YORUBA HERITAGE

Brief history of IJESHA and IJEBU-JESA: the origin Ijebu Jesa which hitherto before now was known and called Ijebu Egboro is the ancient historic town in the east of Osun State, Nigeria and it occupies a strategic position in Ijesaland. In Ijesa division, it is the next most important town politically and in terms of history to Ilesa. Her Oba is the next to the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland. The town is situated eight kilometers north of Ilesa and about 128 kilometers east of Ibadan. It lies approximately on latitude 7.45 degrees north within the rain forest belt and so offers opportunity for farming on a large scale. The people are the core of Ijesas and are noted for their dogged industry. Ijebu jesa was founded by Oba Agigiri Egboroganlada (first Onijebu Egboro) – a son of Oodua Olofin Aiye who was also an elder brother of Owa Obokun Ajibogun. Agigiri means “the battle or war waves hot (A de k’ogun gbona girigiri)”. Ajibogun is interpreted as one who meets war (Ade ba ogun). Both Agigiri

Ifa, Divination, Computer Science, 256 Odus Ifa works with the unseen forces of the universe through the inter-play of the forces of expansion and the forces of contraction. The forces of expansion are symbolised by a single vertical line (I). The forces of contraction are symbolised by a double set of vertical lines (II). These forces are seen as existing in eight dimensions which form two spheres, one inside the other. This sphere is symbolised through the use of two vertical columns. Each column is made up of four sets of either single or double vertical lines.   Orunmila, in order to make access to the retrieval of the Divine Message (Ifa) easy, devised the computer compatible binary coding system, thousands of years before the emergence of computer consciousness in so-called modern man! So, Ifa is preserved in binary coded format and is output Parable - Format. Ifa is coded within 256 Odus or Corpus, each Odu representing an esoteric pigeon-hole, itself divisible into 256 sub-hole

Royal Controversy: Ooni Of Ife And Olugbo Of Ugbo In Supremacy Battle There is an ongoing battle of supremacy between the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom in Ondo State, Oba Obateru Akinruntan, over which throne is the monarchical seat of power in Yorubaland and the origin of Oduduwa, the so-called progenitor of Yoruba people. This controversy is seen in statements made by the two leaders overs issues they have diverse view on. In reaction to statements made by the Ooni at the unveiling of Moremi Ajasoro’s statue weeks ago, Oba Akinruntan attacked the Ooni of Ife for describing the woman as a heroine. The Ugbo monarch disagreed with the Ooni, who described Moremi as a goddess when he recently unveiled a 42-foot statue in her honour. To the Ondo monarch, Moremi was a traitor who betrayed her husband, Osangangan Obamakin. But in a swift reaction, the Ife monarch said Olugbo did not have deep knowledge of Yoruba history. Royal Controver

Everything You Need to Know About The Osun-Osogbo Festival Every August, lots of people from around the world throng to Osun State, Nigeria, to attend and participate in the famous, two-week long Osun-Osogbo Festival. It is held at the illustrious and sacred Osun Grove, which was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Although a sizable number of the participants are Osun indigenes, the festival has, over the years, morphed into an event that attracts the attention of tourists and visitors from other parts of the world. The Early Years... According to legend, the festival was borne out of the yearly sacrifice done to celebrate the river goddess, who serves as the protector of the the clan. The legend goes thus: about seven centuries ago, when the current Osogbo community was founded. The river goddess assured the people of her protection and promised to bless their women with fruitfulness of they would offer a sacrifice to her annually. The contract was sealed and the

Osogbo War of 1840  The Fulani Jihad, led by Sheik Usman Dan Fodio that began in 1804 in Sokoto, and spread gradually to Hausal and down south of the River Niger, had telling effects, not only on Northern Nigeria, but virtually the whole of modern Nigeria. The cause, course and effects have been well documented by scholars, particularly historians. One lasting effect is the spread of Islam. Other consequences include restructuring of political setting and tribal maps in some parts of modern day Nigeria, including Yorubaland. Ilorin and its region, which were on the northern fringe of Oyo Empire was sacked by Fulani elements domiciled in that nascent town in 1823 and it therefore, became a satellite of the Sokoto caliphate and a base from where the Jihadists attempted to penetrate, subjugate and Islamise Yorubaland. Revisiting the Osogbo war of 1840 becomes imperative because many historical works on this aspect of the 19th century Yoruba history have ascribed or attributed

ILE IFE, NIGERIA (CA. 500 B.C.E.- ) POST Ile Ife, Sacred Yoruba City Ile Ife, also known as Ife, is an ancient Yoruba city in the southwestern part of  Nigeria . Ile Ife is said to be dated back around 500 B.C. when it was founded and is the oldest Yoruba city. It is presently part of Osun State and has an estimated population of 501,000 people. Ife is home to one of Nigeria’s most prestigious  universities ,  Obafemi Awolowo  University, as well as the Natural History Museum of Nigeria.  Ife is also a prominent regional agricultural center for a surrounding area that produces vegetables, grain cacao, tobacco, and cotton. Ile Ife is the city where the Yoruba believe their civilization began as well as the location where the gods descended to earth. The name, Ile Ife, literally means  place of dispersion . According to Yoruba tradition, Ife was founded by the deities Oduduwa and Obatala when they created the world. Obatala fashioned the first humans out of clay while Oduduwa b

THE YORUBA AND THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS By: Samuel Adekunle In the first chapter, we talked about the aboriginal nature of the Yoruban peoples. In this chapter, we shall talk of a possible migration from ancient Egypt. Many traditions point to a fact that an alien group (Egyptians) immigrated to Yoruba land and mixed with the original population. Many oral traditions are replete with these stories. The Awujale of Ijebu land has shown that the Ijebus are descended from ancient Nubia (a colony of Egypt). He was able to use the evidence of language, body, scarification, coronation rituals that are similar to Nubians� etc, to show that the Ijebus are descendants of the Nubians. What the present Awujale claimed for the Ijebus, can be authenticated all over Yoruba land. The Awujale even mentioned (2004) that the Itsekiri (an eastern Yoruba dialect) are speaking the original Ijebu language. Since the Nubians were descended or colonized by the Egyptians, the Ijebu, and by extension,