All Yoruba cities, towns, and Villages referred to version of Yoruba they speak as the name of the towns, cities, or villages, isn't just Yoruba, the pattern is common among many people of the world.
Even the Bini language takes its name from Bini people.
What we call Yoruba people today is the clusters of different tribes that speak the same language and proudly believe they originated from the same source.
While the name "Yoruba" might be recent, it doesn't mean the people are.
For example: before the entirety of England was referred to as "English," the term originally applied to the Anglo-Saxon peoples and their culture.
Before the entire Yoruba was called Yoruba , it applied to people living in the Oyo area, which gradually evolved to all the people that we called Yoruba today;this is called evolution.
Yariba” is not a word— and doesn’t mean anything— in either the Fulani language (also called Fulfulde) or the Hausa language. Nor does it mean anything even in Songhai.
Can you speak Ife, or can you speak Ijebu? If you can't speak Ijebu, can you speak Ekiti? OK, you can't speak either of these dialects. But surely you can speak Eko.
Eko is another dialect of what we know as Yoruba today, the reason why the town is called Eko.
This is Copy and paste Below of the introduction of 1858 dictionary:
"THE Yoruba country includes all the territory which is inhabited by people who speak the Yoruba language. It is bounded on the East by Ibinin or Benin and the Niger, on the West by Dahomi and Mahí, on the North by Barba (Borghoo) and Nufe, and on the South by the Bight of Benin. At the present time it is divided into eight independent kingdoms, as follows: 1. Iketu, situated immediately east of Dahomi, of which the extent is two thousand square miles, with a population of about one hundred thousand; *capital, Iketu. The surface of the country is level; timber and water are scarce, and the soil rather poor. Still this little kingdom has sufficient resources to repel the power of Dahomi, which it has done on two occasions.
(2). Eko, or Lagos, situated immediately on the sea coast, has an area of about four hundred square miles, and a population of thirty thousand. The greater part are in Lagos, the capital, which is situated on a small island in the lagoon or bay , called Osa by the natives, and Cradoo by the English . Lagos claims all the coast to a point some miles west of Badagry. If this claim be allowed, the area and population of the kingdom are two or three times greater than above stated. For many years Lagos was a stronghold of the slave trade. It was then nominally dependent on Benin; but the turbulent chiefs and people seem to have paid little regard either to Benin or to their own kings, who were frequently deposed and banished. Lagos is now under the protection of the English, but they claim no jurisdiction over the soil or people. It is the residence of several European merchants and missionaries, and bids fair to become one of the most flourishing towns in western Africa. The people speak the Yoruba language, which they frequently call the Eko; just as the Iketus, Egbas, & c. , call it, after the name of their own tribes, the Iketu, the Egba, & c. By Europeans it is generally called the Aku language .
(3). Egba is a small kingdom on the south of Yoruba and east of Iketu, lying on both sides of the Ogun river, but principally on the east . The whole area, including the fallen kingdom of Ota, is about three thousand square miles, with a population of one hundred thousand; the capital, Abeokuta, has a population of eighty thousand souls. The surface of the country is generally hilly, especially east of the river; the soil is unusually fertile, and the whole region well supplied with streams of clear water . In ancient times, as the Egba people relate , their country was a province of the Yoruba kingdom. After obtaining their independence, they were governed by a king of their own; but finally growing weary of monarchy, they determined that every town should be ruled by its own chiefs. This led to mutual jealousies and dissensions. About fifty years ago, these dissensions, stimulated by the slave trade and by the machinations of the Idźebus and Yorubas, resulted in civil war. The Egba country then contained more than a hundred towns, some affirm nearly three hundred, several of which were very populous. In the course of twenty - five years, every one of these towns was swept out of existence, with the single exception of Ọbà, which is yet standing, about ten miles south - west of Abeokuta. It is probable that five hundred thousand people perished by sword and famine. Many thousands were sold to the slave ships, and the remnant of the tribe was scattered abroad. The city of Abeokuta is situated on the east bank of the Ogun river, among twenty or thirty immense masses of granite, several of which rise to a height of two or three hundred feet. Forty years ago, a grotto or cave under one of these rocks, which surmounts an abrupt hill, was inhabited by a band"
-introduction of Yoruba Dictionary 1858
Eko is a dialect and people, just like Ife is a dialect and people. In the 19th century, the island only comprised 30,000 people , relatively small compared to other Yoruba towns.
The language spoken in Eko is a version of Yoruba, not a version of Bini .
The argument is whether bini invaded the Island and had some influence, The argument is, did Bini create and name the island.
Eleko ti Eko is actually the Title of oba eko.
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