The Anago in Benin Republic, Togo and Nigeria By Anago James Akeem Osho (A response to an email sent to Anago James Akeem Osho)
Dear brother Anago Osho,
When you have the time, could you share some information with me. I was under the impression that the Africans in the Republic of Benin known as Nago were Yoruba. In fact I thought they were call Nago because they may have been from the Anago. When I was in the Republic of Benin last. I was in the town Quidah. I happen to meet a Yoruba man who was working as a tour guide on one of these European tour buses. He was a Yoruba from Ibadan. In my conversation with him, he informed me that the Nago were not Yoruba. How can this be? I wanted to debate with this Brother, but I change my mind. I asked myself, "How can I debate with this Brother who is Yoruba and myself was born the the United States? Maybe he has some history that I am not aware of. Even though I was born in the U.S., I am so-called African American. On top of that, I am an Orisha and Ifa worshipper. In studying the historical experience of slavery in the West, one of the strongest spiritual traditions that has survived in the West were brought here by the Nago. We worship some of the same Orisha that is worship in Yoruba traditional Religion.
For the Brother to tell me that the Nago was not Yoruba left dumbfounded. It is something that I can't quite understand. Can you share with me a little bit of the history of the Nago? I thank you in advance.
Dear brother Orimolade,
So sad to read this because you are just one among hundreds of people the man you met would have told this lie. All he should have done was to be sincere enough to tell you he does not know anything about the subject.
I am writing this message as my response to the email that you wrote to me dated April 20, 2016.
Brother Orimolade,
The man you met in Whydah (Ouidah) may be a tour guide or an escort to earn a living, but may not be a researcher and better still i will like to meet him to hear his point. There are many wonderful and knowledgeable Proffesional Tourist Guides in Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria and every where in Africa. I am in partnership with many of them to keep our culture and history alive and i can not be every where at the same time. Some of us have dedicated our lives to travel and research.
Some Tourists Guides are not researchers and because they are born or grew up or know certain history of a place does not make them professional tour guides and historian.
There are Anagos across West Africa and even as far as Japan. Anago in Japan is the name of a particular fish. Anago from the African contest is synonymous to the Yorubas across West Africa. I want a response to this writing so that i can also learn from other ideas.
What i am writing is from my research and experiences.
There are many towns and villages in between the borders of Nigeria and Benin Republic who identify themselves as Anago. Some of these families acted as viceroys and ambassadors of the Oyo empire. The roots of some of these towns could easily be traced to Oyo, Ife, Ibadan, Ogbomosho, Abeokuta, Ilorin, Ede, and many more communities in the hinterland.
Many migrations took place before and after the Owu wars as a result of trade, diplomacy, search for arid farmlands, economic, marriage, politics, and some migrated during the numerous nacine Yoruba wars which led to the fall of the Oyo empire. And this gave Dahomey the opportunity to be independent of Oyo and many Yorubas were captured and sold through Whydah, Lagos, Badagry, Epe, Lekki, Porto Novo, Porto Seguro, El Mina, etc. others were sold through the slave port toward the North, near lokoja by the Fulani and their ally, the Nupe. The enslaved were transported to the slave market in Kano; the mouth of the tran Saharan slave trade in Africa South of the Sahara to cities like Timbuktu, Djenne, Tripoli, Cairo etc.
The Yorubas are Anago, Nago, Lucumi/Ulcumi, Aku, Ana, Ana-Ife, Ife, Oyo, Katunga etc. The Yoruba do not have a uniformed name in the beginning. What unites the Yorubas are their language, Origin at Ile Ife, and Culture.
The Yorubas are called Anago or Nago in Brazil, Benin Republic, Haiti, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, e.t.c. The word Lucumi and Anago were used earlier to qualify the Yorubas before the Christian missionaries made the name Yoruba popular in their writings. In the central part of Togo the Yorubas are also called Ana Ife or Ana.
Growing up at Ebute Metta in Lagos, i remember that whenever my grand mother was talking to us and we were not listening or because we were playing and seems not to pay attention to what she was saying, she would shout at us saying "Se e o gbo Anago ti mo n ba yin so ni"? (Can't you understand the Anago that i am speaking to you). It means don't you understand the Yoruba language i am speaking?
Anago is one of the oldest name by which the Yorubas were known. It means someone who is wise or intelligent as the Yorubas are seen to be by other Africans. Other popular names are Aku, derived from the Yoruba form of greetings. Ekaaro/Aku owuro! - Good morning. Ekaasan/Aku osan! - Good afternoon etc. Still in use in Sierra Leone, Gambia etc. Olukumi from which Lucumi was derived is still used in the American diaspora. It literarily means ""My confidant", "Some one i can trust". "My family". Nago became popular during the enslave trade. So many enslaved people were sold at the Slave port of Lagos, Badagry and Whydah, and because the Yoruba endlaved people were so many, the word Anago or Nago became popular. The earliest European slave traders preferred to call the Yorubas, Nago because it was easy for them to pronounce and omitted the letter A.
Nago was the name that was documented in the Americas during classification to identify the origin of the Anago enslaved persons. The largest numbers of enslaved people that were taken from a single ethnic group in Africa were taken from the Slave ports or the slave coast of West Africa. These ports were found in Nigeria, Benin Republic, and Togo.
