Orun Oba Ado in Ife/Benin relationship

Long been a source of fascination, study and discussion amongst scholars.

the very first mention of Orun Oba Ado was from the works of Jacob Uwadaie Egharevba where he claimed "The head of the royal corpse was subsequently exhumed and taken to the royal ancestral grave at Ile-Ife; but this was only done in every third reign." reference J. U. Egharevba, Benin Law and Custom, (CMS Niger Press, Port Harcourt 1946), p.72.

contrary to what you have read from many of our Ado cousins egharevba did not publish his books in Ibadan but port harcourt neither was his mum an akure woman this are proofs i would provide adequately

More interesting than all the foregoing is the fact that Frank Willett did indeed make other interesting finds at Orun Oba Ado --- finds which I have realized to be an astonishing confirmation of this practice.

In the course of his excavation of Orun Oba Ado, and after some feet below the top soil level; Frank Willett found (among other things) big circular pits which he described as "burial pits".

In total, the number of "burial pits" he found at Orun Oba Ado was "eleven".

Reference:
WILLETT 2004: Chapter 1.3. cited in James W. Lankton, O. Akin Ige, & Thilo Rehren, "Early Primary Glass Production in Southern Nigeria", Journal of African Archaeology, Vol. 4 (1), 2006, pp.125-126.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274431270_Early_primary_glass_production_in_southern_Nigeria

If this practice had happened in accordance with the details given by Chief Egharevba --- as cited above --- then an appropriate enumeration of Benin's past Obas should also yield the same number "eleven".

This number "eleven" will either confirm or debunk the practice.

Notice that Egharevba added that this practice of taking the exhumed heads of buried Benin Obas to Ife is only done in every third-reign.

Now, how many third-reigns are there between Oranmiyan's reign on one hand, and the reign before Ovoranmwen's on the other hand??

Note: Ovoranmwen's incomplete reign in 1897 marks the point from when the British intervened in Benin's polity when they exiled him to Calabar.

Conclusion : it is indisputable that no human remains where found during the excavation in Orun Oba Ado by Eyo and Frank willet but this is not an indication that the spot was not a burial sight because of the sensitivity of the topic but owing to the discovery of 11 pits the exact number has described by egharevba the evidence is astonishing

on the name Edo, Ado is the original name of the land has renamed by the ile ife migrants who established the Oranmiyan dynasty

while it is true that the name "Edo" didn't feature in the history of Benin until much, much later. What is false, however, is the claim that "Ado" is a Yoruba misspelling or mispronunciation of "Edo".

No, the "Ado" in Orun Oba Ado is not a Yoruba misspelling/mispronunciation of "Edo". In fact, it has nothing to do with the Yorubas, but everything to do with the Binis themselves.

Regarding the historical evidence with which I will demonstrate that "Benin" used to be known as "Ado", by the Binis themselves, I will turn to only two pieces of independent historical information:

(a) In the Volume 1, Part 3 of Dr. R. E. Bradbury's "The Benin Kingdom and the Edo-Speaking Peoples of South-Western Nigeria", he lists, on page 170, R. E. Dennett's 1903-4 classic amongst his linguistic bibliographies.

The title of R. E. Dennett's work shown under the bibliography helps to shed some interesting light on the name "Ado" for "Benin". The title of the work is as follows:

""Notes of the language of the Efa or Bini, commonly called Uze-Ado." African Affairs, III, ..."

It therefore becomes clear from the foregoing that not only is "Ado" another name for "Benin", it is in fact an endonym.

(b) Furthermore, "The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art", Volume 83, (1897), pp.81-82., reads the following under the sub-heading 'BENIN':

"Another little war is teaching the British taxpayer what there is to know about Benin. It is not much. ... : "The Bight of Benin! the Bight of Benin! From which few come out -- though many go in!" The town of Benin, or Ado, as it is called by its inhabitants, lies some sixty odd miles inland from the coast, ..."

The two foregoing historical information, therefore, show clearly --- without a shred of reasonable doubt --- that the name "Ado" for "Benin" as seen in Orun Oba Ado is in fact astonishingly accurate.

"Ado" as has just been demonstrated was a name for "Benin" by the Binis themselves. You should be grateful to Ife for preserving this quite lost piece of your history.

Hmmm

At what point did it now change to Edo, if it was called Ado by the Binis themselves, what now affected our speech form.

In your other thread, you talked about the fact that Obas of Benin names were yorubas and you could only interprete two which could go both ways.

Let me make it clear to you, there was no time the name was Ado , if there was, there would have been relic in Benin city, yes in Benin city at least, the name Edo was given to Edo people, Edo's prime city and the entire Edo land. We don't, I can promise you that, you can come to Benin city to check, there is no relic anywhere of Ado. The Esans who would have known better call us Edo too. Did their speech form also change. Up till 1440 my son, the name Edo was not a name for the Benin city and people, it was the name of a Benin servant who helped Oba Ewuare into becoming a king in his land. After defeating his brother Uwaifiokun, he decided to name the land, after this Benin servant who helped him. So the name Edo only came to be, 240 years [/b]after Oronmiyan came to Benin. And it was a name of circumstance, it was not an instant name, before then, Benin city was known as Igodomigodo. So I don't see how we will bear a name that is now totally lost in history. The Oba of Benin's title is Omo'noba'Edo not Ado.

You people tell some kind of stories, sometimes I wonder if it is the same Benin I come from or the people of dahomey. You tell totally unrelatable stories as compared to what is on ground.

And just to give a shocker, the Present Olu of Warri migrated in 1480, not today [b]1480 and his title today still remains Ogiame which means king of water and it's totally intelligible even till date to Edos. Which points to the facts it was a civilization of the Edos not the yorubas.

If the name was Ado, when was the name given to Benin people in the history of Benin? at what point did it change in our tongue to Edo when we've always been Edo speaking going by the shocker above.

UGBE634:
At what point did it now change to Edo, if it was called Ado by the Binis themselves, what now affected our speech form.

We have already dealt with this few years back. Infact they even created two sites, one for male obas of Benin and another for female Obas of Benin. These guys always come up with these lies, when these lies are exposed, they come back later with modified version of their lies.

samuk:


We have already dealt with this few years back. Infact they even created two sites, one for male obas of Benin and another for female Obas of Benin. These guys always come up with these lies, when these lies are exposed, they come back later with modified version of their lies.

Imagine female Obas of Benin, these People will never fail to surprise anyone, Let us make it a collective duty to always debunk what they say, if not neophyte that comes on nairaland might not have the chance or opportunity to read other threads.

