Colonial Master's stooge has this to say:
"Anyone who argues about supremacy of Benin over Yoruba need his/her brain for check up. The colonial masters that amalgamated all the ethnics into one entity called Nigeria know the truth. The colonial masters never regarded Oba of Benin as one of the foremost king in Nigeria." _Ayòdęlę Ala-Elah,
Proper response:
Yes you can say that because Yoruba are operating the British Template of subjugation over Benin since 1897. Your confession is very correct. But dealing with the ancient history, there was no name as Yoruba. Remember that all the coastal territories from Niger Delta to coast of Dahomey at Port Novo were part of the Bight of Benin and under the Great Benin Kingdom Empire. Not just a Kingdom, but a kingdom with empire and a country of its own, that was first to recognise Brazil's independence in 1822. Where was Yoruba then?
Boasting with the colonial master's power clearly shows how Yoruba lost their tribes to linguistic identity and heritage, and also lost pan-Africanism. It is quite shameful that Yoruba remains the stooges of the Colonial Masters.
There was no name called Yoruba before the middle of the 19th century. Benin only have link to Oduduwa of Ife, not Yoruba. The title Oba was given to Oranmiyan in place of Ogiso or Ogiamiẹn. The meaning of Oba is not just a King as Yoruba thought. No Yoruba King had the title of Oba, except when they copied from Benin after the 1938 listing of the Chiefs by the Colonial Masters. Even as they still have Oba as appellation or appendage, it is still not a Title as Ọba of Benin. Ooni, Awujale, Alake, Owu, Alaafin are the Yoruba titles. Just for the sake of claiming supremacy by the British template of subjugation, the Yoruba decided to adopt Ọba as appendage to their Titles respectively.
By Dr. Paul Osa Igbineweka
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