As a mark of tribute, BODE DUROJAIYE, the then Director of Media and Publicity to the Monarch, takes a look at another in the series of the late Paramount Ruler’s persistent public comments on the need for the present generation not to lose grip with the link that ties them firmly with their traditions and customs.
The late Oba Adeyemi had said the basic culture and civilisation which the Yoruba have built still endured and remained fulcrum of political, economic, religious and intellectual development of the country till today.
He said the Yoruba developed a highly sophisticated system of government with effective checks and balances, which was spiced with a high level of gender consciousness, adding that the Yoruba traditional system of government is indeed one of the oldest forms of democracy in the world.
The late Alaafin emphasised that the Yoruba have unique and rich cultures and civilizations which have remained resilient to any foreign cultural domination in spite of Yoruba contact with the Europeans.
Said he, “” for instance, it is important to state that the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity (ROF) which derived its inspiration from the traditional Yoruba Ogboni cult, has been serving as a potent instrument for religious and social harmony as well as national integration””.
The late Royal Father described Ifa as “”the greatest unwritten Holy Book on earth, and a perennial fountain of esoteric knowledge from which all prophets derive their inspiration””.
He stated this in an interview shortly after the second graduation
ceremony of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organisation [UNESCO] approved Ifa Heritage Institute in Oyo town.
While also positing that in the area of mathematics and
philosophy, Yoruba intellectual activities deserve mention, he noted
that in mathematics, the Yoruba adopted base 20 in their arithmetical
calculations which indicates the depth of Yoruba intellectual life in
the realm of mathematics and philosophy.
“”Ifa divination, an ancient Yoruba knowledge system reveals to us
the coherence, logicality, precision and profundity of thoughts, philosophy, mathematics and computer science as known and practised by the Yoruba before the 11th century A.D. science, especially computer science is ‘Ifa compatible””.
The computer like Ifa, the late Paramount Ruler argued was based on the
binary system, adding that the early contact of the Yoruba with Western education and Western civilization made it possible for them to produce the first set of educated elite, the first set of commercial magnates and the first set of politicians in modern Nigeria.
According to him, “” Yoruba culture is not static. At the same time, every
generation tries to preserve aspects of the indigenous tradition. This
effort is counterbalanced by the pragmatic desire of the Yoruba to
appropriate change in the garb of tradition.
“”The dialectical relationship between the unchanging aspects of
Yoruba culture and the dynamics of change are fueled by two sources of
human interaction. The first source of change pertains to the new
conflicts in human interaction that cannot be explained by Yoruba
tradition. The second is the permanent effect of contact with Islam
and the West, expressed in such institutions as law, marriage,
religion, education, and public health services””.
The late Alaafin submitted that to the Yoruba people, while proverb is the
horse on which the word rides, the word is also the horse on which the
proverbs ride.
“”When one is lost for words, proverb is used to seek and search for
the right utterance. Yorùbá Proverbs are wise sayings passed through
generations to teach historical lessons, highlight good morals, and
instil social values. The use of a Yoruba Proverb by a younger person
is prohibited in the presence of an older person, without prior
permission to do so””.
Late Oba Adeyemi went further, ‘’Yoruba proverbs are conceived as the
‘horse of word which can carry one swiftly to the idea sought’, that
Yoruba proverbs are vehicles of ‘expression, evocation and provocation’. This is why the Yoruba people regard the accurate use of proverbs in the society as a sign of wisdom””.
The late Alaafin asserted that In Yoruba society, proverb occur in almost
every discourse and its meaning cannot be known solely on the basis of
the aggregate meaning of the words that constitute each of them but
the context in which it is used.
He concluded thus, “” this is the reason Yoruba proverbs are called
vehicles of cultural values. The idea behind Yoruba proverbs is to
drive home a crucial point in as few words as possible. This explains
why the syntax is simple, the images vivid and the allusions domestic,
and thus, most times easy to understand.
“”Yoruba proverbs present ideas in picturesque and more challenging
way than ordinary speech could have done. Information contained in
some of these proverbs could be quite reliable especially where such
relates to particular events, places and personalities””.
May the Almighty God grants your soul eternal peace.
