“Come here and swear, you this adult, that you never were a troubled youth,” Iya Oyo said, when I told her the story of my friend, Gift Krani-Rijal. Her comment is a Yoruba proverb that says, “Àgbà wá búra péwe ò ṣe ọ́ rí.”
Being young is probably the most dangerous thing anybody could experience.
Ọ̀rẹ́: Friendship
“He is my ọ̀rẹ́ (friend),” I told Iya Oyo, after Kola left.
Iya Oyo did not look too pleased.
She didn’t ask me for any explanation about Kola, but the way she eyeballed me after he left compelled me to offer some information about Kola.
Ẹyẹ: Bird I told Iya Oyo that I was scared when a couple of birds perched on top of the large tree in front of the house and were making loud sounds, one calling and the other responding.“You are afraid of birds?” Iya Oyo asked me.“Yes,” I said. “My playmates told me they are witches, àjẹ́.”
Let There Be Peace
A smile is the building block of every nation.
Laughter is the greatest mason of the community.
Please show us the peace you preach so loudly.
Iya Oyo says language, èdè, is everything.“Do you know the meaning of language, èdè?” Iya Oyo asked me.“It’s what we speak, isn’t it, Iya Oyo?” I replied.“Yes, and no,” Iya Oyo instructed me. “Èdè is what holds us together. What is the meaning of dè?”
“Baba Oyo,” I said one afternoon when I was alone with him, “you are very soft, too gentle, with Iya Oyo. You are not like all the other Baba I know.”
Baba Oyo laughed. “What does too gentle mean?”
“I really don’t know how to say it,” I said. “But you don’t…. When you talk with her…. You don’t argue or order her to do things. You speak softly. It’s as if you have to persuade her kind of. That’s not very manly. That’s not how the other Baba talk to their wives. Is it because you are a pastor?”
The Apomu Border Patrol Officer.
It was Iya Oyo who told me about the Apomu Border Patrol Officer.
Iya Oyo said, “When extended to the limit, when you have reached your breaking point, when you cannot go any further, you know what to do?”
A gigantic library has erupted in flames.
There was no digital archive.
REPORT OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND MOLESTATION
AGAINST PROFESSOR XXXX
My name is XXX with matric no. XXX. I am writing to inform you about the unpleasant experience I had with one of my lecturers in the person of Prof.XXXX on Friday 18th of March, 2022.
Irun Orí (Stiletto Coiffure)
I associate the beauty of my mother, who just transitioned, with intricately plaited hair, and her fine and soft skin.
I cannot imagine her otherwise.
In the sixties, women plaited their hair.
ÈRE My mom transitioned today and she is now an ancestor.She drew her last human breath today, this morning.My baby sister, Banke, informed me, “Maami left at 3:53 pm.”I knew she was departing. I was ready for it.
This birthday gift came well after my birthday. It has my name emblazoned on it. As I wore it, I recalled the conversation with Iya Oyo and Baba Oyo that evening they explained the meaning of my name, Moyo, which literally means “I rejoice.” It is part of a longer name Moyòsọ́rẹtíolúwápèsèfúnmi.