macof:


Wats killing ur argument is ur lack of knowledge in Oodua peoples history.

Oyo are the only Yorubas, Ekiti, Ijebu, Ijesha, Awori, Owo etc. are not part of the Yoruba tribe, they are tribes of their own and were ones Nations of their own.

For example Ekiti is divided into at least 3 smaller tribes. Here's an history to make u understand

1. The 16 sibling clans.
Ado(formerly Ulesun), aramoko, ijero, ikole, erijiyan, Ikere etc. are Towns of one Tribe in Ekiti- same origin, exact dialect. In fact they all share the same progenitor and ancestor(a very important Ifa priest who lived about 6,000yrs) making them the oldest running tribe in the region.

2. Ido, Osi, Oye, etc. are different from the above and a much newer settlement that came from Ile-Ife independently: Ido was founded by 5Hunters from Ile-Ife about 700years ago
Osi was founded by a prince from Ile-Ife around the same time.
Ido and Osi went ahead to found other Towns eg. Ifaki


3. Other Towns eg. Efon came from Akoko, Ondo and Owo during war against Bini

Now these Ekiti people who are today considered one tribe were initially different people with different origins.
The 3 categories I gave have a distinct dialect among themselves but understand each other well due to frequent trades and the amalgamation of their territories to form one Nation.

Wat makes Bini non-Yoruba is same thing that makes Ekiti, Ijesha, Ijebu etc. non-Yoruba

They have "clans"(as u call it) of their own within the tribe.

the name "Yoruba" as it refers to all people of the region is to give a sense of one-ness as we have same traditions and similar culture, and closely related languages.

Isan is to Edo as Efon is to Ekiti as Ogbomoso is to Oyo.
So by saying bini isn't part of the ethnic group for some language differences is to say Others aren't part of the ethnic group. I tell u an Ijebu man can never understand Ijesha language neither would he understand Ekiti language
Wat brought about the confusion is that.Most of these cities also spoke Oyo language because they were Oyo colonies. It's like saying Celts and Saxons in Britain are Same tribe

Ur logic on referring Edo as an ethnic group can be used to refer Oyo, Ekiti, Ijesha, Ijebu as Ethnic groups of their own.

It pains me dearly that i saw this trend lately . I am a full blooded ekiti man . Macof does not know anything about the history of ekiti people. The people of ekiti does not speak a dialect that is different from each other, they speak a dialect known as the ekiti dialect and the ekiti dialect is been spoken in different intonation depending of the ekiti. Ekiti traditionally is divided into 16 district or kingdoms, Efon , oye and other ekiti kingdoms that you mentioned are part of the original ekiti kingdoms. Ekitis are culturally, linguistically and historically homogeneous .Ekiti people are part of the yoruba nation because who share some things with them . Here is the history of Ekiti people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekiti

This whole thing is stupid because obviously the origin of edo ppl n language is the same as that of Yoruba. It is a fact that some Edo ppl in Edo speak Yoruba. I know itsekiri ppl who understand Yoruba n they never lived in Oyo. Latin n spanish have a number of similarities btw the two but they are not the exact same. Bantu languages are not the exact same either but they are all called Bantu ppl whether in the East of Africa or South n it is because of the ancestral link

This whole thing is stupid because obviously the origin of edo ppl n language is the same as that of Yoruba. It is a fact that some Edo ppl in Edo speak Yoruba. I know itsekiri ppl who understand Yoruba n they never lived in Oyo. Latin n spanish have a number of similarities btw the two but they are not the exact same. Bantu languages are not the exact same either but they are all called Bantu ppl whether in the East of Africa or South n it is because of the ancestral link

eaxes:

You are absolutely яitє. I am of the Igarra tribe from Akoko edo LGA. We αvє our own language which is a dialet of the Egbira language in Kogi state. Infact ψє α̲̅rε̲̣̣̣̥ the odd ball of Edo state ßє¢ō§ all other tribes in Edo state αvє languages similar †☺ each other Ãήϑ sort of understand themselves except us. I use †☺ say ψє α̲̅rε̲̣̣̣̥ better off in Kogi state.
On the other hand Yoruba is lyk a second language †☺ us. Think is virtue of the fact that ψє share boundary Ψi† ondo state Ãήϑ oviously Yoruba is a large tribe so they dominate. M̶̲̥̅̊y̶̲̥̅̊ parents Ãήϑ grand parents mostly answer Yoruba names which i hate Ψi† a passion but these days thoings αvє changed Ãήϑ яε̲̣̣̣̥ mostly answer our tribal names although people still answer their second or third name in Yoruba.
In summary, am not Yoruba, neva ψα§ Ãήϑ neva will. In fact this is an opportunity †☺ tell ma pips that ψє need †☺ unite Ψi† our egbira brothers/sis in kogi,nassarawa,benue,taraba.... Ãήϑ stop dividing ourselves ¢☺§ ψє α̲̅rε̲̣̣̣̥ one. If ψє do that ψє will easily ß in the top 4 tribes in ∂ country.

So your grandparents had Yoruba names because of the close proximity ro Yorubas? QThey wouldnt name their children Yoruba names if they didnt consider themselves Yoruba.

Most peoples of southern Nigeria especially ,Yorubas, Edos ,Itsekiris, Urhobos, Igbos, Ikweres, Ekpeyes , Aniomas and some tribes in the North Central like Igalas, Egbiras, Idomas and Nupes are far related than what most people know or acknowledge .
If you bother to dig past enough. We may actually be ONE people in the distant past.

hmmph:

So your grandparents had Yoruba names because of the close proximity ro Yorubas? QThey wouldnt name their children Yoruba names if they didnt consider themselves Yoruba.

hmmph:

So your grandparents had Yoruba names because of the close proximity ro Yorubas? QThey wouldnt name their children Yoruba names if they didnt consider themselves Yoruba.

