Ile-Ife’s pre-eminence in Yoruba land

Historical facts and legends concerning the place of Ile-Ife in Yoruba history abound. In fact, it is incontrovertible that every Yoruba of whatever dialectal variation has his roots in Ife. Seyi Odewale traces the genealogy of Ife, its widely held myths and legends as well as its place in Yoruba world view.

When the immediate past Ooni of Ife, the late Oba Okunade Sijuwade, OlubuseII, passed on on July 28, the ancient town of Ile-Ife grabbed the headlines. The last time similar stories were done on Ile-Ife was 35 years ago, when Oba Sijuwade’s predecessor, Sir Adesoji Aderemi, passed on.

A lot of reasons may be adduced for the prominence, which the town has always enjoyed. Principal amongst them are the place of the ancient town in Yoruba history and the pre-eminence of its monarchs. Ile-Ife is fondly referred to by Yoruba as the cradle of the race; the source of creation, a place where all Yoruba, regardless of their dialects and world view, have their roots. Oduduwa is generally believed to be their progenitor.

According to Yoruba, a myth regarded Ile-Ife as where the founding deities of Oduduwa and Obatala began the creation of the world, as directed by the paramount and Supreme Deity, Olodumare. The Oòni (King) of Ife, it was also said, claims direct descent from the god, Oduduwa, and is counted first among Yoruba kings”.

According to historians, the town’s habitation can be traced as far back as 350 BCE. The meaning of the word “Ife” in the Yoruba language is “expansion;” “Ile-Ife” means in reference to the myth of origin, “The House of Expansion”. In fact, the city is regarded as the origin of Yoruba culture and industry. It has been called the “Athens of Africa”, where civilisation originated from.

History has it that the town, first occupied as early as the 1st millennium AD, was the most populous in the early days of the race and the importance of its culture during the 14th and 15th centuries AD, made the town to be considered the traditional birth place of the Yoruba civilisation, of the latter part of the African Iron Age.

During the heydays of 12th-15th centuries, the town flourished in bronze and iron arts. Beautiful natural terracotta and copper alloy sculptures made during the early periods were found at Ife. These artifacts were later sculptures of the lost-wax brass technique known as Benin bronzes. Perhaps the apogee of the town’s culture was the construction of decorative pavements, open-air courtyards paved with pottery shreds. This unique Yoruba custom was said to have been first commissioned by Ile-Ife’s only female monarch, Queen Luwoo, who was the 21st Ooni of Ife The potsherds were set on edge, sometimes in decorative patterns, such as herringbone with embedded ritual pots.

There are two significant versions of history of origin of Ife; mythical and migratory. Perhaps the mythical version gave it the pre-eminence it has among Yoruba and their cities.

As earlier on stated, Yoruba claimed to have originated in Ife. According to their mythology, Olorun (God), the Supreme Being, ordered Obatala, the arch deity, to create the earth, but on his way, Obatala found palm wine, drank it and became intoxicated. Therefore, the younger brother of the latter, Oduduwa, was said to have taken the three items of creation from him, climbed down from the heavens on a chain and threw a handful of earth on the primordial ocean, then put a cockerel on it which scattered the earth, thus creating the land on which Ile Ife was built.

Oduduwa later planted a palm nut in the hole and from there sprang a great tree with sixteen branches representing the clans of the early Ife city-state. The usurpation of creation by Oduduwa gave rise to the everlasting rivalry between him and his brother Obatala, which today is being re-enacted by the cult groups of the two clans during the Itapa, New Year festival in Ile-Ife.

But the migratory version seemed more plausible. Yoruba were said to be the product of intermarriage between a band of invaders led by Oduduwa from the Savannah in the northeast and the indigenous inhabitants, whom they subdued. Oduduwa was said to be the son of Lamurudu, a prince from the east; said to be possibly of Nok culture origin.

Oduduwa and the subdued natives left their homeland at some point between the first and the seventh centuries, wandered for a while, before settling in Ife. He first had twin from his wife and because it was a taboo to have twins, he sent them away. He was to later have a son called Okanbi, who in turn had seven children that founded the Yoruba states of Owu, Sabe, Popo, Benin, Ila orangun, Ketu and Oyo.

A variation of this legend said Oduduwa had six sons and one grandson, who went ahead to found their own kingdoms and empires, namely Ila Orangun, Owu, Ketu, Sabe, Popo, Oyo and Benin. Oranmiyan, Oduduwa’s last born, was one of his father’s principal ministers and overseer of the nascent Edo Empire after Oduduwa refused the plea from the Edo people to govern them. When Oranmiyan decided to return to Ile- Ife after a period of service in Benin, he left behind his child, Eweka, whom he had had in the interim with an indigenous princess. The young boy went on to become the first legitimate ruler of the second Edo dynasty that has continued to rule what is now Benin. Oranmiyan later went on to found the Oyo Empire, which stretched, at its height, from the western banks of the river Niger to the Eastern banks of the river Volta. It would go on to serve as one of the most powerful empires of Africa’s medieval states.

