Ife Origin Influence in the History of Ijebu People of South- Western Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined the lfe origin influence on the history of the Ijebu
people. Though the Ijebu people are part of the Yoruba people living in the
South-western part of Nigeria, who mostly traced their origin to Ife as the

source of mankind, there are doubts in some quarters whether the people are Yoruba. The primary data for this paper were drawn from oral performance of oriki from selected Ijebu towns namely, Ijebu–Ode, Omu, Ikorodu, Aiyepe, Idowa, Imodi, Ijebu-Igbo; selected obas; some warlords and some notable personalities of Ijebuland. The secondary data were the gramophone records, waxed by Ijebu speakers and non-Ijebu speakers, written records, as well as library and archival documentations from the Universities in the South-western part of Nigeria. The study throws more light on the history and origin of the Ijebu people. It also proves that the Ijebu people are connected to the larger Yoruba race and that the Ijebu are still one despite their presence in more than one state and in many towns. The Ijebu people also have their own warlords like other Yoruba people. The study reveals that there is connection between the Ijebu people and the remaining Yoruba society from the Ijebu praise poetry studied. Through the oriki of Ijebupeople, we can locate their source, origin and points of migration to their present location. The study contributes to the development of Yoruba literature in that it has added to our corpus of oriki. This work would be of immense value to scholars of not only literary study but also other fieldssuch as history, linguistics, sociology, anthropology,  ethnography and cultural study