Who are the Yoruba?

Yoruba are a nationality, the majority of whom live in the south western part of the state of Nigeria in West Africa.

What is Yoruba?

Yoruba (ede Yoruba) is a dialect of West Africa with over 23 million speakers. It is spoken in Nigeria alongside with ibo, hausa, itsekiri, and so on. Traces of yoruba are found in benin, brazil, togo e.t.c. Apart from referring to the speakers, the written form of the language is also called yoruba.

Yoruba land is commonly called ilẹ-Yoruba . The Nigeria component is comprised of today's Ọyọ, Ọsun, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, and Lagos states as well as the western part of Kogi state. The ancestor of the Yoruba speakers is, according to their oral traditions, Oduduwa, son of Olodumare, the supreme god of the Yoruba .

The Oduduwa Dynasty and the Founding of the nation.

 Oduduwa is the legendary progenitor of the Yoruba. There are two myths of how he achieved this feat. According to the first myth, Obatala was the one chosen by olodumare, the supreme diety to create a solid land out of the aboriginal water that constituted the earth. He descended from heaven on a chain, carrying a small shell full of earth, palm kernels, and a five-toed chicken. He was to empty the content of the shell on the water, and then place the chicken on earth to spread it over the aboriginal water.

Obatala on getting to earth got drunk. Olodumare got worried when obatala did not return on time so he sent Oduduwa to check on him. Oduduwa found Obatala drunk and simply completed the task. He created land and the spot on which he landed from heaven was called Ile-Ife and is now considered the spiritual and sacred home of Yoruba. Obatala was remorseful when he woke up and he made it a taboo for any of his devotees to drink palmwine. He seeked Olodumare's forgiveness and he was forgiven.  He was later given the task of molding the physical bodies of human beings.