The Yoruba in Transition
The Yoruba in Transition
History, Values, and Modernity
edited by
Toyin Falola and Ann Genova
Carolina Academic Press
Durham, North Carolina
Copyright © 2006
by Toyin Falola and Ann Genova
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Yoruba in transition : history, values, and modernity / edited by Toyin
Falola and Ann Genova.
p. cm.
Papers originally presented at an international conference, Perspectives on
Yoruba History and Culture, held at the University of Texas at Austin, March
26-28, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59460-134-8
1. Yoruba (African people)--History--Congresses. 2. Yoruba (African
people)--Ethnic identity--Congresses. 3. Yoruba (African people)--Social
con d i ti on s - - Congre s s e s . 4. Ni geri a - - Social con d i ti on s - - Congresses. 5. Ni geria-Ethnic relations--Congresses. I. Falola, Toyin. II. Genova, Ann. III. Title.
DT515.45.Y67Y75 2005
966'.00496333--dc22
Carolina Academic Press
700 Kent Street
Durham, North Carolina 27701
Telephone (919) 489-7486
Fax (919) 493-5668
www.cap-press.com
Printed in the United States of America
2005008085
To Professor E. A. Ayandele
for his contribution to Nigerian studies
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Introduction
xi
xv
xvii
xxv
Part A
Histories Reconstructed
Chapter 1 Notes on Yorùbá Newspapers, 1859–2002
Táíwò Olúnládé
Chapter 2 Ile Iwe Ofe: Socialist Epistemology in Awolowo’s
Reconstruction of Yoruba Identity and Nationalism
ashimuneze heanacho
3
13
Chapter 3 Urban Politics in a Yoruba Frontier: Mushin
Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani
75
Chapter 4 The Metamorphosis of the Bamidele Movement
Lateef M. Adetona
85
Part B
Identity at the Crossroads
Chapter 5 Yoruba Ethnicity and the Pursuit of Western Education
in Southwestern Nigeria
Ademola Babalola
Chapter 6 Law Making in Pre-Colonial Yorubaland
Mojeed Olujinmi A. Alabi
Chapter 7 Dispute Settlement under the Yoruba Culture:
Lessons for the Criminal Justice System
Oluyemisi Bamgbose
vii
101
111
125
viii
CONTENTS
Chapter 8
The 419 Scam: Cybercrime and the Virtual World
Anne Webb
151
Chapter 9
Motherhood as a Source of Empowerment of Women
Taiwo Makinde
171
Chapter 10 Age Stratification and Marital Relations among
the Yoruba
Jacob A. Adetunji
183
Chapter 11 Understanding Demographic and Health Events
through Yoruba Proverbs
Jacob Oni
195
Chapter 12 Abortion among the Yoruba
Ibigbolade Simon Aderibigbe
227
Chapter 13 Jinxed: On Being White and Yoruba
Elaine Neil Orr
247
Chapter 14 Confronting the Future: The Yoruba at a Crossroads
Jare Ajayi
259
Chapter 15 Confronting the Future: An Advocacy Agenda
and Program
John Babatunde Bamidele Ojo
281
Part C
The Future of Modernity
Chapter 16 Road Traffic Accidents in Yoruba States
Bamidele Abiona Badejo
303
Chapter 17 AIDS Explosion in Yorubaland
Oluwatosin Ige Alo
321
Chapter 18 The Oodua Peoples Congress and Crime Control
in Lagos
Adewole Akinyemi Atere
Akeem Ayofe Akinwale
331
Chapter 19 Storage of Grains: The Nigerian Perspective
B. O. Akintunde
343
Chapter 20 Culture, Technology, and Gari Processing
T.Y. Tunde-Akintunde
353
CONTENTS
ix
Chapter 21 Agriculture in Yoruba Society and Culture
Adebayo A. Lawal
361
Chapter 22 Yoruba Associations: Sources of Empowerment
Julius Adekunle
377
Chapter 23 Crisis and the Restoration of Older Values
‘Tunji Azeez
391
Chapter 24 Dual Residence Patterns in a Yoruba Community
Jacob A. Adetunji
Kefa M. Otiso
411
Chapter 25 Women and Yoruba Culture
Mary E. Modupe Kolawole
423
Chapter 26 Gender, Household Sex Roles, Work, and
the Contemporary Yoruba Family
Asiyanbola R. Abidemi
445
Chapter 27 Yoruba Cultural Influence on Junior and Senior
Secondary Curriculum
Jamaine Abidogun
463
Index
491
List of Figures
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
1.1
2.1
2.2
2.3
Yorùbá Newspapers
4
Missionary Education, 1851–1931
27
Education in Nigeria, 1900 and 1960
31
School Attendance Fee-Paying Primary Schools in
Western Nigeria, 1954–1961
31
Fig. 2.4 Secondary Schools in Southern Nigeria, 1859–1914
32
Fig. 2.5 Curricular Domains
55
Fig. 2.6 Primary School Enrollment in 1937–1966, 1970 by Region
59
Fig. 2.7 Roots of Teaching and Learning
60
Fig. 10.1 Age-Achievement Interactions
190
Fig. 11.1 Pers ons Who First Noti ced Child’s Ill n e s s
203
Fig. 11.2 Pers ons Who First Noti ced Child’s Illness by Child’s Status I 204
Fig. 11.3 Pers ons Who First Noti ced Child’s Illness by Child’s Status II 205
Fig. 11.4 Mean Duration of Treatment Delay by Status of Child I
206
Fig. 11.5 Mean Duration of Treatment Delay by Status of Child II
207
Fig. 11.6 Persons Who Made Treatment Decision by the Status of
the Child
208
Fig. 11.7 Child’s Status by Persons Who Made Treatment Decision
209
Fig. 11.8 Persons Who Made Treatment Decision by Mother’s Position
in Polygynous Union
209
Fig. 11.9 Person Who Paid for Treatment by Status of the Child
210
Fig. 11.10 Person Who Paid for Treatment by Mother’s Position
in Polygynous Union
211
Fig. 16.1 Epidemiological Model of Road Transport Accident
305
Fig. 16.2 Phases of Road Accidents
305
Fig. 16.3 Table of Reported Road Accident Cases in Nigeria,
1991–2002
309