This is an uninformed opinion. Nigerians give their children Arabic and English names, without considering themselves Arabs or English. It is a matter of cultural and sometimes political influence.

hmmph:
This whole thing is stupid because obviously the origin of edo ppl n language is the same as that of Yoruba. It is a fact that some Edo ppl in Edo speak Yoruba. I know itsekiri ppl who understand Yoruba n they never lived in Oyo. Latin n spanish have a number of similarities btw the two but they are not the exact same. Bantu languages are not the exact same either but they are all called Bantu ppl whether in the East of Africa or South n it is because of the ancestral link

As an Edo person, I don't share any origin with Yoruba.
The story of my progenitor has no part of it that says he fell from the sky like Oduduwa. What appears like the cultural closeness between Yorubas and Edos is not actually real but a fall out of political colonization of Edo and Delta through the instrumentality of the Yoruba domination thus absolute possession of political power over the minority non-Yoruba tribes in the then Western Region. The domination was so intense that the Western Region minorities could not put up any concrete resistance when the Yoruba controlled government imposed the learning of Yoruba in primary and post-primary institutions all over the region. Still, the quest for political correctness in the Yoruba dominated environment of the Western Region led Edos and Deltans of today to start importing and superimposing Yoruba culture, traditions and names on their own.
But with the creation of Midwest the trend reversed automatically and consequently the Yoruba influence has almost completely been shaken off.

Don't pay too much attention or waste time or sleepless night on pseudo historians trying to revise cultural, genetic and archeological evidence. They will not stop until they divide themselves into clans, families and TRIBES as the Europeans label them.

Imagine people not enough in population or less in population calling Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba tribes.

Now you know their reasons and may be justified. It is the same with mushroom states and local governments.

The case of Bini trying to colonize nations with propaganda including their cousins is paying off because those ones are learning from them and paying them back.

oyatz:
Most peoples of southern Nigeria especially ,Yorubas, Edos ,Itsekiris, Urhobos, Igbos, Ikweres, Ekpeyes , Aniomas and some tribes in the North Central like Igalas, Egbiras, Idomas and Nupes are far related than what most people know or acknowledge .
If you bother to dig past enough. We may actually be ONE people in the distant past.

Nowenuse:
PhysicsQED and Big Francis. The akoko-edo ppl hv so much closness with akoko ondo, pls no doubt. I am presently in benin, edo state now, I have an akoko edo hostel mate nd believe me he always believed that his ppl were ancestrally from Ondo precisely, in fact I was the one who challenged him to som researches before he discoverd that they were more bini (Edo) than yoruba ancestrally. Those ppl r just mixed up. The igarras among dem have ebira origin mixed with yoruba elements. I'm in Uniben area and have 3 other friends from same akoko edo area from difrent tribes there, and believe me, these ppl r just too fit to be yorubas, yoruba (oyo) is almost all they speak. Do you know that there was/is a demand for the creation of Akoko state of which the Akoko-edo ppl were to be merged with with those akoko of Ondo state? Though I must say that many akoko edo ppl r now havin a firmer grip of their edo roots and some stopped answering their yoruba names (especially those who are more edo than yoruba). The conclusion is that the ppl are mixed. Some more Edoid and some more yoruboid. It's more than a thing of boundary.

As a native of Akoko-Edo, I hereby acknowledge the 99.999999℅ accuracy of PhysicsQED's assertions about Akoko-Edo. I suspect that despite being a Bini guy, he has actually taken his time to visit and study Akoko-Edo people directly rather than reliance on hearsays and online articles as most other commentators here obviously guilty of.

As for your assertions about Akoko-Edo, I have decided to take the pain to supply you with details of all the nuances that relate directly to your claims:

1. The Akoko-Edo guy you encountered in Uniben was obviously born and brought up in Yorubaland with his parents never allowing or taking him home to stay long enough to familiarize with members of his extended family to learn his actual origin. Moreover, his parents might have before his eyes as a kid been capitalizing on their Akoko-Edo origin to describe themselves as Yorubas just to remain relevant and more acceptable to Yorubas among whom they live in Lagos or Ibadan. A lot of Akoko-Edos residing in Yorubaland do this deliberately and I personally discourage it as its benefit of attracting immediate gratification from Yorubas is nothing compared with the identity crisis it leads to in the end. But thank you for rescuing him from the jaws of such extreme ignorance.

2. Akoko-Edo people actually have no ancestral mix with Yorubas. It only appears so due to the quite heavy Yoruba influence cum identity crisis wrought on them politically as a result of being under the Yoruba majority's absolute control of the instruments of political power in the Old Western Region.
Before colonization, the people were not identified with the "Akoko" tag as it was totally alien to them. They only came to adopt it for political administrative purpose when their diversity could not be represented by any single name they might choose from among themselves.
In the pre-colonial era they had and still have towns and villages with names reflecting Edo in either spelling or meaning, e.g. Ekpe-Edo compressed to Ekpedo. There has however never been any of the 56 towns and villages with the "Akoko" tag in its name unlike it is with virtually all Ondo-Akoko towns, e.g. Oka-Akoko, Oba-Akoko, Isua-Akoko, Ikare-Akoko, Epinmi-Akoko, Ikeram-Akoko, etc.
The "Akoko" tag is therefore just an extraneous descriptive element hence the name "Akoko-Edo" means nothing other than "The Edos who are geographical neighbours with Akokos of Ondo State".


