Why Iwo Eleru is important - The Yoruba did not emigrate from Mecca!

Iwo Eleru is a rock shelter in south-western Nigeria. It is about 24 km north-west of Akure (the state capital of Ondo State) with coordinates 7°26’30” N and 5°7’40”.

Archaeological findings in Yorubaland have always confirmed that Neolithic (later part of the Stone Age) people once inhabited Yorubaland especially around the Ile-Ife environs. However, the watershed moment came in 1965 when a team lead by Thorstan Shaw of the University of Ibadan discovered a skeletal remains dated to circa 9200 BC in a cave at Iwo Eleru (near Akure). This discovery unambiguously and unequivocally confirmed that humans were living in Yorubaland 13,000 years ago!
No chance this particular person whose remains was found at Iwo-Eleru came from Mecca! It poured cold water on the fable of Lamurudu/Oduduwa - magicians turned Muslims narrative who emigrated from Mecca to Ile-Ife. Islam is just 1,400 years old compared to a 13,000-year old remains!

Apart from this archeological evidence, linguistic evidence proved that the Yoruba language emerged as a distinct language which separated from the Kwa group in the Niger-Congo group of languages.as long as 2000BC. Even though Yoruba language later borrowed some Arabic words (e.g alaafia/al-aafiah, alubosa/al-basal, adua/ad-du'a, alubarika/al-barakah etc) the two languages have nothing in common lexically.

Even if the Yoruba migrated from somewhere else before they settled in Yorubaland, they certainly did not come from Mecca or Arabia. Furthermore, according to Islamic tradition, the history of Mecca goes back to Abraham (Ibrahim), who built the Kaaba with the help of his elder son Ishmael in around 2000 BC.

Colonial Mentality and Inferiority Complex - Restoring our dignity and self confidence in the face of the ugly twins impeding our progress.

Òtúúrúpọ̀n Méjì says… 

Ọlọ́gbọ́n ayé kan ò ta kókó omi m’étí aṣọ;
Mọ̀ràn-mọ̀ràn kan ò mo yẹ̀ẹ̀pẹ̀ ilẹ̀
Arìnnàká kò dé ibi ònà gbé pẹ̀kun
A díá fún Alábahun
Ti n lọ re ko gbogbo ọgbọ́n araye..

Translation...
No wise man saves water in the hem of his tunic;
No wise man knows the quantity of sand on earth;
No traveller knows the edge of the earth
Thus declared the Oracle to Alábahun (Tortoise)
When he was On his way to hoard human wisdom.

Ogbè-Ìrẹ́tẹ̀ says…
Ká gbọ́n, ká kọ́,
Mbẹ nu Ifá, ati mèdè òpè lóṣòro;
Ká dá, ká tẹ̀
Mbẹ nu Ifa, ati mèdè òpè lóṣòro;
Ká rú, ká tù
Mbẹ nu Ifa, ati mèdè òpè lóṣòro...

Translation...
To learn, to teach
All can be sought in Ifá, comprehension is however difficult for the dullard;
To cast, to write
All can be sought in Ifá, comprehension is however difficult for the dullard;
To apply, to decipher
All can be sought in Ifá, comprehension is however difficult for the dullard...

Colonial Mentality is the perspective that colonised people feel themselves to be inferior to their colonisers.

Inferiority Complex is the lack of self worth and unreasonable feeling of inadequacy caused by supposed or real Inferiority in a particular sphere.

Self confidence is one of the major keys for self actualisation both for individuals and for societies.
Colonial Mentality and Inferiority Complex are the bane of our underdevelopment. We have lost confidence in our ability to do things or to reason independently of our fellow human beings in Europe, America and Asia. Some of us are no longer comfortable in their skins. Our culture and traditions are now looked down with utter contempt and disdain. We choose to throw the baby out with the bath water instead of fixing the archaic parts of our oral traditions and customs and bring them into the 21st century. We choose to adopt foreign practices that are alien to us. Of course we should adopt foreign things that we lack and are not detrimental to our heritage.
No wonder other people looked down on us and disrespect us since we have already disrespected ourselves.

