The Ooni of Ife, His Majesty Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the spiritual head of the Yoruba people recently at the Brazilian Consulate in Lagos opened an exhibition of over 60 Ife artefacts, some of which date as far back as 13, 000 years.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust on Sunday at the sideline of the event, the Ooni discussed the historical significance of the exhibition, insecurity in Nigeria and how the Ife Kingdom taught ancient Egyptians the art of mummification. He also debunked the popular myth of Oduduwa, among other revelations. You seem very proud of this exhibition. Why do you think this is so important? It is important for us to showcase our heritage, our culture and our tradition.

This is the time we have to talk and tell our stories. Nobody tells the story of the black man. They tell the story on our behalf, we don’t tell our stories. And, how can we tell our story? It is through our heritage. Through our artefacts and antiquities and remembering the names and works of our ancestors. That’s why I am starting from Yorubaland to partner with many countries to showcase our heritage, culture and tradition.

Why the choice of Brazil to host the exhibition? We have more Yoruba people in Brazil than even in Nigeria. We have close to 80 million Yoruba people in Brazil. I don’t want them to be a lost tribe.

That’s why we have been doing a lot of programmes with them. That’s why we have the Ifa Heritage Mobile Museum set up in Rio de Janeiro in Valongo Wharf. That is the biggest port through which humans beings were moved and transitioned.

In that wharf, they moved more than 15 million people and most of them were Yoruba. Because of that, we have already established an Oduduwa Heritage there and we will move to many countries to showcase our heritage, culture and tradition. Not only in Brazil. We have a strategic alliance with Cuba and more than 20 other countries.

What are the benefits of this project?

It is a project that is talking about our heritage but how will this benefit us socially? For us to be very proud of who we are, for them not to be thinking that we belong to the Dark Age. How can we belong to the Dark Age? We are the cradle of civilization.

How did we do it then? They say we are idol worshippers. What Idols were we worshipping? What is greater than God? Nothing. We were idol worshippers then and we are the cradle of civilization? How did we do it? Now that people are saying we are no longer idol worshipers, things are moving backwards. We have to change the narrative and make sure that things are well.

As a result, what is critical here is, I told you we would work towards blending tradition and modernity and make it very effective, socially, culturally, traditionally and economically. Economically is the display of the treasure of our ancestors-we have gold in southwest and northern Nigeria.

It is a shame that our central bank does not have a register of Nigerian gold bars. It is a shame that they are looking at foreign countries where their warehouses are stockpiled with foreign gold, which in truth the raw material comes from Nigeria. Dubai is the gold capital of the world but when they see Nigerian gold, they are always happy. I am an operator in that sector so I am not just telling stories.

I want to showcase these things so that our leaders will know how we can empower these young people all over the country. Look at our stones. Nigeria has the best stones in the world in terms of hardness, clarity and colour combination. In my kingdom, we have a stone that has all the colours of the rainbow. Who will say this if not us? They have been coming to take it for years.

The biggest diamond ever seen in the world was taken away from my kingdom. It was taken away in the late 19th century. Who took it away? The western people. Because they think we don’t know its value. Now my point is I am proud to tell you that everything you are seeing on display is hundred percent done by Nigerians; the gold casting, the bronze casting, the stone faceting and polishing, the stone mining.

Everything. No external force. With that, we want to tell the world that we can do it. Let them go and test the quality and they will realise it is the best. So, we are showcasing these in a mobile museum that has social and economic benefits. Many industries will spring out of this mobile museum. So, you can see how passionate I am about this.

Indeed, Your Majesty. After this mobile museum, do you have plans to make it a permanent exhibition?

Well, we have base in two countries. A base in Nigeria, the kingdom of Ife and the cradle of the entire Yoruba people. We have a second base in Brazil. From there, it can move all over the world for a few months in each place, depending on the understanding we have. We want to change the narrative and that is what we are doing.

We have Ife artefacts scattered all over the world, stolen by colonialists and plunderers. How difficult is it to retrieve some of these? It is unfortunate. Ife artefacts are known all over the world as one of the best but are we treating our things very well?

