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In the beginning, there was no Nigeria. There were ethnic nationalities and Kingdoms. The name ‘Yoruba Country’ appeared in a book: “Seventeen Years in the Yoruba Country” written in 1851 by Anna Hinderer, wife of the Rev. David Hinderer, C.M.S. Missionary in Western Africa
*Yorubaland
PEGASUS REPORTERS, LAGOS | NOVEMBER 9, 2021
Things you need to know about THE YORUBA-NATION before it was forced into Nigeria… There was and still is an internationally recognized Yoruba Country before there was a Nigeria-Country. “The name ‘Yoruba Country’ appeared in a book “Seventeen Years in The Yoruba Country” written in 1851… 33 years short of the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 that triggered the enslavement of once a proud civilization.”
THE YORUBA…OUR CONTEXT AS A PEOPLE:
In the beginning, there was no Nigeria. There were ethnic nationalities and Kingdoms. The name ‘Yoruba Country’ appeared in a book: “Seventeen Years in the Yoruba Country” written in 1851 by Anna Hinderer, wife of the Rev. David Hinderer, C.M.S. Missionary in Western Africa …33 years short of the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 that triggered the enslavement of a once proud civilization and 63 years prior to the British conquest and amalgamation of the different ethnic nationalities that make up the present day Nigeria in 1914. At that place was and still is an internationally recognized Yoruba Country before there was a Nigeria country.
Yoruba people developed one of the most sophisticated and well balanced political and governance systems in the universe, from 10th century on – a political system based on the sovereignty of the people, with strong dedication to the dignity of life, human freedom, and accountability in leadership and governance. This was confirmed in Report 1114 – the 1921 Annual Colonial Report on Nigeria by the British, when it says that ‘… the Yoruba occupy the western corner of Nigeria and from an early date possessed an organized government. [p.3]
“Seventeen Years in the Yoruba Country”, published in 1851, 63 years before Nigeria was created reported that the Yoruba country, with a population estimated at about three millions, speaks one language, but comprises many separate tribes, occupies a region stretching inland from the Bright of Benin to within forty miles of the Niger, and bordered on the West by the Kingdom of Dahomey.
The gradual suppression of the slave trade may have significantly opened the way, in 1843, for the preaching of the Gospel to the inhabitants of the land, whose religion is a system of a multitude of the Orishas, above all, Ifa, “a system of divination”, who is represented and consulted by means of palm-nuts, are worshipped as mediators between the people and the one Supreme God, Olodumare, whom they acknowledge.
But the British invasion and amalgamation of the Yoruba Country with its diverse neighbours have produced tension and difficult moments for the Yoruba people. The next step in charting a course for the future is to safeguard the destiny of the Yoruba Country. The crisis in Nigeria has proven that developing the Yoruba Country is clearly on a path toward a more regionally integrated autonomy, yet nationally connected paradigm – one that better balance increased competition in the regions with a gradual, moderate national integration by a modest responsibility for Defence, Foreign Policy and the Economy for the Federal Government as negotiated and established in the Independent Nigeria’s first constitution under a parliamentary democracy, with executive power vested in a Prime Minister and each of Nigeria’s three constituent units: Western, Eastern, and Northern regions—also had its own government and premier.
YORUBA SELF-RULE
We all know that Nigeria had its independence from the British colonial government in 1960. What many Yoruba do not recognize is that prior to Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the Yoruba people had rejected the political leadership of Britain over the Yoruba Country as far back as 1952 in what was known then as self-rule.