Our ancestors were confident in themselves even when they met Europeans for the first time - meaning that these traits were acquired recently. The following excerpts demonstrate the aplomb and boldness of our ancestors:

In 1850, the German born David Hinderer was the first Christian missionary to visit Ilé-Ifẹ̀ - the cradle of Yoruba civilisation. He preached the Christian gospel to a large crowd at the imperial Ọọni palace. After he had finished preaching, he was told by Ifẹ̀ chiefs that:

“all religions originated from Ifẹ̀, and that what he had preached was no more than one of the versions that had evolved later in a distant part of the world”(2)

David Hinderer himself penned the following down:
“...from there (Ifẹ̀) the sun and moon rises where they are buried in the ground, and all people of this country and even white men spring from the town”(1)

Rev. Samuel Johnson, one of the first Anglican clerics and the author of the first Yoruba history book was told the following by the chiefs of Ìbàdàn in 1882:
“Ifẹ̀ was the place where all nations of the earth have sprung from.”(2)

In 1886, British agents visiting the Yoruba interior were told by the Alaafin of Ọ̀yọ́ that “the Ifẹ̀s...were the fathers of all and all people came from Ifẹ̀.”; by the chiefs of Ife, at Ìsọ̀yà where they and their people were camped, outside the ruins of their city, that the Ife people were “the fathers of all tribes”, and that if they continued longer in a camp and unable to resettle their ancient city of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, “the whole world would spoil, as they were the priests of the deities who ruled the world”; and by the Seriki of the Ìjẹ̀bú, Chief Ogunṣigun, that “Even the English king can be shown the spot at Ile-Ife from where his ancestors went out”.(2)

In 1886, the British explorer - Henry Higgins who headed a mission into the Yoruba hinterland wrote the following about Ile-Ife:

“There are all manner of legends as to the wonders to be seen at Ilé-Ifẹ̀.... The Ifẹ̀s call themselves the conservators of the world and the oldest of mankind and boast that all crowned personages in the world, including the white man’s sovereign, went out originally from Ile-Ife, and it was curious the deference with which other tribes treat them although they are at war with them... and as everyone was supposed to be a descendant of the Ifes, they looked upon all strangers who visited their town in the light of pilgrims who came, as they put it, “to make their house good”, that is to pay reverence to departed ancestors.”(3)

It is only when our confidence and dignity are restored that we can start to make progress and take our rightful place in the assembly of developed nations.

References:
1. David Hinderer: “Diaries,” Ibadan, Christian Mission Society (CMS), quoted in I.A. Akinjogbin, ed., The Cradle of a Race: Ile-Ife from the Beginning to 1980, Port Harcourt, Sunray Publications, 1992, xi.

2. Stephen Adebanji Akintoye: A History of the Yoruba People, 2010

3. “Report of the Special Commissioners to the Lagos Interior, 1886,” Enclosures in Higgins to Colonial Secretary, Jan. 1887, Parliamentary Papers 1887, C.4957.

Oral or Written History - You need wisdom to discern the truth. Literacy is not a substitute for Intelligence.

Ọ̀wọ́nrín Méjì says...

“Ẹni kọ̀ ti ò gbọ́n
Ẹ jẹ́ à fi wọ́n wé yúunyu nínú oko; 
A dífá fún Ọwọn
Ti nwọn ó fi j’oyè ilée baba rẹ̀.
Ó ni òun ò l’ówó lọ́wọ́,
Nwọ́n ní kì í ṣ’owó ni àwọn n wá
Bi kò ṣe ọgbọ́n rẹ̀ ti ó pọ̀ l’apọ̀ju
Ni nwọn ba mú Ọ̀wọ́nrín jẹ oyè ilé babaa rẹ̀.”

Translation...
“The person who refuses to be wise
Is like a worthless marigold in the bush;
Thus declared the Oracle to Ọwọn
Who would be made the chief of his father's house.
He said he was not a rich man
The kingmakers told him they were not interested in his money
But the sagacious intellect that he possessed
So they made Ọ̀wọ́nrín the chief of his father's house.”

