The slang Afonja is used like an adjective in sentences. It is a derogatory word used in a demeaning way to refer to Yoruba people as cowards and traitors, and it is mostly used by the Igbo people of Nigeria.
The hate between the Yoruba and the Igbo people date back to the time of the civil war (1967-1970), when the Igbo people wanted to pull out of Nigeria, which resulted in a war between the Igbos and the Nigerian federation. The three major tribes in Nigeria are Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbos. Just before the war started, the Igbos believed that the Yoruba would align with them to fight the remainder of the tribes in Nigeria, but they felt betrayed when the Yoruba people didn't join in their fight for Biafra (what the Igbo nation would have been called if they successfully seceded).
Since then, there has been a cold war between the Yoruba's and the Igbos, and the hate grew stronger at the last (2015) presidential elections where the Igbos felt betrayed again by the Yoruba for voting en masse for Buhari, who is a Fulani man from the Northern part of Nigeria. This was where the slang was birthed from. As Igbos feel the Yorubas are traitors, and slaves to the Hausa Fulani people.
This belief dates back to the story of Afonja, a Yoruba general of the early 19th century in Illorin (Kwara state), who aligned with the Fulani's to overthrow the Yoruba empire that ruled Ilorin at the time. Later on, Afonja was assasinated, and the Fulani's and Nupe people he aligned with took over leadership of Ilorin, and what was once a Yoruba empire, became an annex of the Sokoto Caliphate.
The hate between the Yoruba and the Igbo people date back to the time of the civil war (1967-1970), when the Igbo people wanted to pull out of Nigeria, which resulted in a war between the Igbos and the Nigerian federation. The three major tribes in Nigeria are Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbos. Just before the war started, the Igbos believed that the Yoruba would align with them to fight the remainder of the tribes in Nigeria, but they felt betrayed when the Yoruba people didn't join in their fight for Biafra (what the Igbo nation would have been called if they successfully seceded).
Since then, there has been a cold war between the Yoruba's and the Igbos, and the hate grew stronger at the last (2015) presidential elections where the Igbos felt betrayed again by the Yoruba for voting en masse for Buhari, who is a Fulani man from the Northern part of Nigeria. This was where the slang was birthed from. As Igbos feel the Yorubas are traitors, and slaves to the Hausa Fulani people.
This belief dates back to the story of Afonja, a Yoruba general of the early 19th century in Illorin (Kwara state), who aligned with the Fulani's to overthrow the Yoruba empire that ruled Ilorin at the time. Later on, Afonja was assasinated, and the Fulani's and Nupe people he aligned with took over leadership of Ilorin, and what was once a Yoruba empire, became an annex of the Sokoto Caliphate.
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