3. You are totally wrong about Igarras also referred to as Etuno people. The Ebira origin theory which you ascribe to Igarra is quite misleading because both Etuno (Igarra) and Ebira (Okene and environs) are actually distinct subsets of coordinate status under the Oshuku tribe. Neither came out of the other but both are equal descendants of Oshuku. That Ebiras have become numerically larger than Igarra does not subsume Igarra under them. The unanimously accepted Oshuku history has it that four brothers from the same father - Oshemi - each with his supporters (not necessarily descendants) founded the respective Oshuku towns of Panda, Koton Karfi, Okene (Ebira) and Igarra (Etuno). The eldest of them all confounded Igarra with a group of hunters, while the second eldest founded Okene (Ebira and environs). So how on earth can the name (i.e. Ebira) of the community founded by a younger sibling be adopted as generic name where that (i.e. Etuno) which describes the town founded by the eldest is? In the first ever Oshuku descendants national body meeting, all the representatives from the different subgroups, including Ebiras, unanimously conceded that the first ever president of the group should come from Igarra in acknowledgement of Igarra as their most senior. So if at all the generic name of the Oshuku tribe must change, it must be to Etuno on the basis of primogeniture right and never Ebira of the younger brother. Therefore it remains Oshuku till then.
Based on Oshuku documented history, no segment of their migrational trajectory from the extreme Northeastern axis of Africa to their present locations lie anywhere in Yorubaland hence Igarras never interacted with Yorubas from prehistoric times. So the Yoruba mix ancestry theory being hanged on Igarra is unfounded, indefensible and untenable.

4. The Akoko Stare agitation was to even include the Ebiras and Kaba-Bunu people of Kogi State. It was a brainchild of some Akoko-Edo people who once reasoned that such was the only way they could be part of a state where there is no single overwhelming majority tribe that will deploy its numerical strength to solely control and determine political trends as obtains with Igalas in Kogi and Binis in Edo. It was not an idea informed by any feelings of shared cultural identity or similarities among the prospective component tribes. But with the emergence of Oshiomhole from Edo North as governor largely with Bini votes, the Bini domination perception withered and the idea of Akoko State died among its Akoko-Edos advocates.

5. Your claim of a relative Edoid/Yoruba mix of Akoko-Edos as per ancestry is flawed. The most scientific evidence against this is the presence in all Akoko-Edo languages of the "v", "z", "'kp'" and "ch" in their alphabets, pronunciation and spelling systems whereas such are totally absent and unknown in Yoruba alphabets, spellings and pronunciations.
As for the issue of bearing Yoruba name in Akoko-Edo, I have trashed it extensively in other threads. A journey through all my posts will educate anyone who wants more information.
In conclusion the bearing of Yoruba names and speaking of Yoruba in Akoko-Edo does not make them Yorubas any more than the bearing of English names and speaking of English Language in Nigeria make Nigerians white men.

AndreUweh:
Edo people speak Bini, Esan and Etsako. Some Edo people who have spent years in Yorubaland speak Yoruba just like Yorubas who have spent years in Benin speak Bini.

Edo people also speak Ora. Go to Owan West & Owan East local govt area of Edo state, and you will see that is their language. Ask anybody from Sabongida-Ora what language he speaks, he will never tell you that he speaks Bini, or Esan or Etsako, but Ora.

AndreUweh:
It does not mean Edo people speak Yoruba. Unless you are a foreigner, every Nigerian knows that Edos are Edos with their own languages and dialects and Yorubas are Yorubas with their own language and dialects. It is not a big deal to find an Edo who speaks Yoruba, as it is not also a big deal to find a Yoruba who speaks Edo. Infact, I do know lots of Yorubas who speak Bini.

True!!

odumchi:
Since when did the Ikwerre and Ukwuani clans stop being Igbo? Man you should really stay sway from things you don't know. Ikwerre:Igbo is not the same as Itsekiris : Yoruba. Ikwerre speak a dialect of Igbo. A more reasonable comparison is Ekpeye:Igbo Yoruba:Itsekiris. But I'm sure you've had no previous knowledge of them.:

Are you saying that the Itsekiri language is not related to Yoruba language? Itsekiri sounds like a dialect of Yoruba. Listen well....
A number of Itsekiri people bear pure Yoruba names, and they find it easy to understand Yoruba language. That is just my observation.

Malawian:
The only reason edo people can speak yoruba is because of yoruba colonisation during the western region debacle. Yoruba language was the only language taught in schools throughout the western region even as far as asaba. I[b] suppose the edos have ekwueme to thank for liberating them from the yoruba mediocrity by forming the midwestern region.[/b] Alexander ogbemudia dealt the final blow on the yoruba colonisation gambit when he outlawed the teaching of yoruba in the old bendel state. Just give it another 20 yrs and the generation that was colonised by the yorubas will have all died out. Yoruba people are pretending like they dont know the reason for such anomaly. I schooled at ekpoma so i know the edos and their language very well. I even speak moderate ishan. Yoruba quest for edo oil is dead as dodo. Edo people better take back their state from that yoruba stooge called oshomole before he signs away their birthright. Make una get sense o, na yoruba people una dey deal with. They are vipers and should not be overlooked.

Ekwueme?? How?? What did he have to do with the formation of the old Midwestern region? Unless you wanted to say Osadebe.

Nowenuse:
Big francis, do u know dat most Nsukka ppl are ancestrally Igala? If u doubt pls go and find out, same with some anambra ppl. So I believ that the Nsukka dialect shuld bare many influences from igala language, same way many delta igbos have been heavily influenced by Bini culture and language and many Rivers igbos by ijaw. Infact I evn think it's more than that, today many delta and rivers igbos are rejecting igbo origin and claiming bini and ijaw. Sayin that they only came unda d igbo identity by colonial groupin and otherwise, alas this is same thing dat Macof is talking of. Infact I hv met many ika ppl of delta igbo dat proved to me so well that their culture is even more bini than igbo, that igbo culture only influenced them, and I was really astonished. because the similarities they could draw out in their language and cultures with bini (edo) was just too numerous. Similar to many rivers igbos who are completely culturally and ethnically ijaw but linguistically igbo.
So pls, I think U shuld b able to diffrentiate language, culture, ethnicity and ancestry in many of your definitions pls.

coolest01:
calm down. Im from akoko edo...ojah is the name of my village,close to ososo.people that know that area of edo state will know that akoko edo people although edo state by origin have close ties with the akoko people from ondo state(yoruba). We the akoko edo people especially from ojah have a different language entirely differnt from the benin or the yoruba. We even borrowed more words from the yorubas than from other edo tribes. Hence,we are very capable of speaking yoruba fluently

Interesting!

