Prof. SUZANNE PRESTON BLIER, in her seminal work, Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Power and Identity, undertakes an excursion into the coronation rituals of the mighty Yoruba throne of Ile Ife, and reveals among other things, the primal role of the Igbo Aboriginal chiefs in the enthronement of the Great Ooni of Ife.

As to the question of where these Great Igbo Aboriginal chiefs (who are now fully assimilated into the Great Yoruba race) originally came from, Professor Blier seems to think think they originally came from Nri.

Note: We added ‘Ugbo’ to this article because it is a name frequently associated with the aborigines of Ile Ife. And it is a town name of several Yoruba and Igbo kingdoms today.

We believe that a lot of the indigenes of Ugbo kingdoms are actually among the Great Aborigines of Ife who left during the Moremi era.

See excerpts below:

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