The Yoruba People, of whom there are more than twenty-five million, occupy the southwestern corner of Nigeria along the border with Benin Republic and extends into Benin Republic itself. To the east and north the Yoruba culture reaches its approximate limits in the region of the Niger River. However ancestral cultures directly related to the Yoruba once flourished well north of the Niger. Portuguese explorers "discovered" (for the Europeans) the Yoruba cities and kingdoms in the fifteenth century, but cities such as Ife and Benin, among others, had been standing at their present sites for at least five hundred years before the European arrival. Archeological evidence indicates that a technologically and artistically advanced, proto-Yoruba (Nok) were living somewhat north of the Niger in the first millennium B.C., and they were then already working with iron. (Source 1)

Ifa theology states that the creation of humankind arose in the sacred city of Ile Ife where Oduduwa created dry land from water. Much later on an unknown number of Africans migrated from Mecca to Ile Ife. At this point the Eastern Africans and Western Africans synergized.

Beside the policy of quota admission, there is also the total neglect of the budgetary needs of higher educational institutions during the military eras. Universities deteriorated in every aspect of their functions. It was during this period that the catering facilities were eliminated from the institutions. The result is that it became too difficult for students to concentrate on their studies. They have to think of where they next meal will come from, and many resorted to skipping meals, with serious consequences on their health and academic progress. Classroom space became problematic and laboratory facilities fell into states of disrepair. In short, the universities became ghosts of their former selves. The military shows its lack of interest in higher education by just killing the institutions slowly but systematically. For the Yoruba who love education and would give up other good to give their children the best education, it has been a frustrating experience. (Source 3)

The empire of Oyo collapsed during the first two decades of the 19th century. The increase of slave-holding likely played an important role. Enslavement had undoubtedly increased as slave trading expanded to meet European demand, and slave-holding probably increased further as a result of the British decision in 1807 to outlaw slave trading, for the gradual decline of European demand reduced the price of slaves, bringing them within the means of local purchasers. The increasing importance of slavery may have helped cause a revolt by an important military commander named Afonja in 1823. Afonja won support by appealing to Oyo¹s enslaved population. A 19th-century history of the Yoruba described Alfonja¹s rebellion in this way: "All the Hausa slaves in the adjacent towns hitherto employed as barbers, rope-makers and cowherds, now deserted their masters and flocked to Ilorin under the standard of AfonjaŠ and were protected against their masters. (Source 2)

Some topics in this essay:
Kinship Yoruba, Atinuke Abike, Eji-ogbe Mo, Traditional Education, Obatala Orisa, South-western Nigeria, POLITICAL SYSTEMS, Traditional Yoruba, Chief Awokoya, Coast Source, source 3, source 2, source 7, source 1, traditional yoruba, yoruba country, yoruba culture, extended family, child born, source 1 yoruba, yoruba people, education traditional education, family source 7, discriminatory policies admission, rites beliefs music,