Ooni of Ife reveals that Yorubas and Igbos are family as they come from a common stock

OONI of Ife Oba Enitan Ogunwusi has revealed that Igbos and Yorubas come from the same family as several Yoruba sub-groups belong to the Aku Aaro Oojiire or Omoluwabi ethnic clan which has its roots in Igboland.

Speaking over the weekend at his palace in Ile-Ife while receiving the Lagos State president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Solomon Ogbonna, the Ooni said the two ethnic groups are inseparable members of the same family. Mr Ogbonna had accompanied a delegation of African Farmers and Cultural Organisations to Ile Ife to pay a courtesy visit to the palace.

Oba Ogunwusi said: “Lagos is part of Yoruba land, we are all one, we are all the same. The history is there, the facts are there and we should actually put this facts out.

“We still have House of Igbo right in this palace till date. We call it Ile Igbo up till now and our ancestors are buried and transfigured there. That is where kolanut was first discovered and nurtured.

“The Igbos are still the biggest consumers and users of kolanut which is only planted in Yorubaland till date. Can the Igbos do without kolanut? ”

“The ancient Igbo house is one of the most sacred places in this palace till date and one of my brother kings Aka Arogundabi from Iremo quarters saw the mysteries of house of Igbo. Until date, the Akarigbo of Remoland still sees house of Igbo as a common heritage of his forebears.”

He added that he is a reincarnated the spirit of his ancestors, asking the Olugbo of Ugbo in Ondo State, Oba Fredrick Obateru, to visit the Ile Oodua in Ile-Ife for proof and evidence on the Igbo/Yoruba ties. According to the Ooni, there is evidence that the Igbo and Yoruba people once lived together as one family and this will be revealed to the public in due course.

Oba Ogunwusi added: “I am a reincarnated spirit of our ancestors, my name is Enitan which means a child of stories and mysteries. I had come to this world before, that’s why I am Babatunde also and I am back again to establish the truth and nothing but the truth and the truth will set us all free.”

“We have about four sets of sub-ethnic Igbos in Yorubaland. We have the Egbas, Ijebus, Ekiti, Oyo, Ondo and Itshekiris, who are all Yorubas but at the end of the day they belong to the Aku Aaro Oojiire, the Omoluwabi ethnic clan."

According to the Ooni, there were different clans of Igbos that left from Ife to establish their kingdoms. However, one of them rebelled and started coming to cause mayhem in Ife where they originally came from and that is the Olugbo kingdom.

He added that the Igbos started the spirit of profitability, Aje, in Ife at Igbomekun market  and it is not true that Ndigbo descended from the Jews. Oba Ogunwusi pleaded that the Yorubas and Igbos should reconcile their differences and look at things that connect them rather than things that divide them.