A group, Think Yoruba First (TYF) Worldwide, has lamented the distortion of Yoruba history and heritage in a book recently published entitled, “The Igbo People, History and Worldview,” authored by Dons Eze and Chinedu Ochinanwata.
The group, in a release made available to newsmen, described the information contained in the book as cultural defamation and a historical distortion of facts against the entire the entire Yoruba race.
The statement, signed by the Lead Legal Consultant, For Think Yoruba First – Ogo Adulawo Socio-Cultural Association, Worldwide), Sanwo Oluwatobi Ibrahim, claimed the book, which is currently widely circulated in academic and public spaces, contains false, libelous and culturally offensive claims about Yoruba origins and the sacred city of Ile-Ife.
“Among its most offensive assertions are: That the Igbo were the original inhabitants of Ile-Ife, and that the Yoruba are immigrants who usurped control, that a supposed conflict in Ile-Ife led to an Igbo eastward migration, with the Onitsha people as the last to leave, the fabrication of an “Ado-na-Idu Empire” as a precursor to Ile-Ife history — a claim unsupported by the Ifa Corpus (Odu Ifa), authentic Yoruba oral traditions, or credible historical scholarship,” Sanwo said.
It further said the objective of the book is a deliberate attempt to dilute and distort the originality of Ile-Ife as the ancestral and spiritual cradle of Yoruba civilisation.
The group added that being a Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation dedicated to the protection, preservation, and promotion of Yoruba land, history, identity, and intellectual integrity across the entire globe, it is important to set the records straight concerning the information contained in the book.
The group said: “Ile-Ife is not simply a location on a map. It is the very cradle of Yoruba civilization, recognised by Ifa, preserved in oral traditions, and affirmed by scholars worldwide.
“It represents not just history, but the living spirit of our people. To distort Ile-Ife is to attack the very soul of the Yoruba.
“The claim is not about ‘precedence in the order of existence’, as in who was first created or predated who, but the whole essence and gamut of our argument is to repudiate, not accept and completely not concede to the libelous opinion, thoughts or imagination that the Igbo “preceded the Yoruba people originating from Ile-Ife.
“These are clear examples of libel, and intellectual aggression disguised as scholarship but aimed at creating inter-ethnic confusion locally, misinformation to readers and scholars, especially those unfamiliar with Yoruba cultural heritage and histories indigenous to South-Western Nigeria.”
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