Immediately the Yoruba attained self-rule in 1952, the political boundaries of the country were separated into the following:
Political Boundaries:
1. Regional
2. Provincial
3. Divisional
4. District and
5. Native Authorities
The Regional Government was called the Western Region of Nigeria. The Region had the following Provinces:
PROVINCIAL BOUNDARIES:
1. Oyo Province
2. Ibadan Province
3. Abeokuta Province
4. Lagos Colony
5. Ijebu Province
6. Oyo-Ife Province
7. Ondo Province
8. Benin Province and
9. Ilorin and Kabba Province
*Oduduwa
Added here, Ilorin and Kabba Province as part of the Western Region of Nigeria because in 1952, referendums were held in the areas and the people voted to be part of the Western Region of Nigeria, the British colonial government handed over the results of the referendums to Tafawa Balewa and Nnamdi Azikwe in 1960, being non-Yoruba but Prime Minister and Governor-General of Nigeria respectively, denied the Yoruba people in Ilorin and Kabba their fundamental human right to be part of their kith and kin in Western Region of Nigeria.
Notwithstanding, however, the above 9 provinces were further divided into the following divisional boundaries.
DIVISIONAL BOUNDARIES:
A. Oyo Province had only one divisional boundary: Oyo Division.
B. Ibadan Province had two divisional boundaries: Osun and Ibadan Divisions.
C. Abeokuta Province had two divisional boundaries: Egbado and Egba Divisions.
D. Lagos Province was called Lagos Colony.
E. Ijebu Province had two divisional boundaries: Remo and Ijebu-Ode Divisions.
F. Oyo-Ife Province had two divisional boundaries: Ife and Ilesha Divisions.
G. Ondo Province had four divisional boundaries: Ekiti, Owo, Ondo and Okitipupa Divisions.
H. Benin Province had three divisional boundaries: Afenmai, Benin and Delta Divisions.
I. Ilorin and Kabba Province had two divisional boundaries: Ilorin and Kabba Divisions.
The above listed 19 Divisions were each further divided into districts. For want of space, I will concern myself with only the Districts of 5 out of the 19 Divisions.
The 5 Districts are taken from the Benin and Ilorin/Kabba Provinces.
DISTRICT BOUNDARIES:
A. The Benin Province had Afenmai Division, Benin Division and Delta Division.
1. Afenmai Division had Akoko-Edo, Ivbiosakon, and Etsako Districts.
2. Benin Division had Benin, Ishan, and Asaba Districts.
3. Delta Division had Warri, Urhobo, Aboh and Western Ijaw Districts.
B. The Ilorin/Kabba Province had Ilorin Division and Kabba Division.
1. Ilorin Division had Ilorin, Igbomina, Ibolo and part of Ekiti Districts.
2. Kabba Division had Yagba West, Yagba East, Ijumu and Kabba Districts.
To complete the Yoruba Western Region political boundaries, the districts were further divided into Native Authorities.
In total, the Yoruba Country had 1 Autonomous Region, 9 Provinces, 19 Divisions, more than 40 Districts and over 200 Native Authorities as far back as 1952.
This political system and boundaries under the exceptional leadership of our topmost statesman of the time –Chief Obafemi Awolowo – served the Yoruba people with the very best government in the whole of Africa. Under their leadership, the Western Region became the pacesetter in virtually all facets of modern development. As examples, the Region developed programmes that empowered Yoruba people to become some of the most productive in Africa. The Region became “First in Africa”, until the Ibo, using the military, suspended the system and the Hausa/Fulani, also using the military, instituted a unitary presidential system, an unworkable political system in 1966.
CHALLENGES OF THE YORUBA COUNTRY:
What do these changes mean?
The current Nigeria is not oriented towards development, advancement or prosperity. Nigeria now tends towards the maximization of power by the federal establishment. As a result, authority and control in Nigeria have been accumulated in the confines of the Federal Government. Nigeria, a country of different nations, has brought down the governments of the states of the Nigerian Federation to the level of impotency and incapacity. These have stunted the growth and development of the Yoruba Country and her citizens.
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What’s your view? Tell us you were here by replying to this story in the comment section below. You can share it, too.
©Pegasus Reporters: making news that reach your audience|Advertise with us!|Join our readers’ list on Telegram (+234 813 308 8344) Follow us on Twitter @pegasusreporters | We are on Facebook; The Pegasus Reporters | Chat with the Editor on WhatsApp (+234 815 444 5334) |Contact the Editor or send your articles to pegasusreporters@gmail.com
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