PhysicsQED:
You keep referring to "Akoko people" in this thread.

You do realize the Akoko-Edo (I assume that's the place that you meant to refer to) peoples are quite distinct from the Akoko in Ondo state, right? I'm referring to the Okpamheri, Ososo, Oloma, Uneme, etc. of Akoko-Edo. They're all different groups from one another, and they're different from the Akoko Yoruba in Ondo state.

They (the people in the Akoko-Edo area of Edo state) have their own languages, and they don't claim to be Yoruba or claim to be "the same people" with Yoruba. If you think that they think they're Yoruba or "the same with Yoruba", can you at least tell me why you think this?

A lot of them have Yoruba names? Does that answer your question?

AndreUweh:
@The poster, once again, no Edo speaks Yoruba without learning it. No Yoruba speaks Edo without learning it. Yorubas speak Yoruba and associated dialects while Edos speak Edo and related dialects.

you are bleeped up.
so you mean yoruba language is innate to all edos all what ...you have to be specific they are the people of akoko edo who migrated from ondo state who are in edo east i guess .those people speak yourba related language just like other diverse yoruba tribes .but on the aspect of yoruba not learning benin even if they had influence on Yoruba state can easily be proven because a benin man doesn't see the language as important as the Yoruba's see thiers .but as the rest edo i assure you non dont speak yoruba apart from the ones who based in yoruba town's

gregyboy:



you are bleeped up.
so you mean yoruba language is innate to all edos all what ...you have to be specific they are the people of akoko edo who migrated from ondo state who are in edo east i guess .those people speak yourba related language just like other diverse yoruba tribes .but on the aspect of yoruba not learning benin even if they had influence on Yoruba state can easily be proven because a benin man doesn't see the language as important as the Yoruba's see thiers .but as the rest edo i assure you non dont speak yoruba apart from the ones who based in yoruba town's

Enough has already been said in the previous comments about Akoko-Edos not being Yorubas by any means.
Akoko-Edo people are themselves an assortment of tribes who speak a total of 17 different languages, none of which shares any affinity with Yoruba, hence could not have migrated from Ondo or anywhere else in Yoruba land as you would have people believe.
The name "Akoko-Edo" is purely geographical and means "The Edo people who share boundary with and are physical neighbours to Akokos of Ondo State". It does not connote any linguistic or ancestral affinity with the Akokos any more than the name "Nigeria" could suggest that Southern Nigerians are related to the people of Niger Republic.

StarFlux:
This whole thread is ridiculous. I see people claiming Edo to be a dialect of Yoruba and so on. Edo and Yoruba are two distinct languages, fairly different from each other.

Just because you find similar words here and there does not mean these languages are the same or dialects of each other, tell me: have you ever come by a language that does not borrow words? Core vocabulary is still distinct.

yea...edo went ahead to borrow words from thier first white encounters the Portuguese
like spoon in edo and Portuguese are both “ekuye" so as mirror and other words which dont know for now the benis also borrowed
the ekasa danced from the igalas which is among the benin traditional dance now and the igalas took a mask which is smillar to the festac mask and now is a very important mask to the igalas .also after the wars between the igalas and the benins the village where the war was fought was named “idah” a corruption of queen “idia” after a benin queen who sacrifice her life during the war .same as other yoruba group's who were under the edo territory due to colonisation borrowed words from the edos like
ugbo(farm,bush ) smilar to both groups
olakpa(police) similar to both groups
and also the Igbo's which have words similars to the edos
eweka(a king a benin), Igbo iweka( a corrupt form of eweka in benin)

bottom line is geographically benin was in the middle of the east(onitsha) north( igalas),west(ondo,ekiti,osun,eko)
and they hard influence on all this tributaries vice versa ...so not even yoruba ,nor igbo or igala should claim edo but edo can decide to claim any under the influence of colonisation

coolest01:
calm down. Im from akoko edo...ojah is the name of my village,close to ososo.people that know that area of edo state will know that akoko edo people although edo state by origin have close ties with the akoko people from ondo state(yoruba). We the akoko edo people especially from ojah have a different language entirely differnt from the benin or the yoruba. We even borrowed more words from the yorubas than from other edo tribes. Hence,we are very capable of speaking yoruba fluently

Deadlytruth:
Enough has already been said in the previous comments about Akoko-Edos not being Yorubas by any means. Akoko-Edo people are themselves an assortment of tribes who speak a total of 17 different languages, none of which shares any affinity with Yoruba, hence could not have migrated from Ondo or anywhere else in Yoruba land as you would have people believe.
The name "Akoko-Edo" is purely geographical and means "The Edo people who share boundary with and are physical neighbours to Akokos of Ondo State". It does not connote any linguistic or ancestral affinity with the Akokos any more than the name "Nigeria" could suggest that Southern Nigerians are related to the people of Niger Republic.

