Oba

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Oba has two different meanings: it can be a King or a Goddess.

[edit] King

Oba, (pronounced Or-ba, King in Yoruba), is the supreme traditional head of a Yoruba town.

Yoruba towns are of three generations. The first generation is made up of founding towns and cities of the origin or capitals of Yoruba states/kingdoms. The second are those created by conquest, diaspora or/and resettlment. The third ones are those that emerged after the Yoruba wars. (It should be noted that Yorubaland is the only region of the major ethnic groups that has no colonially-founded town/cities: Lagos was originally Eko, but had its named changed by the Portuguese, referencing to it as the place of the lagoon). The first and most of the second generation towns are those with Obas, who generally wear beaded crowns, while the third generation towns only have Baálě, or chiefs, who do not wear crowns. All Yoruba Kings bear titles related to the cities or ethnic groups. There are two categories of Yoruba kings and titles:

the kings of Yoruba ethnic groups (there are about 10). For example, the king of the Egba bears the title of ALAKE of Egbaland, whose capital is Abeokuta.
the kings of Yoruba towns. Example: the king of Iwo, a town in Osun States, bears the title Olu'wo (Olu Of Iwo).

[edit] Goddess

Obá is the third wife of Sango, the second king of Oyo Empire and the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. In Yoruba mythology, Oba is a river-goddess (Orisha). She was the daughter of Yemaja and one of the wives of Shango. She offered Shango her ear to eat, and he scorned her. Grieving, she became the Oba river which intersects with the Osun river (Osun was another wife of Shango) at turbulent rapids, a symbol of the rivalry between the two wives. The Oba River flows through Iwo, that is why the Iwo people are called the son of the River Obá (Iwo Olodo Obá).