Cultural nationalism and the African church movement, the Abẹ́òkúta women's revolt, Awólọ́wọ̀ and the Western Region, the Yoruba in the Nigerian federation, and the present revival of interest in traditional knowledge.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Di twentieth century for Yoruba people start from time wey colonial master dem conquer and arrange dem into colonial provinces, reach a region wey get about forty million people wey dey among di most educated for Africa, wey dey central for politics inside di biggest country for di continent, and wey dey right inside serious reconsideration of di traditional knowledge wey dem teach dia own grandparents make dem reject. Di main pattern wey dey run through everything na one repeated pattern: colonial administration scatter or control Yoruba institutions, and Yoruba people rebuild di same kind capacity through education, printing press, party politics, and voluntary associations, and most times dem do am faster pass wetin di administration expect.
Four things for inside dis century deserve make person look dem well because people dey often remember dem wrong. Di African church movement na claim of cultural authority, no be quarrel or division over church doctrine. Di Abẹ́òkúta women revolt na to bring back specific institutional power wey colonial rule remove, no be say na brand new feminist move. Awólọ́wọ̀'s free education, na cocoa money dem take fund am and e get costs as e get achievements. And di current interest wey dey come back for òrìṣà tradition among Yoruba Christians get one unusual driver: di diaspora.
Di generation after Crowther turn against di terms wey dem take bring Christianity come. Wetin trigger am na institutional racism inside di mission itself. Dem make Crowther bishop for 1864; by di 1880s European CMS staff dey systematically undermine im Niger Mission, and e die for 1891 after dem don practically remove im authority and replace am with one European. Di message to educated Yoruba Christians clear well well.
Di response na di African church movement. Mọ́jọ́lá Agbébi, wey dem born as David Brown Vincent for 1860 and die for 1917, change im name during di wave of African nationalism for late 1880s and become di main person wey dey push for Christianity wey center on Africa . E play big role to establish di Native Baptist Church for Lagos for March 1888, wey be di first indigenous church for West Africa . Di argument no be about doctrine. Na about who get right to decide di language, music, drums, dress, and names wey dem dey take worship, and Agbébi challenge di missionaries straight on top dia claim say na dem go decide all dis things for another culture .
Alongside dis one, one broader Lagos cultural movement dey go on. One Yoruba group dey among educated Lagosians wey try make native language get di kind level wey English get, and Agbébi na central figure for di campaign for Yoruba dress and Yoruba language . Yoruba names replace English names. Newspapers wey dey write in Yoruba language increase well well. Herbert Macaulay, wey be engineer and later become founder of di first Nigerian political party, come out from dis same circle .
Dis movement na di direct ancestor to di position wey dis corpus hold. Na di first organised argument wey Yoruba Christians make, say to be Christian no mean say person must accept wetin Europeans talk about Yoruba culture. E no be say na return to òrìṣà religion, and di leaders no even propose dat kind thing. Na claim say di culture no be mission property make dem come define am.
Di historical writing follow. Dem publish Samuel Johnson's History of the Yorubas for 1921. E. A. Ajisafe's The Laws and Customs of the Yoruba People come out for 1924. Na Yoruba men write dis Yoruba history and law for Yoruba readers, and even though di books carry di mindset of dia time, dem establish say Yoruba society get legal and political tradition wey person fit document and wey make sense to write put for inside book.
Di political event wey teach lesson pass during colonial period for Yorubaland na di Abẹ́òkúta Women's Union campaign of 1946 to 1949, because of wetin e bring back.
Colonial indirect rule deal with male chiefs and remove women title hierarchy from government, but dem still continue to tax market women and regulate di markets wey dem dey run. Di Ìyálóde and Ìyálọ́jà bin hold formal authority over dis exact area and bin get seats for council; under colonial administration dem tax women without any institutional way wey dem fit give dia consent.
Dem form di Abẹ́òkúta Women's Union for 1947 from alliance between market women associations and di Christian-educated women of di Abẹ́òkúta Ladies Club wey Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kuti lead . Dat mix na di main point: di traders wey hold di older market authority join hand with di mission-educated women wey sabi read and write and get organizational technique.
For November 1947, about 10,000 women march go Aláké palace, dey sing and dance as protest, dey demand say make tax stop if dem no get democratic representation . Another protest for December condemn di arrest of market women and di corruption for colonial legal system, and dis time dem demand say make di Aláké step down from throne . One march through Abẹ́òkúta for April 1948 make dem suspend direct tax on women and tentatively increase women political representation . Di Aláké, Ademola II, hold ground reach 3 January 1949 before e step down . Dem cancel di tax on women, increase di tax on men, and appoint four women including Ransome-Kuti enter one new interim council .
Check how di demand be. Di women no dey ask for new right. Dem dey demand representation inside di body wey dey tax dem, wey be exactly wetin di Ìyálóde office bin dey provide before colonial administration remove am. And dem target di Aláké, one ruler wey im paramount position over di Ẹ̀gbá sections na colonial simplification on its own, and wey colonial support make no accountable to anybody. Di revolt directly hit di specific damage wey indirect rule cause.