PhysicsQED:
......However, the overwhelming majority of those groups in Akoko Edo are speakers of "Edoid" languages - as in, their native languages have significant similarities with the Edo language. The exceptions as far as I can tell being the people of Ayanran, Kakumo, and Igarra. The Igarra don't claim to come from Ondo though they too use Yoruba as a lingua franca, and as for the non-Edoid language speaking towns of Ayanran and Kakumo, those are just two out of all the rest (state boundaries don't exactly mirror linguistic groups - there are also "Edoid" groups outside of Edo and Delta states). Virtually all the rest are speakers of "Edoid" languages natively and if there are groups claiming to be from Ondo (rather than from other places in Edo state, as is usual for people in that area), or claiming to be "mixed" you can list the specific group you're referring to, rather than lumping in the entire area as being "mixed" because of the lingua franca used there. Few (if any) groups in southern Nigeria have never had any segment of their population mix with their neighbors, but that doesn't change what the real ethnic classification of their overall group is.

Confusing...!

Deadlytruth:



As a native of Akoko-Edo, I hereby acknowledge the 99.999999℅ accuracy of PhysicsQED's assertions about Akoko-Edo. I suspect that despite being a Bini guy, he has actually taken his time to visit and study Akoko-Edo people directly rather than reliance on hearsays and online articles as most other commentators here obviously guilty of.

As for your assertions about Akoko-Edo, I have decided to take the pain to supply you with details of all the nuances that relate directly to your claims:

1. The Akoko-Edo guy you encountered in Uniben was obviously born and brought up in Yorubaland with his parents never allowing or taking him home to stay long enough to familiarize with members of his extended family to learn his actual origin. Moreover, his parents might have before his eyes as a kid been capitalizing on their Akoko-Edo origin to describe themselves as Yorubas just to remain relevant and more acceptable to Yorubas among whom they live in Lagos or Ibadan. A lot of Akoko-Edos residing in Yorubaland do this deliberately and I personally discourage it as its benefit of attracting immediate gratification from Yorubas is nothing compared with the identity crisis it leads to in the end. But thank you for rescuing him from the jaws of such extreme ignorance.

2. Akoko-Edo people actually have no ancestral mix with Yorubas. It only appears so due to the quite heavy Yoruba influence cum identity crisis wrought on them politically as a result of being under the Yoruba majority's absolute control of the instruments of political power in the Old Western Region.
Before colonization, the people were not identified with the "Akoko" tag as it was totally alien to them. They only came to adopt it for political administrative purpose when their diversity could not be represented by any single name they might choose from among themselves.
In the pre-colonial era they had and still have towns and villages with names reflecting Edo in either spelling or meaning, e.g. Ekpe-Edo compressed to Ekpedo. There has however never been any of the 56 towns and villages with the "Akoko" tag in its name unlike it is with virtually all Ondo-Akoko towns, e.g. Oka-Akoko, Oba-Akoko, Isua-Akoko, Ikare-Akoko, Epinmi-Akoko, Ikeram-Akoko, etc.
The "Akoko" tag is therefore just an extraneous descriptive element hence the name "Akoko-Edo" means nothing other than "The Edos who are geographical neighbours with Akokos of Ondo State".


3. You are totally wrong about Igarras also referred to as Etuno people. The Ebira origin theory which you ascribe to Igarra is quite misleading because both Etuno (Igarra) and Ebira (Okene and environs) are actually distinct subsets of coordinate status under the Oshuku tribe. Neither came out of the other but both are equal descendants of Oshuku. That Ebiras have become numerically larger than Igarra does not subsume Igarra under them. The unanimously accepted Oshuku history has it that four brothers from the same father - Oshemi - each with his supporters (not necessarily descendants) founded the respective Oshuku towns of Panda, Koton Karfi, Okene (Ebira) and Igarra (Etuno). The eldest of them all confounded Igarra with a group of hunters, while the second eldest founded Okene (Ebira and environs). So how on earth can the name (i.e. Ebira) of the community founded by a younger sibling be adopted as generic name where that (i.e. Etuno) which describes the town founded by the eldest is? In the first ever Oshuku descendants national body meeting, all the representatives from the different subgroups, including Ebiras, unanimously conceded that the first ever president of the group should come from Igarra in acknowledgement of Igarra as their most senior. So if at all the generic name of the Oshuku tribe must change, it must be to Etuno on the basis of primogeniture right and never Ebira of the younger brother. Therefore it remains Oshuku till then.
Based on Oshuku documented history, no segment of their migrational trajectory from the extreme Northeastern axis of Africa to their present locations lie anywhere in Yorubaland hence Igarras never interacted with Yorubas from prehistoric times. So the Yoruba mix ancestry theory being hanged on Igarra is unfounded, indefensible and untenable.

4. The Akoko Stare agitation was to even include the Ebiras and Kaba-Bunu people of Kogi State. It was a brainchild of some Akoko-Edo people who once reasoned that such was the only way they could be part of a state where there is no single overwhelming majority tribe that will deploy its numerical strength to solely control and determine political trends as obtains with Igalas in Kogi and Binis in Edo. It was not an idea informed by any feelings of shared cultural identity or similarities among the prospective component tribes. But with the emergence of Oshiomhole from Edo North as governor largely with Bini votes, the Bini domination perception withered and the idea of Akoko State died among its Akoko-Edos advocates.

5. Your claim of a relative Edoid/Yoruba mix of Akoko-Edos as per ancestry is flawed. The most scientific evidence against this is the presence in all Akoko-Edo languages of the "v", "z", "'kp'" and "ch" in their alphabets, pronunciation and spelling systems whereas such are totally absent and unknown in Yoruba alphabets, spellings and pronunciations.
As for the issue of bearing Yoruba name in Akoko-Edo, I have trashed it extensively in other threads. A journey through all my posts will educate anyone who wants more information.
In conclusion the bearing of Yoruba names and speaking of Yoruba in Akoko-Edo does not make them Yorubas any more than the bearing of English names and speaking of English Language in Nigeria make Nigerians white men.

Hmmm, It's been 4 years ago I made that comment. I had even forgotten that I ever made any comment like that. Had to go through the thread again to even understand what it was about. Lol

Thanks for the enlightenment anyway. I appreciate. You seem to have a vast knowledge of your people and I admire this.

