I just read the contribution of Professor Stephen Banji Akintoye, a notable and respected historian, to the burning debate about the origin and meaning of the word Yoruba. I scrutinised his arguments and I considered his sources. I welcome his submissions but I respectfully disagree with his conclusions. I maintain my original position and I stand by what I wrote in my essay: I am not a Yoruba but a son of Oduduwa.
There are two demeaning and insulting names and words that the Fulani gave and used to describe southerners. Firstly came “Nyamiri” (meaning ‘fetcher of water’) in reference to the people of the South-East and secondly “Yariba” in reference to the people of the South West.
The South East rejected that name but the South West accepted theirs. The name “Yoruba” derives from the word “Yariba” and it means “shady and unreliable”. I reject that strange name and label and I hope and pray that the good people of South Western Nigeria will see the wisdom in doing so too.
I am not a “Yariba” or “Yoruba” but an “Omo Karo Jire” or an “Ooduwan” and my language is not “Yoruba” but “Anago”. We are what we call ourselves. We are not “shady and unreliable”(Yariba) and we must not accept names that are given to us by our historical adversaries.
Any Omo Karo Jire or Ooduwan that continues to call himself a “Yoruba” is lost and does not know the implications of what he is doing to his own people. He is simply affirming and confirming an insulting label which has deep sinister, mystical and spiritual connotations.
The word “Yoruba” did not even exist until the 18th century and even then most of the tribes of the South West, including the Oyo’s, rejected it due to its origin and meaning. The word “Yoruba” is alien to our culture and not known in the Anago language. Ooduwans please take note.
Read Also: Age-long deceit of the Hausa-Fulani Oligarchy on Yorubas
The first time the word “Yoruba” was used as a generic term for all the people of the South West Nigeria was in the 19th century by Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. He did us a great disservice there given the fact that it derives from the word “Yariba” which the Fulani used to describe our people.
The meaning of the word “Yariba” is “usurper, deceitful, shady, treacherous, cheating usurer and double-dealing bastard”. Once again I reject that name. The good people of South West Nigeria are “Anagos” or “Omo Karo Jire’s” or “Omo Oluabi’s” or “Ooduwans” and we are not ‘Yaribas’ or ‘Yorubas’. I, FFK, a proud Ife, an Anago, an Aku, an Omo Karo Jire, an Omoluabi, an Ooduwan and a son of Oduduwa, will never answer to the name “Yoruba” again or use it to describe my people. We are better than that.
The British named our nation “Nigeria” meaning “area of darkness” and the Fulani named our ethnic nationality “Yariba”. Put together, this means “a group of deceitful, shady, treacherous usurpers and bastards from an area of darkness”. Is it any wonder that we are still in servitude and bondage? What a terrible combination. We have been snared by our names. May God open our eyes, may He help us and may He deliver us! We must start helping ourselves by rejecting these deeply demonic names, labels and terms.
We are FAR better than the baggage that those horrific names carry. If the Lord can change the name of Jacob (meaning ‘shady character, rogue and trickster’) to Israel (meaning ‘God contends’) then He can change ours too. If Jabez (meaning ‘one who was born in sorrow’) can call on the Lord to break the chains and remove the limitations of his name, to enlarge his coast and to bless him abundantly so can we. Remember: we are, what we call ourselves!
I read the contribution of a northerner by the name of Farouk Kperogi’s to this debate on Facebook and I marveled at his attempt to befuddle the issues and misrepresent my assertions. Surely even intellectual dishonesty and historical revisionism has its limits. To the sons and daughters of Oduduwa and all other southerners, who are my primary concern, I say do not be fooled: the Fulani have been using the words “Yariba” and “Nyamiri” for over 200 years.
Quite apart from that I would appreciate it if someone would please tell this Kperogi that it would be better for him to read what I wrote than to go out of his way to purposely and maliciously misrepresent me. He claims that “it was reported” that I said “Yariba” and “Nyamiri” were Fulani words. Needless to say I never said or wrote that and if indeed it was reported in such a way in any medium then that is nothing but a case of pernicious falsehood, perfidious misrepresentation and pre-meditated and specious mendacity.
What I wrote was that the Fulani gave and used those words to describe the people of the South West and South East respectively. Contrary to his assertion, I did not say they were Fulani or Hausa words. Giving or using a name or a word does not necessarily mean that that name or word is native to the language of the user and giver. This appears to me to be obvious and basic logic. The name could derive from another race or language entirely and you can still use it in yours as a term to describe others. This is especially so when you seek to demean and malign them.