Fig. 16.4 Graph of Reported Road Accident Cases in Nigeria,
1991–2002
310
Fig. 16.5 Reported Road Accident Casualties in Nigeria, 1991–1995
310
xi
xii
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 16.6
Fig. 16.7
Fig. 16.8
Fig. 16.9
Fig. 16.10
Fig. 16.11
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
19.1
19.2
19.3
19.4
19.5
19.6
20.1
Fig. 21.1
Fig. 24.1
Fig. 26.1
Fig. 26.2
Fig. 26.3
Fig. 26.4
Fig. 26.5
Fig. 26.6
Fig. 26.7
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
26.8
26.9
26.10
26.11
States Analysis of Reported Road Accident Cases in Nigeria,
1995
Table of Reported Road Accident Casualties, 1994–1995
Table of Road Traffic Accident Analysis in Yoruba States,
1990–2002
Geo-Political Structure of Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria
Analysis Summary, 1990–2002
Graph of Road Traffic Accident Analysis in Yoruba States,
1990–2002
Geo-Political Structure of Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria
Analysis Summary, 1990–2002
Mud Rhumbus
Mud Rhumbus
Grain Storage Platform
Inside of a Maize Crib
Thatched Rhumbus
Performances of Traditional Grain Storage Structures
Flow Chart of Gari Processing Techniques of Localities
in Nigeria
Calendar of Agricultural and Social Events
Percent of Respondents Who Were Farmers and the
Average Number of Days Spent on the Farm Weekly,
Efon Alaaye, 1991
Socio-Economic Information of the Households
Responsibilities of Women and Men
Decision-Making with Respect to Residential House in High
Density Areas
Payment for Services in High Density Residential Areas
Decision-Making with Respect to Residential House in
Medium Density Areas
Payment for Services in Medium Density Residential Areas
Decision-Making with Respect to Residential House in
Low Density Areas
Payment for Services in Low Density Residential Areas
Mode of Sharing Payment for Services
Variation in Activity/Roles for Men and Women
Result of Correlation Analysis between Wife’s
Employment/Income and Husband’s Participation
in Household Chores
313
314
315
315
316
316
348
348
348
348
350
351
356
364
413
450
453
454
454
455
455
456
456
456
457
457
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 26.12 Result of Paired Sample “T” Test Statistics of Women
Physical Well-Being and Men Physical Well-Being
Fig. 27.1 Main Building at Abadina College
Fig. 27.2 Courtyard at International School - University of Ibadan
Fig. 27.3 Student Demographics of Abadina and International School
xiii
458
470
470
471
Acknowledgments
This vo lume is compri s ed of p a pers that were originally pre s en ted at the
i n tern a ti onal con feren ce Perspe ctives on Yo ru ba Hi s to ry and Cu l tu re, wh i ch was
h eld at the Univers i ty of Texas at Au s tin from Ma rch 26 to Ma rch 28, 2004.
E n t husiasm for the con feren ce bro u ght toget h er sch o l a rs of Yoruba stu d i e s
from all over the world. Du ring the three-day peri od, p a n elists and parti c ipants discussed important issues within the field of Yoruba studies. The goal
of the con feren ce inclu ded reviewing the current state of the litera ture and
methodology as well as identifying new areas worthy of study.
Within the rich discussions during the conference on Yoruba culture, several themes stood out. Sch o l a rs passion a tely discussed the el a s tic natu re of
Yoruba culture by praising some aspects and criticizing others. Of particular
interest was the role of women, the use of customary law, and the role of the
Yoruba in national politics. The conclusions reached called for the preservati on of aspects su ch as language, with a particular emphasis on Yoruba
proverbs, and the change of others such as the treatment of women. Participants con clu ded that edu c a ti on within the family as well as the cl a s s room was
the best place to instill traditional and modern Yoruba values.
A multi-disciplinary con feren ce of this magn i tu de could not have been po ssible without the contributions of many. We would like to thank first all the
p a rticipants that travel ed great distances to be with us in Austin, Tex a s . We
are grateful to the graduate students that helped us run the conference (José
Ba rra g á n , E l i z a beth Day, Roy Doron, Tyl er Flem i n g, Ma t t h ewHeaton , An d re
Jo h n s on , Bra n don Marsh, As h l ey Ro t h rock , and Anne Turn bu ll) as well as
Sam Saverance and Laura Flack. We would like to extend a special thanks to
Aina Olomo and the Egungun of Ile Olokun Sanya Awopeju and the Univers i ty of Tex a s’ Af rican Stu dent As s oc i a tion for bri n ging to life the ri chness of
Yoruba culture du ring the con feren ce. The departm ents and organizations that
supported us financially inclu de the Departm ents of Hi s tory, G overn m en t ,
English, and Theatre and Dance. Also, to the Center for African and African
Am erican Studies, the Office of the Vi ce Pre s i dent, the Univers i ty Co - Op, the
School of Music, College of Fine Arts, Office of the Dean of Students, Office
xv
xvi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
of Graduate Studies, Department of Technology, Literacy, and Culture, and
the Texas Cowboys Lectureship, we would like to extend our gratitude.