But just for the records, the Akoko-edo boy (from Okpamheri precisely) who thought he was yoruba, never grew up in yoruba land. He grew up in Kano with his family. I think he even speaks Hausa better than yoruba.

Also, you are very correct, many of your Akoko edo people who grew up in yoruba land are almost as good as lost (permit me to put it that way). I had many of them as friends and neighbors in Uniben, and believe me, unless they open their mouths and tell you that they are Edos, you will never know or even manage to guess. Some of them even behave more yoruba than typical yorubas and to worsen this, you now see them with bold yoruba names (which seals the conclusion)...... Permit me to ask, why do your people seem to have so much fondness and affinity with yoruba land and culture than Benin?

Thank you for the other points. Also, the Ebira/Etuno point, never heard of that. If what you say about the Oshuku descent is true, how come the Ebira tao (Kogi central people) now outnumber the Etuno, Koto & panda ebiras even combined by far?
Also, only the Etunos do not have the Ebira tag. Koto & Panda people have always adressed themselves as Egbura. And I think these 3 groups apparently had a meeting some years ago and all agreed to start adressing themselves as EGBIRRA people collectively. I saw a news article on this.

As for the reason why your people answer yoruba names, pls link me to the thread (and exact page if necessary) where you thrashed the issue. Thanks again.

Nowenuse:


Hmmm, It's been 4 years ago I made that comment. I had even forgotten that I ever made any comment like that. Had to go through the thread again to even understand what it was about. Lol

Thanks for the enlightenment anyway. I appreciate. You seem to have a vast knowledge of your people and I admire this.

But just for the records, the Akoko-edo boy (from Okpamheri precisely) who thought he was yoruba, never grew up in yoruba land. He grew up in Kano with his family. I think he even speaks Hausa better than yoruba.

Also, you are very correct, many of your Akoko edo people who grew up in yoruba land are almost as good as lost (permit me to put it that way). I had many of them as friends and neighbors in Uniben, and believe me, unless they open their mouths and tell you that they are Edos, you will never know or even manage to guess. Some of them even behave more yoruba than typical yorubas and to worsen this, you now see them with bold yoruba names (which seals the conclusion)...... Permit me to ask, why do your people seem to have so much fondness and affinity with yoruba land and culture than Benin?

Thank you for the other points. Also, the Ebira/Etuno point, never heard of that. If what you say about the Oshuku descent is true, how come the Ebira tao (Kogi central people) now outnumber the Etuno, Koto & panda ebiras even combined by far?
Also, only the Etunos do not have the Ebira tag. Koto & Panda people have always adressed themselves as Egbura. And I think these 3 groups apparently had a meeting some years ago and all agreed to start adressing themselves as EGBIRRA people collectively. I saw a news article on this.

As for the reason why your people answer yoruba names, pls link me to the thread (and exact page if necessary) where you thrashed the issue. Thanks again.

Thanks a lot for your reply.
You see, it is very easy for an Akoko-Edo child growing up in the North to quickly sense that he is not a Hausa man even if his parents never tutored him on that. The very large differences in morphology and phenotype between the Hausa-Fulanis and Southerners generally is enough evidence to an untutored child.
However, such an child would easily by logical considerations mistakenly assume he is Yoruba owing to the 'Akoko' root in the name of his local government which his parents must however reveal to him when he gets to the stages of his education at which he must enrol for WAEC and UME by filling forms in which he would be required to enter his LGA of origin.
Generally, it is difficult for any one who is not very close to or deeply knowledgeable about Akoko-Edo to assume that the 'Akoko' in the name connotes Yorubaness. For example both the Etisalat database and Facebook default settings place Akoko-Edo in Ondo State. You won't blame them because Akoko-Edo shares boundary with four LGAs in Ondo State all bearing the Akoko tag too. Such would naturally lead to the perception that they are all the same peoples in the mind of any innocent and yet to be informed observer.

Your assertion that most Akoko-Edo people who grew up in Yorubaland are as good as lost is the very bitter truth hence you need no permission to put it that way. As for the reason: you see it is a principle in Social Anthropology that members of a minority tribe who live among a majority tribe are likely to seek a kind of integration with the host tribe to make his coexistence with them easier hence such may end up in unconscious acculturation and assimilation which on the long run detaches him from his actual roots. This principle has a lot of Akoko-Edos as good examples. Even those who were brought up in the North somehow get acculturated into Northern value system and tradition so much that their own roots no longer appeal to them.
There is a Lampese man known to me who was born and brought up in Lampese but later got to settle in Kaduna for the past 40 years. He is now so much acculturated to Hausa-Fulani culture that the only things that differentiate him from Hausa-Fulanis as of now are his religion and Edo-accent of speech. Every other feature about him has metamorphosed into Hausa-Fulani.

The fondness with Yoruba than with their actual Bini roots was a trend that largely owes its beginning to the overwhelming Yoruba political influence in the Old Western Region where Yoruba had a very firm grip on political power and dictated who got what. In order to appear more related to Yorubas among all the minorities then Akoko-Edos had to de-emphasize their Bini roots and put on the rather false toga of Yorubaness since the struggle for extrication from the Western Region was being championed mostly by Binis who co-victims of Yoruba domination.
However, awareness has been created over time and that affinity for Yorubaism is now resented by the average Akoko-Edo man or woman. Beginning from roughly three decades ago, no one gives a new child a Yoruba name in Akoko-Edo any more. This I tell you with 100℅ certainty.

