Why the Yoruba-speaking Okun people live in Kogi State

In Kogi state, North-Central Nigeria, various Yoruba communities are collectively referred to as "Okun people." or Yagba or Kabba. They usually greet each other by saying calling ‘Okun’ and the response is ‘Oh’. Some people from Ekiti also greet this way. 

The Okun people originated in Ile-Ife according to Yagba oral tradition. The man who brought the Okun people to their current location was sent from Ile-Ife to build a colony, but he did not return for a long time to pledge allegiance and give an update.

When he eventually returned he told them that he had lost a significant portion of the land he had acquired to other migrants. He replied in Yoruba “Ìyà àgbà ló jemí" which meant he suffered because of having a lot of old people amongst them. It is from which the names "Iyagba" and "Yagba" came, presumably as a form of mockery. 

The term "Okun" refers to the different but culturally similar yet different tribes even within the Okun community. These tribes are the Owé, Ìyàgbà, Ìjùmú, Gbẹdẹ, Bùnú or Abunu, Ikiri , Kabba and Òwòrò. They form 20% of the Kogi State population, according to the 2006 National population census, which many have disputed. 

Many Okun people speak Yoruba, although their dialect has been influenced by the Nupe, Igala and Hausa. The most affected are the Oworos who have such a watered Yoruba dialect.

Politics also has a role to play in the separation of the Okun people from the rest of the Yoruba people. In 1991, Kogi State was created from the former Bendel State and Kwara State, before then, they lived in Ekiti and Kwara State.