We are not. So, for us to recover these things, it took us many years. We did it quietly. Some that we retrieved locally, it was a lot of work because we did not want to fight anybody, we did not want to fight any system, we just want to get things done. So when they see the way we carry our own, they will be the ones coming to say we have this with us, please can you put it in the museum or the archives. Right now, we have over a thousand artefacts we have collected.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/ife-kingdom-taught-ancient-egyptians-mummification-ooni-of-ife.html

Ana ekwugheri

This is a good day for Igbos and Yorubas because Ooni has said that Igbos were the first to discover wealth in the world, which he said happened in Ife many centuries ago during the time when the Obatala [Oba Igbo] dynasty was more prominent; and the secret has been guarded by the Yoruba whom he heads as Emperor of the Ile Ife in the order of Oduduwa The Great. Recall that the Alaafin and the Ooni hold the privilege of hokding fort for the Great Oduduwa today

Hear His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni;
"”Truth be told, the race that first discovered prosperity and wealth and they really nurtured it are the Igbo race. The Igbos first discovered it through their ancestral background, the linage of Obatala. (Research shows the Obatalas came from Eri lineage).

"They discovered the lineage of prosperity and wealth in terms of the divinity world and that is the reason why today, the Igbo race have very good expertise when it comes to commerce.

"They are very distinct. There is no place you would go in the world that you would not find an Igbo man.

‘And the same goes with the jews. There is this mistake the world makes that the Igbos came from the Jews. No! It is the other way round.

"Truth be told, the first human race that existed was the Ibos before the jews and we [Yoruba and Igbo] were all living together at the center of tropical rain forest [Ife] before they started moving towards the Eastern part of the world where they started settling."

That was after Queen Moremi Ajasoro, Obatala Oreluere and Prince Eze Chima, et all.

Source:https://www..ng/news/do-you-agree-igbo-race-is-the-first-to-discover-nurture-wealth-ooni-of-ife

All they do is lie about history.

Even to give a proper account of events in the 60s the entire world witnessed, they still distort it

raker300:
All they do is lie about history.

Even to give a proper account of events in the 60s the entire world witnessed, they still distort it

Who doesn't know afonjas and lies?
Was it not the same lie that their tiger crawled face demonic oduduwa angel told that made God kick him out from heaven?

And his children will forever take up his(oduduwa) foot steps

Yoruba and come carry una king lock for inside oo before he talk say Na una build the pyramid

[s]

Dande55:

Who doesn't know afonjas and lies?
Was it not the same lie that their tiger crawled face demonic oduduwa angel told that made God kick him out from heaven?

And his children will forever take up his(oduduwa) foot steps

[/s]

[s]

Dande55:

Who doesn't know afonjas and lies?
Was it not the same lie that their tiger crawled face demonic oduduwa angel told that made God kick him out from heaven?

And his children will forever take up his(oduduwa) foot steps

[/s]

igbodefender:
This is a good day for Igbos and Yorubas because Ooni has said that Igbos were the first to discover wealth in the world, which he said happened in Ife many centuries ago during the time when the Obatala [Oba Igbo] dynasty was more prominent; and the secret has been guarded by the Yoruba whom he heads as Emperor of the Ile Ife in the order of Oduduwa The Great. Recall that the Alaafin and the Ooni hold the privilege of holding fort for the Great Oduduwa today

Hear His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni;
"”Truth be told, the race that first discovered prosperity and wealth and they really nurtured it are the Igbo race. The Igbos first discovered it through their ancestral background, the linage of Obatala. (Research shows the Obatalas came from Eri lineage.)

"They discovered the lineage of prosperity and wealth in terms of the divinity world and that is the reason why today, the Igbo race have very good expertise when it comes to commerce.

"They are very distinct. There is no place you would go in the world that you would not find an Igbo man.

‘And the same goes with the jews. There is this mistake the world makes that the Igbos came from the Jews. No! It is the other way round.

"Truth be told, the first human race that existed was the Ibos before the jews and we [Yoruba and Igbo] were all living together at the center of tropical rain forest [Ife] before they started moving towards the Eastern part of the world where they started settling."

That was after Queen Moremi Ajasoro, Obatala Oreluere and Prince Eze Chima, et all.