Toyin Falola and Ann Genova, University of Texas at Austin
Contributors
Jamaine Abidogun holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Af rican and Af ri c a n - Am erican studies from the Univers i ty of Kansas.
She has studied and conducted social science research in Ghana, Nigeria, and
the Un i tes State s . She is curren t ly the Program Coord i n a tor for So ut hwe s t
Mi s s o u ri State Un ivers i ty ’s BSED Secondary Social Studies program in the Dep a rtm ent of History at Spri n gfiel d , MO and head advi s or for their MSED programs in history and in social science. Abidogun has taught in both secondary and higher edu c a ti on . She form erly held the po s i ti on of E du c a ti on
Program Con sultant for the Kansas African-Am erican Advisory Commission,
Dep a rtm ent of Human Resources for the State of Kansas. She has an interdisciplinary background that incorporates African Diaspora studies with social studies education.
Ju l ius O. Adekunle holds a PhD in Af rican Hi s tory from Dalhousie Univers i ty, Halifax, Ca n ad a . He is an As s oc i a te Profe s s or of Af rican History at the
Dep a rtm ent of Hi s tory and An t h ropo l ogy, Mon m o uth Un ivers i ty, West Long
Bra n ch , New Jers ey. He has form erly held te aching po s i ti ons at Dalhousie and
St. Mary’s University in Halifax, and at Tennessee State University, Nashville.
He teaches Western Civilization, African and Caribbean history. He has publ i s h ed several book ch a pters and re s e a rch publ i c a ti ons in journals. His research interests inclu de ethno-religious po l i tics in Ni geria and his recent publication is Pol i ti cs and Soci ety in Nigeria’s Mi d dle Belt: Bo rgu and the Emergen ce
of a Political Identity (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2004).
Lateef M. Adetona studied at the Lagos State University and the multi-disciplinary department of Religions at the University of Ilorin. He is currently a
Lectu rer Grade One of Islamic Con tem porary Studies in the Dep a rtm ent of
Rel i gions at Lagos State Un ivers i ty in Nigeri a . He has over a score of ac adem i c
contributions in reputable local and international journals. He is the elected
editor of Religions, the Journal of the Nigerian Association for the Study of Re ligions (2004-2005). He is also a member of the editorial board and serves as
business manager of the Lagos State University Journal of Arabic and Islamic
xvii
xviii
CONTRIBUTORS
Studies, Al - Ha d a ra h. He also has aut h ored a nu m ber of books and mon ographs including The Abuse of Islamic Rites and Ceremonies in the Contempo ra ry Ni gerian Soci ety (Lagos: Al - Basit Produ ctions, 1995), The Holy Prop h et
Muhammad: His Life and Sayings (Al-Haqq and OACE Publishers,2000), and
The Hei n ous Sins in Islam (al-Ka ba’ir fil Islam) ( Free Enterprise Pu bl i s h ers,
2004, fort h com i n g ) . He is curren t ly wri ting his doctoral thesis on Islamic
“Propagation in the Southwest of Nigeria.”
Ibigbolade Simon Aderibigbe is a Senior Lecturer of the Philosophy of Religion at the Lagos State University in Nigeria. He is the author of Fundamen tals of Philosophy of Religion and Aquinas’ Five Ways Proof of God’s Existence:
A Contemporary Perspective. He has also published many journal articles and
chapters in books. He served for many years as the Editor of Religions’ Edu cator, the Journal of Nigerian Association for the Study of Religions and Educa tion. He is currently finishing book projects on religious belief and abortion
and medical ethics. His areas of research and teaching include the philosophy
of religion and African religion. He is married with children.
Jacob A. Adetunji, PhD, was trained as a Demographer at the Australian Nati onal University, Ca n berra. He had po s t - doctoral research ex peri en ce at Ha rvard University and the Population Studies Center of the University of Pennsylvania. He was formerly Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bowling Green
S t a te Univers i ty, but curren t ly works as Sen i or Technical Advi s or at the Bureau for Global Health, US Agency for In ternational Devel opment. His res e a rch interests inclu de populati on and devel opm en t , maternal and ch i l d
health, family planning and reprodu ctive health, and HIV/AIDS. He has publ i s h ed several re s e a rch papers on these topics in intern a ti onal peer-refereed
journals. He has also conducted some research studies among the Yoruba of
southwest Nigeria.
Ja re Ajayi is the Exec utive Di rector of the Af rican Agency for an en h a n ced
Soc i o - Ethic and Trad i ti onal Order (ASETO). He is an assoc i a te mem ber of
the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and had
served as a one time assistant general secretary of the Association of Nigerian
Aut h ors (ANA ) . He is also a litera ry figure of note whose works, including
poetry and prose, have won local and intern a ti onal accl a i m . He is a Poet of
Merit since 1994. Th rough his works and the agency he head s , he has been an
advocate of synthesizing the positive ideals of the past with a view toward reshaping the pre s ent to be able to have a more de s i rable futu re. A veteran journalist, Ajayi lectures part-time at the Nigerian Institute of Journalists (Ibadan
Campus) and edits a bilingual community newspaper in Nigeria.
CONTRIBUTORS
xix
B. O. Akintunde, is an agricultural en gi n eer specializing in crop processing.
He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the Department of Agricultural
Engineering at the Un ivers i ty of Ib ad a n . He is a Sen i or Lectu rer at the Federal College of Agriculture and has published a number of papers on the design and con s tructi on of agri c u l tural processing mach i n e s , survey of po s t - h a rvest losses, and stora ge stru ctu res of s ome fruits, veget a bles and cereals. Ot h er
publications include papers on the effect of tillage methods on planting cowpea and the safety and causes of tractor-related accidents.
Akeem Ayofe Akinwale is at Lagos State University. His research interests include the social response to criminal activity in Nigeria.
