Pandemonium as Hausa, Yoruba traders clash in Ile-Ife.

At least five people have been killed in a clash between Yoruba and Hausa traders in the Sabo area of Ile-Ife in Osun state.

A resident of the ancient city told TheCable that the situation started on Tuesday, but escalated on Wednesday morning.

Adeyeye Ogunwusi, ooni of Ife, reportedly intervened through seeking the assistance of security operatives.

The security agents deployed in the town were said to have foiled an attempt of aggrieved Yoruba residents to gain access into Sabo community, which is predominantly occupied by Hausa people.

The angry mob then stormed Lagere, a neighbouring community, and attacked Hausa traders there.

A witness said security agents found it difficult to control the rampaging mob.

Many have fled Ife as a result of the crisis, which has also led to the destruction of property worth millions of naira.

Some of the persons who sustained injuries have been taken to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH) for medical attention.

The cause of the clash is not yet known.

 

Source: The Cable

Photo credit: Ikeokwu Chidozie

Christians, Muslims major problems of Yoruba tradition – LASU Don

A Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Danoye Oguntola-Laguda, has said that Christians and Muslims were the major problems of Yoruba tradition because they create a negative mindsets in individuals.

Mr. Oguntola-Laguda of the Department of Religions and Peace Studies, Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University, LASU, made the assertion at the institution’s 57th Inaugural Lecture Series on Wednesday in Lagos.

The lecture is entitled: “Esu, The Individual and The Society’’.

He said that Christians and Muslims should not misunderstand the personality of the “Esu’’ (devil) deity to the detriment of Yoruba traditional religious belief.

“Christians and Muslims are the major problems of the Yoruba tradition because they create negative mindsets in individuals that Esu is evil,” the don said.

According to him, the influx of imported religious ideologies such as Christianity and Islam into the Yoruba religious space has affected the traditional conception of the devil.

Oguntola-Laguda said the pristine traditional conception of Esu deity as noted in Yoruba traditional religion had been abandoned for the positions of Christianity and Islam on the deity to become popular.

He said: “Esu is evil, leads men astray, encourages them to do evil, works against the salvation plan of God for mankind and therefore must be avoided at all cost.”

The philosopher said that the ideology of the two religious beliefs is an attempt to locate a scapegoat for their moral weaknesses and absolve their God from evil activities.

“In Yoruba traditional thought, all things, including evil are possible only with the approval of God and evil is caused by God for good purposes.

“Just as the labour pain experienced by women is evil only momentarily, after the delivery of the child, joy and happiness always ensued,” he said.

Mr. Oguntola-Laguda explained that Esu is the name of a deity or divinity among pantheon of gods in Yoruba theology, which includes Orunmila (the wisdom divinity), Ogun (iron and war divinity).

Also, Obatala (creative divinity), while Olodumare (God) is the source of all beings, including the divinities which Esu is one of them.

“Yoruba religion believes that Olodumare created Esu as one of his lieutenants and gave him the primordial duties of inspecting rituals, sacrifices and worship.

“This (is) because Esu has the will-power to approve or disapprove of all worships and rituals directed to Olodumare or any other divinities, his primordial function earned him unfortunate appellations and misconceptions,’’ he said.

The professor said God seeks to bring man closer to himself by prescribing sacrifices and the devil makes sure such rituals were done according to prescription.

According to him, those who refuse to offer the prescribed sacrifice(s) are punished by the devil on behalf of God who gave him the role and this punishment are regarded as evil by humans.

“If these punishments are considered evil, then the prime cause of things — Olodumare should be liable for the actions of the Esu deity.

“This is because God allows evil to exist in order to derive greater good from it,’’ he said.

Mr. Oguntola-Laguda said that to blame Esu for the evil deeds of man was to create a paradox that might be difficult to explain.

“This is because man as created by God is a determined moral agent who has come to the world to act according to the script as designed and sealed by God.

“Therefore, man cannot do otherwise since there are no alternative courses of action laid out for him,” he said.

The philosopher said that men, unfortunately, desecrate and bring evil to themselves and the society because they do not want to do what is right.

He, however, urged all to believe in destiny, respect one another’s religion, do what is right, according to the culture of the society to enjoy sustainable peace and harmony.

Yoruba Leaders Begin New Political Movement, Holds National Colloquium In Ibadan.

Yoruba citizens from all walks of life across various political divides in Nigeria are coming together under the ”Yoruba Patriots Movement” to present a common front in negotiations and alliances to reposition the South West ahead of 2019 general elections.

 

Rising from a National Colloquium held in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, notable Yoruba leaders of thoughts agreed that there was an urgent need for the Yoruba nation to be united and present a common agenda for sectoral improvement especially in education.

