Omoawoke:
One interesting fact.

The odu ifa..

There are 256 odu ifa in total, same 256 binary numbers we have

It’s interesting to know that binary codes is the basis of computer today and it’s essentially a means of communicating with the computer, there are 256 binary codes in total.

The 256 odu ifa is also a means the ancestors use to communicate with their creator to get answers and guidance in life.

Here’s the thing, the 256 odu ifa passed from the wise ancestors are same codes we have with the 256 computer codes.

Now, how did your ancestors who you assume were dumb or evil able to arrive at 256 binary codes


Basic Units:
Odu Ifa: The Odu Ifa are based on combinations of single and double lines, which can be compared to binary digits. A single line (|) can be seen as analogous to binary 1, and a double line (||) as binary 0.
Binary Codes: Binary codes use combinations of 0s and 1s to encode information. Each binary digit (bit) represents a state: 0 or 1.

So you mean the whiteman stole binary codes from Ile Ife.. Wow

samuk:


Where did you read that Benin dynasty is of Nupe-Igala Origin.

Bro forget these Edo/yoruba arguments, we all know the manufactured relationship is less than 100years old. Going back and forth with Yoruba revisionists will distract you.
Focus on your research on Edo history. I saw Benin/Portuguese letters you posted.. Nice one, keep it up.

Odotech:
I read Yoruba ibadan history dating back to 18 century. Portuguese visited benin before 16th century for palm oil trade and a Benin prince went to Europe and learnt how to read, write and speak foreign language in the 16th century. So the much touted Ibadan or Yoruba empires and history must have been invented by the first set of literate Yorubas themselves. I suspect these forgeries happened around that 18th century because I don't think literacy got to core Yorubas before 18th century

Very true!!

Ghostagain:
@UMAZEE you are a certified fool. No need to continue the discussion with you.
I've tried to educate you for free, but your cognitive dissonance is too strong, you can't elevate your iq.
I think you know that I'm way more educated than yourself and you know I'm way smarter than you, but for some reason, you refuse to let me educate you. Cognitive dissonance is a dangerous thing.
Since you wish to remain at your low level of intellect, I will grant you your wish.

You can never be wiser than me.
You posts/rants already show what level you operate on.
Like I said earlier, you are alone in your foolishness and that is very frustrating for you.

You claim to be Edo, but you don't know what being Edo is about. You have no comprehension of your true history/past and dismiss truths as fairytales..

Mind you, I don't agree with the Oduduwa or Oranmiyan fairytale, but saying Ogisos or Igodomigodo didn't exist because the Europeans didn't witness it is sheer stupidity on your part.

Ghostagain:

I guess your firewall also stopped you from knowing that the 1400's is actually the 15th century, not the 14th.
I think 10 year old kids must be feeling insulted that I compare you to them.

You continually sound like a frustrated person filled with despair.
Go learn proper history and stop coming on here with nonsense.

Ghostagain:

You keep exposing your comprehension problems.
As I already said, there is a known past and an uknown one.
History is the known past and it is known due to the fact it is on eyewitness-written documents.
I even stressed that the beginning of your history is not the beginning of your existence.
We did have ancestors who lived before the beginning of our history.

Your brain is basically that of a 10 year old.

The era of Ogisos and Igodomigodo is known past. It may be unknown to you or maybe you just refuse to accept it. What is fairytale to you is history to others. You are alone in your foolish conviction.

If there is no eyewitness-written account, there is eyewitness-oral account.

Are you going to say because the Europeans weren't around during the time of Oba Eweka 1 then he did not exit, its just fairytales?
There's always some levels of truth in oral history even though some aspects may change overtime.

Ghostagain:


Our ancestors were much smarter than this. Colonization really destroyed the psyche of the black man.

Which ancestors are you talking about? The ones before the coming of the Europeans or the ones after the Europeans came? You said anything before the Europeans came is null and void abi?

May frustration not be the end of you bro..

Ghostagain:
@samuk, can you speak some senses into this brother ?
Did God curse us (the black man) with stupidity ?
You see this guy who can't reason above the capacity of a 10 year old, and this is supposedly an adult.

God have mercy.

Unless you and @samuk is the same, nobody will subscribe to this nonsense you are saying.

Ghostagain:

What don't you understand in the simple words which I said ?
Your history starts at the period in which the first document mentioning you was written. Is this so hard to understand?

What you don't understand is that my history goes beyond what you believe to be the beginning of my history. It did not start in the 14th century like you implied.