UGBE634:
Imagine female Obas of Benin, these People will never fail to surprise anyone

Below was the burial of an Oba of Benin as witnessed by the Europeans.


"Among others, there is in the kingdom of Benin an ancient custom, observed to the present day, that when the king dies, the people all assemble in a large field, in the centre of which is a very deep well, wider at the bottom than at the mouth. They cast the body of the dead king into this well, and all his friends and servants gather round, and those who are judged to have been most dear to and favoured by the king (this includes not a few, as all are anxious for the honour) voluntarily go down and keep him company. When they have done so, the people place a great stone over the mouth of the well, and remain by it day and night. On the second day a few deputies remove the stone, and ask those below what they know, and if any of them have already gone to serve the king; and the reply is, No. On the third day the same question is asked, and someone then replies that so-and-so, mentioning a name, has been the first to go, and so-and-so the second. It is considered highly praiseworthy to be the first, and he is spoken of with the greatest admiration by all the people, and considered happy and blessed. After four or five days all these unfortunate people die. When this is apparent to those above, since none reply to their questions, they inform their new king; who causes a great fire to be lit near the well, where numerous animals are roasted. These are given to the people to eat, and he with great ceremony is declared to be the true king, and takes the oath to govern well." - From the account of a 'Voyage from Lisbona to the island of San Thomé south of the Equator, described by a Portuguese pilot, and sent to his magnificence Count Rimondo della Torre, gentleman of Verona, and translated from the Portuguese into Italian', published in Giovanni Battista Ramusio (1550), and retranslated by Blake (1942), i, pp. 150-1. The account was written in about the year 1540, according to Blake, and 'the author may have been one of the scores of Portuguese pilots who at this time were familiar with the navigation from Lisbon to the island of São Thomé'. - From the book Nigerian Perspectives (2nd ed.) by Thomas Hodgkin

4. “No human remains or artifacts of Benin culture were found in six burials excavated at Arun-Oba-Ado”

The source for this conclusion being Frank Willett’s article in the book The African Iron Age, P. L. SHINNIE, (ed.)

Credit: PhysicsMHD

The problem these people are having is that every aspect of old Benin kingdom was documented by independent European eyewitnesses for centuries, which makes it easier for any serious Benin history researcher to expose their lies.

Their simple mission is to miseducate less informed Nigerians and some Edo people. The reason is simple, European eyewitness accounts of yoruba history only started in 1824. Even at that, they have changed what the Europeans saw and wrote about them, for example, the Europeans met the Alaafin as king of yoruba people, today that position has been changed to the Ooni. They can do as they wish with their history but they should stay out of Benin history.

samuk:
The problem these people are having is that every aspect of old Benin kingdom was documented by independent European eyewitnesses for centuries, which makes it easier for any serious Benin history researcher to expose their lies.

Their simple mission is to miseducate less informed Nigerians and some Edo people. The reason is simple, European eyewitness accounts of yoruba history only started in 1824. Even at that, they have changed what the Europeans saw and wrote about them, for example, the Europeans met the Alaafin as king of yoruba people, today that position has been changed to the Ooni. They can do as they wish with their history but they should stay out of Benin history.

It is astonishing that people cannot be objective when looking into history. In Benin we want to remain authentic with history. In Yorubaland, it is about politics and what will make Yoruba people unite and speak with one voice. Therefore, truth and authenticity become the victims.

I can understand the trauma and bitter experience of Intra-Yoruba civil wars. Also the internal divisions and weakening of Oyo Empire due to Bashorun Gaa's troubles and high-handedness with various Alafins that later partly made conquest by Dan Fodio more possible.

But they should leave Benin out of their politicised history.

We can remain neighbours with mutual respect.

samuk:


Below was the burial of an Oba of Benin as witnessed by the Europeans.


"Among others, there is in the kingdom of Benin an ancient custom, observed to the present day, that when the king dies, the people all assemble in a large field, in the centre of which is a very deep well, wider at the bottom than at the mouth. They cast the body of the dead king into this well, and all his friends and servants gather round, and those who are judged to have been most dear to and favoured by the king (this includes not a few, as all are anxious for the honour) voluntarily go down and keep him company. When they have done so, the people place a great stone over the mouth of the well, and remain by it day and night. On the second day a few deputies remove the stone, and ask those below what they know, and if any of them have already gone to serve the king; and the reply is, No. On the third day the same question is asked, and someone then replies that so-and-so, mentioning a name, has been the first to go, and so-and-so the second. It is considered highly praiseworthy to be the first, and he is spoken of with the greatest admiration by all the people, and considered happy and blessed. After four or five days all these unfortunate people die. When this is apparent to those above, since none reply to their questions, they inform their new king; who causes a great fire to be lit near the well, where numerous animals are roasted. These are given to the people to eat, and he with great ceremony is declared to be the true king, and takes the oath to govern well." - From the account of a 'Voyage from Lisbona to the island of San Thomé south of the Equator, described by a Portuguese pilot, and sent to his magnificence Count Rimondo della Torre, gentleman of Verona, and translated from the Portuguese into Italian', published in Giovanni Battista Ramusio (1550), and retranslated by Blake (1942), i, pp. 150-1. The account was written in about the year 1540, according to Blake, and 'the author may have been one of the scores of Portuguese pilots who at this time were familiar with the navigation from Lisbon to the island of São Thomé'. - From the book Nigerian Perspectives (2nd ed.) by Thomas Hodgkin

4. “No human remains or artifacts of Benin culture were found in six burials excavated at Arun-Oba-Ado”

The source for this conclusion being Frank Willett’s article in the book The African Iron Age, P. L. SHINNIE, (ed.)

Credit: PhysicsMHD

Mighty physics

samuk:


Below was the burial of an Oba of Benin as witnessed by the Europeans.