As for the exceedingly larger numerical strength of the Ebiras among the Oshuku people, here is the reason as gleaned from documented history which they all unanimously agree to:

The four Oshemi sons were Ozoko, Itaazi, Oduniya and Negedu from the eldest to the youngest. The first to go his separate way was Negedu who founded Panda. Very few supporters followed him because he left at a time when most Oshuku people still erroneously believed there was hope that the Attah of Igala would eventually turn a new leaf from his ill-treatment of them for being a totally different tribe from the Opoto (Igala) people.

Next to realize the futility of that hope was Oduniya who then moved to found Koton Karfi with more supporters than Negedu obviously due to increasing awareness with time.

The last to move were Ozoko and Itaazi who left simultaneously with the relatively far larger remaining supporters when it became totally doubtless that the Attah would never treat the Oshuku fairly. These two eldest sons moved away together northwards first, crossed the river Niger and began moving southwards to a destination (Etuno) which an advance party of hunters had already gone to survey and reported back as very inhabitable. However, on reaching Okere Une ( now compressed to Okene) Itaazi's wife gave birth to a baby boy. The superstitious mindset of almost every one in the crew back then led an overwhelming majority to believe that the birth of that baby (male for that matter) was a clear and undisputable signal from God that Okere Une was the destination divinely approved for them to settle down hence only the very few less superstitious ones mustered enough courage to accompany Ozoko to the originally intended destination of Etuno which is the compressed pronunciation of "Ete ono yi" meaning "this is the originally proposed land."

At this juncture it will be appropriate to explain that the recent attempt by Ebiras to substitute the Oshuku generic name with "Ebira" is borne out of the quest for more political relevance in the Nigerian scheme of things. Ebiras obviously want to use the rest Oshukus to arrogate large population figures to themselves to become more relevant since political patronage in Nigeria is largely based on numerical strength. No thanks to the unitary system which the military imposed on us.
To tell you how politically motivated this whole Ebira thing is; when an Ebira man - Onuka - was the military governor of Edo State, common sense should have dictated that his focus be on Igarra which had over the years suffered lack of infrastructural development and industrialization. But Onuka hardly visited Igarra let alone bother about their plight. There is no single project in Igarra that can be credited to Onuka. If he had cut 20℅ of Edo State budget just in a year for Igarra his supposed brothers, it would have been enough to rehabilitate all roads and freshly tar all the previously unsurfaced.
But while he neglected Igarra so brazenly and concentrated on other places, the Ebiras never remembered that Igarras are supposedly Ebiras like them. So they never cautioned Onuka to remember 'his' people. All this was because the Ebiras (Okenes) actually knew deep down in their hearts that Igarras are actually not Ebiras and so were less concerned.
When the same Onuka killed the working capital base of Okpella Cement Factory by diverting over 200,000 bags of cement from there to his home town of Okene where he sold them at N150 each against the about N350 it was really selling, the Ebiras (Okene) people rushed to buy it without asking him if he took some to also sell to Igarra people at the same price being their supposed fellow Ebiras.
However, this is not to imply that Igarra people buy stolen goods. In fact if he had brought some of those bags the Igarra people we know here in Akoko-Edo would have rejected them and placed a curse on those bags of cement. But when you call a people your brothers you at least try them with your booty of war to at least demonstrate your sincerity.
All these "Ebira" nation awareness creation was triggered by the domination and acute marginalization which the actual Ebiras (i.e. Okenes) have been suffering under Igalas ever since Kogi State was created. Imagine Igalas repeatedly producing Kogi State governors since 1999. Why would Ebiras not naturally react by seeking the support of other Oshukus to make a statement against that?
With an Ebira man as the Kogi governor now, haven't this Ebira generic name thing started dying a natural death?
Mind you that there are Oshukus in the Yala LGA of Cross River State and they have never ever been referred to as Ebiras by Okenes because they are too physically far away to be relevant in the numerical strength which the Okenes seek for more political prominence.

NegroNtns:
Like the Aniomans who speak Yoruba dialect, like the Ijebus, the Ijeshas, Ilorins, Aworis, Itskeiris, the Edos speak Yoruba dialects.

Unlike Iboland which is knoted in linguistics, Yorubaland and Yoruba race is knoted in hereditary.

So I understand your diifuclty at understanding the union. There are Oyo people that don't speak Ijebu or Ijesha but they are all still in the Yoruba race and speak one or the other of the numerous dialects.

We have rich and diverse tongues tied under one race. European is an European whether English, French or german but the three languages and also Spanish are dialects, one of the other. You understand it now?

The Ibo language on the other hand is comparable to the Americas, where regardless of the cultural nativity, which are diverse, everyone speak one language of the colonial race -Portuguese/Spanish in South America and Mexico and Puerto Rico and English in North America and few islands.

your comment is ignorant

PhysicsQED:


Either you met someone from Ayanran or Kakumo or Igarra that had moved to Ondo and settled in, or the man didn't know his native language, or (and this is possible, given your antecedents) this is a completely made up story. This "Akoko people" stuff as it relates to the Akoko Edo is something I already commented on and I don't intend to repeat myself again on the very same thread.

ibilo aiyetoro aiyegunle dere are far more communities

macof:


Are u sure?

I have never heard Owo language but when it comes to culture, they have bini all over

haha they were influenced by binis but ancestrally ife

Nowenuse:


Hmmm, It's been 4 years ago I made that comment. I had even forgotten that I ever made any comment like that. Had to go through the thread again to even understand what it was about. Lol

Thanks for the enlightenment anyway. I appreciate. You seem to have a vast knowledge of your people and I admire this.

But just for the records, the Akoko-edo boy (from Okpamheri precisely) who thought he was yoruba, never grew up in yoruba land. He grew up in Kano with his family. I think he even speaks Hausa better than yoruba.