I have a strong firewall against foolishness emanating from you.

Ghostagain:

Ogiso never existed, igodomigodo never existed. Are you listening to me at all ?
Why are you so stubborn?
I have given you the definition of history, but it doesn't seem to enter your brain as you reveal that you are suffering from cognitive dissonance.

You don't seem to understand that your ogiso and other fairytales are not backed by any proof ! And you seem to be saying "just because there is no proof, are you going to deny they existed ?"

You don't understand the meaning and purpose of history.
History is also the study of those things you call fairytales and "fairytales" accounts for a large part of history books you see.
Ogisos and Igodomigodo were real.

Ghostagain:


The fact you think you are as educated and intellectually actif as me is a little bit insulting to say the least. I'm trying to educate you and you seem to believe I'm debating you.

Really you make me laugh.
Leave the intellectual or educated talk on the side, we are not competing about that else you find yourself in last position.

Your idea of history or when you believe history started is the bone of contention here..

Ghostagain:
@UMUAZEE
The thing which people like you fail to understand is the concept of "unknown past". You guys seem to believe that whatever happened in the past must be known today by people born several hundred years after that past ?

I don't know if you've followed the hard work which specialists do in order to unearth the past of Egypt. Yet you think you and "elders" can just as easily as that unearth the history of Benin, without doing any work ?

And in the case of Egypt, the Egyptians have had a written language for more than 2000 years !
Reading the scriptures left behind is what constitutes the history of Egypt.

History needs eyewitness written documents, that is the basis of history ! Benin has a history which started around the 1400's: that means eyewitness written documents describing Benin were written as early as the 1400's. It doesn't mean we didn't exist prior to the 1400's. Stop trying to fill the unknown past with fairytales! That is just nonsense!
(The yoruba do not have any history, that is why they are pretending fairytales are their history)
Our known past (History: based on eyewitness written documents) is too long for us to be wasting time on fairytales about unknown past which would be more than 600 years backward !

You need to understand that history is not fixed. It is an ongoing study and always subject to change.

Will you now say Ogisos did not exist or Igodomigodo is a fairytale because the Europeans did not meet them?

Like i said earlier, our history did not start with the coming of the Europeans, it is way older than that. Oral history may not be the best firm of history but it is also considered history.

Ghostagain:

I'm not using kid's gloves with you anymore.
You don't know what history is.
Your intellectual laziness is killing our culture !
"History" and "past" are two different things.
Everybody has a past ! But not everybody has a history ! Do you understand that ?
History is a bunch of events which are proven, not a bunch of fairytales told by story tellers describing a period of time which is hundreds of years before their birth.

You can't understand this because you are not using your brain fully. You believe "elders" have magical powers to do some time travel and see what took place hundreds of years before they were born ?
History is the study of eyewitness-written documents. You don't need to be a genius to understand this.

This is 2024 and your brain is stuck in 1970. Your brain is lazy, very lazy.

You sound a bit off.. you need to calm down, don't let your frustration get the better of you.
You cannot separate History and past as 2 different things.They are both connected, History is on going discussions based on past events. In other words, History relies on the Past.
Like you said, everyone has a past, if they decide to document their past it becomes history.
History is NOT the study of eyewitness-written documents like you implied. It is simply the study of past events. And it is oral account that we study to be able to know and understand our history.

If I may ask you, when did your history start?

Please stop confusing yourself, you need to calm down.

Ghostagain:

This is what I am talking about, you don't even know that our region has been recieving frequent visits from Europeans right from the 1400's. Those guys had a written language, they wrote down what they saw and made maps of the region. It is like you never even heard of this.
History is the study of eyewitness written documents, not the study of tales told by people who were born hundreds of years after the period of time which they are describing.

How many years have I spent posting such documents on nairaland and explaining what history actually is, yet each time I leave, you guys just forget everything and revert back to fairytales. This is what I meant by intellectual laziness.

Bro our history did not start with the first visit of the westerners/Europeans.. The Europeans documented what they saw or met on ground and we have all seen that.
I was referring to our history long before the coming of the Europeans, that history wasn't documented.. we rely on oral accounts.

