Ile Ife

In Yoruba mythology, Ife was founded by a senior deity Oduduwa, acting on the order of the supreme deity Olorun (also known as Oludmare). Oduduwa became the first ruler, or Ooni, of Ife.We know little of how these early Ooni exercised power or how their territory was administered, or precisely when the kingship started. We know that the landscape out of which Ife (and Benin) emerged consisted of a mixture of tropical forests and savannah land, affording very fertile soil and a high rainfall.