"Among others, there is in the kingdom of Benin an ancient custom, observed to the present day, that when the king dies, the people all assemble in a large field, in the centre of which is a very deep well, wider at the bottom than at the mouth. They cast the body of the dead king into this well, and all his friends and servants gather round, and those who are judged to have been most dear to and favoured by the king (this includes not a few, as all are anxious for the honour) voluntarily go down and keep him company. When they have done so, the people place a great stone over the mouth of the well, and remain by it day and night. On the second day a few deputies remove the stone, and ask those below what they know, and if any of them have already gone to serve the king; and the reply is, No. On the third day the same question is asked, and someone then replies that so-and-so, mentioning a name, has been the first to go, and so-and-so the second. It is considered highly praiseworthy to be the first, and he is spoken of with the greatest admiration by all the people, and considered happy and blessed. After four or five days all these unfortunate people die. When this is apparent to those above, since none reply to their questions, they inform their new king; who causes a great fire to be lit near the well, where numerous animals are roasted. These are given to the people to eat, and he with great ceremony is declared to be the true king, and takes the oath to govern well." - From the account of a 'Voyage from Lisbona to the island of San Thomé south of the Equator, described by a Portuguese pilot, and sent to his magnificence Count Rimondo della Torre, gentleman of Verona, and translated from the Portuguese into Italian', published in Giovanni Battista Ramusio (1550), and retranslated by Blake (1942), i, pp. 150-1. The account was written in about the year 1540, according to Blake, and 'the author may have been one of the scores of Portuguese pilots who at this time were familiar with the navigation from Lisbon to the island of São Thomé'. - From the book Nigerian Perspectives (2nd ed.) by Thomas Hodgkin

4. “No human remains or artifacts of Benin culture were found in six burials excavated at Arun-Oba-Ado”

The source for this conclusion being Frank Willett’s article in the book The African Iron Age, P. L. SHINNIE, (ed.)

Credit: PhysicsMHD

lol you left out the part where the eyewitness of the French sailor said the edo of oba was taken to his burial site where they call Oduwa uhe (ile ife) I have that passage you will also call it a lie ?

UGBE634:
Mighty physics

AreaFada2, Physics etc have all done very well on this forum, there are enough materials here to counter most of their lies.

samuk:


AreaFada2, Physics etc have all done very well on this forum, there are enough materials here to counter most of their lies.

Unarguably, physics is the greatest Benin man to ever grace this forum. Even Areafada would agree with that

UGBE634:
Unarguably, physics is the greatest Benin man to ever grace this forum. Even Areafada would agree with that

AreaFada2 in my opinion is the G.O.A.T!! He stood the test of time and he is still here strong as ever!

AutomaticMotors:


AreaFada2 in my opinion is the G.O.A.T!! He stood the test of time and he is still here strong as ever!

Anybody who has taken their time to correct the falsehood peddled against our history here has really done well. It is much easier to be quiet but falsehood repeated often enough can suddenly become reality. It is an ongoing campaign that we must sustain. I hope that the real G.O.A.Ts are yet to join us here and surpass all our efforts till date.

We Benins (not Binis) have been too urbane, relaxed and somewhat naïve. We believe in maintaining peace and being accommodating. But we cannot do it at any cost.
We need to realise that we have many frenemies, many of whom we have welcomed and accommodated. When it suites them, they will say we are same people. But in reality they will deride our history and backbite us with other people.
I understand their envy as they do not have our illustrious history. Some seek to compensate for it by aggressively pursuing money, position, wealth, etc.

If they can supress, deceive, take food from your mouth or divert good things away from you as a Benin man, it's a massive boost for their ego. It also satisfies their historical grudges. Frenemies believe that they are able to outsmart us. It is simply because we have cultural values and are never desperate, which is the opposite of their situation. So we must be watchful but cool, calm and collected.

Izoduwa narrated a story of contesting for student leader position at OAU, Ife. His experience was like a fraction of mine and dating from much earlier than his until now. It was one of the things that made him to become such a patriot. We all have our Eureka moments.

Nobody can love you as much as you love yourself or your history/culture. Nigeria is a badly divided country now. It is every tribe for itself. As 9ja's expiry date gradually draws closer, we must prepare ourselves. The North has oil now. They might discover more huge gas deposits that they won't want to share with the South.

I pity our women that pastors from outside Edo gather to build churches, fill their pockets and then demonise our culture. Of course they don't have any great history to cherish so why should they cherish ours? We need to wise up. It is women who chiefly propagate culture.

We got Christianity before other tribes in 9ja. It may be "sharking" those who got it under 150 years ago now, not us that got in the 1470s. We even indigenised it as Aruosa Cathedral centuries ago. How many other kings in Africa are the heads of a Christian Church? None other aside Oba of Benin. King Charles of England is another king who heads a church but that's in Europe. Because they have no ancient indigenous church of their own to show, suddenly they say Aruosa is pagan.

But Coptic Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian one are not pagan o.

So nobody should tell us about Christianity, paganism or whatever. We got it before anyone else. We need to wake up.

AreaFada2:

Anybody who has taken their time to correct the falsehood peddled against our history here has really done well. It is much easier to be quiet but falsehood repeated often enough can suddenly become reality. It is an ongoing campaign that we must sustain. I hope that the real G.O.A.Ts are yet to join us here and surpass all our efforts till date.

We Benins (not Binis) have been too urbane, relaxed and somewhat naïve. We believe in maintaining peace and being accommodating. But we cannot do it at any cost.
We need to realise that we have many frenemies, many of whom we have welcomed and accommodated. When it suites them, they will say we are same people. But in reality they will deride our history and backbite us with other people.
I understand their envy as they do not have our illustrious history. Some seek to compensate for it by aggressively pursuing money, position, wealth, etc.

If they can supress, deceive, take food from your mouth or divert good things away from you as a Benin man, it's a massive boost for their ego. It also satisfies their historical grudges. Frenemies believe that they are able to outsmart us. It is simply because we have cultural values and are never desperate, which is the opposite of their situation. So we must be watchful but cool, calm and collected.

Izoduwa narrated a story of contesting for student leader position at OAU, Ife. His experience was like a fraction of mine and dating from much earlier than his until now. It was one of the things that made him to become such a patriot. We all have our Eureka moments.

Nobody can love you as much as you love yourself or your history/culture. Nigeria is a badly divided country now. It is every tribe for itself. As 9ja's expiry date gradually draws closer, we must prepare ourselves. The North has oil now. They might discover more huge gas deposits that they won't want to share with the South.

I pity our women that pastors from outside Edo gather to build churches, fill their pockets and then demonise our culture. Of course they don't have any great history to cherish so why should they cherish ours? We need to wise up. It is women who chiefly propagate culture.

We got Christianity before other tribes in 9ja. It may be "sharking" those who got it under 150 years ago now, not us that got in the 1470s. We even indigenised it as Aruosa Cathedral centuries ago. How many other kings in Africa are the heads of a Christian Church? None other aside Oba of Benin. King Charles of England is another king who heads a church but that's in Europe. Because they have no ancient indigenous church of their own to show, suddenly they say Aruosa is pagan.

