CHAPTER I - THE FOUNDERS OF THE YORUBA NATION

Summary

ODUDUWA

Oduduwa the reputed founder and ancestor of the race is really a mythical personage. The Etymology of the term is from Odu(ti o) da Iwà. Whatever is unusually large as a large pot or container is termed Odù: the term then implies, the great container the author of existence. According to Ife mythology Oduduwa was the son of Olodù mare, i.e. the father or Lord of Odu; ma rè implies cannot go beyond i.e. the Almighty. Oduduwa was sent by Olodumare from heaven to create the earth. Olokun i.e. the goddess of the ocean was the wife of Oduduwa, Oranmiyan and Isedale their children, and Ogun a grand-child.

Such is the desire of most nations to find a mythical origin for themselves through their kings and ancestors.

All that was known of him has been told in Part I of this history, which gives an account of the emigration of the ancestors of the Yorubas from the east to Ile Ife where Oduduwa died in peace and was deified, being worshipped to this day by the Ifes, and up to the time of the British Protectorate, human sacrifices were offered to him at regular intervals. The soil of Ile Ife is said to be sacred to him. He was the grandfather and great-grandfather of renowned Kings and Princes who ruled and made history in the Yoruba country.