BRIEF HISTORY OF HAUSA, IGBO AND YORUBA PEOPLE IN NIGERIA

To truly understand and grasp Nigeria’s society, you have to understand its ethnic make-up

and the dominant role it plays in Nigerian culture. Nigeria has over 250 different ethnic groups

and 500 additional indigenous languages. Over 50% of the population are Muslim, 40%

practice Christianity, and 10% practice some form of indigenous beliefs. (Ref:

www.cia.gov).The many different ethnic groups result from its long colonial history and

numerous cultural and physical boundaries that were created during this time. Historically,

Nigeria has distinguished its groups based on location and other cultural indicators. Some of

these indicators include, but are not limited to, language and religion. Nigeria’s ethnic groups

can be easily broken down by geographic region. During the earliest stages of colonialism,

Nigeria was separated into two main regions, the north side and the south side. The north side

and portions of the middle belt mainly consisted of the majority Muslim population and the

south side shaded culturally on the Christian side. (Ref. www.mongabay.com). Of course there

were sub-regions that developed from these two main regions, but the general makeup of the

two regions stayed relatively consistent. After Nigeria gained its independence in 1960, there

was a push to end the classification of people based on religion or different tribal groups and

to promote ethnic diversity. Conflict between the different ethnic groups was not uncommon

and the complications it caused in the past, has led to social unrest that still exists today. The

official language of Nigeria is English, which is taught early in primary schools throughout

most developed regions.

Located in West Africa, Nigeria is a country rich in culture and history. The nation hosts

native speakers of over a hundred different languages. The various ethnic groups of Nigeria

prove themselves unique with their own traditions, expression, and culture. The major ethnic

groups in the nation are the Hausa-Fulani, the Igbo, and the Yoruba. The diversity present
within the nation creates a varied national identity, a melting pot of different faiths and beliefs.

Like many African nations, the national borders were created during the Scramble for Africa,

where European powers drew the borders of the nations, prioritizing European colocalization

and land grabs rather than the history and locations of ethnic groups across the continent.

The Igbo, sometimes referred to as Ibo, are one of the largest single ethnic groups in Africa.

Most Igbo speakers are based in southeastern Nigeria, constituting about 17 percent of the

population; they can also be found in significant numbers in Cameroon and other African

countries. It is believed the Igbo originated in an area about 100 miles north of their current

location at the confluence of the Niger and Benue Rivers.The Igbo share linguistic ties with

their neighbors the Bini, Igala, Yoruba, and Idoma, with whom it is believed they were closely

related until five to six thousand years ago. The first Igbo in the region may have moved onto

the Awka-Orlu plateau between four and five thousand years ago.

According to Professor A. E. Afigbo, a scholar of Igbo heritage, "the Igbo, and perhaps the

Idoma and most likely the Ijaw (Ijo), would appear to be the one of the only surviving coherent

ethnic groups from the first set of proto-Kwa speakers to penetrate the forest areas of Southern

Nigeria and who at one time occupied areas as far to the west as Ile-Ife in Yorubaland. Igboland

is the home of the Igbo people and it covers most of Southeast Nigeria. This area is divided by

the Niger River into two unequal sections – the eastern region (which is the largest) and the

midwestern region. The river, however, has not acted as a barrier to cultural unity; rather it has

provided an easy means of communication in an area where many settlements claim different

origins. Today's Igbos are also surrounded on all sides by other tribes (the Bini, Warri, Ijaw,

Ogoni, Igala, Tiv, Yako and Ibibio).

With a population of over 30 million, the Hausas are one of the largest ethnic groups in West

Africa. They are a people of diverse cultural practices with similar homogeneous beliefs and
customs exclusively found among their people. Here’s everything you need to know about their

diversity. The Hausas are concentrated mainly in the northern part of Nigeria, as well as the

adjoining south eastern Niger. They also populate parts other countries including Cameroon,

Ghana, Chad, Togo, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan and Gabon. The Hausa states, also known

as the Hausaland, were independent political entities founded by the Hausa people, and situated

between the River Niger and Lake Chad. It was a political entity with no central authority,

isolated up until the mid-14th century. Irrespective of their placements, they had a common

language, laws, and customs. The Hausas specialized in blacksmithing, fishing, hunting,

agriculture, and salt-mining. By around the 1500s, the northern city of Kano had become the

most powerful, and was a major trading center in ivory, gold, slave trade, salt, cloth, leather,

and grains. Due to their lack of military expertise and a central governing body, they were

regarded as loose alliances by the neighboring towns—which made them prone to external

domination. All the states remained independent until they were conquered by a prominent

Islamic scholar, Usman dan Fodio, in a Holy Jihad (war) between 1804 and 1815, which created

the Sokoto Caliphate. It was later abolished when the British defeated the caliphate in 1903

and named the area Northern Nigeria.

