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Oduduwa

Ife bronze head (possibly depicting Oduduwa)
A statue of Oduduwa

Oduduwa was a Yoruba divine king, legendary founder of the Ife Empire and a creator deity (orisha) in the Yoruba religion. His earthly origins are from the village of Oke Ora[1][2] According to tradition, he was the holder of the title of the Olofin of Ile-Ife, the Yoruba holy city.[3] He ruled briefly in Ife,[4][5] and also served as the progenitor of a number of independent royal dynasties in Yorubaland.[6][7]

In Yoruba religious traditions, Oduduwa is seen as a divine or semi-divine being that was sent by the creator deity, Olodumare, from heaven to create the earth upon the waters. These beliefs are held by Yoruba traditionalists to be the cornerstone of their story of creation. Obatala, Oduduwa's sibling, and Oduduwa here are represented symbolically by a calabash, with Obatala taking the top and Oduduwa taking the bottom. In this narrative, Oduduwa is also known as Olofin Otete, The one who took the calabash of existence (Igbá Ìwà) from Olodumare.[8]

Historical accounts on the other hand holds that he migrated into the Ife valley from Oke Ora, a community to Ife's east. The time and length of his reign are not certain, but Yoruba spirituality believes that Oduduwa is believed to be as old as time itself. Oduduwa was the first ruler of a unified Ife, which before him had existed as a group of loosely allied communities of thirteen Elu. He is also the founding father of various independent royal dynasties in Yorubaland, and is today venerated as “the hero, the warrior, the leader, and the father of the Yoruba race”.

  1. ^ Nwanyanwu, O. J.; Opajobi, Bola; Olayinka, Sola (1997). Education for Socio-economic & Political Development in Nigeria. Visual Resources. p. 159. ISBN 978-978-34467-0-0. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  2. ^ Law, R. C. C. (1973). "The Heritage of Oduduwa: Traditional History and Political Propaganda among the Yoruba". The Journal of African History. 14 (2): 207–222. doi:10.1017/S0021853700012524. ISSN 0021-8537. JSTOR 180445. S2CID 148987750.
  3. ^ "The Yoruba States | World Civilization". courses.lumenlearning.com. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  4. ^ Lynch, Patricia Ann (17 June 2018). African Mythology, A to Z. Infobase. ISBN 9781438119885.
  5. ^ Alokan, Adeware (17 June 2018). The Origin, Growth & Development of Efon Alaaye Kingdom. Timade Ventures. ISBN 9789783456785.
  6. ^ *Obayemi, A., "The Yoruba and Edo-speaking Peoples and their Neighbors before 1600 AD", in J. F. A. Ajayi & M. Crowder (eds), History of West Africa, vol. I (1976), 255–322.
  7. ^ Falola, Toyin; Mbah, Emmanuel (17 June 2018). Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781315413082.
  8. ^ Washington, Teresa (2014). The Architects of Existence. United States: Oyas Tornado. pp. 25–28. ISBN 978-0991073016.

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