Ransome-Kuti leta form the Nigerian Women's Union and the Federation of Nigerian Women's Societies, con become one of the most important political figures during independence period. Dem throw am comot through window during the 1977 military raid for the Kalakuta compound of her son Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and she die from her injuries for 1978.
Missionary schooling from the 1840s give the Yoruba region early lead wey continue to grow for Western education. Yaba Higher College open for 1934 and University College Ibadan for 1948, and na Ibadan come be the main producer of the Nigerian professional and academic class.
The intellectual work wey this class do na the reason why collection of work like this one dey possible today. Ibadan history school, wey link with K. O. Dike and include Ade Ajayi, Saburi Biobaku and Bolanle Awe, argue for the 1950s and 1960s say African history exist as serious discipline wey get sources wey person fit use, against the European idea wey still strong that time say e no exist. Biobaku Yoruba Historical Research Scheme for the 1950s systematically gather oral traditions across Yorubaland. Bolanle Awe work on Ìbàdàn and on oríkì as historical evidence, and how she insist on women political roles, open new areas of research wey people no dey pursue for other places. Wándé Abímbọ́lá's transcription and translation of Ifá literary corpus material from the 1960s go front make ẹsẹ Ifá dey available as text for the first time, wey come be the foundation for all the academic work wey follow about Yoruba thought.
Apart from academic work, cultural movement wey get heavy weight like that also dey run side by side. Duro Ladipo Ọba Kò So, wey dem first perform for 1964, take the Ṣàngó tradition make am stage play wey dem perform internationally. The Mbari Mbayo club for Ọ̀ṣogbo, Ulli and Georgina Beier workshops, and the artists wey come out from there, including Twins Seven-Seven and the sculptor Sùsáànnè Wenger work for the Ọ̀ṣun grove, produce plenty visual and performance works wey stand strong on top òrìṣà tradition. Wọlé Ṣóyinká's plays and him critical writing, Amos Tutuọla's The Palm-Wine Drinkard for 1952, and the Yoruba-language novels of D. O. Fágúnwà from 1938 go front, establish literature wey draw directly from ìtàn and Yoruba cosmology without apology.
Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ form Ẹgbẹ́ Ọmọ Odùduwà for 1945 for London as cultural organisation to bring Yoruba traditional and educated elites together . For 1951, he found the Action Group for Ìbàdàn as political party, wey largely stand on top the Ẹgbẹ́'s networks . Action Group platform demand say make British rule end, join with universal primary education, make dem expand rural health services, make the economy diversify, and make local government follow democracy .
For the Western Region, the party deliver. Dem bring free primary education for 1955, and unlike the programmes for the other regions, this one na compulsory join with free, wey require every child wey dey between 5 to 13 years to attend . Enrolment jump from 381,000 for 1952 go reach 811,432 for 1955 . The region also establish the first television service for Africa for 1959 and expand electricity go rural areas .
Where the money come from dey important and people dey usually leave am out. Everything come from cocoa. Western Region dey among the biggest cocoa producers for the world, and the regional government gather revenue through how dem regulate the crop sale with state marketing boards, paying farmers controlled price wey dey below world price and keeping the difference . The education, the television station, and the light projects na money wey transfer from cocoa farmers go regional government pay for dem. That na development strategy wey person fit defend, but e also be real burden for rural farmers, and the vex come show during the Agbẹkọ̀ya farmers' revolt of 1968 to 1969, when farmers for the west rise against taxation and produce prices, kill officials and burn courts, con force tax reductions.
The national journey of Action Group end badly. The party scatter for 1962, dem declare state of emergency for the Western Region, and dem try Awólọ́wọ̀ for court for treasonable felony con put am for prison for 1963, before dem release am for 1966. The Western Region crisis and the disputed 1965 election for there, wey people dey remember as Wétìé because dem burn opponents, dey among the immediate causes of the January 1966 coup, and na so e lead to the civil war.
The structural position of the Yoruba for Nigeria dey consistent since independence for 1960: a big, educated, economically important bloc wey still be one out of three, and wey no fit govern alone.
The regional structure of the First Republic give the Yoruba the Western Region as one complete political unit. How dem continue to divide the country, from three regions to twelve states for 1967 and finally to thirty-six, scatter that unit into wetin now be Ọ̀yọ́, Ògùn, Ọ̀ṣun, Ondó, Èkìtì and Lagos states, with Yoruba populations for Kwara and Kogi. Since then, Yoruba political power come need to gather from separate state governments instead of using one central body.
