According to Ooni of Ife, there is strong evidence that the Igbo race originated in this area of Ile-Ife

According to Ooni of Ife, there is strong evidence that the Igbo race originated in this area of Ile-Ife

According to Ooni of Ife, there is strong evidence that the Igbo race originated in this area of Ile-Ife.

Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, asserted that “they have good evidence to believe that the Igbo race has its roots in Ile-Ife.” He continued by mentioning that Ile-Ife has a location called Ile-Igbo, indicating that the location has been around for a while. 

The Ooni of Ife made this remark, according to Vanguard, while addressing journalists at his palace in Ife in advance of an international conference on “Ile-Ife and Yoruba Civilization: Nexus between Tradition and Modernity.” He made it very clear that he thought accurate documentation of Yoruba history was necessary.

He said: “We have good evidence to believe that Igbo race has its roots here in Ile-Ife. There is Ile-Igbo here in the palace which was not a recent creation but has been existing here for decades. For this and many other reasons, I believe we need proper documentation of our history.”

Furthermore, the monarch noted that Yoruba race has about a quarter of its history documented, noting that he is collaborating with some universities, so as to properly document the history of the Yoruba race.

On the other hand, a renown professor of history, Siyan Oyeweso, noted that the conference aims at bringing scholars together to discuss how to properly document the history of Yoruba, with focus on Ile-Ife as the source of the race.