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Are you in confusion about the most popular Yoruba cities in Nigeria? Nigeria is a blessed country, everyone knows about it, and our cultural diversity and beauty serves to speak of how beautiful the people and the land is. In an earlier post this year, we looked at the top most popular Hausa cities in Nigeria. Considering the top Obas in Yoruba land, the most prominent is the Ooni of Ife.
Below are some of the most popular Yoruba cities.
Lagos
The most popular city in Nigeria that is a Yoruba city is the city of Lagos. Now the nature of the city as a metropolis has made it a place where people can gather from every tribe and ethnic group. Believe it or not, this is the most developed city in the whole nation. Tourists who visit Nigeria either on business or for pleasure visit Lagos state because the city is packed with a lot of cool sites to hang out and lodge in.
However, as earlier mentioned, the city was originally filled with people from the Yoruba ethnic group before modernization. In the city, there are a lot of restaurants, hotels, beaches, amusement parks where you can take your kids and so on. The Yoruba culture is not entirely missing in Lagos state, carnivals are still held in the city.
Ibadan
A tourist who visited Nigeria is at one time by name of J. P. Clark once described the city of Ibadan where he visited as a “running splash of rust and gold-flung and scattered among seven hills like broken china in the sun.” the city is quite modernized and is basically a Yoruba city, being the capital city of Oyo State. Although the setting in the city is not communal, the city is quite reputed for its local Yoruba meal which is Amala (yam flour) with Gbegiri or Ewedu soup.
Compared to other major cities in Nigeria, owning a home, transportation, and general standard of living is quite affordable and as such the city is one of the best places to live in. There are malls, restaurants, amusement parks, and hotels in the city.
Abeokuta
Abeokuta is translated into English from Yoruba to mean “under the rock”. The city is the largest city in Ogun State of which it is the capital. Lying just beneath the well renowned Olumo rock and home to Nobel Prize Winner for his literary works, Professor Wole Soyinka, Abeokuta is a city where standard of living is relatively cheap and there is no overpopulation in the city.
Ake Arts and Book Festival which was instituted by Nigerian author Lola Shoneyin was named in honour of the Ake – the traditional habitation for the Alake who is the traditional ruler of Abeokuta. This festival features literature, culture, and art.
The city of Abeokuta has a beautiful scenery having hills and valleys. In the city, you will find really nice places to hang out with friends.
Ijebu Ode
Right after Abeokuta, the next best city in Ogun State, Nigeria is the city of Ijebu Ode. The city is packed with people who speak the Ijebu tongue of Yoruba. Not all Yorubas can speak this particular dialect, in fact, some Yorubas who have never heard this dialect get confused when the dialect is spoken to them. However, within Ijebu Ode, the dialect is well spoken among the people who live therein as a result of modernization and marriages between different tribes.
Ijebu Ode is known to be a centre where farm produce is being traded and some of these farm products include, cassava, yam, grain, tobacco and cotton. The native people of Ijebu Ode are known to be very social as they throw and attend a lot of parties.
Akure
In Ondo State, the major city is the state’s capital known as Akure. Although, Akure used to be a part of Ekiti State – that is before the place became Ekiti State. The people who live in the city of Akure are mostly Yorubas who speak various tongues of the Yoruba language. In terms of education in Nigeria, Akure is one city that has a lot to brag about because many educated personalities in Nigeria have emerged from it.
That’s not all, Akure has for a long time been interested in protecting and enhancing the preservation of the culture of the people and as a result, the people within the city built monuments and placed them in the palace of the traditional ruler who is referred to as the Deji of Akure.
A lot of big shot hotels and restaurants can be found in the city.
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