Yoruba - How a Name Became an Identity

The word “Yoruba” is everywhere today — in language, diaspora culture, and political identity across three continents — yet in the early 19th century it barely existed as a shared label. Most people understood themselves through kingdom, lineage, or town, not as members of a single Yorùbá people. This episode asks the question at the heart of the entire series: how does a people become a people? It traces how “Yoruba” shifted from a Hausa external label into an identity consciously claimed, reshaped, and institutionalized by Lagos intellectuals, Christian missionaries, and political actors under the pressure of colonialism. We examine the foundational Ilé-Ifẹ̀ origin narrative, not to test its literal truth, but to understand the work it performs: how it weaves together scattered histories, legitimizes authority, and offers a common beginning for different communities. Using Hobsbawm and Ranger’s idea of “invented tradition” and Benedict Anderson’s concept of “imagined communities,” the episode shows that collective identity is always constructed through stories, institutions, and power. Far from making it fake, that constructed nature is precisely what makes Yorùbá identity powerful, adaptable, and real in the lives of millions who now claim it. Researched & Written by Zack Shittu | Produced by Femi ShittuFull list of sources → patreon.com/zackShittu