What happened to all their previous claims? Before now, Igbos claimed that their ancestral origin was Nri where their mythical ancestral father, Eri, descended from with a chain many a millennia ago.
At some other time, they claimed they originated from somewhere around the Rivers Niger and\xa0 Benue confluence. They are known to have, at other times, claimed both Benin\xa0 and\xa0
Egypt
as their originat. Even until now they claim to be Jews, have their roots in Israel and, therefore, among the ten lost tribes of Israel” – Olukoya Dele Ogunfowora
So who truly are the Igbos and where do they come from?
They may soon claim to have originated from River Limpopo.
Igbos have a long line of witheringly brilliant History scholars, among them the likes of Professors Kenneth Dike and Adiele Afigbo both of the Ibadan School of History, representing the old generation while, amongst the new are Professors Elizabeth Isichei, Okoro Ijoma and Nnolue Emenanjo.
These eminent historians are well regarded in, and outside Nigeria, having made significant contributions to the study of History, particularly to the study of Igbo and African history and their work continues to be highly influential in the academic community.
But brilliant as they are, and despite the seminal work they have done on the History of their people, not one of them claimed that Igbos founded Ile -Ife. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of some Igbo charlatans now revelling in historical vandalism.
More surpring is the fact that these ones did not limit themselves to verbal diarrhoea as in when some Igbos say ‘Lagos is no man’s land’. Instead, they have attempted to cast this lie in stone by publishing it in school text books.
Let’s now see how a trending WhatsApp post exposed their blasphemy:
“Yoruba history is under siege, not by ignorance, but by a calculated ethnic agenda. A false claim is being pushed, namely, that the Igbo people founded Ile-Ife and were later chased
out by Oduduwa. It’s not on Facebook but in school textbooks.
It is in ‘Standard History Studies for JSS 1–3’, by Tony Duru & Ijeoma Duru, allegedly approved by NERDC where
students are being taught that Ife was originally occupied by Igbos until they were “invaded” by Oduduwa, thus foolishly accepting, for once, that these ‘Jews’ – or are they no longer Jews – were at a time not only conquered, but banished by the Yorubas.
Do they know what they are saying?
And was this before, or after they became Jews?
In ‘The Igbo: People, History and Worldview’ by Dons Eze & Chinedu Ochinanwata, they go even further, claiming that the Yoruba monarchy is built on Igbo spiritual systems, that Oduduwa overthrew a peaceful Igbo order, and that modern Ife is a hybrid of stolen identity.
Which of these their spiritual systems can they name?
Let it be said clearly:Ile-Ife is the cradle of Yoruba civilization. It was not founded by any Igbo. It was neither inherited nor conquered. And no amount of fiction can change that”.
There is no archaeological, linguistic, cultural, or oral record, Yoruba or foreign, that supports this heresy. What we have here is a disturbing weaponisation of their usual fraudulent pecadiloes.
And NERDC – the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, the Head of
whose Book Development Centre is, unsurprisingly IGBO, must be held accountable as an accomplice. would have since been afoot.
But we owe it a duty to make these conspiratorial ignoramuses unlearn what they are not only regurgitating, but are deliberately trying to force down the throat of younger generations of Nigerians.
I now proceed to educate them by pressing into service, the most authoritative historian of the Yoruba people, namely, Prof Banji Akintoye, via his 498 – page book: ‘A History of The Yoruba People’.
Full disclosure: Prof Akintoye is my life teacher; he was my teacher at Christ’s School, Ado – Ekiti in the early ’60’s and taught me History at the Great University of Ife, Ile -Ife, same decade.
In ‘A history of the Yoruba People’, Professor Akintoye deployed four decades of historiography research with current interpretation and analyses to present the most complete and authoritative Yoruba history since Samuel Johnson’s work in the early twentieth century.
Therein, he traced the origins of the Yoruba from its earliest, legendary and mythical beginnings, to the development of early Yoruba society, the revolution and early primacy of Ife from the tenth to the fifteenth century, the founding of Yoruba kingdoms and the power of frontiers as well as to the rise and fall of Oyo Empire.