 

The National Colloquium with the theme, ‘Resetting the Yoruba Nation’s Agenda for Rapid. Systematic and sustainable Development’, brought together notable leaders of thought in Yoruba land across several party platforms.

 

The Forum agreed that unity of purpose across board on all issues of National importance as it affects the region must henceforth drive all agitations of the group, as they reset agenda for future development.

 

With those submissions from elder statesmen from the south west region, the agenda was laid out for the new movement which would provide a political pedestal for a common vision and voice irrespective of party or religious affiliations.

 

The National coordinator of the group Dr. Dosu Ladipo, laid emphasis on the agenda for the forum.

 

The Chairman of the Colloquium, Bisi Akande, said it was time to close ranks and put forward a Yoruba agenda capable of achieving even development of the region and engendering National progress.

 

In their separate presentations, Ambassador Yemi Faronbi and Dr. Kunle Olajide bemoaned the state of the Yoruba race in the present day Nigeria, claiming that the race has become a target for oppression and is being neglected.

 

A similar forum was held by all political leaders under the All Progressives Congress at the Oyo State Governor’s office also in Ibadan to fashion a way forward for the party within the region.

 

However, this Colloquium is bigger, as more than eight political parties were represented to begin fresh alliances on behalf of the South West Zone against 2019 general elections and beyond.

 

Source: Channels TV

Two Nigerians Create Epic Fight Game Based On African Mythology

There has never really been a space for African mythology in fantasy realms, and that’s why projects like these – ones that tap into Africa’s rich culture – are always welcome.

 

Creative artist, Akdogan Ali, and programmer, Umusu Samson Iruo, decided to embark on a journey in creating a video game that will showcase Africa to the world: Throne of gods.

 

shango-throne-of-gods2

(Photo: Throne of gods)

akonadi-throne-of-gods2

(Photo: Throne of gods)

ogo-throne-of-gods2

(Photo: Throne of gods)

Throne of gods is an epic fighting game based on African mythology, where players get to use different African gods and goddesses to battle.

Right now, they only have a beta version released for test purposes with two playable characters.

 

Popular Yoruba actress, Mulikat Adegbola is dead.

Veteran Yoruba actress, Mulikat Adegbola is dead. Adegbola popularly known as Ashabi Iya Adinni died of brief illness.
Nollywood actor, Muyiwa Ademola broke the sad news via his instagram page.
According to him:“This is quite sad but who are we to question the Almighty? Sleep on Iya Adinni.May the Almighty forgive your sins.”
She is popular for her roles in movies like “Ìlù gángan” (2009), “Ogbologbo” (2003) and“Ogbologbo 2” (2003).

BBC to broadcast in Yoruba, Igbo, Pidgin, others.

The BBC World Service is set to broadcast in 11 new languages.

Among them are Yoruba, Igbo and Pidgin.

Others are Afaan Oromo and Amharic, spoken in Ethiopia; Tigrinya, the main language of Eritrea; Gujarati, Marathi and Telugu and Punjabi.

The World Service started out in 1932 as a radio channel for English-speakers in the British empire but has transformed over time into a respected provider of news to global audiences.

It already broadcasts in 29 languages, including Hausa, reaching an estimated 246 million people around the world every week.

The expansion is said to be as a result of a funding injection of 289 million until 2020 announced by the government last year.

According to the BBC Director General, Tony Hall, the move is historical and reinforces the importance of the organisation globally.

Hall said, “This is a historic day for the BBC, as we announce the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s. The BBC World Service is a jewel in the crown – for the BBC and for Britain.”

Also, Director of the World Service, Fran Unsworth, the new funding from government would have no impact on the service’s independence.

She said, “Where the money comes from is irrelevant. The World Service is going to do what it’s always done – go over the heads of government providing a service directly to citizens of the world.”

Child, three others drown as Yoruba, Egun clash in Lagos.

Four persons are believed to have drowned, over 200 structures burnt and several residents displaced on Wednesday in Otodogbami Community, Ikate, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos when Yoruba and Egun ethnic groups clashed within the community.

Those who drowned were said to have included a child.

They were said to have drowned while trying to escape through the river behind the community during the clash.

However, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Dolapo Badmos, said no one died.

Badmos said: “The effort of the police helped ensure that no death was recorded.”

The clash started on Monday between two men from the ethnic groups when one resident of Egun extraction was said to have assaulted a Yoruba indigene for beating up his fiancé.

In retaliation, the sources said that the Yorubas, armed with machetes and other weapons, attacked the community, blocking its entrance and vandalizing its shrine.

Badmos said it was a supremacy battle.

She said: “There is an Egun community mainly made up of people from Republic of Benin.

“They actually occupy illegal shanties.