Ghostagain:

The point which you are missing is that ogiamien story is a fairytale which doesn't have any historical basis. But you guys are devaluating the authenticity of Benin by dwelling on fairytales. That is why ogiamien is able to create a claim for himself, and look at you, you are already half-believing him.
Intellectual laziness will have you and your heritage taking different paths, 419 will take your heritage while you will keep dwelling in fairytales.
Ogiamien family is a traitor's family, they betrayed Oba Ovonramwen, that is why the invading British troops burnt down all Benin city's houses except that of the ogiamien. That non burnt ancient Benin house and the intellectual laziness of our youths is what fuels the ogiamien.
Being smart is not a thing which you only do when you are at school and you want to get a good grade, you need to be smart everyday or you lose what belongs to you.

Benin history wasn't documented on paper by our ancestors, we can only make sense of the oral accounts given by our elders.
Anyways, I seen the video you mentioned earlier. The palace should discredit those chiefs that went to Ife.

Ghostagain:
@Areafada
@Samuk

Guys, there is a video of some impostors dressed in Benin attire who go to the meet the Oni of ife call him their father and give him greetings reserved to the Oba of Benin. The impostors also recount that oranmiyan fairytale and call it "what we know". The impostors are part of a theatrical group, but the video online is claiming the Oba of Benin sent them. The ennemies of Benin are already using it as propaganda. Why have nobody addressed that ? This is yet an other attack on us and you guys just let it go ? Someone needs to tame the Oni of ife and his obsession with Benin monarchy.

I've said it many times before that it were time to put those fairytales to death, and use true scientific research of history instead. Nobody listened, and now you have some impostors calling themselves "ogiso" and trying to discredit the Benin throne.

You don't fight a fairytale with your own fairytale when you can just do proper historical research and you would be vindicated ! But for that, you need to be willing to use your brains and not be intellectually lazy.

Giving attention to such videos will be creating unnecessary awareness for it. I have not seen it and believe alot of people haven't seen it too. So it's better to ignore it.

Ogiamen has no claim to the throne, he is just spitting rubbish. He was never meant to be on the throne and even if he ruled, it wasn't going to be forever. So that family now claiming after almost 900years to be the rightful ruler of Benin is nonsense.

lawani:


What is your level.of education?. For thousands of years before Nigeria, Benin language was not spoken to anyone not in the Benin suburbs. I hope you know that?. Benin in extent was confined to Edo state parts of Ondo and Ekiti Delta and fringes of Igbo land at its greatest extent and what English is to Nigeria was what Yoruba was to Benin but more, because Yoruba was indigenous to the empire. All the big cities were speaking Yoruba only and they were Benin, Akure and Warri. Others were villages

I know I am more educated and more reasonable than you are.
Even if Benin Kingdom covered Edo state, parts of Ekiti, ondo, delta and parts of Igbo land like you say (although the empire extended more than that) it's influence, politics and fame extended worldwide..
Benin Kingdom was the the 3rd nation after USA and Portugal to recognize Brazil Independence in 1824.
This means Benin was already playing international politics when your Yoruba villages were still trying to find their feet.

FYI, Yoruba was only spoken in Yoruba lands just as Edo languages were spoken in Benin and also spoken in our conquered Yoruba territories.

lawani:


Benin was a Yoruba empire not different from Ijesa or Ijebu. Edo was one of the languages of the empire's peoples but not official. Edo as a language in the Benin empire did not have as many speakers as Igbo. I wonder when you will understand this

Benin was never a Yoruba empire but you can believe what you want but true fact is Benin Empire historically was greater than Oyo, Ife and all Yoruba kingdoms and as at 1820s was a civilized and progressive kingdom and was even on world stage unlike the Yorubas.

lawani:
History Reconstruction. The IJESA nation and the two Brazilian Orunmilas.

IFA alerted me in 2023 that a former President of Brazil, President Terver paid in millions of naira for ebo for the liberation of Yoruba land even when some so called elders on Yoruba land do not give a damn. I searched him up and he was a typical white man but I knew he must be a Yoruba descendant of course.
I later got to know during my IFA research that two Orunmila incarnations lived in Brazil. The first one whose grandfather landed in Brazil knew himself as Orunmila but the second one who was an Araba in Rorama (RR) did not know but he was a very prominent and well known Araba who died in 1786. He was born in 1696. The first Orunmila was his great great grandfather and President Terver is a descendant of the second Orunmila of Brazil.

How did they get there?. I got the story below via IFA.