I write here of Professor Akintoye’s stupendous, Magnum Opus, a highly definitive story of the Yorubas.
Yet, not once was reference made to Igbos as inhabitants of Ife at any point in time except when reference was made, tangentially, to some external aggressors called Igbo – Igbo who never one day inhabited or lived in Ife.
These external aggressors have since been positively identified as the Ugbo people for which reason Ugbos, a sect of the same Yoruba race – and not some wayfarers, forever laying claim to what does not belong to them – have not stopped asserting that they were the original inhabitants of Ife.
That was the story they heard from a highly placed Yoruba Monarch, misrepresented and weaponised, to claim that they were expelled from Ife by the legendary Oduduwa.
No historian (before these perennial trouble makers). – archaeologist, anthropologist, or linguist, Nigerian or foreign, has ever claimed, talk less of presenting credible evidence, that Igbos founded or ruled Ile-Ife.
A History of the Yoruba People traced a long history of internecine turmoil and wars in, and around, Ife but they were between well known, and named, Yoruba individuals, among them:Oduduwa, Obatala, Oreluere and Obameri to mention a few.
Professor Akintoye also wrote as follows on the Igbo – Igbo, the external aggressors:”Concerning the attacks from Igbo- Igbo, a tale exists in Yoruba folklore about one of a LATER King’s wife named Moremi.
According to this tale, which various generations of Yoruba people have amplified and even set to song, this beautiful woman, having determined that the Igbo raids had to stop, deliberately let herself be captured and taken to Igbo – Igbo. While there, she became a wife to their leader and was therefore able to learn all the secrets of the planning and execution of their raids on Ile- Ife.
She subsequently escaped and returned home and the information she brought enabled her husband( said to be the Oni Obalufon) to defeat the Igbo- Igbo and end their raids. Most of the people at Igbo – Igbo ultimately returned to live in Ile – Ife”.
He continued:”The most touching part of this tale is that this woman, in preparation for her adventure, had asked protection from the spirit of a local stream, and pledged that if she succeeded in her adventure, she would sacrifice her only son to the spirit.
And when she returned alive and the Igbo raids were decisively brought to an end, she did take the painful step of sacrificing her only son”.
Now that a Petition to Defend Yoruba History From Ethnic Distortion in Nigerian Textbooks by concerned citizens of Yoruba origin has been forwarded to the President, demanding that the underlisted steps be taken, it is hoped that government would act without any delay:
1. Immediate retraction and public disapproval of any textbook or material spreading this misinformation.
2. A formal investigation into how these textbooks were approved by NERDC.
3. Inclusion of Yoruba scholars and cultural experts in the curriculum review process.
4. Public apology, and correction notice, to be sent to all schools using these materials.
5. Implementation of safeguards to prevent ethnic propaganda disguised as education.
All these steps are important, according to the group, because:
allowing false ethnic narratives in our education system would endanger national unity, undermine cultural integrity, and misinform future generations.
Also, if this distortion is not corrected, millions of Nigerian students, especially Yoruba children, will grow up believing a lie about their ancestral identity”.
Concluding, as Moremi did to Yoruba’s eternal glory, the time has come for Yorubas to find the final solution to the Igbo problem, not only in Lagos, but Pan – Nigerian, if they refuse to rein in their antagonism to Yoruba interests everywhere.
Please Google:”Understanding Yoruba Mindset in context of Igbos as traitors”—A Tribute to Bishop (Prof) Funmilayo Adesanya-Davis, by a honest Igbo scholar, Dr Nwankwo Tony Nwaezeigwe, PhD.
Incidentally, the final solution needs not be deleterious. It may just require Yorubas helping to infuse sense into their perennial, bloody and economically ruinous “war of independence” being spearheaded by some Unknown Gun Men(UGM).
Let us join them to work towards a meaningful devolution of powers in Nigeria in the hope that they will then go back home to develop their own territory rather than continue to ogle what belongs to others.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Syndigate.info
).
