AndroBlaze:


I always ask myself, how Ekun is Tiger when Tigers are not native to Yorubaland or even Africa as a whole. Does it mean our forefathers were giving names and naming themselves after imaginary animals they never saw? Its not logical seeing as the word "Ekun" has probably been in use for at least a 150 years or so.

That's why I agree with those who insist it means leopard. Probably a bigger kind of leopard but still a leopard

Leopard may have existed in the past. Some animals have gone into extinction by pouchers and or migrated to other places. Definitely leopard existed in Yoruba land to have been given a name.

MightySparrow:



Leopard may have existed in the past. Some animals have gone into extinction by pouchers and or migrated to other places. Definitely leopard existed in Yoruba land to have been given a name.

I am not sure you understood what I said. Leopards still exist in the Southwest and the proper name for them is "Ekun". "Amotekun" is cheetah, which also existed in the SW. "Ekun", for people who understand the Yoruba culture cannot mean Tiger because it never existed at the time the expression was originally formed and in use.



https://globalvoices.org/2020/01/30/nigerias-operation-amo%CC%A9te%CC%A9kun-was-it-named-after-a-leopard-cheetah-or-tiger/#:~:text=This%20proverb%20affirms%20that%20Yor%C3%B9b%C3%A1,skins%2C%20compared%20with%20the%20tiger.