Why do the Yoruba have the highest number of twins in the world?

Why do the Yoruba have the highest number of twins in the world?
…. Because we love twins. Igbó-Ọrà in Ọ̀yọ́ State is special!

Èjìrẹ́ ará Ìṣokùn ọmọ Edunjọbí
M̀bá be’jirẹ o, inu mi a dun o
Ẹ̀rù o bàmí o, rárá o, rárá o
Àyà o fo mí o, rárá o, rárá o
Láti be’jirẹ o, Èjìrẹ́ dára,
Mo l’épo ní 'lé, mo lẹ́wà l’ọdọ̀n o
Táyélolú ijó ooo, ijó; Èjìrẹ́ ijó ooo, ijó
Bi mba be’jirẹ, mba yọ dandan,
Ijó; Èjìrẹ́ ijó ooo, ijó
O wọlé alákisà, o sọ alákisà da aláṣọ

- Song by King Sunny Ade (KSA)

Translation....

Twins, native of Ìṣokùn town; you, children of Edunjọbí
Had I given birth to twins, I would have been happy
I am not afraid of having twins at all
I am not scared of having twins at all
Twins are beautiful
I have palm oil at home and and beans in the yard
Táyélolú it is time for dance, yes it is time
Èjìrẹ́ (Kẹ́hìndé) it is time for dance, yes it is time
Had I given birth to twins, I would have been very very happy.
It is dance time, my twins, it is time to dance
Twins who turn around misfortunes - turning the wearer of ragged clothes to a prosperous person.

Note: Beans cooked with palm oil is the favourite food of twins in Yorubaland.

Orí re ní dádé owó

Èjì Ogbe says…

Orí re ní dádé owó;
Ọrùn ire ní ṣẹ̀gìdá ìlẹ̀kẹ̀;
Ìdí rere ní fí ẹní ore ṣìtẹ́ 
Ló da fún Ara tùmí tí ṣe obìnrin Òòṣà
Òòṣà laa lórí.
Ó ní Òòṣà tí mo bá tẹtẹ ìrẹ ni ilari ìwọ Òrìṣà ní mo da.
Àrẹ òkè ki tẹ́ lójú ẹni la lórí.
Èjì Ogbè ní jẹ́ bẹẹ.

A lucky head wears a crown of cowries;
A lucky neck wears jasper beads;
Lucky hips use an expensive mat as a throne
Was the one who cast for “My body is at ease” who was the wife of Òrìṣà.
Òrìṣà initiated her.
She said, “Òrìṣà, if I use your throne, I am unfaithful to you, Òrìṣà”.
The first born of the hill is not disgraced in the eyes of his initiator.
Èjì Ogbe is like this.

Orí Olókun

A visit to the British Museum is not complete without paying homage to this masterpiece (Orí Olókun bronze cast). A beautiful product of Yoruba ingenuity and craftsmanship.
Why is it being kept in this museum? Pure and simple, nothing like this was ever created in the British Isles circa 1300! The technology that created this masterpiece was not available here in the 12th century!
I am proud of my ancestors.

Nigeria, Nigeria, Nigeria! How many times did I call you? Who art thou?

The name “Nigeria” made its debut on 8 January 1897 in an article of the London Times penned by the journalist and commentator on colonial affairs - Flora Shaw.

She suggested the name because to her, it would be a good title for the:
“agglomeration of pagan and Mohammedan states which have been bought [from the Royal Niger Company] … within the confines of a British protectorate”. For the “first time in their history”, these states needed to “be described as an entity by some general name”.[1]

How did the Royal Niger Company acquire the "asset" (Nigeria) in the first place?

Who sold Nigeria to the Royal Niger Company?

Reference:
1. Schwarz, Federick A. O. Jr. Nigeria: The Tribes, the Nation, or the Race, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1965, p. 2

On whose shoulders are we standing on? Ògún is not happy about the plight of Hoe and Cutlass…

On the 5th of February 1676, Sir Isaac Newton wrote a letter to his rival - Robert Hooke that contained the following statement:

"What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

Also, the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in The Friend (1828), wrote:
"The dwarf sees farther than the giant, when he has the giant's shoulder to mount on."

The history of Hoe and Cutlass in Yorubaland is as long as the history of the Yoruba people. Nobody can remember when these tools were invented because the people have always had them. Besides, these tools are classed as implements of Ògún - the Yoruba divinity for iron, steel and technology (like the Roman god - Vulcan).

Ògún is universally recognised in Yorubaland as an indispensable divinity because all iron and steel belong to him.
He goes by the following appellations:
Ọ̀ṣìn-Imalẹ̀ - Chief among the divinities.
Ògún Aláda méjì; o nfi ọ̀kan ṣá ‘ko, o nfi ọ̀kan yẹ̀,’na - Ògún the owner of two cutlasses, with one he prepares the farm, and with the other he clears the road.

His indispensability is summarised in the following praise stanza:
Òrìṣà ti o wipe t’ Ògún kò tó nkan, a f’ ọwọ́ jẹ iṣu ẹ̀ ni igbà aìmoye - Whichever divinity regards Ògún as of no importance will eat his yams with bare hands without a knife times without number.

How come then are we still using these ancient equipments for farming? Why are we not standing on the shoulders of our ancestor Ògún and develop new and improved versions of these humble equipments? Why are our mechanical engineers sleeping on the job?