Moj eed Olujinmi A. Al a bi, L L B, PhD, is a Ba rri s ter and So l i c i tor of the
Supreme Court of Nigeria. He taught Political Science at Obafemi Awolowo
Un ivers i ty in Il e - Ife , Ni geria (1990–1998) before he ven tu red into practi c a l
politics for four years (1990–2003). He is now a Senior Lecturer in Compara tive Politics and In ternational Rel a ti ons at Ba bcock Un iversity in IlishanRemo, Nigeria. He is the author of The Supreme Court in the Nigerian Politi cal System, and has articles in scholarly books and learned journals.
Oluwatosin Ige Alo (MSc), is a Graduate Assistant at the Department of Sociology and Anthropoloy at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
As iya n bola R. Abi demi BSc, MURP, was tra i n ed at the Ob a femi Awo l owo
University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria and the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Nigeria.
He is curren t ly com p l eting his doctoral dissertati on at the Un ivers i ty of
Ib adan. He is a past rec i p i ent of CODESRIA award, a small grant for thesis
writing. He is also a Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Regional
Planning at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria. His research
interests are in gen der, urban geogra phy/planning, housing, and envi ronment
and population studies.
Adewole Akinyemi Atere, PhD, is a Sen i or Lecturer in Criminology and Pen o logy at the Lagos State University in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a Co-editor of Cap tives Captor and Soci ety: A Sociological An a lysis of Ad j u s tm ent Mechanism of
Prisoners in Nigeria. He recently co-edited Crime Management in Nigeria. He
has several publications in scholarly journals. He is currently working on The
Treatment of the Elderly in Prisons.
‘Tunji Azee z, t h e a ter arti s t , scholar, and poet has a BA (Hon ors) in Dra m a ti c
Arts and an MA in Theater Arts from the Ob a femi Awolowo Un ivers i ty in Il e Ife, Ni geria and the Univers i ty of Ib adan in Ibadan, Ni geria respectively. A onetime Sec ret a ry - G en eral of the As s oc i a ti on of Ni gerian Aut h ors , Ife Ch a pter
xx
CONTRIBUTORS
(1992–1994), he is presen t ly a lecturer in both the Dep a rtment of E n glish Stu dies and the Dep a rtm ent of Theater Arts & Music at Lagos State Un ivers i ty and
the Arti s tic Di rector of a Lago s - b a s ed theater- orien ted non - govern m ental orga n i z a ti on call ed Optimom Arts Kon s o ti om(OAK). He has publ i s h eda boo k ,
Pra ctical Hints on Play wri ting (2003) as well as sch o l a rly essays in journals and
books. His cre a tive works aw a i ting publ i c a ti on are the plays, Three Develop m ental Pl ays, Tech. Nite Revelation and Ka biyesi Ga l a gala (an ad a pt a ti on of Albert Ca mu s’ Calligula) and a co ll ection of poem s , Arrival: Songs of Ho m a ge. He
is curren t ly a doctoral stu dent at the Un ivers i ty of Ibadan.
Ademola Babalola, PhD, is a Sen i or Lectu rer in the Dep a rtm ent of Soc i o l ogy
and An t h ropo l ogy at Ob a femi Awo l owo Un ivers i ty in Il e - Ife, Ni geria. He
te aches co u rses in the areas of s ocial change and devel opm en t , Nigerian soc ieties and cultures, and comparative social insti tuti ons. Babalola has publ i s h ed
ex tensively on how the introdu cti on and adopti on of com m ercial flue-cured
tob acco produ cti on in the Oyo north divi s i on, under the auspices of the Bri tish
Am erican Tob acco (BAT) , a f fected the soc i o - econ omic lives of the people. Babalola also has publ i s h edworks on how soc i o - econ omic devel opm ent in Ni geri a , from pre-colonial times until the pre s ent day, a f fects the lives of Ni geri a n s .
Ba m i dele Abi ona Badej o, is a Sen i or Lectu rer and He ad of the Geography and
Planning Department at Lagos State University in Lagos, Nigeria. He is also
an Assistant Director at the School of Part-Time Studies at the university and
the Exec utive Di rector at the Af rican Research Institute of Tra n s port and Commu n i c a ti on Devel opm ent, wh i ch is a non - govern m ental or ga n i z a ti on based
in Lago s . He also served as the Acting Di rector for the Cen tre for Planning
Studies at the University. Badejo is widely published with five books, several
articles in reputable journals, and chapters in books. He has attended many
conferences with paper presentations locally and internationally. He has over
twenty years of research, teaching, and administrative experience in the academic/university system.
Oluyemisi Ba m g bo s e, LLM, BL, is an As s oc i a te Profe s s or of Criminal Law
and Criminology in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan in Ibadan,
Ni geri a . She is the aut h or of s everal arti cles and ch a pters in boo k s . She is particularly interested in the human rights of women and adolescents. Her articles on these issues inclu de “Vi o l en ce against Wom en : A Reocc u rring Internati onal and Criminological Probl em ,” “Human Rights and Health Is sues
a rising from Street Trading Practi ces among Young Girls in Ni geria,” “Teen a ge
Prostitution: The Future of Female Adolescents in Nigeria,” and “Customary
Law Practices and Violence against Women.” She is a co-editor of a book on
CONTRIBUTORS
xxi
contemporary challenges of adolescents in Nigeria. She was a visiting professor in criminal procedure at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee,
Wiscon s i n . She is curren t ly the ch a i rpers on of the Federal Govern m ent Stu dy
Group on the Death Penalty in Nigeria.
ashimuneze heanach o, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Educational Th eory at Cen tral Mi ch i gan Un ivers i ty. He is the aut h or of s everal papers , including “Forms of Knowl edge Theory,” Revi ew Jou rnal of Ph i l o sophy and
S o cial Sci en ce (RJPSS) 38, 2 (2002):42–88. He is also the 2004/2005 Series Editor of the RJPSS’s issue “Mind, Cultu re , and Edu c a tion” and a founding ed i tor
of the forthcoming journal of Af ri cology, Epistem e. h e a n acho is completing a
book manuscript, Optimal Education, a study of distri butive justice, due in 2005.
