Due to slavery in that part of the world in the 19th century, many of them were taken into Diaspora, where they settle in the Southern USA, Caribbean, South America, and other areas on the coast of West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Benin Rep. and Ghana. They speak Yoruba language, a highly developed tonal language system, which was later, influenced by Portuguese in the 17th Century and English in 18th Century, which is taught in ten Ivy-league colleges in the U.S today. Traditionally, the people are farmers (mainly food crops and cash crops such as Cocoa, Soy-beans), Trader, blacksmiths, woods carvers, bronze sculptors, and clothes weaving.

Use of time

Due to their early contact with the Europeans and Christianity, the way the Yoruba’s view time is from the Europeans perspective, But there can be variation from one community to the other, or from one individual to another. Because of mission schools, they were better educated at an earlier stage and better able to cope with the changes brought on by contact with the outside world. Because of this, the Yoruba tend to be very hardworking, and they have really excelled in all human endeavor.

The use of time is reflected in the way the Yoruba’s value education and wealth. Formal education start as early as when a child is a year old in the city and around 5 or 6 in the rural areas, but most Yoruba’s are urbanized. There are too many success stories among the Yoruba’s due to the good use of time, education, sportsmanship, and business acumen. Notable among these are Prof. Wole Soyinka, 1986 Nobel Laureate; Dr Bola Ajibola, former Judge at the world Court in Hague, Netherlands; Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, UN Special Adviser on Africa; Dr Antonio Deinde Fernandez, the richest black in Europe; Hakeem Olajuwon, the famous NBA-MVP 3-times winner; Femi Kuti, the world-known Jazz musician, and too many others.

The Yoruba’s are very judicious with time. This is portrayed in the way they do everything. This is reflected in the way they have built great cities like Lagos and Ibadan, which is the largest black city in the world. The Yoruba land is a land of 24-7, that is, life goes on regardless of the hour of the day. The Yoruba land has 5seaports, 8 airport, 25 public and private universities, many industrial estates, cocoa plantations.