But Coptic Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian one are not pagan o.

So nobody should tell us about Christianity, paganism or whatever. We got it before anyone else. We need to wake up.

Very wise counsel boss! As always no lies told

AutomaticMotors:


AreaFada2 in my opinion is the G.O.A.T!! He stood the test of time and he is still here strong as ever!

when you have the chance, try peruse physics's work, physics is an encyclopedia. He can be likened to the biblical Jesus who was here for the shortest period but had the most impact. They usually complained his work was so lengthy , I mean what do you expect from a phd holder

AreaFada2:

Anybody who has taken their time to correct the falsehood peddled against our history here has really done well. It is much easier to be quiet but falsehood repeated often enough can suddenly become reality. It is an ongoing campaign that we must sustain. I hope that the real G.O.A.Ts are yet to join us here and surpass all our efforts till date.

We Benins (not Binis) have been too urbane, relaxed and somewhat naïve. We believe in maintaining peace and being accommodating. But we cannot do it at any cost.
We need to realise that we have many frenemies, many of whom we have welcomed and accommodated. When it suites them, they will say we are same people. But in reality they will deride our history and backbite us with other people.
I understand their envy as they do not have our illustrious history. Some seek to compensate for it by aggressively pursuing money, position, wealth, etc.

If they can supress, deceive, take food from your mouth or divert good things away from you as a Benin man, it's a massive boost for their ego. It also satisfies their historical grudges. Frenemies believe that they are able to outsmart us. It is simply because we have cultural values and are never desperate, which is the opposite of their situation. So we must be watchful but cool, calm and collected.

Izoduwa narrated a story of contesting for student leader position at OAU, Ife. His experience was like a fraction of mine and dating from much earlier than his until now. It was one of the things that made him to become such a patriot. We all have our Eureka moments.

Nobody can love you as much as you love yourself or your history/culture. Nigeria is a badly divided country now. It is every tribe for itself. As 9ja's expiry date gradually draws closer, we must prepare ourselves. The North has oil now. They might discover more huge gas deposits that they won't want to share with the South.

I pity our women that pastors from outside Edo gather to build churches, fill their pockets and then demonise our culture. Of course they don't have any great history to cherish so why should they cherish ours? We need to wise up. It is women who chiefly propagate culture.

We got Christianity before other tribes in 9ja. It may be "sharking" those who got it under 150 years ago now, not us that got in the 1470s. We even indigenised it as Aruosa Cathedral centuries ago. How many other kings in Africa are the heads of a Christian Church? None other aside Oba of Benin. King Charles of England is another king who heads a church but that's in Europe. Because they have no ancient indigenous church of their own to show, suddenly they say Aruosa is pagan.

But Coptic Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian one are not pagan o.

So nobody should tell us about Christianity, paganism or whatever. We got it before anyone else. We need to wake up.

Benin city is arguably the most welcoming city in Nigeria and her people the most hospitable. The average Benin person hardly travel to other parts of Nigeria to hustle except Lagos.

Most interactions the average Benin person will have with other Nigerians are usually within Edo state and as a result they have very little knowledge of the level of tribalism, jealousy, bigotry and historical grievances that flows through the veins of some of these tribes. Some of these are even exhibited in the academic works of some of them that write something about Benin history. So you have those who are trying to undermine Benin history, culture and traditions and others who are trying to steal the history and heritage as theirs.

Luckily for us the first 400 years (late 1400s to late 1800s) of documented Benin history were done by various European eyewitnesses, so the present lies will only amount to exercise in futility. Whenever I have the opportunity, I will recommend to the Edo state government to incorporate in digital form translated early Europeans written accounts of Benin history into the research centre that is to be built as part of the cultural district.

As more Benin travel out of Edo state, their eyes begin to open to some of these things, the patriot in them are activated. The revival of Benin history, culture and traditions are now being championed by mostly Edo in diaspora. There are several Edo social cultural organisations in the diaspora that celebrate the annual Igue festival whilst most so called Benin Christians in Edo state no longer celebrate Igue festival.

You are right, Nigeria do have an expiring date unless it restructure and Edo have what others don't have, our history. Rome, Egypt, Athens etc have developed their historical sites and cities into multi billion dollars tourist destinations. I am glad that the current government of Obaseki understands the importance of this and already working on it, starting with the cultural district which is currently under construction, I understand part of the moat will be reclaimed and preserved.

samuk:


Benin city is arguably the most welcoming city in Nigeria and her people the most hospitable. The average Benin person hardly travel to other parts of Nigeria to hustle except Lagos.

Most interactions the average Benin person will have with other Nigerians are usually within Edo state and as a result they have very little knowledge of the level of tribalism, jealousy, bigotry and historical grievances that flows through the veins of some of these tribes. Some of these are even exhibited in the academic works of some of them that write something about Benin history. So you have those who are trying to undermine Benin history, culture and traditions and others who are trying to steal the history and heritage as theirs.

As more Benin travel out of Edo state, their eyes begin to open to some of these things, the patriot in them are activated. The revival of Benin history, culture and traditions are now being championed by mostly Edo in diaspora. There are several Edo social cultural organisations in the diaspora that celebrate the annual Igue festival whilst most so called Benin Christians in Edo state no longer celebrate Igue festival.

You are right, Nigeria do have an expiring date unless it restructure and Edo have what others don't have, our history. Rome, Egypt, Athens etc have developed their historical sites and cities into multi billion dollars tourist destinations. I am glad that the current government of Obaseki understands the importance of this and already working on it, starting with the cultural district which is currently under construction, I understand part of the moat will be reclaimed and preserved.

you don't need to live there for the patriot in you to be activated. It is just about who we are as a people, we are lovers of truth and Justice, I have seen a thread, where someone recounted a story of a Benin youth corper that almost lynched a yoruba youth corper because he bastardized and made joke of the story of Ekaladerhan. There are some of us who have the nationalistic spirit in us and can die for Edo, we don't live there.

As for those who adopt christianity as a way of life is a personal thing. Some of the reasons why Edos there no longer care so much about christianity is because they've seen that the white man is not so pumped about the christianity so they revert back to our customs and traditions.

I have been a guest since 2011 and could no longer take it when other yorubas and tao continued with their seamless show of ignorance and joke about Benin history. You can see from the write up how frustrated I was when I typed this

UGBE634:
you don't need to live there for the patriot in you to be activated. It is just about who we are as a people, we are lovers of truth and Justice, I have seen a thread, where someone recounted a story of a Benin youth corper that almost lynched a yoruba youth corper because he bastardized and made joke of the story of Ekaladerhan. There are some of us who have the nationalistic spirit in us and can die for Edo, we don't live there.