Mary E. Modu pe Kolawole, PhD, is Professor and Chair of E n glish and Women’s
Studies at Ob a femi Awolowo Univers i ty in Ile-Ife, Ni geri a . She is the author of
many intern a ti onal articles and books including Womanism and Af rican Con sciousness (Tren ton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1997), Gen d er Perception and De vel opm ent in Africa (Lagos: Arra bon, 1998) and Zulu Sofola: Her Li fe and Her
Works (Ibadan: Ca l top, 1999). She has been a recipient of the Na ti onal Endowment for the Humanities and Association of Commonwealth Univers i ties. She
was a Rockefell er Fell ow at Corn el Univers i ty, a guest re s e a rch er at the Nordic
Africa Institute in Sweden , DAAD Fell ow at Hu m boldt Univers i ty in Germ a ny,
and an Associate of the Af rica Gender Insti tute in South Africa among others.
She is the Na ti onal Coordinator of Women Wri ting Africa and a con sultant to
agencies such as Ford and the United Na ti ons Un ivers i ty. She is curren t ly interroga ting gen der theories from a cross-cultu ral and trans-nati onal pers pective.
Adebayo A. Lawal, PhD, is a Professor of History at the University of Lagos.
He co - ed i ted Fu n d a m entals of Economic Hi s to ry ( Ikeja : First Ac ademic Pu bl i s h ers, 2003) and is the aut h or of s everal arti cles and book ch a pters on the
economic history of Nigeria, West Africa and Africa. He is a founding member and has been the acting sec ret a ry of Am erican Studies As s ociation of Ni geria (ASAN).He was a Fu l bri ght and Rockefell er scholar in the 1990s. Curren t ly
he is the head of the Hi s tory Dep a rtm ent and Stra tegic Studies wh ere he is researching on Ila’s relations with the Igbomina up to 1900.
Taiwo Makinde is in the Departm ent of Pu blic Ad m i n i s tration at Ob a femi
Awo l owo Un ivers i ty. Her re s e a rch interests inclu de the views of wom en in
Nigeria.
John Babatunde Bamidele Oj o received his PhD at How a rd Un ivers i ty in
Washington, D.C.
xxii
CONTRIBUTORS
Táíwò Ol ú n l á d é, MA, PGDJ, PhD (in vi ew), is a Sen i or Lectu rer in Yoru b a
and Com mu n i c a ti on Arts at Lagos State Univers i ty in Lago s , Ni geri a . He is
the aut h or of Ewi Ig ba l od e and several sch o l a rly arti cles and book ch a pters.
He has co-authored Ijinle Ede ati Litireso Yoruba books (Ibadan: Evans Brothers Nigeria Pu bl i s h ers, 1986). He has also ed i ted Yo ru ba Gbod e, Na tional Jou r nal of the Association of Teachers of the Yoruba Languages and Culture of Nige ria (1996-2000). He is also the ed i tor-in-chief of Yoruba Ideas ( L a go s :
Glendora Intern a tional Ni geria Publ i s h ers) and is currently working on Yoruba
newspapers for his PhD thesis.
Jacob Oni, PhD, currently teaches Sociology at Roxbury Community College
as an Ad junct Profe s s or and does substi tute te aching for the Bo s ton publ i c
s ch ool sys tem. He is a re s e a rcher, counselor and minister. He is the curren t
New England Region Coordinator of Programs for the Deeper Christian Life
Ministry.
Elaine Neil Orr holds a PhD in Litera tu re and Th eo l ogy from Emory Un ivers i ty. She te aches cre a tive non - f i cti on, Am erican litera tu re , and con temporary litera tu re at North Ca rolina State Un iversity in Ra l ei gh, North Ca rolina. She also teaches in the short - re s i dency MFA in writing program at
Spalding Un iversity. She is the aut h or of Gods of Noo n d ay: A White Girl’s
African Li fe (Charl o t te s ville: Un iversity of Vi r ginia Pre s s , 2003), Su bje ct to
Negotiation: Reading Feminist Criticism and Am erican Women’s Fictions
( Ch a rl o t te s vi lle: Un ivers i ty of Virginia Pre s s , 1997), and Ti llie Olsen and a
Feminist Sp i ri tual Vision (Jack s onvi ll e : Univers i ty Press of Mi s s i s s i pp i , 1987).
She has published essays, revi ews , and poems in Si gn s, American Li tera ture,
The Missou ri Review, Sou t h ern Cultu re s, Ka ll i ope, Obsidian II, Mod ern La n g u a ge Quarterly, and Jouvert: A Jou rnal of Postcolonial Stu d i e s, a m ong other
p l ace s .
Kefa M. Otiso is an urban and econ omic geogra ph er with a PhD in Geogra phy from the Un ivers i ty of Minnesota. He is curren t ly an assistant profe s s or of Geography at Bowling Green State University. His work has appe a red in refereed journals su ch as the Singapo re Journal of Trop i c a l
Ge o gra p hy and Ci ties and in ed i ted vo lumes such as a Co n tem porary Afri c a,
Africa Volume 5, ed i ted by Toyin Falola (Durham, NC: Ca rolina Ac adem i c
Pre s s , 2003), and C l othing and Footwear in African In du s trialisation, ed i ted
by Doro t hy McCorm i ck and Ch ristian Rogers on (Pretoria: Af rican In s ti tute
of So uth Af rica, 2004).
