The Yoruba Civil Wars (1830 – 1886)

Oyo, the great exporter of slaves in the eighteenth century, collapsed in a civil war after 1817, and by the middle of the 1830s the whole of Yorubaland was swept up in these civil wars.

New centers of power–Ibadan, Abeokuta, Owo, and Warri–contested control of the trade routes and sought access to fresh supplies of slaves, which were important to repopulate the turbulent countryside. At this time, the British withdrew from the slave trade and began to blockade the coast. The blockade required some adjustments in the slave trade along the lagoons that stretched outward from Lagos, while the domestic market for slaves to be used as farm laborers and as porters to carry commodities to market easily absorbed the many captives that were a product of these wars.

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Ohanaeze backs Deji of Akure for banning Eze Ndigbo title

An Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has backed the Deji of Akure, Oba Ogunlade Aladetoyinbo, for banning the Eze Ndigbo title within the state capital.

Specifically, the group said the title was not recognised by traditional rulers in the South-East and added that it was wrong of any Igbo man to parade himself as the Eze Ndigbo in the South-West.

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Malê [of Yoruba descent] Revolt (1835) – the most significant slave rebellion in Brazil

The Malê Revolt (also known as The Great Revolt) is perhaps the most significant slave rebellion in Brazil.

On a Sunday during Ramadan in January 1835, in the city of Salvador da Bahia, a small group of black slaves and freedmen, inspired by Muslim teachers, rose up against the government. Muslims were called malê in Bahia at this time, from Yoruba imale that designated a Yoruba Muslim.

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The Yoruba Civil Wars (1830 – 1886)

Oyo, the great exporter of slaves in the eighteenth century, collapsed in a civil war after 1817, and by the middle of the 1830s the whole of Yorubaland was swept up in these civil wars.

New centers of power–Ibadan, Abeokuta, Owo, and Warri–contested control of the trade routes and sought access to fresh supplies of slaves, which were important to repopulate the turbulent countryside. At this time, the British withdrew from the slave trade and began to blockade the coast. The blockade required some adjustments in the slave trade along the lagoons that stretched outward from Lagos, while the domestic market for slaves to be used as farm laborers and as porters to carry commodities to market easily absorbed the many captives that were a product of these wars.

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‘Abobaku’ tradition has been abolished in 1859! …the custom is NOT practised anywhere in Yorubaland today

“Ife has never practiced the tradition before and no one can point to anywhere in Yoruba land today where the tradition is under vogue. Abobaku is a system in the past and it has gone with the past. It is vicious and malicious to peddle what you know nothing about to score a mere rhetoric point. We are proud of our ancestral past”!

I have watched the show of vacuity as it is been displayed by some of the online gurus (mediocre) in the recent time about the Abobaku saga. It is ignoramus to jump into the pool you have not delved before.

Abobaku is a traditional practice in the ancient Yoruba Empire. Abobaku custom is peculiar to the Ancient Oyo-Yoruba Empire. It is not heinous as some people take it to be, rather it is a matter of choice, people compete to occupy the position of Abobaku just as other positions because while the king is alive, the Abobaku enjoys de facto power and he shares in the glory of His Royal Highness.

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No truth about Abobaku eloping over late Ooni’s death

Quite a number of no-truths and distortion has been written regarding the eloping of an entity called ‘Abobaku’.

In Ile-Ife, the person so referred to is called ‘Saarun’, head of the ‘Emeses’ who are stewards to a reigning Ooni.

The Saarun is the head and closest aid who must go everywhere the Ooni goes. It follows in the days of old that upon the demise of an Ooni, his most trusted aid and steward will be interred with him to continue his life of service to his master and as well show his loyalty.

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Burial Ceremony of Late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade (photos)

The 15th Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade has been laid to rest in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, South-West Nigeria.

Dignitaries, including Nigeria’s Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo paid their respects before the private burial.

more pictures after the break…

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Nigerian Kingdoms: Yoruba Kingdom of Ife (700AD – 1960)

As of the 7th century BCE the African peoples who lived in Yorubaland, were not initially known as the Yoruba, although they shared a common ethnicity and language group. By the 8th century, a powerful Yoruba kingdom already existed in Ile-Ife, One of the earliest in Africa south of the Sahara-Sahel.

The historical Yoruba develop in situ, out of earlier Mesolithic Volta-Niger populations, by the 1st millennium BCE. Oral history recorded under the Oyo Empire derives the Yoruba as an ethnic group from the population of the older kingdom of Ile-Ife. The Yoruba were the dominant cultural force in southern Nigeria as far back as the 11th century.

The Yoruba are among the most urbanized people in Africa. For centuries before the arrival of the British colonial administration most Yoruba already lived in well structured urban centers organized around powerful city-states (Ìlú) centered around the residence of the Oba.

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Nigerian Empires: Oyo Empire (1400 – 1896)

The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today western and northern Nigeria. Established in the 14th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose through the outstanding organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade and its powerful cavalry.

The Oyo Empire was the most politically important state in the region from the mid-17th to the late 19th century, holding sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin to the west.

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Igbos appeal to Lagos State Government and Police Commissioner for protection of their lives and property after elections

The Igbo in Lagos have appealed to Lagos State government and the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, to put security measures in place to ensure the protection of their lives and property after the general elections.

The appeal came just as they demanded an apology from Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos over his comment that the Igbo would perish in the Lagos lagoon, in seven days, if they did not vote for his choice governorship candidate in yesterday’s elections.

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