As for those who adopt christianity as a way of life is a personal thing. Some of the reasons why Edos there no longer care so much about christianity is because they've seen that the white man is not so pumped about the christianity so they revert back to our customs and traditions.

I have been a guest since 2011 and could no longer take it when other yorubas and tao continued with their seamless show of ignorance and joke about Benin history. You can see from the write up how frustrated I was when I typed this

Some people and certain situations does make someone more patriotic.

Are you aware that there is absolutely nothing either in tradition and written accounts until late 1890s that support Benin monarchy having the sort of relationship with Yoruba, the way you have been made to believe. There is political history and real history of a people, both serve different purposes.

Most Edo contributors on this forum are not even aware of the above. I agree with AreaFada2 and hope that the real Edo G.O.A.T is yet to join this forum. Most have debated from the point of miseducation about Benin history.

Once your education about Benin history is faulty or tainted, your contributions will also be faulty from the point your mis education began. This is why I am mostly interested on the contributions that reference early Europeans writings like the burial of the Oba of Benin in the 1540s as presented by Physics.

The way I see it, is that the various contributions here are to help those who are yet to come. I have looked at various works and even Physics failed in my opinion to realise that Benin/Ife or story of Oba of Benin being related to Yoruba was only concocted in late 1890s after Oba Ovonramwen had already been banished to Calabar, before then such history never existed, but sadly some Edo people are helping to propagate these falsehood albeit unknowingly.

I was once guilty of the above until that Edo guy in France, the teacher asked me a question that made me probed Benin history further and earlier than the writings of the late 1890s. I look at various sources and the history of other Edoid tribes and also look at the history I was told as a child when I use to visit my great grandmother who was born during the reign of Oba Ovonramwen in the village during school holidays. I came to realised that Benin history falls into two categories.

1. Pre 1897, authentic European eyewitness historical accounts.

2. Post 1897, polical history.

If you are not careful, you will not be able to separate the two. You must know where one ends and the other begins.

The late 1800s was when yoruba people started uniting their people together with the help of the British, the rallying point of yoruba history shifted from Oyo to Ife and Benin was dragged along.

The alleged Benin/Ife connection gained ground during the reign of Oba Eweka 2, his ground son Oba Erediawa 2 later attempted to repair part of the damage this coursed Benin history. The fallout was that most modern people who didn't have enough knowledge of pre 1890s Benin history became confused.

I look at the work of Ajayi Crowder, who is probably the father of modern yoruba nations and history, I never saw any connection between Benin monarch and Ife in Ajayi Crowder's time even though about three Oba of Benin reigned in the same period Ajayi Crowder returned to Nigeria and was active in writing, I did a writeup on this on this forum sometime ago.

If Benin monarch had any relationship with Yoruba before 1891 Ajayi Crowder would have written about it. There were atleast three deaths and coronations of Oba of Benin in Ajayi Crowder active writing years.

Ajayi Crowder travelled Nigeria and knew about Benin.

I hope future Edo people will look at all our contributions with fresh pair of eyes and interrogate them for the advancement of Benin history.

Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809 – 31 December 1891),

GhostOfNigeria:
lol you left out the part where the eyewitness of the French sailor said the edo of oba was taken to his burial site where they call Oduwa uhe (ile ife) I have that passage you will also call it a lie ?

pls stop disgracing us Yorubas, leave these people alone we have nothing in common with them. Why don't you have some self-esteem and self-respect? Do you like it when they come on threads like this and start insulting us? What do you gain from this? Are you even yoruba at all? Because no sane yoruba man would care about anything the east of Ore, pls they are not yoruba and we have nothing in common with them and we don't need nothing from them. Let's focus on the disintegration of this barbaric british contraption.

samuk:


The average Benin person hardly travel to other parts of Nigeria to hustle except Lagos..

And the reason is obvious, Lagos or Europe

UGBE634:
And the reason is obvious, Lagos or Europe

Partly the reason the average Benin person is unaware of the level of tribalism that exists in Nigeria.

samuk:


Partly the reason the average Benin person is unaware of the level of tribalism that exists in Nigeria.

what I meant is that Benin city Is an economic powerhouse herself. It is only Lagos that can be said to be noticeably better than Benin city in terms of economic strength.

UGBE634:
what I meant is that Benin city Is an economic powerhouse herself. It is only Lagos that can be said to be noticeably better than Benin city in terms of economic strength.

You are correct.

samuk:


Some people and certain situations does make someone more patriotic.

Are you aware that there is absolutely nothing either in tradition and written accounts until late 1890s that support Benin monarchy having the sort of relationship with Yoruba, the way you have been made to believe. There is political history and real history of a people, both serve different purposes.

Most Edo contributors on this forum are not even aware of the above. I agree with AreaFada2 and hope that the real Edo G.O.A.T is yet to join this forum. Most have debated from the point of miseducation about Benin history.

Once your education about Benin history is faulty or tainted, your contributions will also be faulty from the point your mis education began. This is why I am mostly interested on the contributions that reference early Europeans writings like the burial of the Oba of Benin in the 1540s as presented by Physics.

The way I see it, is that the various contributions here are to help those who are yet to come. I have looked at various works and even Physics failed in my opinion to realise that Benin/Ife or story of Oba of Benin being related to Yoruba was only concocted in late 1890s after Oba Ovonramwen had already been banished to Calabar, before then such history never existed, but sadly some Edo people are helping to propagate these falsehood albeit unknowingly.

I was once guilty of the above until that Edo guy in France, the teacher asked me a question that made me probed Benin history further and earlier than the writings of the late 1890s. I look at various sources and the history of other Edoid tribes and also look at the history I was told as a child when I use to visit my great grandmother who was born during the reign of Oba Ovonramwen in the village during school holidays. I came to realised that Benin history falls into two categories.

1. Pre 1897, authentic European eyewitness historical accounts.

2. Post 1897, polical history.

If you are not careful, you will not be able to separate the two. You must know where one ends and the other begins.

The late 1800s was when yoruba people started uniting their people together with the help of the British, the rallying point of yoruba history shifted from Oyo to Ife and Benin was dragged along.

