Account of the traditional history of the yoruba-speaking tribal peoples of the owu kingdom in Western Nigeria throughout the 19th century to the present day - includes illustrations, maps and references.
This is an African retelling of Euripides: an unnervingly topical story of a people and a beloved city destroyed by the brutality of war. The play was first performed in Lagos in 2003 under the distinguished director Chuck Mike, and subsequently toured the UK.
The Yoruba: A New History is the first transdisciplinary study of the two-thousand-year journey of the Yoruba people, from their origins in a small corner of the Niger-Benue Confluence in present-day Nigeria to becoming one of the most populous cultural groups on the African continent. Weaving together archaeology with linguistics, environmental science with oral traditions, and material culture with mythology, Ogundiran examines the local, regional, and even global dimensions of Yoruba history. The Yoruba: A New History offers an intriguing cultural, political, economic, intellectual, and social history from ca. 300 BC to 1840. It accounts for the events, peoples, and practices, as well as the theories of knowledge, ways of being, and social valuations that shaped the Yoruba experience at different junctures of time. The result is a new framework for understanding the Yoruba past and present.
First published in 1921, and cited on the Africa's Best 100 Books List, this is a standard work on the history of theYorubas from the earliest times to the beginning of the British Protectorate. The first part of the book discusses the people, theircountry and language, religion, government, land law, manners and customs. The second part is divided into four periods, dealing first with mytheological kings and deified heroes; with the growth, prosperity and oppression of the Yoruba people; the time of revolutionary wars and disruption; and, finally, the arrest of disintegration, inter-tribal wars, and the coming of the British. There are two appendices, on dealing with treaties and agreements, the other giving tables of Yoruba kings, rulers, and chiefs. The book also includes an index and map of the Yoruba country.
A History of the Yoruba People is an audacious comprehensive exploration of the founding and growth of one of the most influential groups in Africa. In this commendable book, S. Adebanji Akintoye deploys four decades of historiography research with current interpretation and analyses to present the most complete and authoritative volume on the Yoruba to date. This exceptionally lucid account gathers and imparts a wealth of research and discourses on Yoruba studies for a wider group of readership than ever before. Very few attempts have tried to grapple fully with the historical foundations and development of a group that has contributed to shaping the way African communities are analysed from prehistoric to modern times. “A wondrous achievement, a profound pioneering breakthrough, a reminder to New World historians of what ‘proper history’ is all about – a recount which draws the full landed and spiritual portrait of a people from its roots up – A History of the Yoruba People is yet another superlative work of brilliant chronicling and persuasive interpretation by an outstanding scholar and historiographer of Africa.~ Prof Michael Vickers, author of Ethnicity and Sub-Nationalism in Nigeria: Movement for a Mid-West Stateand Phantom Trail: Discovering Ancient America. “This book is more than a 21st century attempt to (re)present a comprehensive history of the Yoruba ... shifting the focus to a broader and more eclectic account. It is a far more nuanced, evidentially-sensitive, systematic account.” ~ Wale Adebanwi, Assist. Prof., African American and African Studies, UC Davis, USA. “Akintoye links the Yoruba past with the present, broadening and transcending Samuel Johnson in scope and time, and reviving both the passion and agenda that are over a century old, to reveal the long history and definable identity of a people and an ethnicity...Here is an accessible book, with the promise of being ageless, written by the only person who has sustained an academic interest in this subject for nearly half a century, providing the treasures of accumulated knowledge, robust encounters with received wisdom, and mature judgement about the future.” ~ Toyin Falola, The Frances Higginbotham Nalle Professor in History, University of Texas at Austin, USA.
The name Nigeria was coined in Lokoja by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, while gazing out at the river Niger. So, British colonialism created Nigeria as a country, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. The territory known today as Nigeria is a very large country of multi-ethnic groups of about four hundred. The land mass is large enough to accommodate France, Belgium and Italy. The name Nigeria is derived from the River Niger which traverses the country from the North to the South. Nigeria is located on the coast of Western Africa. It has an area of 356,669 square miles (923,768 square km). At its greatest expanse, it measures about 1,200 kilometres (about 750 mi) from East to West and about 1,050 kilometres (about 650 mi) from North to South. It is bordered to the north by Niger, the east by Chad and Cameroon, the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and to the west by Benin. Niger River and the Benue, are its largest tributary, are the principal rivers in the country. The area that is now Nigeria was home to ethnically based kingdoms and tribal communities before it became a European colony. In spite of European contact that began in the 16th century, these kingdoms and communities maintains their autonomy until the 19th century. Federal Republic of Nigeria is a constitutional Federal Republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. The principal groups in the Northern part are Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri, and Nupe. Other minority tribes also inhabits the Middle belt area, these include the Jukun, the Chamba and the Bata. In the region north of the upper Benue valley various ethnic groups such as Fali, Gabun, Gude, Gudu, Higi, Hona Mbula, Mumuye and Tika also inhabits the area. In the Southwest we have the Yoruba, another principal ethnic group and in the Southeast we have the Igbo people which form the third principal ethnic group. In the South-south we have the group of minorities such as Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Isoko Uhrobo and Ukwiani. The entire ethnic group in Nigeria is over 500, parts of these are listed in appropriate section of this book.
This masterful book investigates and analyzes several aspects of money among the Yoruba of Nigeria. Falola and Adebayo explore the origin, philosophy, uses, politics, and problems of acquiring and spending money in Yoruba culture. No prior book exists on this aspect of a major ethnic group in Africa with established connections with the black Diaspora in North America and the Caribbean. Conceived so that each chapter may be read individually, the volume is divided into three parts. Part 1, "Money and Its Uses," focuses on the transition from barter to cowry currency, the idealistic and pragmatic views of money, the impact of monetization on social stratification, accumulation among members of the elite, and the development of savings, banking, and credit institutions. Part 2, "Money and Its Problems," investigates the social, political, and cultural problems of money, including money-lending, theft, counterfeiting, and corruption. Part 3, "Money and Oil Economy," assesses the impact of the oil industry on the Nigerian state and examines both the positive and negative effects of oil money on Yoruba economy, society, and spending. Concluding chapters detail efforts to arrest the crisis that followed the economic slump after the oil boom and led to the adoption of the Structural Adjustment Program, and also evaluate the effects of currency devaluation on personal and communal responsibilities and social payment. Culture, Politics, and Money Among the Yoruba is timely in view of ongoing political and economic changes in Africa. It will be of interest to economists, sociologists, and African studies specialists.
"Toyin Falola, one of the most prominent interpreters of Yoruba History, has written an outstanding and brilliant pioneer book that reveals valuable knowledge on African local historians. This is one of the most impressive books on the Yoruba in recent years and the best so far on Yoruba intellectual history. The range of coverage is extensive, the reading is stimulating, and the ideas are innovative. This is indeed a major contribution to historical knowledge that all students of African history will find especially useful. This original study will find itself in the list of the most important studies of the 20th century." -Julius O. Adekunle, Monmouth University