Part 4
Much of West Niger Igbo Originated From Ile-Ife and Not Southeast
Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, PhD August 3, 2025
Odogwu of Ibusa
Former Director, Centre for Igbo Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Email: Nwaezeigwe.genocideafrica@gmail.com
Let me begin by stating that there is a component of objectivity in scholarship inherent among the average Yoruba scholars but absent in their Igbo counterparts. Seeing Yoruba historians and even the Ooni of Ife advancing the Igbo aboriginality in a city known and established as the cradle of Yoruba nation in the face of Igbo-Yoruba ethno-political rivalry is a rare case of unrivalled objectivity in scholarship and proven humility to truth.
For the Igbo, if they were to be put in the place of the Yoruba with regard to Ile-Ife history, they would have done everything possible to suppress the truth in the name of vile ethnic bigotry through willful engagement in reflective ethnic bias in scholarship at the detriment of proven historical evidence.
One can readily see this attitude of vile historical forgery dastardly being displayed in the on-going social media fuses about some Anioma (West Niger Igbo) communities claiming origin from Benin; the historical scam called Obu-Gad in Aguleri that formulated the false claim of Igbo origin from Israel with Aguleri as the aboriginal Jewish settlement in Igboland; and of course the Professor Michael Onwuejeogwu-led immigrant Agukwu-Nri-based Nri Kingdom and Hegemony in the face of already settled aboriginal Umudiana Adama-Nri of Igbo origin.
From the last part, we have been able to establish the fact that southward migrations from the Niger-Benue Confluence by the Ijon, Igbo and Yoruba took both banks of the River Niger. Thus in the case of the Igbo, while the East bank of Niger migration anchored at the Northern Igbo zone along the Nsukka-Udi-Enugu-Okigwe Cuesta, the West bank migration anchored at the present Ile-Ife, then known as Igbo-Mokun.
In other words, like the cases of the Yoruba and Igala, as well as the Eastern and Western Ijon, the Igbo East of the Niger and the Igbo West of Niger, have separate traditions of origin, migration and settlement. Thus, the earlier assumption by the like of Professor Adiele Afigbo that the later eastward migrations of the Igbo from the vicinity of the Benin Kingdom were recoil migrations cannot be sustained in the light of emerging body of evidence.
And to be fair to Professor Afigbo, at the time of his postulation of the idea of recoil migrations by the likes of Eze Chime and Chima Ukwu, his knowledge was only limited to Igbo presence within the vicinities of the Benin Kingdom. The knowledge of Ile-Ife the cradle of Yoruba origin being equally the cradle of Igbo origin west of the Niger was unknown to many scholars both east and west of the Niger.
Regarding the truth about the existence of Igbo aborigines of the present Ile-Ife, it was Professor J. A. Atanda who first made mention of such evidence. In his opinion he agrees with the evidence of pre-Oduduwa settlers of the present Ile-Ife and its environs who were named Igbo because according to him they were more or less forest dwellers.[i]
However, we are further led into the deeper understanding of the pre-Oduduwa Igbo period of Ile-Ife by the works of Professor Isola Olomola[ii] and Professor Biodun Adeniran[iii], both of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, which actually revealed the identity of the pre-Oduduwa inhabitants of Ile-Ife to be Igbo autochthones as well as aspects of their traditional political leadership, religion and, economy. Their position was further supported by Professor S. A. Akintoye in his A History of the Yoruba People[iv]; and indeed Professors Aribidesi Usman and Toyin Falola.[v]
Basing his argument on Ife-Ikedu myth, Professor Olomola postulated that the present Ile-Ife was inhabited by a group of aborigines who had produced between 93 and 97 kings before the arrival of Oduduwa.[vi] He stated further that the original name of Ile-Ife was Igbo-Mokun and that the term ‘Ife’ came into currency during the reign of fourth Ooni of the Oduduwa dynasty–– Oranmiyan.[vii]
The term “Igbo-Mokun” no doubt goes further to reveal the Igbo character of the aborigines of Ile-Ife. The word “Igbo” among the Yoruba no doubt is widely used in both prefix and suffix forms, and connotes many meanings. For us to know its various meanings, the best source for us at this point is the earliest published vocabulary of Yoruba language written in mid-19th century by Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther and published in 1852. According to Reverend Crowther as he was then addressed, the word “Igbo” connotes the following meanings:
Igbó— forest, wood, grove; Igbó— old age, the act of barking like a dog; Je igbó, je ito “May you enjoy many days, (lit. Eat old age, and longevity)”; Igbo— name of a bird, which feeds on the eggs of other birds— “Igbo wa ille eiyekeiotu, (The igbo searches the nests of other birds to plunder them”; Igbo, Egbo— the act of rubbing so as to peel off the husk; Igbo— an idol-sacrifice, assembly of Priests, idol-worship, food of the sacrifice.[viii]
From the foregoing definitions, it is probable that the current use of the word “Igbo” as an ethnic identity emanated from the last meaning, specifically “assembly of priests”, because it is likely that the Igbo met at Igbo-Mokun by Oduduwa were very religiously inclined. Thus to Oduduwa and his followers, “Igbo” stands for a traditional priestly class.