The alleged Benin/Ife connection gained ground during the reign of Oba Eweka 2, his ground son Oba Erediawa 2 later attempted to repair part of the damage this coursed Benin history. The fallout was that most modern people who didn't have enough knowledge of pre 1890s Benin history became confused.

I look at the work of Ajayi Crowder, who is probably the father of modern yoruba nations and history, I never saw any connection between Benin monarch and Ife in Ajayi Crowder's time even though about three Oba of Benin reigned in the same period Ajayi Crowder returned to Nigeria and was active in writing, I did a writeup on this on this forum sometime ago.

If Benin monarch had any relationship with Yoruba before 1891 Ajayi Crowder would have written about it. There were atleast three deaths and coronations of Oba of Benin in Ajayi Crowder active writing years.

Ajayi Crowder travelled Nigeria and knew about Benin.

I hope future Edo people will look at all our contributions with fresh pair of eyes and interrogate them for the advancement of Benin history.

Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809 – 31 December 1891),

As for the bolded, elderly folks back then had no access of means to research but today we do. It would be our fault if we didn't do so.

I was quite surprised when current Oba included Oranmiyan among the list of Obas. I prefer the stance of Oba Erediauwa. Oranmiyan stuff is too controversial in our history and has not been resolved yet. I don't know when he was crowned, by whom, when or where he was presented to people of Benin as the new Oba. Eweka I on the other hand was clearly crowned and his life and times well-known in Benin. Eweka I as first Oba of current dynasty removed any uncertainties, not Oranmiyan.

A lot of things need to be looked at afresh with all honesty and boldness.
Ajayi Crowther travelled across Benin to Igboland and even narrated how the Benin-ness of Asaba was being diluted by influx from across the Niger, yet he didn't mention Benin-Ife link. That alone shows how recent and political the whole thing is.

Many Benins have lived a fairly comfortable life. No need to head for all corners of Nigeria to hustle for food. We have very fertile land, families support each other and we are not people who want to make money by any means traditionally.
Only very few of our ladies marry to follow their husbands to another state. Instead they normally meet their hubby in Benin or Lagos and reside there. Or even move abroad.

When leaving Benin or Lagos, it's mostly to go abroad. Not to Damaturu, Offa or Kafanchan. Of late some have moved to Abuja, another melting pot.
Therefore, we are quite oblivious of how deep tribalism runs across 9ja. We also typically don't queue up for FG job, police or military recruitment and we care less or not even of the discrimination in recruitment of so-called minorities these days.

It seems we are one of the most prepared people to stay on our own if 9ja crumbles.

AreaFada2:


As for the bolded, elderly folks back then had no access of means to research but today we do. It would be our fault if we didn't do so.

I was quite surprised when current Oba included Oranmiyan among list of Obas. I prefer the stance of Oba Erediauwa. Oranmiyan stuff is too controversial in our history and has not been resolved yet. I don't know when he was crowned, by whom, when or where he was presented to people of Benin as the new Oba. Eweka I on the other hand was clearly crowned and his life and times well-known in Benin. Eweka I as first Oba of current dynasty removed any uncertainties, not Oranmiyan. A lot of things need to be looked at afresh with all honesty and boldness.
Ajayi Crowther travelled across Benin to Igboland and even narrated how the Benininess of Asaba was being diluted by influx from across the Niger, yet he didn't mention Benin-Ife link. That alone shows how recent and political the whole thing is.

Many Benins have lived a fairly comfortable life. No need to head for all corners of Nigeria to hustle for food. We have very fertile land, families support each other and we are not people who want to make money by any means traditionally.
Only very few of our ladies marry to follow their husbands to another state. Instead they normally meet their hubby in Benin or Lagos and reside there. Or even move abroad.

When leaving Benin or Lagos, it's mostly to go abroad. Not to Damaturu, Offa or Kafanchan. Of late some have moved to Abuja, another melting pot.
Therefore, we are quite oblivious of how deep tribalism runs across 9ja. We also typically don't queue up for FG job, police or military recruitment and we care less pr not even of the discrimination in recruitment these days.

It seems we are one of the most prepared people to stay on our own if 9ja crumbles.

I believe we have to look critically at the transition from the Ogiso dynasty to the Oba dynasty. I know this is a very controversial area that many people don't want to get involved in. Our French brother actually argued that it has always been one dynasty and the two dynasty was a recent thing, I am inclined to believe. I don't believe the Ogiso dynasty was fabricated as he suggested because there are too many oral traditions across various Edoid tribes to support the Ogisos.

The difficulty for me is that most early European written accounts of Benin history are not in English and many haven't been translated. I would like to know if the title of any Benin monarch is buried in these early writings, I want to know when it changed from Ogiso to Oba, the earliest I can find the use of oba is Button written accounts in 1865.

In 1824, the British was in yoruba land and between 1824 and 1891 the British was very active in Nigeria, both the British and their local agents such as Ajayi Crowder had numerous written accounts of that period and different tribes but nothing was written to support Benin/Ife connection.

Ryder in 1965 came to the same conclusion that Benin/Ife connection wasn't recorded in early Europeans writings of Benin and that it was a recent (after the fall of Benin) tradition.

Since I can't find any evidence to link Benin to Ife, the two dynastic history of Benin become an issue for me.

I also noticed that since I divided Benin history into pre-1897 and post 1897, the insults from some of our yoruba neighbours greatly reduced, some even become less interested in the Benin/Ife connection. I even put up $1000, one thousand US dollars for anyone that can provide any written evidence before 1895 that support Benin/Ife connection, till now no one on this forum have been able to provide any evidence.

I will not want to go on here why I think the Benin palace is promoting the Benin/Ife connection, I have already made my thought known in the past.

After the fall of Benin in 1897, Benin history was changed to align with the political situation of the time, Benin history still carries that distortion.

The proclaiming of Oranmiyan as an Oba by the current Oba is a continuation of the post 1897 political history of Benin.

Yoruba history since 1824 have followed the same pattern of continously moving the goalposts, every yoruba towns and villages now traces their origin to Ife, including those that once claimed Sudan and many other places outside Nigeria.

samuk:


I believe we have to look critically at the transition from the Ogiso dynasty to the Oba dynasty. I know this is a very controversial area that many people don't want to get involved in. Our French brother actually argued that it has always been one dynasty and the two dynasty was a recent thing, I am inclined to believe. I don't believe the Ogiso dynasty was fabricated as he suggested because there are too many oral traditions across various Edoid tribes to support the Ogisos.

