“Brazil is Yorubaland”, Prof Abimbola Speaks on Elevation of Traditional Religion

• The Awise Awo Agbaye, Professor Wande Abimbola, has spoken on the evolution of traditional religion
• Professor Abimbola stated that Brazil in the South American continent, is part of Yorubaland
• The prominent Ifa adherent mentioned the alleged number of Yoruba people residing in Brazil as well as the figure of Oodua shrines

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering public affairs.

Osogbo, Osun state - Wande Abimbola, Professor Emeritus and former majority leader of the Nigerian senate, has said there are 70 million Yoruba people in Brazil.

Speaking in a recent interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Prof. Abimbola, the president and founder of Ifa Heritage Institute, asserted that “Brazil is Yorubaland”.

He said:

“I used to go to Brazil every year. When I began to go to Brazil in 1975, there were three of them left that spoke Yoruba as we are speaking it now. They did not come to us to learn the language. They had never even visited Yorubaland before. Deoscóredes Maximiliano dos Santos, alias Mestre Didi, was the only one who came to Yorubaland in 1968 to visit me in my house. He is dead. An older one in 1975 when I got there was a woman with tiny tribal marks. When she died in 1989, all the countries of the world sent their condolences. I wrote to the Nigerian government to send its condolences, too. She was well-versed in Yoruba. I always visited her first on arrival in Brazil. She would then cry, and people would console her. The next elder to her is dead, too.”

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The ex-vice-chancellor (VC) of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, added:

“Brazil is Yorubaland. 70 million Yorubas are in Brazil. In Salvador, Bahia, there are 3,000 shrines of Yoruba gods. The world has accepted us.”

Yorubas in Brazil: Is Abimbola correct?

Due to the sensitivity of ethnicity in Nigeria, the National Population Commission (NPC) did not collect data analysed based on ethnicity in the last census held in 2006 to avoid the political row the outcome would have created. This posed a challenge in determining the population of Yoruba people in Nigeria. Similarly, the Brazilian government has no official data on the population of the Yoruba living in Brazil.

The claim that more than 70 million Yoruba people live in Brazil is not supported by data-based evidence.

Ifa priest explains how Alaafin emerged

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Professor Abimbola shed light on how the new Alaafin of Oyo, Abimbola Akeem Owoade, was selected.

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Prof Abimbola consulted Ifa on behalf of the Oyo state government to select a new Oyo monarch and said the Oyo Mesi members were present during the consultation.

Source: Legit.ng