Hakeem Ibikunle Tija n i, is an Assistant Profe s s or of History at Hen ders on
S t a te Un ivers i ty. His te aching interests are Af rican Hi s tory, Bl ack/Diaspora
CONTRIBUTORS
xxiii
History, History of Islam, and Modern Middle East. His areas of research inclu de Econ om i c , Political, and Urban Hi s tory of Su b - Sa h a ran Af rica; Nati onalism and An ti - Com munism in West Africa; Im perialism and Colon i a lism in Af rica; and post-1945 Anglo-Am erican interest in West Af rica. He
recently received grants from the McMath Endowment, Ellis Faculty, and the
Univers i ty Devel opm ent Fund at Hen ders on State Univers i ty. He had previo u s ly received aw a rds from UK Com m onwealth Un ivers i ties As s oc i a ti on ,
Ha rry S. Truman Institute, and a national defense medal from the United State
Army.
T. Y. Tunde-Akintinde, is a Lecturer in the Department of Food Science and
Engineering at Ladoke University of Technology in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. She
specializes in the optimization of food processes. Her current area of study is
on the processing of f ruits and veget a bles to redu ce po s t - h a rvest losses. She
has publ i s h ed a nu m ber of p a pers , wh i ch inclu de the opti m i z a ti onof the produ cti on process of soymilk, soybean oi l , ga ri , and some sorghum produ ct s .
Other papers involved the design and construction of some agricultural processing machines, and post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables.
Anne Webb is a Ma s ter ’s Ca n d i d a teof L i n g u i s tics at the Un ivers i ty of Texas at
Austin. She is curren t ly con du cting research on regi onal dialects of English.
Her research interests inclu de dialecto l ogy, border cultu res, style and iden ti ty.
Introduction
Toyin Falola
Ann Genova
Elitism and Liberal Agenda
The emergence of elite history is one of the defining moments of the histori ogra phy of the Yoruba. Du ring the nineteenth cen tu ry, a pion eer el i te
em er ged, thanks to We s tern edu c a tion and Ch ri s tianity. This el i te played a
prominent role in creating the idea of the Yoruba, both as a people and as a
n a ti on . So successful were they that one of t h em , Sa mu el Jo h n s on, completed
the longest history ever written on them, in the last decade of the nineteenth
cen tu ry.1 Sa mu el Jo h n s on’s work dem on s tra tes the power of l i terac y. Th e
power was manife s ted in the establ i s h m ent of n ews p a pers , a devel opm ent analyzed in this volume in the chapter by Táíwò Olúnládé. While not telling us
mu ch new inform a ti on , Ol ú n l á d é ’s em phasis on the su rvival of Yoruba newspapers should be noted . It dem on s tra tes the con ti nu i tyof the stra tegy of tu rning literacy into power, via the med ium of the press. As he points out, Yoru b a
n ews p a pers rise and fall, but there is never a vacuum, and the circ u l a ti on
number keeps rising. Of course, the impact of those published in English is
mu ch stron ger. The diminishing role of the print media is not peculiar to
Ni geria; in the era of In tern et , no media out l et can be faster than moving a
mouse around. One po s s i bi l i ty of ex p a n s i on may lie in the Yoruba news p apers being made available via Internet services.
Education has always been the key to the empowerment of the Yoruba and
the con s tru cti on of elitism. Af ter 1940, the agenda of l i beral reforms inclu ded
a massive ex p a n s i on of the edu c a tion sys tem. The dominant pers onality in
1. Sa mu el Johnson, The Hi s to ry of the Yoru bas: From the Ea rliest Times to the Beginning
of the British Protectorate (London: CMS Bookshop, 1921).
xxv
xxvi
INTRODUCTION
this enterprise was the leading hero of the twentieth century, Chief Obafemi
Awo l owo. He was a strong advocate of free edu c a ti on , an issue that
ashimuneze heanacho explores in his chapter. heanacho gives us the compreh en s ive road map to understand the devel opm ent of We s tern edu c a ti on
a m ong the Yoruba. This new era began in 1955 with the introdu cti on of We s tern education, an initiative that took elementary education to towns and villages. While that decision made Awolowo very famous, his larger agenda was
to empower the Yoruba, making them competitive in Nigerian economy and
politics.
The Yoruba have always constructed their identity in the context of intergroup relations within the region known as Yorubaland, as well as within the
larger geogra phical regi ons of the Yoruba in Ni geria wh i ch even tu a lly expanded from southwe s tern Ni geria to nort h ern Ni geria and el s ewhere . Nort hern ers , too, i n termingl ed with them , f a s h i oning established stra n gers’ communities that generated conflicts and competitions.2 Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani
retu rns to this issue, by high l i ghting ten s i ons in intra - group rel a tions in Lago s
in ways somewhat different from Sandra Barnes’ study on the same subject.3
To Tija n i , the grip of a few patrons on thousands of cl i ents has weaken ed , and
the con du ct of politics has become far more com p l i c a ted. In Ju l ius O.
Adekunle’s essay, we see how people com bine to attain po l i tical and econ om i c
obj ectives. Ma n i fe s ting as assoc i a ti on s , def i n ed ei t h er narrowly or broadly,
they show the attempts to pull resources for development purposes.