Yaba Tech was established in 1947. The Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Lagos was founded in 1964. The Faculty of Engineering of the University of Nigeria (Nsukka) was founded in 1961. Now we have a large arrays of University of Technology across the nation but no innovation!
For more than 60 years, our engineers and professors have not been able to create a mechanical mower or trimmer by stringing together a couple of cutlasses attached to a motor by standing on the shoulder of Ògún!
In some European countries, most under 25s have never heard of hoe or cutlass unless they are into gardening. In fact, in the UK, it is illegal to carry a cutlass on your person or in a car as it is classed as an offensive weapon. The maximum penalty for an adult is 4 years in prison and an unlimited fine!
Why is this? A recent definition of these implements tells us why...

A hoe is an ancient and versatile agricultural and horticultural hand tool used to shape soil, remove weeds, clear soil, and harvest root crops.

A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. It was a common naval weapon during the Age of Sail (usually dated as 1571–1862).

You see, the definitions have changed. A hoe is now “an ancient” agricultural hand tool. A cutlass is a “slashing sword… a common naval weapon during the Age of Sail.”! These are not the definitions a Nigerian would give these humble and life-saving tools of the farmers!

This is an appeal to our mechanical engineers to stand up and be counted. Our ancestors have done their best to bestow upon us the technology of their own time. It is our turn to bestow upon the future generations tools fit for this century and beyond.

A ò ní rí ìjà Ògún o! May we not see the wrath of Ògún!

Unemployment? Aláiníṣẹ́? Where did that come from?

To the Yoruba of old, the term aláiníṣẹ́ (unemployed) was never in their lexicon.

Obviously, for an agrarian society where most people were their own boss, aláiníṣẹ́ had no place in the vocabulary. Everyone was gainfully occupied in one profession or the other - farmer, hunter, blacksmith, trader, carpenter, Babalawo (Ifá Priest), wine tapper, tanner, dyer etc. And for people who were indebted and could not pay, the Ìwọ̀fà System (I will write more on this system in future posts) was in place as a safe guard.

So when did the term enter the Yoruba lexicon? Well, the British brought it. The etymology of the word "umemployed" (adj) - i.e. "at leisure, not occupied" confirmed that it first appeared in English language in 1660. However, in 1782, it became the noun for "collective unemployed persons". It came about as a by product of the Industrial Revolution that started in England in 1760!

Industrialisation is synonymous to economies of scale. It prevents people from having the required capital to create their own jobs and be their own boss. When a person cannot join an enterprise or become self employed, the person ends up becoming unemployed. As individual farmers, dyers, traders etc are organised into big enterprises, people who cannot join or compete end up as unemployed.

With widespread automation and Artificial Intelligence now, what does the future old?
Only social, creative and complex jobs that are harder to automate will survive.
Driving as a job will become extinct very soon because self driving cars and lorries are being trialled in developed countries now.
Delivery service will be done by drones and household robots doing chores are now popular in Japan.

Do you know that before 1945, the word "Computer" meant "a person who calculates"! It was a job title like today's "Accountant". Now, it is a machine!
So if "Computer" (the machine) ate "Computer" (the person), what's the hope for other professions?

Get creative, get social and get into complex things that are very difficult to automate. Better still, be the one programming these machines....

Language is a living “organism” - A leaf from the English Language and the Kegites Club neologism.

According to Gilbert, the Scottish-American literary historian...

“Language is a living thing. We can feel it changing. Parts of it become old: they drop off and are forgotten. New pieces bud out, spread into leaves, and become big branches proliferating.”

Even though Chinese (approx. 1,197,000,000 native speakers) and Spanish (approx. 414,000,000 native speakers) lead English (approx. 335,000,000 native speakers) in popularity, English remains the language of global business, maritime, aviation and science. About 1.75 billion people speak English at a useful level. That is one in four of us!
Why is this? Pure and simple, it is because of its ability to “borrow” or “loan” words from other languages. 29% of English words are derived from French. Another 26% have Germanic origin. Indian words like: Avatar, Chutney, Guru, Yoga etc have found their ways into the English language. African words are not left behind as well. Words like: Garri, Banana, Boogie, Chimpanzee, Vuvuzela, Ubuntu, Sangoma, Bozo etc are well known.
In 2016, 640 new words and terms were added to the Queen’s English and over the past ten years, about 10,000 new words/terms/expressions have found their ways into English language!

The Kegites Club of Nigeria is a well known socio-cultural organisation in Nigerian higher institutions for their humorous entertainments. What most people don't know about the club is that the members are experts in the art of neologism - creating new words and terms.
Over the years, the club has enriched our lexicon with words like: Songito, Capito, Federize, Obelenta, Woged, Karid, Ilya, Bembestic, Opekesis etc.

Yoruba language is spoken by about 50 million people. The first Yoruba dictionary and Grammar book was published in 1843. A vocabulary of the Yoruba language including a large number of local proverbs was published in 1852. Over the years some authors have created new and updated dictionaries. However the new dictionaries are not keeping up with the pace of change in this modern world.

The government doesn't create language, people do. Every Yoruba person must stand up and be counted. We cannot allow our language to become irrelevant or be consigned to the rubbish dump. It is our duty to develop the language and make it fit for the 21st century and beyond. Legal, business, economic, commercial, financial, scientific words/terms/expressions need to be translated into Yoruba. This is a call to arms to all Ọmọ Kaarọ Ojire to stand and be counted in these efforts.