His earthly origins are from the village of Oke Ora[1][2] According to tradition, he was the holder of the title of the Olofin of Ile-Ife, the Yoruba holy city.

[6][7] In Yoruba religious traditions, Oduduwa is seen as a divine or semi-divine being that was sent by the creator deity, Olodumare, from heaven to create the earth upon the waters.

Oduduwa was the first ruler of a unified Ife, which before him had existed as a group of loosely allied communities of thirteen Elu.

The communities are remembered to be; Iloromu, Imojubi, Ideta (Idita), Oke-Oja, Parakin, Ido, Iwinrin, Odin, Ijugbe, Iraye, Oke-Awo, Iloran and Omologun.

At that time Oduduwa and his followers migrated down into the ife valley below, there was a brewing level of dissatisfaction amongst the communities on the issue of Obatala's kingship, which was unsatisfactory to some.

Following his posthumous deification, he was admitted to the Yoruba pantheon as an aspect of a primordial divinity of the same name, historical accounts state.

The leadership contest was brought to an end following the collaborative effort of Obatala, Orunmila and Owa Ilare.

The controversy surrounding his birth is due to the fact that both Oduduwa and Ogun had affairs with the same woman, his mother, Lakange.

Thought to be descendants of Oranfe through Obalufon Ogbogbodinrin (Osangangan Obamakin) who had ruled the land before the arrival of Oranmiyan, these people turned themselves into marauders.

They would come to town in costumes made of raffia with terrible and fearsome appearances, burn down houses and loot the markets.

She was married to Lukugba, Obalufon Alayemore, and Oranmiyan at different times; she subsequently played a significant role in restoring normalcy to the situation through a spying mission.

She asked for some oranges and prepared a formula that drugged the palace entourage, causing them to fall into a deep slumber.

As such, he (or she, as the primordial Oduduwa originally represented the Divine Feminine aspect and Obatala the Divine Masculine) was sent from heaven to create the earth upon the waters, a mission he/she had usurped from his/her consort and sibling Obatala, who had been equipped with a snail shell filled with sand and a rooster to scatter the said sand in order to create land.

According to the Kanuri, Yauri, Gobir, Acipu, Jukun and Borgu tribes, whose founding ancestors were said to be Oduduwa's brothers [18] (as recorded in the 19th century by Samuel Johnson), Oduduwa was the son of Damerudu, whom Yoruba call Lamurudu, a prince who was himself the son of the magician King Kisra.

According to the legend, he and his followers founded many kingdoms and ruling dynasties along their migration route into West Africa.