Because something was written down doesn't mean it is true or historically accurate.
Because something was not written down doesn't mean it is false or historically inaccurate.

Orality predated literacy by several millennia. We the Homo sapiens (Latin: “Man the wise”) have been roaming around this planet for between 30,000 to 50,000 years. The oldest written document ever found is about 6,000 years old. Writing is a technology and like any other technology, it was invented (independently but simultaneously in Egypt and Sumer around 3200 BC) to solve a particular problem - to preserve information.

Most of the world's languages have not yet been committed to writing. Out of about 3000 spoken languages today, only 78 have a written literature.
Written history technically started after writing was invented. Events that happened before the invention writing are now classed as “prehistory”.

What about Yoruba? Does this mean we don't have history because our society was totally oral until the 19th century when the first book in Yoruba language was published in 1843?

Of course not. Our history is written in our hearts, minds, customs, traditions, rituals, festivals, proverbs, praise songs, aphorisms, poems and Ifa.

Ifa is the compendium and encyclopedia of Yoruba knowledge and worldview. It was recognised and proclaimed an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.
According to UNESCO...
“The Ifa literary corpus is a treasury of knowledge concerning Yoruba history, philosophy, medicine and mythology.”

Studying Yoruba philosophy without exploring the Ifa literary corpus is akin to studying Western philosophy (Greek) without perusing the works of Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato etc.
Also studying Yoruba literature without consulting Fagunwa’s books is comparable to studying English literature without reading the works of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer etc.

Matimatiki - Towards Mathematical pedagogy in Yoruba

Prior to the time of Sir Isaac Newton, mathematics and science had little influence on ordinary people's lives. From then on, mathematics and technology have changed our lives by bringing great transformations and innovations.

Virtually every modern equipment - phones, cameras, computers, satellite navigation systems, televisions, aircrafts, missiles etc owe their existence to higher mathematics and sciences. In developed countries, algorithmic/computerised trading is the order of the day in Stock exchanges, Capital, Futures and Forex markets

It is practically impossible for any nation to make serious headway commercially and technologically without mathematics and sciences.
Nations that refuse to innovate will become extinct while others will move forward. Natural selection is real. You either evolve or perish!

As usual, Ifa knows about mathematics and has something to say about matrix....
In mathematics, a matrix is a rectangular array of numbers, symbols, or expressions, arranged in rows and columns.
For example, the dimensions of the matrix below are 2 × 3 (read "two by three"), because there are two rows and three columns.
[2 7 -9]
[3 2 -1]

Èjì-Ogbè says...
Ọ̀rúnmìlà ni o di ẹlẹ́sẹ̀ mu ẹsẹ̀;
Mo ni o di ẹlẹ́sẹ̀ mu ẹsẹ̀;
O ni ogún owó mu ẹsẹ̀ tirẹ̀ ko bá já.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà ni o di ẹlẹ́sẹ̀ mu ẹsẹ̀;
Mo ni o di ẹlẹ́sẹ̀ mu ẹsẹ̀;
O ni ọgbọ̀n owó mu ẹsẹ̀ tirẹ̀ ko bá já.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà ni o di ẹlẹ́sẹ̀ mu ẹsẹ̀;
Mo ni o di ẹlẹ́sẹ̀ mu ẹsẹ̀;
Mo ni ogójì owó mu ẹsẹ̀ tirẹ̀ ko bá já.
Mo ni njẹ baba mi Àgbọ̀nníregùn ta ni i ba ti rẹ já?
O ni ẹẹwadọta ni kan ni o bá ẹsẹ̀ ti rẹ já.
Nitori ti a ki ka owó ka owó ki a gbàgbé ẹẹwadọta.
Ifá ni òun ko ni jẹ́ ki a gbàgbé ẹni ti o ba da Ifa yi.
Oluwarẹ si nfẹ ṣe ohun kan yio ba ẹsẹ̀ já ni ohun ti o nfẹ ṣe na yi.