I have argued that the biggest Slave port was the Slave port of Lagos and Badagry. Many people do not know that Oba (King) Kosoko of Lagos was the biggest Slave trader on the coast of West Africa. He owned Slave Ships in Bahia Salvador in Brazil, and no other native African Chief or king was recorded to have possessed such. He was a close ally and friend of the king of Dahomey in his time because Slave trading was the major economic strength of Dahomey/Abomey.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Your brother,
Anago James Akeem Osho
When you have the time, could you share some information with me. I was under the impression that the Africans in the Republic of Benin known as Nago were Yoruba. In fact I thought they were call Nago because they may have been from the Anago. When I was in the Republic of Benin last. I was in the town Quidah. I happen to meet a Yoruba man who was working as a tour guide on one of these European tour buses. He was a Yoruba from Ibadan. In my conversation with him, he informed me that the Nago were not Yoruba. How can this be? I wanted to debate with this Brother, but I change my mind. I asked myself, "How can I debate with this Brother who is Yoruba and myself was born the the United States? Maybe he has some history that I am not aware of. Even though I was born in the U.S., I am so-called African American. On top of that, I am an Orisha and Ifa worshipper. In studying the historical experience of slavery in the West, one of the strongest spiritual traditions that has survived in the West were brought here by the Nago. We worship some of the same Orisha that is worship in Yoruba traditional Religion.
For the Brother to tell me that the Nago was not Yoruba left dumbfounded. It is something that I can't quite understand. Can you share with me a little bit of the history of the Nago? I thank you in advance.
Dear brother Orimolade,
So sad to read this because you are just one among hundreds of people the man you met would have told this lie. All he should have done was to be sincere enough to tell you he does not know anything about the subject.
I am writing this message as my response to the email that you wrote to me dated April 20, 2016.
Brother Orimolade,
The man you met in Whydah (Ouidah) may be a tour guide or an escort to earn a living, but may not be a researcher and better still i will like to meet him to hear his point. There are many wonderful and knowledgeable Proffesional Tourist Guides in Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria and every where in Africa. I am in partnership with many of them to keep our culture and history alive and i can not be every where at the same time. Some of us have dedicated our lives to travel and research.
Some Tourists Guides are not researchers and because they are born or grew up or know certain history of a place does not make them professional tour guides and historian.
There are Anagos across West Africa and even as far as Japan. Anago in Japan is the name of a particular fish. Anago from the African contest is synonymous to the Yorubas across West Africa. I want a response to this writing so that i can also learn from other ideas.
What i am writing is from my research and experiences.
There are many towns and villages in between the borders of Nigeria and Benin Republic who identify themselves as Anago. Some of these families acted as viceroys and ambassadors of the Oyo empire. The roots of some of these towns could easily be traced to Oyo, Ife, Ibadan, Ogbomosho, Abeokuta, Ilorin, Ede, and many more communities in the hinterland.
Many migrations took place before and after the Owu wars as a result of trade, diplomacy, search for arid farmlands, economic, marriage, politics, and some migrated during the numerous nacine Yoruba wars which led to the fall of the Oyo empire. And this gave Dahomey the opportunity to be independent of Oyo and many Yorubas were captured and sold through Whydah, Lagos, Badagry, Epe, Lekki, Porto Novo, Porto Seguro, El Mina, etc. others were sold through the slave port toward the North, near lokoja by the Fulani and their ally, the Nupe. The enslaved were transported to the slave market in Kano; the mouth of the tran Saharan slave trade in Africa South of the Sahara to cities like Timbuktu, Djenne, Tripoli, Cairo etc.
The Yorubas are Anago, Nago, Lucumi/Ulcumi, Aku, Ana, Ana-Ife, Ife, Oyo, Katunga etc. The Yoruba do not have a uniformed name in the beginning. What unites the Yorubas are their language, Origin at Ile Ife, and Culture.
The Yorubas are called Anago or Nago in Brazil, Benin Republic, Haiti, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, e.t.c. The word Lucumi and Anago were used earlier to qualify the Yorubas before the Christian missionaries made the name Yoruba popular in their writings. In the central part of Togo the Yorubas are also called Ana Ife or Ana.
Growing up at Ebute Metta in Lagos, i remember that whenever my grand mother was talking to us and we were not listening or because we were playing and seems not to pay attention to what she was saying, she would shout at us saying "Se e o gbo Anago ti mo n ba yin so ni"? (Can't you understand the Anago that i am speaking to you). It means don't you understand the Yoruba language i am speaking?
Anago is one of the oldest name by which the Yorubas were known. It means someone who is wise or intelligent as the Yorubas are seen to be by other Africans. Other popular names are Aku, derived from the Yoruba form of greetings. Ekaaro/Aku owuro! - Good morning. Ekaasan/Aku osan! - Good afternoon etc. Still in use in Sierra Leone, Gambia etc. Olukumi from which Lucumi was derived is still used in the American diaspora. It literarily means ""My confidant", "Some one i can trust". "My family". Nago became popular during the enslave trade. So many enslaved people were sold at the Slave port of Lagos, Badagry and Whydah, and because the Yoruba endlaved people were so many, the word Anago or Nago became popular. The earliest European slave traders preferred to call the Yorubas, Nago because it was easy for them to pronounce and omitted the letter A.
Nago was the name that was documented in the Americas during classification to identify the origin of the Anago enslaved persons. The largest numbers of enslaved people that were taken from a single ethnic group in Africa were taken from the Slave ports or the slave coast of West Africa. These ports were found in Nigeria, Benin Republic, and Togo.
I have argued that the biggest Slave port was the Slave port of Lagos and Badagry. Many people do not know that Oba (King) Kosoko of Lagos was the biggest Slave trader on the coast of West Africa. He owned Slave Ships in Bahia Salvador in Brazil, and no other native African Chief or king was recorded to have possessed such. He was a close ally and friend of the king of Dahomey in his time because Slave trading was the major economic strength of Dahomey/Abomey.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Your brother,
Anago James Akeem Osho