“We were alerted about the breakdown of law and order in the area and immediately went to check Otodogbami community, Ikate Lekki Phase 1, where there is a fight between the Benin-Yoruba communities fighting over the supremacy in the territory.

“It’s an illegal settlement area.

“Most of the structures there are shanties and because of a protracted dispute between themselves, they set fire on their different shanties.

“The Police moved into the area to restore peace and in the process of checking the area, we discovered that there was a woman who was trapped in one of the shanties with a two-day old baby, who would have been burnt in the process.”

Don’t allow Yoruba language to go into extinction – Oyintiloye

A member of the Osun State House of Assembly, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has called for the preservation of Yoruba language, saying the language is gradually going into extinction.

Oyintiloye made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Osogbo.

He urged traditional rulers across Yoruba-speaking states to lead efforts that would guarantee the preservation of the language.

Oyintiloye expressed the need to save the language from going into extinction.

He said traditional rulers, being custodians of language and culture of Yoruba people, must speak and promote the language for the advancement of the race.

Oyintiloye said it was worrisome that people had abandoned their mother tongue for foreign language.

According to him, leaders of Asian, Arabian, French, and European countries and many other countries, prefer to speak more of their languages in public functions and have it interpreted in English language.

Oyintiloye said: “We are very rich in cultural values but we allow the values to be going into extinction by not paying attention to them.

“Even in our educational system, we have turned our language to a foreign language and term it vernacular.

“The foreign culture and tradition have overshadowed our thinking to the extent that the children of nowadays cannot differentiate between their own culture and foreign culture.

“This trend is extremely abnormal and if allowed to continue, would undermine development among Yoruba tribes.

“Therefore, our traditional institutions, government at all levels and well-meaning Yoruba people must rise and lead the crusade to revive the use of Yoruba language.”

Oyintiloye commended the Osun Government for passing a law, making teaching of Yoruba language in both private and public schools in the state compulsory.

Sarumi Lukman Oluwapelumi: Heirs Of Harmony

Veraciously an heir is what every man wishes for before the journey to the land of no return, if gone family heritage, culture and history cease to exist.

 

Sustaining ancestral pedigree lingers on the heart of an elder without a heir. However in the quest of seeking divine
interference, recitations are offered solely for the good and upright offspring. A glorious heir, knowledgeable, pious and that which will be a blessing to humanity.

 

Elders taught us to be custodian of language yet the barren ones seems to have forgotten an important Yoruba axiom that says “He who begets and he who begets not will both be buried by a child

 

Before a sprinter passes the baton in a relay race, the receiver anticipate eagerly full of vigor, determined to surpass the previous bearer, we are born and lessons we have learnt,  are the heirs truly filled with the energy or are they lost by the glitz attached to being a youth? Death is inevitable, every man shall taste it so says the Religious Books (Al-Quran and The Holy Bible) verily the old shall go while the young shall grow.

 

Behold! The heirs of harmony yet to be old, we are a beacon light of hope to the millions of unborn heirs, asingle broomstick is never enough to clean off dirt but 100 broomsticks bonded together can deliver justice to dirt. North, South and Central. We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.

 

Together we can reject political division formulated by the old, together we should be progressive heirs, zonal sentiments, tribal sentiments, religion sentiments and “omo wa ni” philosophy should never be our watchword. It will only be good here when the heirs are united not divided, it will only be good here when we take into consideration the efforts of the progressive minded heirs who are powered by their zeal to change the status-quo of the old foxes.

 

If we fail to be united our lunch will be passed to the cat, our voice, dialogue and struggle will yield and fetch no result. To all the heirs of harmony the future is bright and fertile, the starting point to the ‘tomorrow future’ is now and it lies greatly in our hands if only we do not get infected by the division theory of the policy makers. Truly the older generations failed by giving it for the soup and cash.

 

Once bitten twice shy! They own heirs who have never been part of us, their sight are far away from our plights yet they rule us. Heirs of harmony the next time you see one of you working towards the growth of the harmony state never render their efforts useless! do not sabotage their struggle for the wads of Naira, just as lovers of football derive joy from seeing their team win, the game they enjoy best is seeing us fight and divided, they own a masters degree in formulating religious and ethnic theories.

 

Southern propaganda is false, “Omo wa” won’t make us grow, No to seclusion.  The state of harmony belongs to
all, victory is certain if youths unite!

 

About the writer.

Sarumi Lukman Oluwapelumi is a 400 level student of political science at the university of Ilorin. He can be reached via www.Facebook.com/lukmon.sarumi1 He tweets via @sir_rumz

New Yoruba Nation Coming Soon, Says Ooni

NEWLY-crowned Ooni of Ife Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi has promised that a new Yoruba nation where youth empowerment is the focus will emerge during his tenure. Ogunwusi’s coronation is coming five months after the demise of Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who passed on at 85. The new Ooni is the 51st Ooni to ascend the throne, and his coronation came exactly 35 years and one day after the immediate-past Ooni, Oba Sijuade was presented the staff of office.