Translation...
Orunmila says each should take his own row;
I say each should take his own row;
He says that Twenty Cowries takes his own row but cannot finish it.
Orunmila says each should take his own row;
I say each should take his own row;
He says that Thirty Cowries takes his own row but cannot finish it.
Orunmila says each should take his own row;
I say each should take his own row;
He says that Forty Cowries takes his own row but cannot finish it.
I say, "Well then, my father Agbonniregun, who can complete his row?"
He says Fifty Cowries alone can complete his row,
Because we cannot count money and forget Fifty Cowries.
Ifa says he will not allow the person for whom this figure was cast to be forgotten.
This person wants to do something; he will "complete his row" in the thing he wants to do.

For "Matimatiki" to take hold in Yoruba land we need Yoruba terms for all mathematical concepts.
When there is no equivalent Yoruba terminology, new words can be coined or borrowed from English.
Below are some English/Yoruba Mathematical terms:

Addition === Ìròpọ̀
Subtraction === Ìyọkúrò
Multiplication === Ìsọdípúpọ̀
Division === Pínpín
Length === Òró
Breadth === Ibú
Equality === Ìdọ́gba
Inequality === Aìdọ́gba
Set === Àkójọpọ̀
Sub-set === Àkójọpọ̀ kékeré
Number === Nọ́mbà
Digit === Ẹyọ-ẹyọ
Decimal place === Idi
Member of a Set === Ọmọ-ẹgbẹ
Empty Set === Àkójọpọ̀-ofifo
Line === Ìlà
Geometry === Jiomẹtiri
Row === Ẹsẹ̀
Rectangle === Rẹkitangulu
Square === Sukua
Angle === Angu
Area === Eeria
Arrow === Ọfa
Centre === Aarin gbungbun
Circle === Obirikiti
Congruent === Dọgba rẹgirẹgi
Cone === Koonu
Cube === Kiubu
Cylinder === Silinda
Edge === Eteeti
East === Ila-oorun
Equilateral Triangle === Tiraangu elegbe didogba
End-point === Pointi ipekun
Formula === Fọmula
Intersect === Pade
Intersection === Ikọra
Movement === Sisun
North === Àríwá
Oval === Ofali
Point === Pointi
Plane === Operese
Perimeter === Iwon ayika
Prism === Pirisimu
Polygon === Figo ẹlẹgbẹ púpọ̀
Ray === Itansan
Region === Inu operese
Radius === Radiosi
Relation === Ibatan
Vertex === Ṣonṣo Igun
Volume === Fọlumu

Religious Tolerance in a turbulent world - A leaf from the Yorùbá

When many nations are regressing into a culture of religious hatred, hostility, fanaticism, terrorism, bigotry and conflict the Yorùbá are at peace with each other. The question is: how have the Yorùbá managed to tame this hydra-headed monster of religious intolerance?

First and foremost, religious intolerance is very “un-yoruba”. The idea of hating someone for their religious beliefs does not exist in the psyche of the Yoruba.

This is not by accident because the Yorùbá see religion as an inseparable aspect of culture. To them, culture is the totality of an individual’s personality.

The Yorùbá recognise three main religions and the exposition of their names in Yorùbá language will help illuminate how the people see these religions.
The Yoruba word for religion is “Ẹ̀sìn”, so we have:

Ẹ̀sìn Ìbílẹ̀ - Traditional (native, aboriginal) religion. Even these days, it is ridiculous and even comical to say for example ẹ̀sin Ṣàngó (Ṣàngó religion) or ẹ̀sìn Ògún (Ògún religion). This is because the Yorùbá of old did not see their deities as individual gods but as a pantheon.

Ẹ̀sìn Imàle - Religion of the Malians, originally brought by some trans-saharan merchants from Mali circa 1655 and practised solely by the merchants. Full blown Islam was brought by the Fulani with the aim of converting the people.

Ẹ̀sìn Ìgbàgbọ́ - Religion of the believers in Jesus, the Nazarene. (the verb Gbàgbọ́ means “to believe”). This was brought by the British circa 1840 also with the aim of converting the people.

