About Yoruba
Yoruba people (Yorùbá) are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are mostly concentrated in the South-Western part of Nigeria. The majority of Yorubas speak the Yoruba language (èdèe Yorùbá). The Yorubas constitute around 40 million individuals throughout West Africa and are found predominantly in Nigeria with approximately 21 percent of its total population. The Yoruba language belongs to the Kwa group of the Niger-Congo linguistic family, and it has about 12 main dialects and over 200 variations. The Yoruba people are also found in Togo, Benin Republic, and other parts of the world including Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, and the United States. The Yoruba people are a well urbanized group with genius in arts as symbolized in the famous Ife Bronze. They are also farmers growing cocoa, and yam as cash crops. The oral history of the Yorubas describes a mythical origin, which tells of God lowering a chain at Ile-Ife, down which came Oduduwa, the ancestor of all people and the ruler of Ile-Ife. The children of Oduduwa left Ile-Ife one by one and founded their respective individual communities, which today consist of towns and villages having “Yoruba Kings” such as Oloyo of Oyo, Deji of Akure, Oba of Lagos, and Ooni of Ife as traditional rulers.
About Nigeria Nigeria is located in West Africa. It is the most populous country on the African continent. Its official name is Federal Republic of Nigeria. It shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, Niger in the north, and borders the Gulf of Guinea in the south. Since 1991, its capital has been the centrally-located city of Abuja; previously, the Nigerian government was head quartered in Lagos. The people of Nigeria have an extensive history, and based on archaeological evidence, human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BC. The present Nigerian state came into being on October 1, 1960 when Nigeria declared its independence from the British and at present consists of 36 states and the federal capital territory. Nigeria re-achieved democracy in 1999 after a sixteen-year interruption by a series of military dictators. From 1966 until 1999, Nigeria was ruled (except the short-lived second republic, 1979-1983) by military dictators who seized power in coup d'�ts and counter-coups. Oil and Gas, by value, are the most important minerals. They are exploited and produced in the Niger Delta basin and off-shore on the continental shelf and in the deep-sea of the territorial waters. Nigeria is one of the top 10 exporters of oil to the United States. In addition to crude oil, there are significant non-oil mineral deposits on land many of which have been identified and evaluated: coal, iron ore, gypsum, kaolin, phosphates, lime -stone, marble, columbine, barite (barium sulfate in mineral form), and gold. More detailed information about Nigeria can be found at the website of the Embassy of Nigeria in the USA: http://www.nigeriaembassyusa.org/thisisnigeria.shtml.
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