The world did not know much about the Yoruba story until the tail end of the Transatlantic Slavery in the 1800s. What the mostly Christian writers then wrote have been regurgitated ad nauseam without much critique. The fact is the ancient Yoruba civilisation spanned from prehistory to about 1300 AD, transitioning through distinct eras. The Era of Intellectual Investment, between 1000 BC (BCE) and 1000AD (CE), was notable for the emergence of individual thinkers, innovators, and inventors like Ifa, Ogun and Sango. The Era of Artistic Indulgence, from 1000AD to 1300AD, was notable for artworks, such as, those at Iwo Eleru (stone figures) and Ife (bronze figures). Like the people of the Indus Valley civilisation, the ancient Yoruba did not build temples to any gods because they did not believe in gods, supreme or otherwise. They did not build palaces for any kings because they did not believe in rulers. They did not manufacture instruments of war because the ancient Yoruba were peaceable people. Like the ancient Chinese Han civilisation, the ancient Yoruba civilisation was constructed on ideas, in particular the philosophical concept of Individualism or Omoluabi, which in translation means ‘the child forged his own path’. The ancient Yoruba civilisation was founded on this Yoruba Individualism, the belief that society succeeded only when the individual succeeded. There are indications that this individualism may be in the Yoruba DNA.
Baasegun (Dr) Olusola Oni, Leader of the Yoruba Party in the UK (YPUK,
www.yorubapartyuk.org