Installation ceremony of Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi 51th Ooni of Ife

Remarkably, the ancient city of Ile Ife stood still yesterday, as he was presented with the staff of office and instrument of appointment. Roads leading to the palace was on lock down by security operatives, leaving a red carpet path for the monarch and invited dignitaries.

Guests and invitees from all walks of life thronged the palace to catch a glimpse of the coronation ceremony of the Ooni of Ife.

In fact, it took the intervention of security presence of the Army, Police, Civil Defence and other paramilitary organizations to control the crowd at the venue.

The ceremony, held at Afewonro Park, Enuwa, had in attendance dignitaries. It was full of glamour as groups attired in colourful dresses adorned the perimeters of the venue. Traditional rulers from different climes, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar II, and Olu of Warri were not left out as drums and trumpets announced their arrival.

Honesty, Integrity, Hardwork; The Virtues Of Yoruba Race – Osinbajo

The Vice-President (VP) of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday identified honesty, integrity, and hard work as integral attributes of the Yoruba race.

 

Osinbajo said this in Ile-Ife during the coronation of the new Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, as the 51st Ooni of Ife.

 

He described events, such as the coronation, as rare and very historic in all ramifications, especially to the people of Ile-Ife and the entire Yoruba race.

 

The VP also used the occasion to remind the new Ooni of the great responsibility before him.

 

“The stool of Ooni is revered and deeply important to the Yoruba race and the Ooni remains the father to all.

 

“And as a father to all, you have the primary responsibility of carrying the responsibility of the people.

 

“We are indeed grateful to God for affording us the opportunity to celebrate with pump and pageantry,” he said.

 

(NAN)

Watch Jackie Chan Speak Pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo & Hausa

You probably might have seen this movie, ” Dragon Blade”, starring Jackie Chan, John Cusack, among others; but you have to see Jackie Chan speak  Pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa in the bid to promote the movie to Nigerians. Watch clip below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBDD7S_bmGw

CreditFilmOne Distribution/ YouTube

Yoruba Keyboard Language Pack Is Now Available For Mac And Windows Users

Now this is handy.

The geniuses at Yorubaname.com have come up with a nifty little language tweak for Mac and Windows users. Users can now include tone marks and subdots in their names and sentences by installing a Yoruba keyboard language pack.

There are other solutions out there, especially on Windows, that make writing in yoru?ba? (see that?) a possibility but the team claim their language pack offers both layouts with very similar key combinations for consistency.

If you remember, this is the same team that brought us Twitter in yoruba. Or at least were partly responsible. Seems they have no intention of slowing down.

Source – Techcabal.com

British Police To Recruit Yoruba-Speaking Officers

British Metropolitan Police Service has launched a recruitment programme to employ new officers who can speak Yoruba and other languages.

A total of 14 languages which have a high prevalence in London’s communities have been chosen for what the Met called a month-long pilot recruitment which started on Monday.

According to a statement issued on Monday by the MPS, the move was designed to bring officers into the Met with skills necessary to help the police and engage with London’s diverse communities as effectively as possible.

The statement said in part, “It follows the introduction last year of a London Residency criteria to ensure candidates have a strong link to the capital and an understanding of its diversity and cultures. Candidates who apply to be police constables will be tested in the second language as part of our rigorous selection process.

“The chosen languages are Yoruba (Nigeria), Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Italian, German, Turkish, Greek, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Sinhala (Sri Lanka) and Bengali.”

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Bernard Howe, noted that more than 300 languages were spoken in London, the capital of Britain.

“I am committed to providing a police service which looks and feels more like London. We need to recruit and deploy officers with second languages in areas where those languages are spoken. I believe it will help boost confidence, help to solve crime more effectively and support victims and witnesses,” Howe said.

The MPS stated further that it employed around 31,000 officers together with about 13,000 police staff and 2,600 Police Community Support Officers.

“The MPS is also being supported by more than 5,100 volunteer police officers in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary and its Employer Supported Policing programme. The Metropolitan Police Services covers an area of 620 square miles and a population of 7.2 million.

“For this reason, we are introducing additional language eligibility criteria as a key skill to become a police constable. While our police officers are able to effectively carry out their duties without the ability to speak a second language, a police constable with this skill is an asset in helping both themselves and their colleagues to more effectively engage with the community and deal with everyday policing situations. To apply, you must be able to speak one of the 14 languages below: Yoruba (Nigeria), Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Italian, German, Turkish, Greek, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Sinhali (Sri Lanka), Bengali,” it said.