Also focusing on Lagos, Lateef M. Adetona shows how an Islamic organization, the Bamidele movement, rooted in traditionalism, projected itself on
the larger com mu n i ty and went abo ut rec ru i ting new converts and ex p a n d i n g
its mem bers h i p. The stra tegy of the Ba m i dele movem ent was to rej ect the
changes perceived as Western and corro s ive. As the ben efits of We s tern form a l
edu c a ti on became cl e a rer, the Ba m i dele began to ad just, a ll owing the cre a ti on
of We s tern - s tyle sch ools while still running Quranic on e s . While this bl en d
continues, it is clear that tod ay that the majority of Yoruba sti ll opt for the
route of Western education, although many have argued that Western education draws pupils toward the usage of European languages, dress, and culture
and away from those of their traditional ethnic groups. The issue of identity
has emerged from this conflict.
2. See , for instance , Abn er Cohen, Cu s toms and Pol i tics in Urban Africa: A Stu dy of
Hausa Migrants in Yoruba Towns (London: Rutledge and Kegan Paul, 1969).
3. Sa n d ra Ba rn e s , Patrons and Power: Cre a ting a Pol i tical Co m mu n i ty in Metropol i t a n
Lagos (London: Manchester University Press, 1986).
INTRODUCTION
xxvii
Identity and Negotiations
The Yoruba elite as well as the rest are con f ron ted with issues of i n teracti on
and ch a n ge . Never simple, these issues en compass daily acts of su rviva l ,
household management, and mobility within economic and political spaces.
Va rious essays ad d ress the com p l ex i ty of iden tity and how human bei n gs see k
to com mu n i c a te their va lu e s , proj ect an image , and live their lives. Educati on
remains the key, with Demola Babalola reminding us of the con n ection bet ween et h n i c i ty and the devel opm ent of We s tern edu c a ti on . ToBa b a l o l a , et hn i c i ty has its po s i tive el em en t s , and the consciousness of it en a bles the idea of
Western education to be connected to an ethnic-cum-political calculation.
Like el s ewh ere , the Yoruba re s pond to the ex i gencies of l aw, and the tens i ons bet ween order and disorder. As to law, there is nothing new in the formu l a tion of legal codes to deal with human relati on s . Before the on s et of
co l onial ru l e , the Yoruba had their own form of lawad m i n i s tered by the king.
Al s o, t h ere was a cultu ral ex pect a ti on that anyone wi tnessing a dispute, is expected to settle the dispute. Al t h o u gh they were not written or cod i fied , the
laws were widely accepted. We see the example of l aw making among the
Yoruba before the era of the Bri tish in the essay by Moj eed Olujinmi A. Al a bi ,
wh i ch ch a racteri zes that sys tem as cen tra l i zed, hiera rchical, and republican.
Al a bi wants us to note the limits they impo s ed on the exercise of power, and
to treat them as an important legacy to adapt for the pre s en t . For dem oc rac y
to work tod ay, the trad i ti on of ch ecks and balances that worked in the past
must be embraced anew.
Some of the older elements have been reworked into what we may call, for
want of a bet ter term, the ambi g u i ty of m odern laws . Si n ce indepen dence
Nigeria has witnessed its political and, as a consequence, its judicial systems
breaking down . Its govern m ent has been unable to ef fectively curb corru pti on
and halt the downw a rd spiral of its econ omy. In grappling with this issue,
scholars have turned to issues of law. In debates on how to best reform them,
the most preva l ent soluti on has been a retu rn to trad i ti onal forms of law.
Oluyemisi Bamgbose supports this idea by suggesting that Nigeria reforms its
criminal system with ideas from Yoruba culture, particularly with respect to
laws relating to disputes. Her work builds on that of Alabi because the issues
she raises have relevance for the present. However, the present society is not
a particularly happy on e , since it is under going profound moral dec aden ce .
The most notable example of this is the recent wave of e-fraud connected to
the Yoruba.
Al t h o u gh the ori gin has not been con f i rmed, Ni gerians are all eged to be
the ori gin of the “419” scams. More spec i fic a lly, the Yoruba, who are the dom-
xxviii
INTRODUCTION
inant ethnic group in Lagos, have been accused of this because the authors of
the letters use Yoruba names and Lagos addresses. The notorious 419 crimes
have internati on a l i zed the level of criminality among edu c a ted men and
wom en who use their talents for du bious means in ways ex p l a i n ed by Anne
Webb in her chapter. Thanks to the Internet, 419 scams are global operations
that link the Yoruba to wider international networks of e-fraud. Anne Webb
even connects the tra n s acti ons with issues of ethnic iden tity, for their capability to destroy a culture and its image.
But areas of positive activity are more numerous than those of criminality
wh i ch reveal the need to revisit history to bring out the best in Yoruba culture.
Three essays explore issues around family and lineage units. Motherhood as
an agency of empowering women is explored in Taiwo Makinde’s essay. The
s tu dy of wom en in Af rica has ch a n ged over time. When looking at the history
of Yoruba wom en since pre-co l onial ti m e s , sch o l a rshave foc u s ed pri m a ri lyon
those working as po l i tical activists or within the upper cl a s s . However, wi t h i n
the past ten years, scholars are focusing on ordinary women who work in the
markets or in their homes.4 Makinde joins this latter group with her progressive ch a racteri z a ti ons of Yoruba wom en as wive s , pri e s tesses, daugh ters ,
wi tch e s , and mothers . She high l i ghts the idea that each gen erates va rious po sitive and nega tive re s pon s e s . Con cluding with a policy statem en t , Ma k i n de
wants society to give women more power and resources to play their roles as
mothers.
Internal power stru ctu res in households remain important, as we are reminded in the chapter on age stratification by Jacob A. Adetunji. While age is
important to the Yoruba, and most especially within the household, Adetunji
shows how achievement, urbanization, and Western education are now eroding its sign i ficance. His re s e a rch focuses on a Yoruba commu n i tyin Ekiti , wi t h
which he conducted his research studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In
Ekiti, Adetunji ex p l ored the level of male and female participation in the commercial production of rice. And he expanded his analysis to look at the consequences of this work on marital relationships.
