Oriki as Source of Yoruba History

Abstract

This paper examined oriki as a good and reliable source of Yoruba history. It also highlights the place of oriki in the other literary genres among the Yoruba people. The data on which this work is based is orufi (oriki) among the Ijebu people of Southwestern Nigeria. Data (oral interviews) for this work were collected from 40 informants from the nine Local Government Areas of the Ijebu people in Ogun State and the three Local Government Areas of the Ijebu people in Lagos State considering age and gender equality for data collection. The study proves that oriki goes beyond mere praises and is a good source of history. The study is a contribution to the development of Yoruba literary genre as it increases the corpus of oriki investigation and collection among the Yoruba. This work will be of immense value to scholars of literary studies and other fields.

LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 9(2), 89-96, 2012