Evening.
Evening.
The sun is setting.
The night is falling in Ile Ife.
For many years after I arrived in the United States, whenever I slept, I would dream of Ile Ife.
Interested in some of my published works?
Follow Me
Evening.
The sun is setting.
The night is falling in Ile Ife.
For many years after I arrived in the United States, whenever I slept, I would dream of Ile Ife.
The most central building on our school campus was also the building that gave me claustrophobia. It was the school chapel.
Right in front of the building was a stone monument. Within the monument was a plaque, with the inscription, “STUDY TO SHEW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD. 2 Timothy, 2:15”
That, certainly, was not good English, I concluded. Even at age eleven, I felt they needed a copyeditor.
Unlike the simple way we number our calendar daily, the Romans numbered theirs in groups or blocks of days that are a little more complicated for our simple modern system.
There are three blocks of days in the month in the Roman calendar.
The first block is the Nones, which ends on the 12th or 13th day of most months.
The second block is the Ides, which ends on the 22nd day of most months.
The third block is the Kalends, which ends on the Ist day of most months.
The Man.
I was going through a bunch of old drawings and happened upon this 2016 drawing I did during the summer.
We went to celebrate the Independence Day of Nigeria at a local bar where they sell Nigerian food, beer and hot Isi Ewu pepper soup.
We ordered swallow food.
After that we ordered drinks.
Please learn from our mistakes.
Do not drink more than one bottle of beer.
We all laughed and chatted heartily after drinking one bottle of small stout and Isi Ewu pepper soup.
Àwọn Yèyélórìṣà, Akirè Shrine Ilé Ifẹ̀, 2003.
After I took this picture in 2003, I returned to find the group in 2017.
But for the two women at the extreme left, all the others had transitioned.
Everything had disappeared.
There was nothing left. Absolutely nothing. Zit.
But the Irunmoles have a way of ensuring that we don’t lose everything, even though we might be careless as humans.
Origin of the Yoruba: according to oral tradition
Following strictly the words of Yoruba ancestors, as revealed by Ifa, life began for Yoruba people at Ile Ife.
There is no mention of mecca, or the middle east or any other origin.
Ifa is very clear on this topic.