Linking his findings on Igbo aborigines of pre-Oduduwa Ile-Ife with similar oral evidence among Ijesha and Ekiti subgroups through the Ile-Ife Ikedu myth, Isola Olomola wrote: “We are thus left with Igbomokun. This name has occurred in many folktales of the eastern Yoruba and among the Ijesha and Ekiti.”[ix] Quoting the Ikedu myth further, Olomola went ahead to state: “The dawn is usually reserved for the most solemn assemblies because, as they say, the dawn belongs to the King of the Igbo.”[x]
He went further to conclude:
In Ife tradition also, reference is made to ‘Kutukutu, Oba Igbo’, that is ‘Early morning, the King of Igbo’ In Ijesha and Ekiti, reference is made to ancient Ife as ‘Igbomokun Akiri’ and, as the aforementioned reference to dawn shows, the people are known as Igbo. Even in Ife tradition the people are referred as Igbo…the wars of vengeance they fought against the new dynasty and the city are referred to as ‘Igbo raids’.[xi]
Quite interesting in the above quotation is the description of Igbo-Mokun as “Igbomokun Akiri” by Ijesha and Ekiti people, which suggests the origin of the aboriginal settlers of the present Igbanke group of communities in Edo State, formerly known as “Igbo-Akiri”, to be the Igbo-Mokun of the present Ile-Ife. This again puts the Ile-Ife theory or tradition of West Niger Igbo origin from Ile-Ife plausible.
Professor Biodun Adeniran also in his own account established the Igbo character of Ile-Ife through the rituals of the economy of the aborigines. He based his argument on the culture of palm-wine tapping, introduction of yam cultivation in Yorubaland and the presence of age-grade system among the people. Making reference to one of the thirteen aboriginal settlements of the present Ile-Ife named “Ijugbe”, Adeniran wrote:
Each quarter was headed by a priest king (Elejugbe/Obalejude) and it appeared there was division of labour based strictly on the age-grade system. In the settlement, there was a hierarchy of chiefs. The economic basis of this hierarchy may be founded in the names Eteko (farm founder) or Orisateko and Akosuu l’Ogbe (producer of yam in the dry season). The priest king was said among other things, to be in-charge of rain, to have introduced yam seeding into Ife and to have been a palm-wine taper.[xii]
The above observation by Professor Biodun Adeniran clearly affirms not only Bishop Crowther’s definition of the word “Igbo” as the “assembly of priests” but agrees with the suggestion that Oduduwa might have taken his observation of the people’s religious activities and organization as the best way to describe the meaning of their ethnic nomenclature.
Given the ritualized status of yam cultivation, the institutionalization of the age-grade system and, the fundamental spiritual roles of the priest-king––Eze-Ana among the Igbo, it becomes historically convincing to agree with Olomola that the original settlers of not just Ile-Ife and its environs but much of the Eastern Yorubaland were aboriginal Igbo by ethnic extraction.
In a bold move to support this fact of Igbo aboriginality of Ile-Ife without ethnic bias or the pride of his status as the traditional heir of Oduduwa, the Ooni of Ife Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja ll, the politico-spiritual potentate of the whole Yorubaland, reaffirmed this aboriginality of Igbo settlement in Ile-Ife before the arrival of Oduduwa and his Anago or Olukumi-speaking group, to the Igbo settlement of Igbo-Mokun, now re-named Ile-Ife.
