Oyibo or Oyinbo is a word used in Nigerian Pidgin, Igbo and Yoruba to refer to a westernised people. In Nigeria, it is generally used to refer to a person of European descent or people perceived to not be culturally African. The word is pronounced oyinbo (/oʊˈjiːŋboʊ/) in Yoruba speaking areas and oyibo (/oʊˈjiːboʊ/) in Igbo and in Nigerian Pidgin. Olaudah Equiano, an African abolitionist, claimed in his 1789 narrative that the people in Essaka, Igboland, where he claimed to be from, had used the term Oye-Eboe in reference to "red men living at a distance" which may possibly be an earlier version of oyibo. Equiano's use of Oye-Eboe, however, was in reference to other Africans and not white men. Gloria Chuku suggests that Equiano's use of Oye-Eboe is not linked to oyibo, and that it is a reference to the generic term Onitsha and other more westerly Igbo people referred to other Igbo people. R. A. K. Oldfield, a European, while on the Niger River near Aboh in 1832 had recorded locals calling out to him and his entourage "Oh, Eboe! Oh, Eboe!" meaning "White man, White man!" linked to modern 'oyibo'.
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Origin
The origin of the word is difficult to ascertain as many etymologies have been posited from numerous languages in southern Nigeria. The Igbo theory possibly holds the most credence, although theories abound from other languages, namely Yoruba, Edo and Urhobo.
In addition to Equiano and Oldfield’s claims, the word ‘oyibo’ may derive from a misnomer the European may have given to the Igbo. Demonym takes the place of ‘onye’ + [place of origin] in the Igbo language. Thus, whereas a fellow Igbo is referred to as ‘onye Igbo,’ a Yoruba is referred to as ‘onye Yoruba’ and a German ‘onye Germany.’ The Igbo coined ‘onye ocha’ and ‘ndi ocha,’ ‘ocha’ meaning ‘white,’ for white person and white people, respectively, because the Igbo did not know where the white man came from at the time. Continued interaction may have resulted in the whites attempting to refer to the Igbo in the same manner as the Igbo had done to him; however, as there was difficultly pronouncing double-lettered consonants, a phenomenon not found in Indo-European languages, the white man, instead of saying ‘onye Igbo,’ said ‘oye Ibo’ instead. It may have been this ‘oye Ibo’ (oyibo) that the Igbo would later use in reference to the white man in a way of mimicking and subtly mocking him for his inability to pronounce ‘onye Igbo.’ This practice may have been later adopted by other southern Nigerian tribes and eventually become the standard name for the white man.
Oyibo is also used in reference to people who are foreign or Europeanised, including Saros in the Igbo towns of Port Harcourt, Onitsha and Enugu in the late 19th and early 20th century. Sierra Leonean missionaries, according to Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba, and John Taylor, an Igbo, descendants of repatriated slaves, were referred to as oyibo ojii (Igbo: black foreigners) or "native foreigners" by the people of Onitsha in the late 19th century.
Some believe the name is coined from the Yoruba translation of ‘peeled skin’ or ‘skinless,’ which, in Yoruba, translates to ‘oyin’ (honey) + ‘bo’ (bleach or peel), literally meaning ‘man with his honey (melanin) peeled off,’ as the ancient Yoruba strongly associated indigenous honey, very dark in colour, with melanin.
The word may also be said to be a corruption of the Edo word ‘ovbiebo,’ a blend of two words: ‘ovbi,’ meaning ‘child’ or ‘indigene,’ and ‘ebo,’ the Edo word for Caucasian. Other southern Nigerian tribes may have found it difficult to pronounce the ‘vbi’ consonant, corrupting ‘vbi’ to ‘yi’ or ‘yin,' with 'oyibo' and 'oyinbo' eventually coming to replace the original Edo coinage.
It has also been stated that 'oyibo' means 'white' in Urhobo language.
Usage
Oyibo and Oyinbo are the words unanimously used in Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba, respectively, when referring to Europeans or westernised people. Local Yoruba renderings of 'oyinbo' include 'eyinbo' and, interestingly, 'ebo,' the Edo coinage for 'European,' which is also more commonly used than 'oyibo' among native Edo speakers. In Igboland, the usage of 'oyibo' is more common among the western and northern Igbo. The southern Igbo variant, bekee, is more often used in Imo and Abia states. The word 'oyibo' has come to be used in more a figurative sense by Igbos, in reference to albinos, the English language, light-skinned Igbos and all things connected with the white man. Indeed, the original Igbo coinage for people of European descent, onye/ndi ocha, has become more and more standardised in recent years and is sometimes chosen to refer to the white man specifically.
“Obodo oyibo,” literally “white man’s town,” is an Igbo coinage that refers to overseas (especially Europe and North America), which is now commonly used all over Nigeria and has, more recently, been adopted in Nigerian Pidgin. The Yoruba equivalent is "ilu oyinbo."
Related
In Central and West Africa the name for a person of European descent is Toubab.
In Ghana the word used for a 'white' person or foreigner is ‘Obroni’ in the local languages, those of the Akan family.