At Igbodefender.com, we have spent years insisting that the Obatalas are Igbo and the Aborigines of Ile Ife are Igbo. Some didn’t believe.
Well, the Ooni of Ife
has come out to confirm just that. Watch the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSrkMZP71B4
You will hear when he confirmed Igbos as coming from Obatala.
The First Obatala
However, prominent historian Prince Charles Offokaja wrote in his work “History Of The Igbo World” (https://www.amazon.com/History-Igbo-World-Ancient-Civilization-ebook/dp/B01K4AIUO8) that the first Obatala was a prince of NRI whose mum was wrongly accused of a crime she didn’t commit.
After the truth came out, the then king of NRI compensated her son with an Ilu (Equianoist mission to expand through journey).
The mission now journeyed and founded Uhe as a place for ‘Ile Ife’ (place to trade). Obatala literally means “He has come in“, as in ‘O bata la).
Obatala Lineage Ancient And Modern
Famous Obatalas include ObalufonI and Obalufon II. The Obatala dynasty still exists today in Ife and other parts of Southern Nigeria. In Ife, the Obatala Dynasty has ceded imperial rule to the Yoruba Oduduwa Dynasty led by Ooni of Ife, but they still play a significant role in Ife.
Professor Suzanne Preston Blier of Havard citing Omotosho Eluyemi, has also found the same Ife-Nri link.