From their mythology and oral traditions, the people believe they were the first humans on earth and as such all religions are just derivatives of their primordial ancestral religion.

The traditional religion of the people has the following peculiarities:

It is based solely on oral transmission. Not written on scrolls or parchments or paper but in people's minds, oral history, rituals, poems etc.

It is not the religion of one particular hero like Moses, Jesus, Muhammad or Buddha.

There are no missionaries and no desire to preach or propagate or gain converts. It is just a cultural aspect of their lives.

Now, back to Yoruba religious pluralism...
Ìwàpẹ̀lẹ́ (good character or conduct) concept plays a major role in this. As a perennial student of Yoruba culture and traditions, I am yet to come across any historical account whereby the Yoruba nation waged a “holy” war or a “crusade” against any other nation.
Before Islam and Christianity came to Yorubaland, no historical record (written or oral) exist about Ògún adherents waging war against Ṣàngó worshippers or Ọbàtálá worshippers cursing Yemọja adherents. This accommodationist nature still exist as we speak. It is not uncommon to have muslims, Christians and traditional worshippers in the same family without religious tension and conflicts.

The culture that binds the Yorùbá together transcends religious worldviews. Nations currently experiencing religious upheavals evidently have a lot to learn from the Ọmọ kaarọ o ji’re after all.

Digging deep into the philosophy of our elders, I found this prayer - “Ọlọ́run ma jẹ ka gba wèrè mọ ẹ̀sìn”! (God help us not to mix madness with religion). Evidently, the Yoruba differentiate between wèrè (madness) and ẹ̀sìn (religion). The Yoruba also recognise that Ọ̀nà kan o wọ ọja (there are many paths to the market), hence the pluralism of religion in the world.

The world can borrow this worldview from the Yoruba and learn to live in peace and harmony with other human beings.

Data/Information Encryption - A cue from Ìlu Gángan (Yoruba Talking Drum)

Encryption is the process of encoding messages or information in such a way that only authorised parties can access it. Without encryption, online banking, online shopping, secure communication on the Internet etc would be impossible.

The mathematics behind even the simplest encryption algorithm is mind boggling!
But guess what? Before Cipher, telegraph and Morse code came into being the Yoruba ancestors were already transmitting encrypted messages for millennia!

I will be exploring how our ancestors used the Ifá Binary System to encode secret messages and how Nigerian mathematicians, cryptographers and computer geeks can use the same system to create military grade encryption algorithm in my future posts. Today however, it is all about the humble Ìlu Gángan.

The Gángan (talking drum) is well known in Yorubaland. These days most people only think of it as a mere percussion - musical instrument but beside its entertainment function, it is one of the most potent cryptographic device ever invented in Yorubaland. It is capable of transmitting encrypted messages or ciphers over a considerable distance!

In 1943, Irma Wassall, the poet opined -
“Across the Dark Continent sound the never-silent drums: the base of all music, the focus of every dance; the talking drums, the wireless of the unmapped jungle”.

The following examples are adapted from the book - "The Information" by James Gleick

To send the encrypted message:
“Padà wá s’ilè” (“Come back home”), you would use Gangan to compose something similar to the following acoustic rhythm:

“Jẹ̀ ki ẹsẹ̀ rẹ padà gẹ́gẹ́ bi wọ́n ti lọ,
Mo ni ko jẹ ki ẹsẹ̀ rẹ padà gẹ̀gẹ̀ bi wọ́n ti lọ,
A ni o pa ẹsẹ̀ rẹ papọ̀ ni abúlé wa.”

i.e
“Make your feet come back the way they went,
make your legs come back the way they went,
plant your feet and your legs below, in the village which belongs to us.”

To say Òkú (corpse), you would compose the following:
“Nkan ti o fi ẹ̀hìn re lélẹ̀ l’ori ilẹ̀”

i.e
“That which lies on its back on clods of earth.”

