Ìyàwó: Wife of Fortune
Ìyàwó: Wife of Fortune
It was an open Saturday at our hostel.
On the way to my grandparents’ house, I ran into a wedding party.
I met Iya Oyo curiously inspecting a large, covered bowl when I arrived home.
Your Mother is My mother is Your Mother is My Mother.
Your Mother is My mother is Your Mother is My Mother.
“Iya Oyo, does your name mean the mother of Oyo, or the mother in Oyo?” I asked Iya Oyo one day.
“It means both,” she responded. “To my entire community of Oyo, I am the mother of all, young and old. If anyone is hungry and comes to me, it is my responsibility to feed them. Anybody who needs a place to sleep and comes to me, I will roll out my mats to them. I am their mother, and that is why I am Iya Oyo. At the same time, I live in Oyo, therefore if I travel anywhere, I am the mother who lives in Oyo.”
THE YAM FARMER WHO LOVES PIZZA
THE YAM FARMER WHO LOVES PIZZA
The naira is getting weaker daily and the poor man is suffering.
The problem of the Nigeria naira/dollar exchange crisis seems to me like this: a farmer produces yam tubers worth $1 a day, but has cultivated a taste for imported pizza worth $10 a day.
The farmer can do two things: curb his taste for pizza and learn to enjoy his yams, so he stops ordering pizza from Pizza Hut; or produce ten times the number of tubers of yam to support his taste for pizza.
Iya Oyo
They gave us an assignment when I was an undergraduate taking a Yoruba class.
We were asked to find five proverbs on mental illness.
I was in luck because Iya Oyo and Baba Oyo were visiting us in Ile Ife at that time and I found her at the back of the house, lounging.
That was easy, I thought.
IT IS A GOAL
IT IS A GOAL
The population of Senegal is only 15 million.
It is less than the population of the city of Lagos alone.
But Nigeria got defeated and Senegal is the holder of the African Cup of Nations, the most prestigious trophy in soccer on the continent of Africa.
Whistling While Hungry
Whistling While Hungry
I feel really hungry these days.
I wake up hungry and dive headfirst into the kitchen.
I typically have food in the fridge.
WHO IS GUILTY?
WHO IS GUILTY?
Iya Oyo was smiling. That was frightening. I knew I was in great trouble.
Iya Oyo never smiled. When she looked like she was smiling, trouble was brewing, and the only one that trouble could brew for that quiet evening was me.
The only way I knew she was smiling was because I turned and looked at her as she tapped her pipe on the arms of the seat on which she reclined with my grandfather, who was still quietly smoking his pipe.
The annual Egúngún.
One of the most fascinating spectacles of my childhood days was the annual Egúngún.
Egungun means something that is perfect, balanced, or straight, formed from the word gún.
In Yoruba, you repeat something to emphasize it: guńgún refers to the absolutely or superlatively gún element of life.
Haven’t seen my homeland…
Haven’t seen my homeland since August 2019.
I miss the colorful attires on the streets.
I want to listen to the people speak their various languages.
To drink palm wine.
Iyalode: Before the Invention of Women
Iyalode: Before the Invention of Women
My grandmother, Iya Oyo, belonged to the generation of women who didn’t experience what the sociology scholar, Professor Oyeronke Oyewumi described as the “invention of women.”
What Professor Oyewumi means is that nowadays, there are lots of rules and regulations that appear to specify what a woman is supposed to do, and what she is not supposed to be.
Food for Thought
Food for Thought
My mates at the secondary school called me a foodie.
They served us starvation grade food in the hostels where we were warehoused, and we were always hungry.
The only grace was that there were lots of ill-fated weevils (kòkòrò) cooked with our beans providing us enough animal protein to supplement the plant protein in the beans.
LAGOS BORN
LAGOS BORN
You have been to London?
And Toronto?
And Washington DC?
And, New York, Paris and San Francisco?
And you have traveled to all the capitals of African countries?