About this app

The Heritage and History of the Yoruba

This app is in beta.

This app uses Samuel Johnson's book The History of the Yorubas that was published posthumously by his brother Obadiah Johnson in 1921. It treats it as the canonical spine of Yoruba history, aims to accommodate alternative accounts of events and humbly tries to cover the breadth and depth of Yoruba heritage.

Take a quick tour of the app ›

Why this app exists

Early into parenthood I felt that it was necessary to know more about my heritage in order to be able to pass on what I can to my children. I've taken interest in all kinds of subjects and yet I knew little about the Yoruba and their history. I imagine that this is also the story for many people of the Yoruba diaspora like myself and even within Nigeria. The modern daily routine doesn't permit story time. Modern life is too fast paced! So I set about asking my parents questions and reading books that I could get my hands on. And this is the result so far. There's obviously a lot more work to be done, but this app is where you'll be able to become acquainted with Yoruba history and heritage.

About the founder

I am a Christian, husband and father. I work as a clinical scientist in the field of bioinformatics genomics in England. It's an exciting area of work that promises and already delivers significant assistance in the diagnoses and discovery of treatments for rare & inherited diseases as well as cancer and infectious diseases. And is integral to learning more about one's heritage through genetic studies. I believe that there is much to be discovered about the Yoruba by applying bioinformatics methods to genomic data from the Yoruba people.

How this app works

Where sources disagree (e.g. the origin of the Yorubas or how Ṣàngó’s reign ended), the best-evidenced account is presented as primary — each is ranked (preferred / alternative / deprecated) with the reason stated, and each labelled with its provenance:

Oral traditionEyewitnessDocumentaryArchaeologicalLinguisticModern scholarshipAuthor's inference

Credits

Rev. Samuel Johnson (author, Ọ̀yọ́)
Dr. Obadiah Johnson (editor, Lagos)
Mr D Ajayi (App Founder, Ìjẹ̀bú-Jèsà)