The difficulty for me is that most early European written accounts of Benin history are not in English and many haven't been translated. I would like to know if the title of any Benin monarch is buried in these early writings, I want to know when it changed from Ogiso to Oba, the earliest I can find the use of oba is Button written accounts in 1865.

In 1824, the British was in yoruba land and between 1824 and 1891 the British was very active in Nigeria, both the British and their local agents such as Ajayi Crowder had numerous written accounts of that period and different tribes but nothing was written to support Benin/Ife connection.

Ryder in 1965 came to the same conclusion that Benin/Ife connection wasn't recorded in early Europeans writings of Benin and that it was a recent (after the fall of Benin) tradition.

Since I can't find any evidence to link Benin to Ife, the two dynastic history of Benin become an issue for me.

I also noticed that since I divided Benin history into pre-1897 and post 1897, the insults from some of our yoruba neighbours greatly reduced, some even become less interested in the Benin/Ife connection. I even put up $1000, one thousand US dollars for anyone that can provide any written evidence before 1895 that support Benin/Ife connection, till now no one on this forum have been able to provide any evidence.

I will not want to go on here why I think the Benin palace is promoting the Benin/Ife connection, I have already made my thought known in the past.

After the fall of Benin in 1897, Benin history was changed to align with the political situation of the time, Benin history still carries that distortion.

The proclaiming of Oranmiyan as an Oba by the current Oba is a continuation of the post 1897 political history of Benin.

Yoruba history since 1824 have followed the same pattern of continously moving the goalposts, every yoruba towns and villages now traces their origin to Ife, including those that once claimed Sudan and many other places outside Nigeria.

A lot of things don't add up about the Benin-Ife connection, especially the Oranmiyan story.
Oranmiyan supposedly came to Igodomigodo trying to be king but the people resisted and he was driven out but yet his son (Eweka) became king.
I don't believe Oranmiyan was the father of Oba Eweka..
Oba Eweka 1 is deeply rooted in our folklore even the name Ogiso which predates Oranmiyan is in our folklore but Oranniyan is not there.. it's like Edo folklore doesn't remember Oranmiyan.

UMUAZEE:


A lot of things don't add up about the Benin-Ife connection, especially the Oranmiyan story.
Oranmiyan supposedly came to Igodomigodo trying to be king but the people resisted and he was driven out but yet his son (Eweka) became king.
I don't believe Oranmiyan was the father of Oba Eweka..
Oba Eweka 1 is deeply rooted in our folklore even the name Ogiso which predates Oranmiyan is in our folklore but Oranniyan is not there.. it's like Edo folklore doesn't remember Oranmiyan.

The Oranmiyan story was written into Benin history after the fall of Benin in 1897, this is why no one has been able to backup the story earlier than 1897.

In my opinion, any person, mostly Edo person that believes and link the Benin throne to Ife has been miseducated on Benin history. If Benin had anything to do with Ife, it would have been way back in antiquity, I don't believe the relationship is the way we were told. It's difficult for some people to unlearn what they have been told for too long irrespective of were the evidence lead.

Between 1400s to 1897, there was no Benin prince or princess that had a yoruba name, why?

No Benin monarch in history had a yoruba name or adopted a yoruba title, why?

All yoruba monarchs in history had yoruba names and titles, why was Benin different?

samuk:


I believe we have to look critically at the transition from the Ogiso dynasty to the Oba dynasty. I know this is a very controversial area that many people don't want to get involved in. Our French brother actually argued that it has always been one dynasty and the two dynasty was a recent thing, I am inclined to believe. I don't believe the Ogiso dynasty was fabricated as he suggested because there are too many oral traditions across various Edoid tribes to support the Ogisos.

The difficulty for me is that most early European written accounts of Benin history are not in English and many haven't been translated. I would like to know if the title of any Benin monarch is buried in these early writings, I want to know when it changed from Ogiso to Oba, the earliest I can find the use of oba is Button written accounts in 1865.

In 1824, the British was in yoruba land and between 1824 and 1891 the British was very active in Nigeria, both the British and their local agents such as Ajayi Crowder had numerous written accounts of that period and different tribes but nothing was written to support Benin/Ife connection.

Ryder in 1965 came to the same conclusion that Benin/Ife connection wasn't recorded in early Europeans writings of Benin and that it was a recent (after the fall of Benin) tradition.

Since I can't find any evidence to link Benin to Ife, the two dynastic history of Benin become an issue for me.

I also noticed that since I divided Benin history into pre-1897 and post 1897, the insults from some of our yoruba neighbours greatly reduced, some even become less interested in the Benin/Ife connection. I even put up $1000, one thousand US dollars for anyone that can provide any written evidence before 1895 that support Benin/Ife connection, till now no one on this forum have been able to provide any evidence.

I will not want to go on here why I think the Benin palace is promoting the Benin/Ife connection, I have already made my thought known in the past.

After the fall of Benin in 1897, Benin history was changed to align with the political situation of the time, Benin history still carries that distortion.

The proclaiming of Oranmiyan as an Oba by the current Oba is a continuation of the post 1897 political history of Benin.

Yoruba history since 1824 have followed the same pattern of continously moving the goalposts, every yoruba towns and villages now traces their origin to Ife, including those that once claimed Sudan and many other places outside Nigeria.

This is where our brothers that reside in france, portugal and netherlands would come in handy. I have a cousin that can speak and write portuguese perfectly

samuk:


The Oranmiyan story was written into Benin history after the fall of Benin in 1897, this is why no one has been able to backup the story earlier than 1897.

In my opinion, any person, mostly Edo person that believes and link the Benin throne to Ife has been miseducated on Benin history. If Benin had anything to do with Ife, it would have been way back in antiquity, I don't believe the relationship is the way we were told. It's difficult for some people to unlearn what they have been told for too long irrespective of were the evidence lead.

Between 1400s to 1897, there was no Benin prince or princess that had a yoruba name, why?

No Benin monarch in history had a yoruba name or adopted a yoruba title, why?

All yoruba monarchs in history had yoruba names and titles, why was Benin different?

The truth has been there in the open for decades but many didn't want to see it.
Take Obis of Agbor for example. Irrespective of what they say of their history, several of them had Benin names such as Gbenoba (Igbinoba) 1890-1911, Obika Gbenoba (Igbinoba) from 1935-67 and others who ruled much earlier such as Agho, Obanor, etc. Benin links to the royalty and streets/quarters are very clear.

