snake show respect for a kingdom? Some of you guys here are really something. 1 Like |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by RedRiver(m): 5:22pm On May 15, 2018 |
This is a great topic that deserves more focus and attention. How come very few people contributed to this great topic telling us more about our history. Can we get this to hit front page please. We need to read some more diverse angle to this topic |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by BabaRamota1980: 10:15pm On May 15, 2018 |
How could Ekaladherwn be a Benin prince when there was nothing called Benin in his homeland Edo? What did he do in his land to earn him a banishment into the forest? We need answers. |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by Born2Breed(f): 4:30pm On Dec 22, 2020 |
 oyalunasamuel: 1 Like |
| Re: Yoruba And Benin Kingdom by Easternmind(m): 4:43pm On Dec 22, 2020 |
I respect the bini kingdom but why do the bini's think everybody came from them,I think it's just to show supremacy.. Ok where is bini today? In Edo right? 1 Like |
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