Addressing a delegation of Igbo leaders from Lagos State led by the Lagos State Branch Chairman of the apex Igbo ethnic organization—Ohaneze Ndigbo in April 2019, Oba Adeyeye stated quite at length:
This is your root. I said it recently, some of our Yoruba kinsmen with ignorance of our history came out with nugatory beratement of my position on the family ties between Yoruba and Igbo people. We have to say the truth and the truth must set us all free, we are blood brothers. We should be inseparable. Please feel at home in Yorubaland and respect your Yoruba brothers and sisters too. We still have House of Igbo right in this palace till date. We call it Ile Igbo up till now. Our ancestors are buried and transfigured there. That is where kolanut was first discovered and nurtured. The Igbos are still the biggest consumers and users of kolanut which is only planted in Yorubaland till date. Can the Igbos do without kolanut? The ancient Igbo house is one of the most sacred places in this palace till date. One of my brother kings – Aka Arogundabi from Iremo quarters saw the mysteries of house of Igbo (Aka-ri-Igbo). Till date, Akarigbo of Remoland still sees house of Igbo as a common heritage of his forebears.[xiii]
Against the backgrounds of the claim of primacy by the Olugbo (Olu-Igbo) of Ugbo (Igbo) Kingdom and the Igbo claim of Jewish origin, Oba Adeyeye stated further:
They say one Igbo is different from the other, it is true we have about 4 categories of Igbos we have Igbo Ile, Igbo Oko the Iwinrin sub ethnic clan and Ado na Udu. All make up to the unified Igbo clan. There were different clans of Igbos that left from Ife to establish their kingdoms. One of them rebelled back and started coming to cause mayhem in Ife (where they originally came from) and that is the Olugbo kingdom. We should all come together and forget what happened in the past. I mentioned that the Igbos started the spirit of profitability, Aje, in Ife at Igbomokun market (known as Oja Ife too). I implore you to tell the entire Ndigbo that you did not come from Jew, the Jews came from you and that is the truth. Let us all reconcile differences and look at things that connect us rather than things that divide us.[xiv]
From the foregoing therefore we are compelled to accept one gospel and historical truth and, that is that the claim that Oduduwa (Oodua) as the father of the Yoruba ethnic nation cannot be sustained by historical evidence. Indeed, the claim of Oduduwa as the putative progenitor of Yoruba ethnic nation only gained currency in the early 20th century. It wasn’t so before up to 19th century.
Even Bishop Crowther in his 1852 Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language described Oduduwa as, “a goddess from Ife said to be the supreme goddess of the world”,[xv] while he described Obatala as, “the great goddess of the Yoruba, supposed to be the framer of the human body in the womb.”[xvi] Beyond Bishop Crowther’s Oduduwa myth and other related myths surrounding his appearance and settlement at Ile-Ife, the truth remains that there were already settled aboriginal Igbo population in the present Ile-Ife and much of the present Ekiti and Ondo States, which is confirmed by the Ooni of Ife.
Even the Ijebu generally do not accept origin from Oduduwa, which is validated by the above statement by the Ooni of Ife in respect of the Akari-Igbo of Ijebu Remo. Abimbola Ayinde agrees with this position when she wrote:
It is obvious that the Ife origin factor is not absent from the Ijebu origin history and cannot be ruled out. It could be established therefore that the Ijebu have a strong relation with the other Yoruba people. Perhaps, the Ijebu came from Ife, especially those led by Koyelu (Akarigbo) and the Emuren people as noted by Odukoya… while a few came from elsewhere.[xvii]
Notwithstanding their deification, the historical truth remains, that Oduduwa was a Yoruba invader from the Central Region of Nigeria, while Obatala was the reigning Igbo King at the time. This was the position adopted by Professor O. B. Lawuyi when he wrote:
History records it that Obatala was the ruler of the indigenous peoples of southwestern Nigeria when they were conquered by Oduduwa. The exact date of the encounter remains problematic, owing largely to the nature of the source of information, oral tradition. At one level of interpretation, therefore, Obatala myths represent the struggle for the domination of the autochthonous groups, but there is another dimension. Although Oduduwa’s image and achievements came to overshadow and dwarf Obatala’s role in history, the latter has persisted as a deity, appropriated into the Yoruba pantheon as a symbol of peace.[xviii]
Professor A. O. Adesoji clearly explains the pivotal nature of Oduduwa’s role in Yoruba history thus:
The arrival of Oduduwa in Ile-Ife can be interpreted as the period of revolution in the Yoruba history. It would also appear that the advent of Oduduwa represented the emergence of a new dynasty in lIe-Ife and the unification of the autochthonous peoples who hitherto were scattered and non-unified. It can] therefore be concluded that the coming of Oduduwa rather than being seen as the beginning of a race can be interpreted as epochal revolution which symbolized the beginning of the consciousness of the Yoruba as a people.[xix]
As noted earlier, Oduduwa’s invasion of Igbo-Mokun consequently led the bulk of its aborigines to flee. Those that eventually moved eastwards met the aboriginal Ijon settlers of the present Benin Kingdom some of whom they mingled with to form the present Edo ethnic group, while the bulk of the Ijon population moved southwards, with some unassimilated Igbo indigenes remaining among their hybridized Edo ethnic kinsmen who constitute the present Edo people, others expanding further eastward to be stopped by the mighty Niger.
