Since this is my last article in this series of “What Makes Yoruba Tick,” I think it’ll be of help to ask how the Yoruba could be a blessing to the world especially to other ethnicities in Nigeria.
The Yoruba people offer profound lessons in character development, religious harmony, and communal responsibility that are particularly relevant to the world and Nigeria’s diverse ethnic landscape. Central to these lessons is the Omoluabi philosophy, which prioritizes moral integrity over material wealth and views personal character as the foundation of a stable society
The primary lesson from the Yoruba is the Omoluabi concept, which defines an ideal person of high moral standing. Unlike modern trends that often celebrate financial success above all else, Yoruba traditional values place money as the sixth and final tier of achievement, behind attributes like integrity, hard work, and honor
The full list of the six traditional Yoruba value system in their order of importance is:
Yoruba culture emphasizes that if wealth is placed ahead of the first five, the person is not honorable nor esteemed in the society. As the Yoruba saying goes, “if you set out to look for money and you meet honour on the way, then you don’t need the journey anymore,” as the honor would eventually earn you more wealth greater than money.
Omoluabi
Let’s look more deeply into what the Yorubas mean when they talk of Omoluabi virtues, because this is the backbone of the Yoruba moral codes. Omoluabi even though is listed as the second in the list after knowledge, yet it is the general term used to signify everything together.
Omoluabi is the essence of virtues to a Yoruba. Often when you hear Omoluabi they are referring to all the six points in the value system and more. But still Omoluabi is a distinctly different virtue that stands alone and deserves a deeper look.
The Yoruba provide a global blueprint for religious tolerance . In many Yoruba households, it is common to find Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists living together and participating in each other’s celebrations without conflict
The Yoruba culture emphasizes that the well-being of the individual is inextricably linked to the well-being of the community
Yoruba values include a deep-seated respect for nature, viewing humans as custodians rather than conquerors of the environment
By formalising the pedagogy of Iwa Omoluabi in schools, as suggested by leaders like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, these values can serve as a “cultural therapy” to address modern challenges like corruption and national division in our larger home of Nigeria.
My Final Word
This project has been a great task in research, investigation, studies, exploration and inquiry. I have also tried to read a few comments from people who think that this is an attempt to promote tribalism or Yoruba supremacy. No my motives and intentions are far from such, as a matter of fact the whole concept of Yoruba culture is against propagation of supremacy of one entity over the other.
Now let me tell you what inspired me to go on this journey. Here is the truth:
A few months ago my daughter Zoe sent me a soul wrenching message where she thanked me and her mother for all they got from us and their upbringing. At the end of that message she now revealed her main concern which is, I’ll try to paraphrase her. We know we are Nigerians and Africans but we don’t know our history, who are we as Adelaja, where do we come from, who are Yoruba people, why are we different from others, why are we the way we are, what are the things we don’t know about ourselves?
These questions I did not expect from my children especially from Zoe, because they grew up in a completely European environment. Even Zoe as a university student was only one of less than 10 Africans in her university and city in general. This her question however made me to realize that our diaspora children born overseas feel a certain identity void that must be addressed urgently.
As simple as that question seems from my daughter, it was easy for me to relate it to the crisis of identity black children go through in diaspora. Usually the first generation of Africans abroad know who they are and why they’re overseas. Unfortunately the second generations are often lost between their parents identity and their present status as foreigners in a strange land.
The statistics are humbling.
Black people make up approximately 12 per cent to 13 per cent of the prison population in England and Wales, despite representing only about 4 per cent of the general population. This signifies a substantial overrepresentation, with Black individuals being over three times more likely to be in prison than their white counterparts.
Black Americans comprise approximately 13 per cent of the US population but represent about 37 per cent to 40 per cent of the incarcerated population. Black individuals are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of white Americans, with approximately one in 81 Black adults in the US serving time in state prison.
The question from Zoe opened my eyes to the fact that no one is immune from such an identity crisis. Our normal posture is we know who we are in Christ, God is our father. Yet our children have to deal with the reality of growing up in societies where they look different from everyone else around them.
As a matter of fact it reminds me that a year earlier my son had confronted me with similar inquiries but in a different way. He told me that he started creating our family genealogy tree, hence he needed me to answer a few questions which I did and moved on with my life.
It is not until I got a similar question from Zoe that I began to connect the dots. Hence this my series. These articles and the subsequent book are meant to connect every Yoruba man or woman to their true identity as “Omo Kaaro Oojire”. I hope it’ll be a blessing to Yoruba people everywhere both at home and abroad. It is now left for the Yoruba people and others to judge if it has been a worthy effort or not.
Before I drop my pen, let me honour the man who is the greatest influence and inspiration for the modern day Yoruba-Chief Obafemi Awolowo. This honour is in ending this series with one of his most precious gifts to Yoruba nation. Namely the Yoruba National Anthem, he is credited to have written it not simply as a symbol, but as a vision statement for the Yoruba people. In it we see, his dreams, his aspirations, and his vision for the destiny of the Yoruba nation. I hope and pray that our generation and the generations to come will rise up to the occasion to make Yoruba and all the black race great.
YORUBA ANTHEM
“Isé wa fún Ilè wa,
Fún Ilè ìbí wa,
K’á gbega, k’á gbega,
k’a gbega fun aiyé rí.
Ìgbàgbó wa ni wípé,
Ba se b’erú la b’omo
K’a sisé, k’a sise
K’a sisé k’a jolà.