Dande55:

Who doesn't know afonjas and lies?
Was it not the same lie that their tiger crawled face demonic oduduwa angel told that made God kick him out from heaven?

And his children will forever take up his(oduduwa) foot steps

Who is this child of orangutan..

kabiyesi. may your reign be long.





regardless re you sure about this?

Captainrambo2:
kabiyesi. may your reign be long.






regardless re you sure about this?

My own greatgrandmother, Ashake, ( may her loving soul rest in peace) is buried in a well preserved underground crypt. I was little when she died but old enough that I had awareness of her and the memorable times I spent in her loving care. The crypt she lies in holds her own parents and grandparents....who were the first settlers on the coastal village. Standing at the crypt you can see the beach and the ocean. There are two mysteries to the crypt itself and then the bodies in it.

1. Any underground work on a beach settlement will be in water usually at 3 or 4 feet deep. This is why beach settlements dont dig wells because salt water will fill the well.

So how was it possible to retain the walls of a crypt 6feet under at a beach village? There is a technique and a science to it.

2. How was it possible to preserve bodies hundred years old under ground in an accessible crypt? There is also a technique and science to this. It's an ancient knowledge mostly lost.

What Ooni is talking about mummification exists in Yorubaland.

Those who ever visited graves in Lagos Island will attest that their graves and crypts are raised above ground level. This is because waterbed is high (very close to surface) and if you dig to bury body underground you will hit water. Given, Lagos Island is sorrounded by fresh water. From history, the only cemetry that ever had underground burial was a place called "Teku" (...that's Campos). Lagos City Council finally decommissioned and transferred bodies out for health reasons and concern for the living.

The connection between Ife mummification and Egypt mummification will open pages into the history of IFE and the direction of exchange and migration.

Were Yoruba originally at Ife, then left out to Afro Asia, and then after many centuries of sojourn returned home back to Yorubaland....or was Ife the domain and capital of a peer pre-existing civilization which was settled and occupied by migrant Yoruba from an Afro Asian origin?

MetaPhysical:


My own greatgrandmother, Ashake, ( may her loving soul rest in peace) is buried in a well preserved underground crypt. I was little when she died but old enough that I had awareness of her and the memorable times I spent in her loving care. The crypt she lies in holds her own parents and grandparents....who were the first settlers on the coastal village. Standing at the crypt you can see the beach and the ocean. There are two mysteries to the crypt itself and then the bodies in it.

1. Any underground work on a beach settlement will be in water usually at 3 or 4 feet deep. This is why beach settlements dont dig wells because salt water will fill the well.

So how was it possible to retain the walls of a crypt 6feet under at a beach village? There is a technique and a science to it.

2. How was it possible to preserve bodies hundred years old under ground in an accessible crypt? There is also a technique and science to this. It's an ancient knowledge mostly lost.

What Ooni is talking about mummification exists in Yorubaland.

Those who ever visited graves in Lagos Island will attest that their graves and crypts are raised above ground level. This is because waterbed is high (very close to surface) and if you dig to bury body underground you will hit water. Given, Lagos Island is sorrounded by fresh water. From history, the only cemetry that ever had underground burial was a place called "Teku" (...that's Campos). Lagos City Council finally decommissioned and transferred bodies out for health reasons and concern for the living.

The connection between Ife mummification and Egypt mummification will open pages into the history of IFE and the direction of exchange and migration.

Were Yoruba originally at Ife, then left out to Afro Asia, and then after many centuries of sojourn returned home back to Yorubaland....or was Ife the domain and capital of a peer pre-existing civilization which was settled and occupied by migrant Yoruba from an Afro Asian origin?

Quite astonishing what the Ooni said. But have you ever notice the following people and the disappearance of the majority of the people and the language ?

1. Ancient Canaanite: Stopped existence after the conquest of the first Temple

2. Ancient Hebrew : Stopped existence after the conquest and seizure of their scroll that replica were made and sold to the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Egyptians etc

3. Coptic Christians in Egypt: Stopped existence and traces were not found after the invasion by Islamic warriors

Shocking Revelation is that you can read Classic Hebrew as I do because the language didn't die as thought by the Western scholars. The ancient Hebrew language has being in English transliteration before the phonetic translation in the same language .It is fun and Godly.