By Adedoja Samuel Adesoji
According to Yoruba mythology, all Yoruba people are descendants of the hero, Odua or Oduduwa.
The language of the Yorubas, known as Yoruba, belongs to the Congo-Kordofanian language family. The language has many dialects, but most of its speakers are able to understand one another.
The Yoruba homeland is located in west Africa, with most Yoruba living in Nigeria. There are also some scattered groups in small neighbouring countries, Togo and Benin. The Yoruba are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.
The Yoruba are a very sociable and expressive people who commemorate major events with colorful festivals and celebrations. Weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals and even housewarming parties are celebrated in a lavish and ceremonial nature.
As many as 20 percent of the Yoruba still practice the traditional religion of their ancestors. A large number of modern Yoruba also combine traditional Yoruba beliefs with modern day religions such as Islam and Christianity.
About 75 percent of the Yoruba men are farmers, producing food crops for their domestic needs. Women help plant yams and harvest corn, beans, and cotton.
The Yoruba present the highest rate of twin births in the world. This may be because of high consumption of a specific type of yam containing a natural phytoestrogen which may stimulate the ovaries to release an egg from each side. Twins are very important for the Yoruba; they are given special names and inspire wooden sculptures.
Pioneers that made the Nation great
The first female Chartered accountant in Africa is a Yoruba woman. Her name was Chief Mrs. Olutoyin Olusola Olakunri was born on November 4, 1937. She attended primary school in Nigeria, and completed her secondary and tertiary education in the United Kingdom.
In February 1963, Chief Mrs. Olakunri qualified as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales; and became a Foundation Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria [ICAN] in 1965.
She died in 2018.
Tesilimi Olawale “Teslim” Balogun
Balogun was the first African to qualify as a professional coach. He was a coach for Nigeria at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He played at both professional and international levels as a striker. The Teslim Balogun Stadium in the Nigerian city of Lagos is named in his honour. The Teslim Balogun Foundation was founded after his death to assist the families of Nigerian ex-international footballers who may have fallen on hard times.
Wole Soyinka
He is a Nigerian playwright and poet. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first African to be so honored. Soyinka has strongly criticised many Nigerian military dictators, especially late General Sanni Abacha, as well as other political tyrannies. Wole Soyinka is among contemporary Africa’s greatest writers. He is also one of the continent’s most imaginative advocates of native culture and of the humane social order it embodies.
The first Nigerian medical doctor was Nathaniel Thomas King. His father was Rev Thomas King who assisted Bishop Ajayi Crowder in translating the Bible into Yoruba language. Dr King lived from 1847 to 1884.
The first Nigerian Lawyer was Chief Sapara Williams. A Yoruba man who became a Lawyer in 1879. He was the Lodifi of Ilesa.
WNTV Ibadan was the first TV station in Nigeria and Africa. The first broadcast was aired on October 31, 1959. The government of Yorubaland were visionary enough ensuring their denizens had access to mass audiovisual media before countries like; Egypt: 1960, New Zealand: 1960, Israel: 1966 & South Africa: 1976. The station played a significant role in beaming taped Yoruba traveling theatre productions to households all over the old Western region.
The first Nigerian to release a music album was Canon Josiah Jesse Ransome-Kuti, Fela Anikulapo’s grandfather and Wole Soyinka’s great grandfather. He released it in 1878 and his last album was released in August 1921. His works are still kept at the British Museum.
In 1894, Olayinka Herbert Macaulay became the first trained Nigerian engineer. He also trained in England as an architect. He was a civil engineer. He later ventured into politics and formed the first political party in Nigeria, Nigeria National Democratic Party, (NNDP) in 1923 and later the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC). He was also a journalist and a surveyor. He is widely considered as the founder of Nigerian nationalism.
The first Nigerian woman to qualify and practice law was Stella Thomas, a Yoruba woman who became a Lawyer in 1935 and also became the first female magistrate in Nigeria in 1943.
Dr Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi nee Akerele was the first female physician in Nigeria. She became a medical doctor in 1910.
Folake Solanke was the first female senior advocate in Nigeria. She was also the first Nigerian female lawyer to wear the silk gown as senior counsel.
The first indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria was Sir Adetokunbo Ademola. He was also the longest serving Chief Justice of Nigeria between 1958 and 1972.
The Yoruba language and culture is one of the most influential on the African continent and in the Americas. The Yoruba are also one of the best researched ethnicities in Africa.
Chief Akintola Williams was the first Chattered Accountant in Nigeria who qualified in 1919 and also the first Nigerian to form a private accounting firm, Akintola Williams and Co in 1952.
The first woman to drive a car in Nigeria was Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the mother of Olikoye, Fela and Beko. She’s also an activist know for liberation of women in the Nation.
Emmanuel Olatunde Odeku (born, Emanuel Olatunde Alaba Olanrewaju Odeku from Awe in Oyo state 1927, Lagos, Nigeria – died, London, 1974) was the first African neurosurgeon trained in the United States who also pioneered neurosurgery in Africa.
Chief Hubert Adedeji Ogunde and Moses Olaiya are regarded as the patriarchs of Nigerian theatre and movie industry. Ogunde was an actor, playwright, theatre manager, and musician who founded the first contemporary professional theatrical company in Nigeria, the African Music Research Party, in 1945.
The first bank in Nigeria was established in Lagos in 1894, 10 years before the amalgamation. Its second branch was opened in Calabar in 1912 and it was facilitated by King Jaja of Opobo. It had its first northern branch in Zaria. It is First Bank Nigeria.
The Yoruba homeland, based majorly in the Southwestern part of Nigeria, is home to more than 70% of Nigeria’s industrial capacity and is also host to the backbone of Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
In 1986, Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, the great grandson of Canon Josiah Jesse Ransome-Kuti became the first African to win a Nobel Laureate in the field of Literature.
In 1976, Shooting Stars Sports Club 3SC of Ibadan formerly known as WNDC Ibadan (Western Nigeria Development Company), and were later called IICC (Industrial Investment and Credit Corporation) won the African Winners’ Cup thereby becoming the first Nigerian club side to win continental honour for Nigeria.
The first Nigerian to score a World Cup goal was Rashidi Yekini. He was a Yoruba man from Kwara state. He scored it against Bulgaria at USA ‘94.
The area of Yorubaland covers approximately 145,000 Suare Kilometre of land. Were it to be an independent country, it would be physically bigger than Greece, Hungary, Serbia, South Korea, Portugal, Ireland, Sierra Leone and many more countries.
The first television station in Africa was the Western Nigerian Television Service located in Ibadan’s and established in 1959.
The first university in Nigeria is University of Ibadan. Today, the Southwestern part of Nigeria also has the highest number of private universities in Nigeria.
The Yoruba are a people with a historical propensity for living in large urban centres. Yoruba cities have always been among the most populous in Africa. Today, around 11.5% of all West Africans are ethnic Yoruba while Yorubaland contains more than 30% of all Nigerian cities with over 100,000 people. They have been described as the most Urban African ethnic group by various ethnologists, sociologists and anthropologic writers.
CMS Grammar School, Lagos is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria. It was established in 1859.
And the first known primary school in Nigeria was Nursery of the Infant Church established in 1843 in Badagry and moved to its permanent site and renamed St Thomas Primary School in 1845.
