By Reno Omokri
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Thank you for your feedback. I have written about this before. Know your roots. There is nothing like Yoruba. It is a made up word by Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther.
The word Yoruba has caused so much confusion. What does it mean? It is completely meaningless. It has no meaning in the language for which it purports to be a name. I know the origin of the name, but it evokes so much controversy, as such I prefer to be silent about it.
The etymological name of the people is Edekiri. They referred to themselves as Omo-ti-Olu-Iwa-Bi, corrupted to Omoluabi. And the name of their language is Lukumi or Olukumi.
Before the British, NOBODY self-identified as Yoruba. You were either Egba, Owu, Oyo, Ekiti, Awori, Jekri (Itsekiri), Ilaje, Igala, Igbomina, Akoko, etc.
Then you had the Jaboo or Jebu (the addition of I at the beginning is recent), who were of a different ethnic nationality with a separate origin.
The modern Yoruba you speak is a mishmash patois of various Lukumi dialects formed in 19th Century Lagos.
If you read Bishop Crowther’s account of his capture by Fulani slavers from Osogun at the age of 12, you will note that as he was taken to Lagos, he could not communicate fully with the other Lukumi tribes on the route from Osogun, in modern-day Oyo, to Badagry. That is because he was Oyo, and they were Egba and later Awori.
Using the term, Yoruba cuts you off from your fellow Olukumi (or Lukumi), like we Itsekiri. Have that at the back of your mind.
Even Igala people have Olukunmi origins.
What do the people of Ibadan call their king? Is it not Olu? What is the king of Warri called? Is it not Olu? What is one of the titles of the Ooni of Ife? Is it not Alayeluwa? That Alayeluwa is Alaye Olu-Iwa. He is also an Olu. There are other Olu, including Oluaye. The full pronunciation of the word Lukumi is Olukumi. There is actually a tribe in Delta called Olukumi. The word Olu is a common thread in all Lukumi languages, whether in Nigeria, Brazil, Benin, Togo, or Cuba.
I went to all these places and interviewed their people to find out their origins. If you follow me on social media, you would have seen me eating moin-moin in Tobago and Acaraje in Brazil. It was in Brazil I discovered that Acara comes from Akaraje, which simply means a ka ra je (we counted and bought it and then ate it).
The most common preface to any name in the Lukumi language is Olu. Oluboyo, Olumagin (Itsekiri), Olumide, Olufunke, Olusegun, Oluyomi, Olukoya, Oluyemisi, Olukayode.
The next most common preface for a typical Lukumi name is Ifa, which was our deity. Any so-called Yoruba name beginning with Fa, for example, Fashola, Fawehinmi, Fayemi, Fakunle, is actually in praise of Ifa. Fawahenmi simply means Ifa has my back! My daughter is Oritseweyinmi, which is EXACTLY the same meaning as Ifawehinmi. That was Gani Fawehinmi’s original surname. Ondo Olukumi use ehin to mean back. We Itsekiri Olukumi say Eyin. The difference is h and y. Oritseweyinmi means God has my back. Ifawehinmi means God (we Olukunmi thought Ifa was God) has my back.
The origin of the word Oritse in Olukunmi is Ori (head) and Tse (to make or create). Sometimes, Oyo Olukunmi will pronounce tse as she. For example, she bayi, meaning do it like this. When you combine Ori (head) and tse (make or create), you get the word Oritse (Head Creator), meaning God who sits on the Throne. His children (angels) are called orisha.
Even the word Bishop Crowther translated to satan, Esu, does not mean satan. Esu is not an evil being. If Ajayi Crowther had matured before he was taken as an enslaved boy, he would have known this. The full name of Esu is Esu elegbara. He is an Orisha. Ojuelegba in Lagos is just short for Ojubo Elegbara, meaning the shrine of Esu elegbara.
Thanks again, and may God bless you.
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