Oduduwa
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Oduduwa (sometimes contracted as Odudua, Oòdua) is generally assumed to be the ancestor of the Yoruba kings. Oral traditions of the Oyo recount the coming of Oduduwa from the east, sometimes understood by Muslim sources as the "vicinity" or direction of Mecca, but more likely signifying the region of Ekiti- and Okunland in northeastern Yorubaland/central Nigeria. This region is near the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers, and is where the Yoruba language is presumed to have separated from related ethno-linguistic groups like Igala, Igbo, and Edo.
The Ife oral traditions, on the other hand, tell that Odùduwà was the son of the supreme God Olodumare or Olorun, and was sent by him from heaven to create the earth. Descending from the heavens via a chain let down to Ile Ife, Odùduwà brought with him a chicken, some soil in a snail shell, and a calabash. After throwing the soil upon the waters, he set the cock on the soil eho in turn scratched and scattered it around to create the rest of dry land that became the Earth's surface. Odùduwà subsequently became the first Ooni of Ife, and then sent his sons out with crowns to rule over all of the other Yorùbá kingdoms, which is why all royal Yorùbá lineages claim direct descent from Odùduwà and refer to the Ooni of Ife as first among equals (popularly rendered in the Latin phrase primus inter pares in Nigeria).
Ile Ife continues to be considered the spiritual capital of the Yoruba.
[edit] References
- Ojuade, J. 'Sina (1992) 'The issue of 'Oduduwa' in Yoruba genesis: the myths and realities', Transafrican Journal of History, 21, 139-158.
- Obayemi, A. 1976. The Yoruba and Edo-speaking Peoples and their Neighbors before 1600 AD, in JFA Ajayi & M. Crowder (ed.), History of West Africa 1: 255-322