Bayajidda, the mythical ancestor of the Hausa people, was said to have migrated from Baghdad

in the 9th or 10th century to the Kanem-Bornu Empire, where he married a princess. Due to

irreconcilable differences with his father-in-law, Bayajidda was forced to flee his home,

leaving his wife and their first child. One day, after a very long and exhausting journey, he

arrived in a city called Daura where he requested water from an old woman. The woman

explained to him that she didn’t have any water, and was unable to source for some at the

community well because of a snake terrorizing the villagers—it is said that the snake only

allowed the villagers to fetch water once a week. Bayajidda became furious and rushed to the

well, he engaged in a battle with the snake and slew it. As a reward, he was given the Queen
of Daura in marriage who bore him a son named Bawo. Bawo founded the city of Biram, he

had six sons who became the rulers of other Hausa city-states. These are known as the Hausa

bakwai (Hausa seven) states.

Yoruba people live mostly in South-West Nigeria. They have developed a variety of different

artistic forms including pottery, weaving, beadwork, metalwork, and mask making. Most of

the artworks were made to honor the gods and ancestors and since there are more than 401

known gods to the Yoruba there is much sculpture and artwork made. The Yorubas originated

from Ile-Ife, arose and became quite popular by their trading with the Portuguese, which gave

them a large supply of guns. However, they were unable to push back the Fulani who invaded

them and pushed much of the Yoruba to the south.

In the late 1800s, the Yorubas formed a treaty with the Fulani and in 1901 they were colonised

by the British. Because of their enmity with the Fulani who are the great Islamic evangelists,

most of the Yoruba people do not hold to Islam but instead worship many of the gods and

spirits that the Yoruba hold to. Economically, Yoruba people primarily engage in agriculture,

with about 15% of the people employed as merchants or artists and craftsman.One of the

features that make Yoruba people unique is their tendency to form into large city groups instead

of small village groups. The Yorubas are today one of the three main ethnic groups that make

up Nigeria. They can also be found in neighboring countries. The Yoruba have shared a

common language and culture for centuries but were probably never a single political unit.

They seem to have migrated from the east to their present lands west of the lower Niger River

more than a millennium ago. They eventually became the most urbanized Africans of

precolonial times. They formed numerous kingdoms of various sizes, each of which was

centred on a capital city or town and ruled by a hereditary king, or oba. Their towns became

densely populated and eventually grew into the present-day cities of Oyo, Ile-Ife, Ilesha,

Ibadan, Ilorin, Ijebu-Ode, Ikere-Ekiti, and others. Oyo developed in the 17th century into the
largest of the Yoruba kingdoms (see Oyo empire), while Ile-Ife remained a town of potent

religious significance as the site of the earth’s creation according to Yoruba mythology. Oyo

and the other kingdoms declined in the late 18th and 19th centuries owing to disputes among

minor Yoruba rulers and invasions by the Fon of Dahomey (now Benin) and the Muslim Fulani.

The traditional Yoruba kingships still survive, but with only a hint of their former political

power.

In a traditional Yoruba town, the large and elaborate palace of the oba lies at the centre, and

grouped around it are the compounds of the patrilineages. The palace and the compounds are

now often modern structure. There is much diversity in social and political organization among

the Yoruba, but they share many basic features. Inheritance and succession are based on

patrilineal descent; members of the patrilineage live together under the authority of a headman,

share certain names and taboos, worship their own deity, and have rights in lineage lands. The

Yoruba also have several kinds of voluntary associations, including the egbe, a male

recreational association; the aro, a mutual-aid association of farmers; and the esusu, whose

members contribute a fixed amount of money and from which they can receive loans. Political

authority is vested in the oba and a council of chiefs; constituent towns each have their own

ruler, who is subordinate to the oba. The oba is also a ritual leader and is considered sacred.

Many Yoruba are now Christians or Muslims, but aspects of their traditional religion survive.

The traditional Yoruba religion has an elaborate hierarchy of deities, including a supreme

creator and some 400 lesser gods and spirits, most of whom are associated with their own cults

and priests. The Yoruba language has an extensive literature of poetry, short stories, myths,

and proverbs.