The IJESA nation and the Palm oil trade.
Yeye Gunrogbo was the Owa Obokun of IJESA land. She was one of the four women that attained the rank out of 47 people so far.
Palm oil had become gold in Europe because it was one of the first oils of the industrial revolution and it was more sought after than the alternative available in India. The IJESA had it being.produced in large quantities in the over 400 cities, towns and villages under their control on their land as at then but they had no access to the sea except via the Oyo controlled Porto Novo. The IJESA did not want to have anything to do with the Oyo. The IJESA themselves were extorting Oyo traders at a point which led to an Oyo garrison being stationed on the trade route to the coast and that garrison became Ede whose land was formerly under IJESA control. The IJESA can not hope to get favorable terms from the Oyo. They therefore approached the Portuguese via the Oba of Benin because he had connections with them and there were many Portuguese in the city. The Portuguese agreed to take all Ijesa palm oil at a price that favored the Ijesa but the port to use became a problem. Yeye Gunrogbo said she will solve that problem and she solved it by approaching the King of the Awori whose land is on the coast and she sent emissaries to the monarch who said there is no problem so far it is just a trading post and an agreement was reached. The Owa Obokun sent emissaries to Benin and the OdU cast for the settlement action for trade and etc at Benin was OSE Irosun. IFA said that is the real Odu of Lagos island and the second one cast on getting there is less potent. The Benin chose the foreman and two supervisors. It was a joint venture and the Ijesa were supposed to choose two supervisors too since tgey owned the initiative and most of the palm oil but they gave the concession to the Portuguese. Two chiefs in Lagos island according to IFA are descended from Portugal. It was the foreman that became the Eleko and later the Oba of Lagos. The four foremen are the ancestors of the principal chiefs. Since the IJESA had a foothold in the place they started going to Europe and the Americas via the place. Two princes from IJESA land went together at one point. They were Prince Atakunmosa who later became the Owa Obokun and a prince of the Ogboni Ibokun. They went together, spent nine years there and left two sons each according to IFA. The prince of Ibokun was a descendant of Orunmila and the ancestor of President Trever of Brazil that landed from West Africa.

With all your rant about Yoruba and Brazilian connections, Benin Kingdom was the first African nation to recognize Brazil as an independent nation in 1820s. This means Yoruba kingdoms were small and insignificant and probably under the Benin Empire

Dsimmer:


Delusion. You can't even compare Ife bonze and coppers. The Ife arts were something phenomenal.

In fact, Igbo AD civilization probably included some arts of bini, gala, ndoma, Ibibi etc who threw the Igbo into the bush after Igbo trespassed into their territories. It's not today that Igbo has always been looking for trouble. Lol. Funnily, if they've got no one, they would face themselves like they were seen doing in the bush eating themselves before the missionaries came. Not to mention the Osu stuff

Anyways, ife is BC and it's yet to be excavated because Ooni says excavation attempt gives him nightmare. Wouldn't even be surprised if Ife was where the flood ark stood. After all Oke Ora is often stated in Ifa, although it was where Oduduwa came from.

Speaking of Yoruba Ifa, Yoruba Ifa itself is the biggest civilization out of Africa, considering it entails education enlightenment which includes science, creativity, technology etc..

Please which science, creativity and technology are you talking about? abi you mean ritual killings, backwardness and uncivilized ways that defined Yorubas before western intervention?

iichidodo:
Sleeper cells from Ukraine secret service at work, Russia terrorize Ukraine with missiles and shellings, Ukraine terrorize the hearts and minds of Russian citizens by f**king sh*t up in Moscow..

Lol.. just imagine what the Russian response will be like.

Obrigardo:


Hamilton Township, NJ. You know where that one dey for map, mr coconut head?

Wether you like it or not, Trump is your next president.

AreaFada2:
An interesting piece.

This again confirms that Benin Empire never had much appetite for slave trade. Of course, OP did not intend to say so.
I wish more tribes followed suit early to ban slave trade.

I have argued on NL for years that beginning with the rise of Oyo in about 1680/90s, slave trade volume increased. Up to about 1770s for sure. About the period that Oyabi and Alaafin Abiodun finally eliminated Bashorun Gaha.

Because there are some tribes who still insist that Benin traded in slaves massively. The duration was short and in fact slave trade in Benin persons or by Benin persons was outlawed quite early. Other tribes within Benin sphere of influence reserved the right to sell or by themselves as slaves.

Ghostwon
Samuk
Automaticmotors
Gregyboy

Like you rightly said, Benin's involvement in slave trading was short lived. Slave trading by Benin was used as a means to boost it's economy and when trade in cloth, spices, palm oil and others grew it quickly abandoned slave trade and banned it. Slave trade was not allowed in Benin territory or even selling a Benin citizen as slave.