Following the controversial statements and counter opinions emanating from some quarters as a result of the statement averred by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Oguwunsi, that the Yoruba and Igbo have common affinity, the Attah Of Igala, His Royal Majesty Dr. Idakwo Ameh Oboni, has contributed to the ongoing discourse over Igbo-Yoruba cultural linkages by categorically stating ‘we are the same people and Ifa is the connecting link’. The monarch stated that “From the Igala man to the man with Kwararafa blood in him, to the man, the Original Nigerians, Ifa is cardinal.” This contradicts Alaafin claims that there were no linguistic, cultural and economic ties for several thousand years before the advent of the Europeans and formation of Nigeria. However, African Sociocultural Harmony and Enlightenment Foundation (ASHE) has released excerpts of an upcoming documentary of paramount traditional rulers in which Attah of Igala and Ooni of Ife explain the connecting link between Original Nigerians, known as the Niger Kongo ethnolinguistic family believed to be a continuum of dialects. Attah of Igala compared Ifa to a powerful torchlight that shines into the darkness. ‘Igalas have the same 16 like the Yoruba, which guided us to our homeland. “The pronunciations might be slightly different but IFA is the same!” Prince Justice Faloye, President ASHE foundation said Ifa is not a religion but includes religion, Ifa is not philosophy but contains philosophy, science and everything about humanity. It is the Original African way of organizing and storing all information and activated with the electromagnetism that comes from the 256 pulses of the Odus. The Attah Of Igala explains that Igala language is 60%-70% Yoruba mixed with Jukun Kwararafa influences. The Attah, the paramount monarch of the Igalas, pointed out that the Yoruba spoken in Ife or Ilesa is different from that spoken in Kabba, closer to Igalaland and that is how language diverged throughout Africa. Kwararafa cultural influences extend from South Kaduna to Cross River, including groups like Agatu, Chamba, Ekoi, Ham etc. It is the Origin of the Benue-Congo ethnolinguistic subfamily that spreads to East and South Africa. The Aku Uka of Wukari is the spiritual head of the confederate of original African groups that attacked and restrained the spread of Islamic Afro-asiatic imperialism. The coalition attacked Bornu, Kano, Zaria and Katsina before finally broken by Fulani Jihadists and colonized by the British. Igala is believed to be the second oldest group, followed by Igbo. Igalaland was essentially the dispersal point of human migration out of the Southern Rainforests called Igbo Irunmole, forests of the spirits. The Attah confirmed the oral history that the Nupe left Idah Igalaland for Bida, while Igbos passed through Igalaland to reach Aguleri, their ancestral home. In the documentary, the Ooni of Ife said “we are a piece of the same garment, all we need to do is to put them together.” Akinkugbe (1978) had previously stated that Igala, Yoruba and others belong to the same lineage. This linguistic group that also include Igbos, Ewe, Urhobo, Idomas, Nupe and Gwaris, known as the Volta-Niger ethnolinguistic family has recently been shown to be the oldest through genetic testing. The family’s convergence around the Niger-Benue Rivers over a period evolved a new people known as Apa (Jukun in Hausa) that spread out through Lake Chad and River Benue into present day Cameroun, where they followed the Chari and Sangha Rivers to the Ugbangi-Kongo River basin, as some went downstream towards the coast while others went upstream to the Great Lakes Rift Valley area, where they spread to fill out East and South Africa. His Royal Majesty Dr. Idakwo Ameh Oboni, the Attah Of Igala stated ‘if you look closely, you will see Ifa is our culture, our history, our chemistry Blackmans magic, our everything! I have the greatest pity for those without cultural identity. Ifa is our language, if you say it is devil language, then your culture, your history, your identity everything is gone! You will be neither here or there, you will be like a motor that the Whiteman or computer made. If they turn you here, you go. If they turn you there you go!’ Ooni of Ife stated that Igbo Irunmole was the same as the Abrahamic Garden of Eden, and Osun was Eve. Despite qualifying the statement that physical and spiritual births are different, Ooni agreed that scientifically that Osun meaning it breeds, oun sun, Orisun, is the closest to Eve and the true mother of physical humanity. He clarified that Oduduwa who appears at the beginning of humanity and also at the beginning of monarchy a thousand years ago was a spiritual essence that kept repeating in different ramifications through history like all other spirits. When asked how Ifa was at the beginning and still present, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi answered, “Like with Oduduwa, Orunmila was the one that oversaw everything. Orunmila is Ifa, Igbos call it Afa, Binis call it Iha, Urhobo call it Efa. Ifa was there and saw it all that’s why Ifa is called eleri ipin, the witness of the divergence of humanity. We are all saying the same story, same lineage! Yorubas are Ogbe (Oduduwa) , Igbo are Ofun(Obatala), Igala are Ogunda (Ogun), Edo are Osa (Olokun) etc Ifa recorded everything from the trees to animals, to humans, underwater, Ifa explains the universe! Just as Oduduwa was there in the spiritual world, the superhuman world and now in our current world, so is Ifa at the beginning, it was at the dispersal, it is still relevant since its 256 pulses derived from Ifa 16 times 16 Odu is the basis of the first computer. The 256bit Clifford motherboard, which advanced in multiples to 512 up to the present gigabytes. Ifa 256 is also compounded into infinity. The Attah of Igala concluded that if we look inside and connect the link dots of our civilization, not only Nigeria but the entire black Race will rise! “The Whiteman has taken our Ifa and turned it into a global success, before they come for the rest, let us come together and pick the bits to uplift ourselves’. Apart from the electromagnetism of Ifa turned into computer technology, Soponna philosophy based on vaccination was the foundations of modern western medicine transfered during the smallpox epidemic in 1720 Boston by Cotton Mather, founder of Yale University.
Igbo-Yoruba affinity: ‘IFA’ is the connecting link of original Nigerians – Attah Of Igala