Supporting the mythical origin of Ife, oral tradition saw Oduduwa as a heavenly being, which descended at the instance of God, to complete the creation of the earth. Like most Yoruba names, Oduduwa is believed to be a shortened form of Odu-to-da-iwa, which translates in English to mean, “the deity or cosmic principle that created existence”. It can also be interpreted as “the deity or cosmic principle that creates character” Oduduwa has always been tied to his function in earthly creation.

To typical Ife indigenes, the earth was created twice. To them, Ife creation story has a semblance with the biblical explanation of the creation story. According to the Holy Scripture, God created the heavens and the earth in the book of Genesis chapter one. Though the world was wiped off in a flood, resulting from downpour that lasted forty days and nights, God preserved the family of Noah, who became the transitory vehicle to the second world.

According to the legend, the first creation was ‘Ife Oodaye’, which means “Ife of first earth origin”, which was corroborated by some high chiefs of the town. To them, Obatala’s mission of creating humans was brought into fruition by Oduduwa, because he lost the opportunity by being inebriated. The myth said the supreme deity ordered his son, Oduduwa, to descend from the heavens on a chain with three things. That is why Oduduwa is being referred to as ‘Atewonro’, literarily means the one, who descended with chain. He was said to have scattered a handful of dirt over the ocean, creating Ile-Ife. He then put a cockerel, which had six fingers on the land. It was the cockerel that undertook the task of spreading the soil to other parts of the world with its fingers just like we have today while scavenging for something to eat. Through this process, the earth was expanded upon the earth created by the Supreme Being, which the Bible alluded to as formless and void and dark. Today in Ife, Oduduwa’s statue with his divine cockerel stands in a flowery beautiful park facing the palace of the Ooni.

A historian, Olu Ademulegun, in his book, ‘Who is Oduduwa?’ “The first creation, which was Ife Oodaye, was destroyed by flood due to conflicts and excesses of the gods. This had a semblance with the forty-day Biblical flood story. The second creation, therefore, took place after the flooding and it was called Ife “Ooyelagbo, which means Ife of the survivors and, its creation was by Oduduwa as one of the surviving sky (celestial) gods”.

Justifying the Ife traditionalist’s perspective on the role of Oduduwa in creation, Ademulegun, wrote: “I see a lot of sense in the traditional view that Oduduwa was fully in charge at that second creation and he berthed on a hill the traditionalists called Oramfe. The Jews, who departed Africa years later toward the east, probably abridged Odu-ino-iwa (the ancient Ife dialect for Oduduwa) to Noah and also abridged Oramfe to Arafat. The correlation between this myth of flooding and the biblical version seemed to have lent much credence to the belief of many Yoruba that Ife, was indeed, the cradle of creation. Consequently, places such as Edena, a corrupt version of Garden of Eden, Orun Oba’do, Oke Oramfe, a corruption mount Arafat and many other historic places made the myth more potent.

Some Ife High Chiefs affirmed that Noah’s ark berthed on a hill called Oramfe. This may have explained why the new Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, visited Oramfe to perform some rights preparatory to his installation as the Ooni. Ademulegun seemed to have agreed to this myth that Ife is “where the earth started and expanded”.  He wrote: “The Ife/Oduduwa myth as recorded in Ife Corpus is, to me, about Africa being the home of the mother race of humanity.”

Also, in their book “Yoruba: Nine centuries of African Art and Culture,” Professors John Drewal, Penberton and Rowland Abiodun said: “The Yoruba speaking peoples of Nigeria and the popular Republics of Benin (former Dahomey) together with their countless descendants in other parts of Africa and the Americans, have made remarkable contributions to world civilisation. Their urbanism is ancient and legendary, probably dating to AD800 – 1000 according to the result of archaelogical excavations at two ancient city sites – Oyo and Ife. These were only two of numerous complex cities – states headed by secret rulers, men and women and council of elders and chiefs. Many have flourished up to our own time. The dynasty of kings at Ife, for example regarded by the Yoruba as place of origin of life itself and of human civilisation, remains unbroken to the present.

They added: “The prehistoric era is still unknown, but data from a last stone age site at Iwo Eleru about 47 miles from Ife contributed some collateral data. There, human remains identified as Negroid dating to 8000 BC were found, more significantly, about 1000 BC decorated pottery appears in abundance at Ife.” These excavations clearly revealed Ife and Yoruba history to be well over 4000 years before Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation and about 8000 years before Jesus Christ.

Also, Reverend Samuel Johnson in his book wrote: “All various tribes in Yoruba traced their origin from Oduduwa and the city of Ile-Ife, fabled as the spot where God created man and from where they dispersed all over the earth.” With all these assertions Ife unarguably occupied and still occupies a pre-eminent place in Yoruba history, beliefs and religion.

