There appears to have been agreement that man’s origin is from the continent of Africa. Many archaeological findings point to this unassailable fact. The origin of humanity has been the subject of much speculation and scientific postulations, but the mist around these uncertainties has been cleared by recent scientific findings.
On Wednesday 21st of February 2018, a conference on African Origins was held at the Muson Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, where new scientific evidence on the origins of Nigerian peoples were outlined. In 1984, the Human Genome Project was conceived, but officially it started in October 1990.
The project was a large multicentric international venture aimed at determining the sequence of the organic molecule (nucleotide) which is the building block of the DNA of the entire human genome (the complete set of genes or genetic material present in a cell or organism). According to Prof. Kwon Ndung, President Genetic Society of Nigeria, the project was hailed as one which unravelled the mystery of life and its report was dubbed the periodic table of life, the holy grail of human genesis.
The Human Genome Project had scientists sequence the oldest human DNA from a 430,000-year old sample. The study involved high-quality genome that was removed from 300 individuals from 142 diverse locations and included at least 5.8 million base pairs. Researchers were able to establish, over a 10-year period using data of over 4 million genotypes, that the oldest DNA is from somewhere in South-western Nigeria (Yoruba land).
The Bantu expansion theory proposes that the original Bantu people started spreading to other parts of Africa, by way of migration, from an original nucleus in West Africa. Going by the new scientific evidence on the oldest DNA, could this be validating the series of migration also established that human migration started with the Bantu-speaking people from between Nigeria and Cameroon. This was said to be how the populations of Africa spread.
The creation myth of the Yoruba is centred around Ilé-Ifẹ̀ (the point where the world expanded) or Ilẹ̀-Ifẹ̀ (the point where the land expanded). Ifẹ̀ Oòdáíyé is the original Ifẹ̀ before the floods. Ifẹ̀ Oòyè is the Ifẹ̀ that survived after the floods. It is also referred to as Ibi tí ojúmọ́ ti ńmọ́ wá’lé aiyé (The dawn of creation).
There are many theories and myths about the origins of Mankind. Recently, I found out about the postulation by an Indian academic arguing that it is also possible that the little people of the Andaman islands in the Indian ocean could have migrated and populated Africa. Yet, there are others who theorize based on DNA study that the world’s most ancient race is in Namibia in southern Africa. However, Ile-Ife is at the core of the Yoruban perspective on the origin of Mankind, and it is just as valid as the other myths out there. It should also be noted that Ile-Ife existed long before Oduduwa. Therefore, Ile-Ife is not synonymous with Oduduwa’s Yoruba tribe. So, the Bantu expansion theory cannot be misconstrued as Yoruban world wide expansion.
Thank you for this article because it made me think about what I had previously learned but not given any deep thought.