This again explains why there is no sharp demarcation of the boundary between the Igbo west of the Niger and their Edo kinsmen. There are a lot of Igbo-speaking communities surrounded by Edo-speaking communities, in the same way there are Edo-speaking communities surrounded by Igbo-speaking communities in the present Edo State. Thus between Edo-speaking people and Igbo-speaking people west of the Niger, it is impossible to draw a boundary based solely on linguistic identity.
Indeed a version of Ijon tradition of origins recorded by Professor J. C. Anene claims that not only was the present Benin territory an original Ijon settlement, but that the name “Edo” was adopted from the Ijo greeting “DO”.[xx] This claim will be visited in the next part.
[i] J. A. Atanda, An Introduction to Yoruba History Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1980, 2
[ii] Isola Olomola, “Ife before Oduduwa” in I. A. Akinjogbin (ed) The Cradle of a Race: Ife from the beginning to 1980 Port Harcourt: Sun Ray Publications, 1992
[iii] Biodun Adeniran, “The Early Beginnings of the Ife State” in I. A. Akinjogbin (ed) The Cradle of a Race: Ife from the beginning to 1980 Port Harcourt: Sun Ray Publications, 1992
[iv] S. A. Akintoye, A History of the Yoruba People Dakar: Amalion Publishing, 2010; S. A. Akintoye, “Yoruba History: Early Times to the 20th Century” in, Understanding Yoruba Life and Culture (eds) N. S. Lawal; N. O. Sadiku; and P. . Dopamu, Trenton, New Jersey: African World Press, 2004, 3-30
[v] Aribidesi Usman and Toyin Falola, The Yoruba from Prehistory to Present Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019
[vi] Olomola, “Ife before Oduduwa”, 52
[vii] Olomola, “Ife before Oduduwa”, 54
[viii] Rev. Samuel Crowther, Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language London: Seeleys, Fleet Street, and Hanover Street, 1852, 134-5
[ix] Isola Olomola, “Ife before Oduduwa”, 55
[x] Isola Olomola, “Ife before Oduduwa”, 55
[xi] Isola Olomola, “Ife before Oduduwa”, 55
[xii] Adeniran, “The Early Beginnings of the Ife State”, 44
[xiii] Oba Enitan Adeyeye, “Igbos, Yorubas have historical ties – Ooni of Ife”, Premium Times, 20919 https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/326478-igbos-yorubas-have-historical-ties-ooni-of-ife.html
[xiv] Oba Enitan Adeyeye, “Igbos, Yorubas have historical ties – Ooni of Ife”
[xv] Crowther, Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language, 207
[xvi] Crowther, Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language, 228
[xvii] Abimbola Ayinde, “Ife Origin Influence in the History of Ijebu People of South-Western Nigeria” African Research Review: An International Multidisciplinary Journal, Vol. 5 (5), Serial No. 22, October, 2011, 19, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v5i5.2
[xviii] O. B. Lawuyi, “The Obatala Factor in Yoruba History” History in Africa Volume 19, 1992, 369
[xix] A. O. Adesoji, “In the Beginning…Yoruba Origin Revisited” Osun Defender December 4, 2008, http://www.osundefender.org/2008/12/04/in-the-beginning-the-yoruba-origin-revisited/
[xx] J. C. Anene, Southern Nigeria in Transition 1885-1906: theory and practice in a colonial protectorate Cambridge: At the University Press, 1966, 6
“This post has helped me solve my issue, thanks a ton!”
https://shorturl.fm/hIUQL
https://shorturl.fm/8SL39
https://shorturl.fm/USigh