 Ife in the eyes of the Yoruba

Historians and archaeologists may have attempted to place Ife as the cradle of creation, particularly to suit the Yoruba, whose belief is that the founder of their race was from Ile-Ife. Throughout the length and breadth of Yoruba, Ife is held in awesome reverence. From time immemorial, Yoruba villages and towns trace their ancestral link to the town. In the same way, every king traces his authority to Ife. Any monarch that cannot trace his root to the ancient city cannot be seen as Oba. Every beaded crown must be able to establish his link to the undisputable cradle of Yorubaland and civilisation, even till the present. In fact, most Yoruba monarchs preferred to get their staff of office from Ife.

It is, therefore, not uncommon to see kingship lineages labouring hard to establish the fact that their ancestors migrated from Ife. There is probably no king in Yoruba land that does not claim that his ancestors had the blood of Ife running in their veins. Going by the claim of affinity and biological bond by monarchs as well as towns and cities, it would appear that in those days, an Ife man, who crossed the border of the town, is seen by his host community as one with royal blood running in his vein. If he chose to settle in that community, he would soon become the rallying point of that community. In a matter of time, he would naturally assume position of leadership.

Almost all historians agreed on the fact that Ife was the capital of Yoruba, until the emergence of Oyo Empire. Captain C.H. Elegae, the colonial administrator of Ibadan, who wrote on the evolution of Ibadan, supported the view and noted that Ife was the capital and most ancient city in Yoruba land. During the colonial administration, a study on the origin and history of Yoruba and of course, Ife, formed part of the primary school curriculum in Yorubaland. This continued until the 1970s when the nation began to place less emphasis on the people’s cultural heritage and history while it embraced foreign cultures.

All sub-ethnic groups in Yoruba hold Ife in high regards and have one legend or the other to support their link with Ife. For instance, as distant as the Awori seem to be to Ife, their roots are firmly from Ife. Legend has it that their fore bearer, Ogunfunminire, a hunter, hunted games from Ile-Ife before camping at Isheri-Olofin, where he rested at the bank of the river. It was from there that his son, Aromire, always travelled to Lagos Island, Iga Idunganran, where he had his pepper farm. Aromire’s farm became the rallying point for Ijebu pepper traders and others from the hinter land that came to buy pepper, which they called in their local parlance, Idunganran, meaning pepper, while Iga in Ijebu dialect means place. Iga Idunganran, therefore, means the place of pepper in Ijebu dialect as recorded by historians. Interestingly, the descendants of Ogunfunminire became the land owners of Lagos, the Idejo chiefs headed by Olumegbon.

The same goes for other sub-ethnic groups such as Ekiti, Igbomina, Okun people, Egba and others with dialectical variations in Yoruba land.

In those days Ife’s pre-eminence was unrivaled and no one ever waged war against Ife because it was sacrilegious to do so. In fact, the first town that transgressed this unwritten law was severely punished by other Yoruba towns. Orile-Owu was reputed to have been the first town that transgressed this law. It began with a mere misunderstanding between two traders in the market over the price of pepper. Unfortunately, it escalated into taking up of arms against Ife, which was abominable and sacrilegious. The 1821 Owu war precipitated the 19th Century inter-tribal wars in Yoruba, which led to the beginning of the fall of old Oyo Empire, which was later ravaged by the Jihadists.

The late Oba Sijuwade, in establishing the pre-eminence of Ife, made a tour of Cotonou, Republic of Benin and Ghana, where the Yoruba live. The experience further bonded the Yoruba in the Diaspora with those at home. So also were the late Ooni’s visits to Brazil, Cuba, America, where he was deified as the representative of Oduduwa, their progenitor.

The advent of the British colonial masters, however, brought a twist into how Ife was being viewed by the Yoruba. At the time they came, old Oyo Empire was occupying the centre-stage as the only dominant power, politically, having won territories through wars of conquests, which took Alaafin’s suzerainty to places such as Dahomey, now known as the Republic of Benin. In fact, the old Oyo Empire stretched in power and splendor from the western banks of the river Niger to the Eastern banks of the river Volta in Ghana. However, Ife had then assumed a spiritual pedestal of some sort and was being given some spiritual pre-eminence.

But this seeming defining of role was to later pitch the Alaafin of Oyo against the Ooni of Ife, especially in assigning duties and responsibilities to them by the colonial masters. This, perhaps, brought about certain misgivings about who is pre-eminent between the two leading monarchs. However, the wound inflicted by the imperialists may have healed long ago, but the scar appears bolder by the passing of the day.

The Ooni/Alaafin ‘fight’ for supremacy was to play itself up in the 80s with the creation of the council of traditional rulers and who was supposed to head the council. But the carving of Osun State from the old Oyo State seemed to have put a permanent end to the unwarranted ‘war’ of ego.

Posted By: Seyi Odewale