To say “Má bèrù” (don’t be afraid) you would beat the drum to say:

“À ní o mu ọkàn rẹ jade lati ẹnu rẹ, mo ni ọkàn rẹ láti ẹnu rẹ, ki o si muu padà lati ibẹ̀”

i.e
“Bring your heart back down out of your mouth, your heart out of your mouth, get it back down from there”

No exposition of this nature is complete without supporting it with at least one Ifa verse.
In Edi-Ogunda, the drum is personified as an obedient and a favourite of the Alaafin.

Dindinguda Dindinguda
A d’Ifa fun enlọjọ ìlù
Ti wọn n ṣawo lo s’ode Ọ̀yọ́
Dundun nikan lo n bẹ lẹyin to n ṣẹbọ
Dundun wa ni mo yin Dindinguda Dindinguda
Dundun pẹ̀lẹ́ o, Ayọ̀ Oba

Translation….
Dindinguda Dindinguda (the Ifa priest )
Divined for drum ensembles
That were going for performance in Ọ̀yọ́ town
Only Dundun remained behind to make a sacrifice
Dundun said that I praised my Ifa Priest Dindinguda Dindinguda
Dundun well done, the favorite of (Ọ̀yọ́) King.

Case for making Yoruba as the language of instruction in primary and secondary schools in Yorubaland - A Treatise

It is a known fact that fluency in English language is not a measure of intelligence. There are native English speakers who do not know where the country of Nigeria is located or that Africa is a continent and not a country!

A language that you have never been annoyed in, never been joyful in, never had sex in, never slept and had dreams in, never told lies in or spread rumours in, a language that is only for school or job is no language in which to develop the critical thinking and innovative mind! The language you think in is the language of your soul.

The main impediment to the dissemination of adroitness and knowledge in Yorubaland is the imposition of a foreign language as the main medium of communication. This has not only stifled our technological advancement but also the social and and economic well-being of our people.

The rate at which the usage of Yoruba language is declining among the Yoruba middle class in alarming! It is even a taboo in some homes to speak Yoruba! It is a fact that 80% of Yoruba people will never leave the shores of Yorubaland and emigrate abroad. Majority will never go near Murtala Muhammed International Airport!

Apart from big cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta etc most of our people leave in the rural heartland of the Yoruba country (urban population of Nigeria is 47%).
How do these rural dwellers communicate and carry on their daily lives? They surely don't rely on the Queen's English to carry on the real business of life in their towns, villages and markets.

The Chinese, Germans, Japanese, Russians, Koreans, French etc carry on their daily activities (include scientific research and development) in their own language. The first man (Yuri Gagarin) to go to outer space never spoke a word of English! He was a russian. Nobel prizes in Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Economics etc have been won by Koreans, Swedes, Germans, Norwegians, Russians, Polish etc doing research in their native languages.

Imparting knowledge and skills in English is one of the main reasons why we are still languishing in our state of underdevelopment today. When you have to translate your thoughts back and forth between your native tongue and your adopted language, you have to work twice as much as a native speaker of that foreign language.

Below are some of the main merits of using the mother tongue as a medium of disseminating knowledge:

It gives a child free reins of his/her thoughts thereby fostering creativity.

It disallows the few elite from monopolising knowledge in a foreign language to the disadvantage of the majority.

It decentralises information by making it free for everyone.

It offers a level playing field and equal opportunities for everyone.

It makes you proud of your heritage and history.

According to Jerome Bruner, "Man has the capability to receive and translate knowledge in a linguistic form. This permits man to convert knowledge into a form that renders it highly transformable. Language not only permits an enormous condensation of knowledge, but permits us to turn the knowledge into hypothetical forms so that we may consider alternatives without having to act them in the form of trial and error."

This is not an unknown terrain for us. Between 1970 and 1978, the late Professor Babs Fafunwa demonstrated this through a study titled: "Education in Mother Tongue: The Ife Primary Education Research Project (1970-1978)" to make the case for the mother tongue as the medium of education in Nigeria.
In the study, some students were taught all their subjects in Yoruba and only English was taught in English language for obvious reasons.

At the end of the study, the students taught only in Yoruba outperformed their classmates who were taught only in English when they sat for their final exams.

Sadly, the Government of the day at that time refused to implement the proposal put forward by Professor Fafunwa!