The recurring political matters across the republics na federal restructuring and resource control, two positions wey get strong Yoruba support. How Awólọ́wọ̀'s take lose the 1979 and 1983 presidential elections, the cancel of Moshood Abiola clear victory for the June 1993 election and him death inside detention for 1998, plus the NADECO opposition to the Abacha regime, form series of events where Yoruba political leaders repeatedly drag for the centre and dem block dem repeatedly. Olusegun Obasanjo presidency from 1999 to 2007 and Bola Tinubu own from 2023 change the political numbers, but e no change the main structure underneath.
Lagos deserve separate mention. E don grow from colonial port come turn one of di biggest cities for di whole world, and na Yoruba city at di same time wey e still be Nigerian and West African city, and na dis dey bring continuous drag about who get di city. Di economy of Lagos big pass wetin most African countries get.
Yorubaland na im already be di region wey people stay urban pass for precolonial West Africa, and di twentieth century come make am increase well well. Di effect wey dis get for how dem dey pass culture transfer dey direct: òrìṣà worship, oríkì and Ifá, all of dem dey tied to lineage compound and particular location, and di movement from family compound go enter nuclear flat for city na di main thing wey dey cut how dem dey pass down culture.
Tens of millions of people dey speak Yoruba language and di language no dey endangered for ordinary sense, but di position wey e hold for educated urban houses dey weak, as English dey replace am as di language wey dem dey speak for house for many families wey dey increase. Di three-layer translation discipline wey dis corpus dey use dey exist partly because more and more Yoruba readers no fit read Yoruba text without help.
People wey travel comot since di 1980s don make plenty Yoruba population dey for Britain, United States and Canada. Dat diaspora na major part of di current revival wey dey happen now, for one particular reason.
Real reconsideration of Yoruba traditional knowledge wey dey speed up dey happen now, and di things wey dey drive am make sense to mention clear because dem no be wetin person go normally expect.
Di academic corpus don land. Abímbọ́lá on Ifá, Bascom on divination, Idowu and Awolalu on belief, Barber on oríkì, Peel on di religious encounter, Ogundiran on di archaeology and long history, Abiodun and Lawal and Drewal on di art. Serious scholarly work now dey for English wey dey treat Yoruba thought as real thought. Person wey dem raise make e believe say di tradition na superstition fit now see am as intellectual system, for inside university-press books.
Di diaspora return di argument. Santería for Cuba, Candomblé for Brazil, and how dem spread enter United States, keep òrìṣà practice as living institutions during di period when e dey reduce for Yorubaland itself. Practitioners for Havana, Salvador and New York don come Nigeria to train and to trace lineages, and di fact say Americans, Cubans and Brazilians take dis matter serious don change how Yoruba people wey dem teach say di culture na primitive dey look am. Di Ọ̀ṣun-Ọ̀ṣogbo festival, wey be UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005, dey attract international pilgrimage wey plenty diaspora people dey inside. Na turn-around wey good make dem state clearly: people dey value di tradition again for home partly because dem value am abroad.
Dem recognise di structure of Ifá. Di binary architecture of di 256 Odù, how complete di combination be and how e resemble other formal systems draw attention from outside religious studies entirely, and make am hard to call Ifá ordinary folk belief wey no get structure. UNESCO put di Ifá divination system inside di list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity for 2005.
Digital access. Recordings, transcriptions and translations wey dey only university libraries before now dey easy to reach, and dis matter pass for di diaspora and urban Christian readers wey no get any other way to reach am before.
Two honest points to note. First, di revival na majorly cultural and intellectual instead of religious: most Yoruba people still remain Christian or Muslim, and di interest in Ifá and òrìṣà as heritage and as body of thought spread far pass people wey dey convert go practice am. Second, di recovery no balance and some of am no even be recovery at all. Plenty material wey dey waka online as Yoruba tradition na wetin people cook up, or na diaspora practice wey dem present as Nigerian, or dem carry am from colonial-era compilations wey no dey reliable. Di discipline to check any claim against wetin named scholar and source wey person fit cite talk, wey dis corpus dey try show, no be say person just dey too strict. Na di only thing wey dey separate real inheritance from market of bold claims wey no get foundation.
The fall of Ọ̀yọ́, the Ilọrin and Sokoto dimension, the Ọ̀wu war, the rise of Ìbàdàn, the Sixteen Years War at Kiriji, and the political map they left behind.
Farming, iron, cloth and glass; the market system and the women who ran it; cowrie money; and the routes that tied Yorubaland to the Sahara and the Atlantic.
A dated timeline of Yoruba history in which every entry is marked for how well the date is actually established, since much early dating is contested.
The kinds of evidence historians use to reconstruct the Yoruba past, what each kind can and cannot prove, and how one 1921 book shaped everything written since.
The Odùduwà traditions and the versions that compete with them, the argument over migration versus indigenous development, and what excavation at Ilé-Ifẹ̀ has actually dated.
Ilé-Ifẹ̀ between roughly the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, its sculpture in copper alloy and terracotta, the industries that paid for it, and its relationships with Benin, Ọ̀wọ̀ and the Niger.