In Benin, no Oranmiyan link in folklore or kings is obvious. They say Eweka comes from Owomika. The whole magic of playing Akhue seed and suddenly speaking is not a popular story in Benin. Most people in Benin don't even know about it. Whereas the stories of Akpanigiakon, Ebomisi, Arhuanran, Ewuakpe, Osogan monster, Ogiso Obioye and others are well-known.

What could have made "Owomika" episode so unknown except to those who read Dr J U Egharevba's book and later history that now talk about it?

It can't just be because it supposedly happened relatively long ago because Obioye and Osogan story are older.

One must suspect that a "neat" link between Oranmiyan and Eweka needed to be promoted for exigency.

Nothing new about it. Every clan in Yorubaland is suddenly finding a link between themselves and one son, daughter or grandchild of Oduduwa to legitimise their Yorubaness. Any king or baale who doesn't magic a link to Ife is these days considered to be less in importance.

The fallacy of this trend is that it portrays Yoruba people as only springing out of Oduduwa about 900 years ago. That can't be true. Igodomigodo was already well-established as a kingdom by 40-50BC, about the time Julius Caesar was being murdered in Rome. How can Yoruba clans be that young?

Some rush here to say Yoruba is over 900 years old. Great! That would make more sense. By why is every clan claiming Oduduwa?

What pisses me of is when our SW people boldly say things like "shebi Benin come from Oduduwa, they are Yoruba". The level of ignorance among majority is astonishing.

Assuming there was concrete evidence that Eweka I was son of Oranmiyan, which there isn't, only a tiny fraction of Benin people would be descendants of Oduduwa through Oranmiyan. They can be identified by Lamogun morning greeting, only one of over 100 common family morning greetings. There is even concrete evidence.

I have suggested for years here that we should select a few members of Ooni of Ife family and Lamogun group in Benin to do a DNA test to determine the link or lack of. Nobody took up the offer.

The same way Samuk placed $1,000 reward on anyone getting a concrete proof of documentation of Benin-Ife link before 1824 and nobody has done anything.

We from Benin seek the truth are even prepared to walk the talk. Others make claims, shout, insult, yet no action to back it up.

@ Samuk

The truth has been there in the open for decades but many didn't want to see it.

Take Obis of Agbor for example. Irrespective of what they say of their history, several of them had Benin names such as Gbenoba (Igbinoba) 1890-1911, Obika Gbenoba (Igbinoba) from 1935-67 and others who ruled much earlier such as Agho, Obanor, etc. Benin links to the royalty and streets/quarters are very clear.

In Benin, no Oranmiyan link in folklore or kings is obvious. They say Eweka comes from Owomika. The whole magic of playing Akhue seed and suddenly speaking is not a popular story in Benin. Most people in Benin don't even know about it. Whereas the stories of Akpanigiakon, Ebomisi, Arhuanran, Ewuakpe, Osogan monster, Ogiso Obioye and others are well-known.

What could have made "Owomika" episode so unknown except to those who read Dr J U Egharevba's book and later history that now talk about it?

It can't just be because it supposedly happened relatively long ago because Obioye and Osogan story are older.

One must suspect that a "neat" link between Oranmiyan and Eweka needed to be promoted for exigency.

Nothing new about it. Every clan in Yorubaland is suddenly finding a link between themselves and one son, daughter or grandchild of Oduduwa to legitimise their Yorubaness. Any king or baale who doesn't magic a link to Ife is these days considered to be less in importance.

The fallacy of this trend is that it portrays Yoruba people as only springing out of Oduduwa about 900 years ago. That can't be true. Igodomigodo was already well-established as a kingdom by 40-50BC, about the time Julius Caesar was being murdered in Rome. How can Yoruba clans be that young?

Some rush here to say Yoruba is over 900 years old. Great! That would make more sense. But why is every clan claiming Oduduwa that is about 900 years ago then?

What pisses me of is when our SW people boldly say things like "shebi Benin come from Oduduwa, they are Yoruba". The level of ignorance among majority is astonishing.

Assuming there was concrete evidence that Eweka I was son of Oranmiyan, which there isn't, only a tiny fraction of Benin people would be descendants of Oduduwa through Oranmiyan. They can be identified by Lamogun morning greeting and only one of over 100 common family morning greetings. There is even NO concrete evidence.

I have suggested for years here that we should select a few members of Ooni of Ife family and Lamogun group in Benin to do a DNA test to determine the link or lack of. Nobody took up the offer.

The same way Samuk placed $1,000 reward on anyone getting a concrete proof of documentation of Benin-Ife link before 1824 and nobody has done anything.

We from Benin seek the truth and are even prepared to walk the talk. Others make claims, shout, insult, yet no action to back it up.

AreaFada2

Ologbo147

After over 100 years of the distortion of Benin history, some Benin people are now beginning to ask questions.

Edo people resident in the various European countries that archive Benin early history will play a vital part in the future research of early Benin history.

The Benin/Ife connection story started after Oba Ovonramwen was banished to Calabar, Oba Eweka 2 as a young Prince faced an uncertain future, powerful chiefs such as Agho Obaseki took advantage of the situation and young Prince Eweka 2 most have seen the importance of forming alliance with those that the British have favoured such as the Ooni of Ife.

The reigns of the two previous Oba, Ovonramwen and Adolor were well documented but nothing was said about Ife.

Benin history forming the foundation of yoruba history is very important to the yoruba people because it allow them dates the era of Oduduwa/Oranmiyan back to the 11th century.

Traditions were invented in Benin and written into the coronation of the oba to support the Benin/Ife connection, Oba Erediawa 2 must have seen the problems some of these will cause to his future descendants and he put in place some corrections, this is why Oba Ewuare 2 didn't observe the Ekiokpagha treaty during his coronation.

Under this arrangements, yoruba history gets backdated from 1824 to the 11th century using Benin history. The Oba of Benin become the authentic heir to Oranmiyan who is the authentic heir to Oduduwa because only male direct descendants of the oba of Benin become an oba. The yoruba monarchical structures are not the same because they have different ruling houses and female oba has also ruled in Ife according to Ife history.

Currently and as long as the history stands, the oba of Benin by blood is the most authentic direct male descendant of Oranmiyan/Oduduwa, the Benin palace simply played a fast one on those early Yoruba people/historians that wanted to steal Benin history. Oba Ewuare 2 is now celebrating Oodua (Ekaladerhan) festival annually.

The first writers of yoruba history wrote that Oduduwa was a female deity, this was before they decided to link Benin to Ife.

As the Benin/Ife connection become mainstream, It is important that Edo people know the authentic history.