According to William Clarke, by the year A.D. 1300, the Yoruba had successfully constructed numerous fortified cities, encompassed by flourishing agricultural lands. These cities included Owu, Oyo, Ijebu, Ijesa, Ketu, Popo, Egba, Sabe, Dassa, Egbado, Igbomina, the sixteen Ekiti principalities, as well as Owo and Ondo.
Furthermore, the Yoruba excelled in the field of metal art during the medieval era, attaining a level of excellence that could rival the artistic achievements of Ancient Egypt, Classical Greece and Rome, and Renaissance Europe.
As one scholar eloquently expressed, Yoruba art possessed a quality that would not pale in comparison to the masterpieces produced by these renowned civilizations”
During the mid-nineteenth century, William Clarke, an English visitor to Nigeria, made an observation regarding the Yoruba weavers, stating that they possessed the ability to produce cloth of exceptional quality. He further emphasized that the durability of their textiles surpassed that of the prints and home-spuns manufactured in Manchester.”
TA recent discovery has unveiled that the ancient Nigerian city of Eredo, dating back to the 9th century, was encompassed by an impressive wall stretching a remarkable 100 miles in length and reaching heights of up to seventy feet. Furthermore, the internal area of this city was found to span an astonishing 400 square miles.