Yorubas converge on Kumasi, March 9 for congress
On August 9, 2015, a number of Yoruba chiefs from across the country gathered at the palace of the late Yoruba chief in Accra, Lawyer Mohammed Bashir Peregrino Brimah. There were also some Yoruba elders from different Yoruba communities.
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They had first called on the chief who passed away only recently, on September 10, 2016, to pay their respects before accompanying him to the Lebanon House where a ceremony was held to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Chief Brimah I, the first Yoruba man to be endorsed and recognised by the colonial masters and King Tackie Tawiah I as the head of the settler communities, majority of whom were Yorubas.
The official title of Chief Brimah I was the head of the Mohammedans, since most of the settlers who migrated from Nigeria were Muslims.
It was the centenary of the death of Chief Brimah I, who was given a “sword of office” in 1902 by King Tackie Tawiah, which is still hanging at the palace of the Yoruba Chief of Accra, and who died in 1915, that brought other Yoruba chiefs from all over Ghana to Accra for such a historic occasion. In fact, the Yoruba chief of Accra is recognised as the head of the Yoruba Community in Ghana.
Before the chiefs and elders moved from the palace to Lebanon House, there was a lot of free for all discussions among the people at the palace. It was during this period that the Yoruba Chief of Ashaiman, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Babatunde Ajayi, came out to say he was impressed about the camaraderie and wished there could be a forum where all Yoruba chiefs could meet at one venue to display their culture and to enable all Yorubas in Ghana to know one another better.
Gathering of Yorubas
The proposal was unanimously accepted and a committee was set up, with my humble self as the chairman, to organise the first of such Yoruba Congress. A few terms of reference were discussed before the entourage moved to the Lebanon House.
It was agreed that because of the central location of Kumasi, it should host the first congress. Since at that time the electioneering was in top gear, it was also agreed that the congress should be held after the elections, which could only be after the inauguration of the President of Ghana on January 7, 2017.
A lot of water has certainly passed under the bridge since that mementous gathering of eminent Ghanaian Yorubas in Accra on August 9, 2015. Along the line, it was decided to hand over the organisation to El’ Green International Services, an international events management and consultancy firm registered in both Ghana and Nigeria.
El’ Green started working on the project immediately after their proposals for the congress were accepted by the leadership of the All-Yoruba Community in Accra at the end of September 2016.
It was this team of highly skilled dedicated and young dynamic professionals, led by Faizal El-Alawa and his wife, Yewande Green, with support from Mr Bolanle Akintola, a media and communication expert based in Accra and Mr Najeem Dauda, also a media practitioner based in Kumasi, that is working on the congress.
The team has travelled to Nigeria, especially Lagos, Ibadan, Oyo and Ife, where the Yorubas are concentrated, to get support for the congress in Kumasi. In fact, they have made contacts with the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ife, the two most powerful Yoruba chiefs in the world and who are also recognised as the spiritual leaders of more than 50 million Yorubas worldwide.
Endorsement
The two Yoruba royals have endorsed the congress and have given assurances that they will attend the function personally, together with their subordinates from Yorubaland.
It is the interest shown by the leading Yoruba figures that led to the project being tagged World Yoruba Congress.
There has also been interest from Yoruba communities in the Americas, especially in Brazil and Cuba, while Yoruba groups from Benin, Togo, the United Kingdom and Cote d’Ivoire would be in Kumasi for the congress.
On October 24, last year, the organisers addressed a press conference at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra to brief the Ghanaian public about the World Yoruba Congress taking place in Kumasi next month, precisely from March 9 to 11.
In a nutshell, the congress, which is a three-day event, is expected to afford Ghanaians the opportunity to see the rich Yoruba culture at close quarters.
The most important question that came out of the conference was why a World Yoruba Congress should be held in Ghana, and not in Nigeria. Indeed, it was the same question that cropped up when the organisers went to sell the idea to Yorubas in Nigeria. Many Yorubas in Nigeria were furious as they alleged that Ghana wanted to take the shine out of Nigeria.
However, some understanding was reached when it was explained that the congress would be an annual event that would rotate among Yoruba settlements around the world. It was also accepted that since the idea for such a congress was mooted by Yorubas in Ghana that honour should go to Ghana.
Who are Yorubas?
According to the CIA World Fact Book, the Yorubas are an ethnic group of Southwestern and North Central Nigeria, as well as Southern and Central Benin, and all together from Yorubaland.
The Yoruba constitute over 50 million in total. The majority of the population is from Nigeria and they make up 21 per cent of its population, making them one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.
The Yoruba diaspora consists of two main groupings; one of them include relatively recent migrants, the majority of which moved to the United Kingdom and the United States after major economic and political changes in the 1960s to 1980s; the other is a much older population dating back to the Atlantic slave trade. This older group has communities in countries such as Cuba, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Brazil, Grenada and Trinidad and Togabo.
The Yoruba are among the most urbanised people in Africa. Centuries before the arrival of the British colonial administration, most Yoruba already lived in well-structured urban centres organised around powerful city-states around the residence of the Oba, the chief or leader. In ancient times, most of these cities were fortresses, with high walls and gates.
Yoruba cities
Yoruba cities have always been among the most populous in Africa. For a long time Ibadan, one of the major Yoruba cities, was the largest in the whole of sub-Suharan Africa. Today, Lagos, another major Yoruba city, with a population of over 20 million, remains the largest on the African continent.
The Yorubas started moving to pre-colonial Gold Coast more than 200 years ago, In fact, on November 23, 2013, Yoruba from all over Ghana converged on Accra to celebrate 200 years of the arrival of their ancestors in Ghana. Many Yorubas traditional rulers and political figures, including state governors, came to Ghana to witness the occasion.
Majority of the early arrivals were traders who came to buy kola nuts. Others were missionaries and Muslim clerics who were invited to Asante by the Asantehene to help them with charms in their wars.
Later arrivals included railway workers who helped in the construction of railway lines from Kumasi to Accra and Kumasi to Takoradi.
According to population figures from the last census, there are more than one million Yorubas in Ghana, with about 60 per cent being Ghanaians by birth. As a result of intermarriages, there is a sizeable number of Yorubas whose fathers are Yorubas but can hardly speak the language. There are more Yorubas in Ghana than anywhere else, apart from Nigeria and Benin
The Yoruba live in major cities such as Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi, Cape Coast, Tamale, Wa, Bolga, Dunkwa, Konongo, Tarkwa and other towns where they have their Obas or chiefs and practise the Yoruba culture.
It is these Yorubas who will be in Kumasi next month for the World Yoruba Congress, where they will display their culture to be witnessed by their kith and kin from Nigeria.
I cannot end this piece without commending the African Cultural Preservation Foundation (ACPF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), for their massive support for the congress.
Their promotion of African unity and peace through cultural interrelationship, tourism and humanitarian services worldwide is much appreciated.