Cole: Yorubas: How they shape the world (3)

YORUBAS have brought Theatre Arts to the ghettos where the ordinary people live.  Many praise singers are careerists – this is all they do.  There are professional masters and mistresses of ceremonies, at traditional weddings, wake keeping, receptions after burials.  The late M.K.O. Abiola told us that he paid his school fees through being a professional street singer.

    The depth of some of the dialects of the Yoruba Language, in some respects, is similar to those of the Ibo Language.  Many Igbos from Nsukka, Afikpo, Owerri, Abriba when they speak their dialects, etc are not understood by other Igbos.  But the Nsukka, Afikpo, Owerri people are able to step down a gear to union Ibo to be understood.

    Among the Yorubas, the Ijebus, the Ekitis, the Ondos speak a brand of Yoruba which is unintelligible to the uninitiated. But they can switch to what can be called, the Union Yoruba, which is spoken by the people of Oyo, Oshogbo, Ogbomosho, and Ibadan, to be understood.  (Probably the analogy will be the Queen’s English and the Cockney of East London, or the Scottish Language. I must confess that I do not always understand what they say).

    Among the Yorubas, there is an incredible network of information as to where the parties are: musicians like Christmas or other traditional events/occasions, rather than a designated Party as such. Uninvited musicians only come to felicitate with important people only on such ceremonial occasions. Area boys, etc., flock to these venues, adding the element of unpredictability to a joyous occasion. Sometimes, the situation gets too boisterous as each singing group tries to occupy and retain his territory. 

    Of course, there are other ethnic groups who also do what the Yorubas do – but not as lavish or as common as the Yorubas.  A good Yoruba socialite has, at least, three (3) or four (4) parties to go to every weekend.  Some of these occasions demand three (3) or four (4) Aso Ebis, e.g., a funeral, may demand one Aso Ebi for the Service of Songs, one for the Burial (that is, the Church and the Internment); one for the Reception after the Burial, and another for the Outing Ceremony.  It is not unusual for a family to have a party some years after the patriarch’s or matriarch’s demise; the excuse, is that the dead person has been lying in one position for too long, and he or she has to be turned to another side!!

    The male Yoruba in this kaleidoscope of colour and cacophony of noise at parties come out in simple white Sokoto (trousers) and jumper or even white Agbada.  The only concession they make is a head gear, cap that is the Aso oke.  The Italians or French invented the clutch bag.  Among the Yorubas the clutch bag is an essential accessory on the male because that is where he carries the money he will use to spray celebrants and others at the party.  

Ogbomosho Yorubas

Probably the most travelled Yorubas are from the Ogbomosho and Osun communities; they are to be found from Ivory Coast down to Congo Brazzaville in all types of trade.

    They specialise in gold trade, Kola trade and transportation; especially in taxi ownership in Nigeria – conquered that as surely as the Ibos have conquered the spare parts business.  From Sokoto to Kano, Maiduguri, Kaduna, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Enugu, Umahia, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Calabar – anywhere taxis are allowed to ply, mostly are Yorubas from Ogbomosho or nearby.

    They also specialise in one type of vehicle which at anyone moment seizes their fancy – I believe at the moment it is Nissan.  Before it was one kind of Nissan Datsun.  The Japanese company has not spent a penny advertising their products – these Yorubas from Ogbomosho on their own have established these cars as the cars to use for taxis.  State Governors sometime have bought all kinds of other cars and the Ogbomosho drivers have watched those cars come and go.

     The Kola trade is a massive enterprise in Nigeria.  The fruit grew in the West, is harvested there and prepared for transportation to whenever the Hausa-Fulani live who have, inexplicably, developed a liking for the kola nut.  It is an ancient trade going back over 100 to 200 years.

    I am not going to speculate on the original formula of coco cola, which historically has been linked to the kola nut.  There is another kind of kola nut which is traditionally used by Ibos, Urhobos and other tribes as fundamental symbol of goodwill and welcome. No traditional ceremony is complete without kola nuts.

Food preferences, and cultural preferences in religious worship: 

The Yorubas have a class distinction so far for the meat they eat.  Consider how big a cow is: The Yorubas prefer to eat the extremeties, the unusual in a cow; but almost never the beef.  If a Yoruba is to really host a visitor, he will serve cow tail (traditionally known as ox-tail), cow foot, cow tongue, and various parts of the intestines of the cow, like the liver, the kidneys, the cow belly, and a few other choice parts of the intestines (like the tripe). He will rarely serve you the eye, rib steak, or the rump steak, the sirloin, or the T-bone steak.  So beloved are the Yorubas of the skin of the cow (which is what would, if sent to the tannery, will be the hyde and skin), that they single handedly have killed a once promising hyde and skin (leather) industry by finding more and more ingenious ways to clean, cook and eat what in local parlance is called kpomo.  This love of kpomo has, thereby, closed the leather and shoes factories of the defunct Bata, Lennards, shoe companies, etc.

     Fiercely independent, the Yorubas are the ingrained strong cultural Yoruba traditions, which resulted in the break-away of some of them from such Orthodox Churches like the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist and Methodist Churches, to form the African Church. This latter Church gives communicants the Eucharist, even if they are polygamists – which would be an anathema to the Orthodox Churhes. Furthermore, the African Churches did not believe, as the early Christians did, that all aspects of the African culture is necessarily pagan and must be expunged in the Liturgy of the Church. The African Church protagonists wanted and introduced a wholesome embrace of African culture in the Church, more boisterous singing and dancing, the introduction of bands in the choirs of the Church, and singing in the traditional Languages. The African Churches were right, as most of their practices have now gradually crept into the service machinery of the Orthodox Churches. They and even, the newly established Pentecostal Churches have all been motivated by the African Church, as they all now sing and dance, virtually raising the roof in joyous thanks and prayers in the Church to God.  The Churches have adapted to the needs and culture of the people, as a result of which people are now flocking into them.  None of this would have happened without the Yorubas leading this Cultural Revolution in the Church.  

• Concluded

• Ambassador Cole (OFR) is a Consultant to The Guardian Editorial Board.