Also, you are very correct, many of your Akoko edo people who grew up in yoruba land are almost as good as lost (permit me to put it that way). I had many of them as friends and neighbors in Uniben, and believe me, unless they open their mouths and tell you that they are Edos, you will never know or even manage to guess. Some of them even behave more yoruba than typical yorubas and to worsen this, you now see them with bold yoruba names (which seals the conclusion)...... Permit me to ask, why do your people seem to have so much fondness and affinity with yoruba land and culture than Benin?

Thank you for the other points. Also, the Ebira/Etuno point, never heard of that. If what you say about the Oshuku descent is true, how come the Ebira tao (Kogi central people) now outnumber the Etuno, Koto & panda ebiras even combined by far?
Also, only the Etunos do not have the Ebira tag. Koto & Panda people have always adressed themselves as Egbura. And I think these 3 groups apparently had a meeting some years ago and all agreed to start adressing themselves as EGBIRRA people collectively. I saw a news article on this.

As for the reason why your people answer yoruba names, pls link me to the thread (and exact page if necessary) where you thrashed the issue. Thanks again.

Akoko-Edo is a conglomerate of Edo, Yoruba, Ebira (igara), and Igala (Akuku) Origin. it beat my imagination if someone coming to defend or explaining AKOKO-EDO as if you can force them to accept what there ancestors never told them. Another set of people are the Igara or Etunu in Akoko-edo whom want to force there origin and extend it to other part of akoko-edo just because igara is the head quarter of the local govt, forgotten somorika actually gave igara that land they currently occupied when they migrated from Nupe or Kogi area of the country. Igara are not up to 2 communities in Okpamari which are the largest group with language similarities of which somorika and Ibillo are included in Opkamari Group. for your information the Akoko-Edo with Yoruba heritage are more Yoruba than you think because majority of there ancestors are directly aboriginals from the present day Ondo town in Ondo State and few others from Ile-Ife. For various reasons best known to historians, there ancestors relocated through Old Benin Empire and merge with the Afemai and that was how language changes occurs. they are also clans with Benin heritage and Igala precisely.... Akoko-edo is a place where various tribes meet to form one group but dominated by Yoruba's because you can actually find them in all clans, Towns and villages in Akoko-Edo and they are directly or indirectly part of Akoko-Ondo.

aljharem3:
1. yoruba and edo are related historically

2. yorubas use edo words as well like eko, etc

3. edos are also part of lagos

4. edo people share names with yoruba people and vise versa

5. it is easlier for them to learn yoruba as their language is similar

Stop saying what u don't know we Edo people do not speak Yoruba or anyway related in language, Benin, Esan, Owan, Etsako, Urobo etc, all dis are Edo language, u should visit Edo state to be well inform about our culture

Akoko Edo is an extension of Ondo state. Stop fooling yourselves. Yoruba language is the main language in Akoko Edo. I used to go there for a project so I know what I am talking about.

9jamostgrow:


Akoko-Edo is a conglomerate of Edo, Yoruba, Ebira (igara), and Igala (Akuku) Origin. it beat my imagination if someone coming to defend or explaining AKOKO-EDO as if you can force them to accept what there ancestors never told them. Another set of people are the Igara or Etunu in Akoko-edo whom want to force there origin and extend it to other part of akoko-edo just because igara is the head quarter of the local govt, forgotten somorika actually gave igara that land they currently occupied when they migrated from Nupe or Kogi area of the country. Igara are not up to 2 communities in Okpamari which are the largest group with language similarities of which somorika and Ibillo are included in Opkamari Group. for your information the Akoko-Edo with Yoruba heritage are more Yoruba than you think because majority of there ancestors are directly aboriginals from the present day Ondo town in Ondo State and few others from Ile-Ife. For various reasons best known to historians, there ancestors relocated through Old Benin Empire and merge with the Afemai and that was how language changes occurs. they are also clans with Benin heritage and Igala precisely.... Akoko-edo is a place where various tribes meet to form one group but dominated by Yoruba's because you can actually find them in all clans, Towns and villages in Akoko-Edo and they are directly or indirectly part of Akoko-Ondo.

Nice. Are u from Akoko Edo?

9jamostgrow:


Akoko-Edo is a conglomerate of Edo, Yoruba, Ebira (igara), and Igala (Akuku) Origin. it beat my imagination if someone coming to defend or explaining AKOKO-EDO as if you can force them to accept what there ancestors never told them. Another set of people are the Igara or Etunu in Akoko-edo whom want to force there origin and extend it to other part of akoko-edo just because igara is the head quarter of the local govt, forgotten somorika actually gave igara that land they currently occupied when they migrated from Nupe or Kogi area of the country. Igara are not up to 2 communities in Okpamari which are the largest group with language similarities of which somorika and Ibillo are included in Opkamari Group. for your information the Akoko-Edo with Yoruba heritage are more Yoruba than you think because majority of there ancestors are directly aboriginals from the present day Ondo town in Ondo State and few others from Ile-Ife. For various reasons best known to historians, there ancestors relocated through Old Benin Empire and merge with the Afemai and that was how language changes occurs. they are also clans with Benin heritage and Igala precisely.... Akoko-edo is a place where various tribes meet to form one group but dominated by Yoruba's because you can actually find them in all clans, Towns and villages in Akoko-Edo and they are directly or indirectly part of Akoko-Ondo.

Highly interesting.

YungMillionaire:
Akoko Edo is an extension of Ondo state. Stop fooling yourselves. Yoruba language is the main language in Akoko Edo. I used to go there for a project so I know what I am talking about.

Sorry, you don't know what you are talking about. Your visit to the place was not the type that afforded you the opportunity and time to reside there long enough to observe and study the natives and their culture and origins critically.
Those you heard speaking Yoruba there are either Yoruba visitors like you or Yorubas who are reside there for livelihood.
How can an assortment of totally different ethnicities with mutually unintelligible languages and totally dissimilar cultures all be an extension of Ondo State?

Oduduwa.