The Oluwo of Iwo land, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, has dismissed the claim of Ile-Ife, in present-day Osun State, as the source of the Yoruba race.
Oba Akanbi stated this in a video shared on his verified Facebook page on Tuesday, where he refuted the claims that Yorubas originated from Ile-Ife.
The Oluwo argued that people were already living in the ancient Ile-Ife town before it was conquered by Oduduwa, believed to be the progenitor of the Yoruba race, who later became its ruler.
The Oluwo, flanked by his chiefs during a chieftaincy title conferment ceremony, maintained that the language originally spoken in Ile-Ife was not Yoruba, insisting that the culture practised in the ancient town also differred from that of the wider Yoruba people.
“Ife is not the origin of the Yoruba race. Those people don’t speak our language. Their language was different. They referred to God as Eledumare, and there is nothing like Eledumare in Yoruba language. What we have is Olodumare. Ile-Ife has no Yoruba culture,” Oba Akanbi claimed.
Oluwo stressed that Iwo holds the true historical account of the Yoruba people. “I am the Arole Olodumare because I am here to tell you the true history. Iwo is where you can get the real history that was not even documented,” he added.
The monarch urged his subjects to preserve his words, noting that he was unafraid of death and determined to correct historical misconceptions about the Yoruba race.
