The history of Yoruba started from Ile-Ife, there are two versions of the origin of the Yorubas which was mentioned in Clapperton's extract from Bello's history and popularized by reverend Samuel Johnson in his history of the Yorubas.
The first version says that the Yoruba originally came from north eastern area of Africa (variously supposed to be Egypt, Yemen, ancient Moreo and Arabia.) After a long journey that took decades if not centuries, this group left their colonies to reside in Ife with their leader Oduduwa who later established a flourishing kingdom and sent his children and grandchildren to form various kingdom and there were seven - sixteen kingdom as at numbers at the end of the 18th century those who claim direct descent from Oduduwa was fourteen (14) prosperous kingdoms in the year 1930 Oni Olubuse named 21 kingdoms which has it centre in ife where they derive their crowns, the Oni Aderemi Adesoji mention 26
The second version which is generally known among the yorubas let us to understand that Ile-Ife was the centre from which the whole world was created that the earth was covered with water at a certain period and god sent messengers headed by Obatala (Orisa Nla or Orisa Alasa.) To create farmland out of the liquid mass and sixteen Oye (immortals). They were given five piece of iron, a lump of earth tied to eat in a white piece of clothes and a cockerel according to the tradition somewhere on the way Obatala got drunk with palm wine and Oduduwa seized the paraphernalia of authority from him and eventually finished the mission God gave them the site where the messengers landed is identified by tradition as the Oke Oramfe that is where they took that name ile ife meaning hows that spread
These two myth in contrast with each other and can be connected because they have one main important point in common which is Oduduwa respected as the leader of the yoruba community the second story explains that the yorubas has existed even before the reign of oduduwa which is the obatala, other evidence shows the same by remembering the names of previous kings Osangangan Obamakin and Kutukutu Oba Igbo who were much older than oduduwa
Reference
Samuel Johnson
I. A Akinjogbin, dahomey and its neighbours 1708 to 1818
Aderemi Oni of Ife to district officer, ife, October 1931 NNA Oyo prof. 1 file 131
The first version says that the Yoruba originally came from north eastern area of Africa (variously supposed to be Egypt, Yemen, ancient Moreo and Arabia.) After a long journey that took decades if not centuries, this group left their colonies to reside in Ife with their leader Oduduwa who later established a flourishing kingdom and sent his children and grandchildren to form various kingdom and there were seven - sixteen kingdom as at numbers at the end of the 18th century those who claim direct descent from Oduduwa was fourteen (14) prosperous kingdoms in the year 1930 Oni Olubuse named 21 kingdoms which has it centre in ife where they derive their crowns, the Oni Aderemi Adesoji mention 26
The second version which is generally known among the yorubas let us to understand that Ile-Ife was the centre from which the whole world was created that the earth was covered with water at a certain period and god sent messengers headed by Obatala (Orisa Nla or Orisa Alasa.) To create farmland out of the liquid mass and sixteen Oye (immortals). They were given five piece of iron, a lump of earth tied to eat in a white piece of clothes and a cockerel according to the tradition somewhere on the way Obatala got drunk with palm wine and Oduduwa seized the paraphernalia of authority from him and eventually finished the mission God gave them the site where the messengers landed is identified by tradition as the Oke Oramfe that is where they took that name ile ife meaning hows that spread
Reference
Samuel Johnson
I. A Akinjogbin, dahomey and its neighbours 1708 to 1818
Aderemi Oni of Ife to district officer, ife, October 1931 NNA Oyo prof. 1 file 131
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