Yorùbá
The
Yorùbá are the second largest ethnic group in
Nigeria, comprising approximately 21 percent of that country's total population, and numbering about 30 million individuals throughout the region of
West Africa. The largest is the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group located primarily in the Northern part of the country. While the majority of the Yorùbá live largely in the south-west of Nigeria, there are also substantial Yorùbá communities in
Benin,
Togo,
Sierra Leone,
Cuba and
Brazil.
The Yorùbá are the main ethnic group in the states of Ekiti, Kwara,
Lagos, Ogun,
Ondo, Osun,
Kogi, Edo (Akoko Edo), and Oyo; they also constitute a sizable proportion of the citizens of the
Republic of Benin. The majority of Yorùbá people are Christians, with the
Church of Nigeria (Anglican),
Catholic,
Pentecostal,
Methodist, and Indigenous churches having the largest memberships.
Muslims comprise about a quarter of the Yoruba population, with the traditional
Yorùbá religion accounting for the rest.
The chief Yorùbá cities are
Lagos,
Ibadan,
Abeokuta,
Akure,
Ilorin,
Ogbomoso,
Ondo,
Ota, Shagamu, Iseyin,
Osogbo, Ilesha,
Oyo and
Ilé-Ifè.
Sport: Yorùbáland stadium include the National stadium, Lagos (55,000 capacity), Telsim Balogun stadium (35,000 capacity), Liberty Stadium (40,000 capacity).
Education: Yorùbáland has over 2000 secondary school, and over 10000 primary school. the major University are listed below
- University of Lagos\n*Lagos state University\n*University of Ibadan\n*University of Agric, abeokuta\n*Ogun State University\n*Covanant University\n*Bowen University\n*Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso\n*Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo\n*Ondo State University\n*Wesley University, Ondo\n*Federal University of Techonology, Akure\n*City University, Ibadan\n*Redeemer University, Ede\n*University of Ilorin, Ilorin\n*Obafemi Awolowo Universtiy, Ile Ife\n*Babcork University, Iwo\n*Cetep University, Lagos\n*Pan Africa University, Lekki, Lagos\n*University of Ado Ekiti
History
The Yorùbá were the most urbanized sub-saharan Africans in the precolonial era, and have a history of town-dwelling that goes back to 500 A.D. The wealth of the Yoruba came from controlling the important trade routes to the coast. The pre-colonial Yoruba had recently been forced further south by the Fulani who made extenive use of calvalry. The Yoruba lost the northern portion of their region, retreting to the latitudes where tsetse flies made horses unable to survive.
The Yoruba were a loose confederacy that often saw wars between the city states. In theory all Yoruba acknowledged the leadership of the ancient city of Ife in religious matters and the rule of the recently risen rulers of Oyo as political leader. The ruler of Oyo held the power to confirm or reject the leaders of the other cities, but this power could not always be executed.
Most of the city states were controlled by heriditary monarchs and councils made up of nobles, guild leaders, and merchants. Different states saw differing ratios of power between the two. Some had an autocratic monarch with almost total control, in other the councils were supreme and the king little more than a figurehead.
See also
\n* Yorùbá language\n* Yoruba mythology
External links
\n* Picture of Lagos\n* Picture of Ibadan\n* Picture of Ilorin
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