Like Adetu n j i , Jacob Oni focuses on the state of Ekiti, one of the Yoru b a
states in southwestern Nigeria that formed out of the creation of 36 states in
1996.One of the nort h ernmost states in Yorubaland, it is pri m a ri ly ru ra l , with
mountains and fertile land. The region is located at the bend of the Ni ger
River, wh ere agri c u l tu re is the dominant econ omy activity. Within farming
4. LaRay Denzer, “Yoruba Women: A Historiographical Study,” International Journal of
African Historical Studies 27 no. 1 (1994): 2.
INTRODUCTION
xxix
communities such as this, the family plays an important role in the success of
t h eir livelihood . The inhabitants of E k i ti are patrilineal and practi ce ei t h er
mon ogamy or po lyga my. From his work in the regi on, Oni iden tifies casual
statem ents and profound proverbs that captu re aspects of family life. With examples of expressions that explain health and demographic issues, he focuses
on the issue of po lyga my. The stu dy of polygamous marri a ges in Af rica has
been a major topic of research. While scholars in the West have tended in the
past to focus more on women’s responses and why modern African societies
continue the practice, scholars are beginning to focus, instead, on the impact
this practice has on the family unit as a whole. To Oni, polygamous marriage
is a scene of rivalry between co-wives based on child welfare. His work shows
us a happy marri a ge of culture and met h odo l ogy in ways that su ggest new approaches to these issues.
Social bel i efs are often sustained and complem en ted by rel i gious ones. Ibi gbo l ade Si m on Aderi bi g be cre a tes this kind of linkage bet ween rel i gi on and traditi onal medical practi ces, with a focus on aborti on . Trad i ti on a lly, ch i l d ren
were the main re a s onfor marriage. A woman’s barrenness was seen as a curs e ,
and the husband was justified in taking another wife. Traditional Yoruba belief rejected the practice of abortion, but it did not stop women from seeking
them. Referring to the Ifa oracle (the unwritten scripture of this indigenous
rel i gi on wh i ch guides almost every aspect of a practi on er’s life ) , Aderi bi g be
cites passages that reject abortion. It is said to be derived from the Ifa’s oppos i ti on to adu l tery and its denu n c i a ti on of k i lling human beings.5 Overa ll ,
Aderibigbe’s work asserts Yoruba beliefs into the wider global debate regarding aborti on.6 In Yorubaland, we find the same conten ti on that if aborti on was
legalized it could be regulated and more safe for women. Aderibigbe sees the
debate over abortion as not only a cultural struggle, but also a political one.
Societies all over the world are grappling with this issue, and the Yoruba are
no excepti on. The issue of a borti on high l i ghts, also, the interp l ay between traditional medicine and Western medicine.
Throughout modern Ni geri a , trad i ti onal medicine con ti nues to play an important ro l e . Al t h o u gh We s tern medicine is wi dely practi ced , many Ni gerians
rely on these traditional remedies. Elaine Neil Orr, the daughter of a medical
missionary who was stationed in Ogbomoso, Nigeria, understands the paral5. Com p a ri s ons can be drawn with Western cultu res and Ch ristianity. See Jon a t h a n
Kell ey et al, “Moral Re a s oning and Po l i tical Con fli ct : The Abortion Con trovers y,” British
Journal of Sociology 44 no. 4 (December 1993): 589-612.
6. See , for instance , Wolf Bl ee k , “Induced Aborti on in a Ghanaian Fa m i ly,” African
Studies Review 21 no. 1 (April 1978): 103-120.
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INTRODUCTION
l el role of Yoruba trad i ti onal medicine and We s tern med i c i n e . During her
yo ut h , she fell ill and sought help from trad i ti onal healers . She wrote that,
“[my] parents had taken medicine to Nigeri a , but paradoxically, I would need
Yoruba medicine in order to be healed.”7 As a citi zen from another co u n try,
she looks at the Yoruba both as an insider and out s i der. Her mem oir, b a s ed
on wh en she lived among the Yoruba in the 1950s and 1960s, revisits the place,
telling us fascinating stories of engagement. She shows how practical experiences can be the roots of social activism. In defining herself, she is also defining the Yoruba.
Two chapters look ahead into the future. Many Yoruba warn about the future, painting pictures of doom and gloom, seeing the legacy of colonialism
still alive and corrupting Nigeria. The most important rift within Nigeria exists bet ween the predominantly Muslim north and the Ch ri s tian south on both
religious and political grounds. Since independence, more and more northern states have implemented Islamic, or sharia law, which has distanced these
states from those of southern Nigeria.8 Politically, the history of this political
tension between the north and south in Nigeria goes back to British colonialism. After almost a hundred years of colonial rule, the British began the handover of the co l ony to a Ni gerian govern m ent. Bri tish favori tism tow a rd
n orthern Ni geria was evi den t , parti c u l a rly du ring the 1959 el ecti on , wh en the
British allegedly manipulated the situation for a northern win. Jare Ajayi and
John Ba b a tu n de Ba m i dele Ojo both ad d ress this issu e , but in very differen t
styles.
Both Ajayi and Ojo present the Yoruba as victims of both British rule and
northerners. They use the fall of Obafemi Awolowo in the early 1960s as the
pivotal point at wh i ch Yoruba solidarity and po l i tical strength in the nati on
began to decl i n e . To the Yoruba, Awolowo repre s en ted the voi ce of the Yoru b a
people thro u gh his uncom promising activism and scholarship. From
Awolowo’s decline in power, Ajayi and Ojo build their analysis on the present
state of the Yoruba in politics. Ajayi regards the members of the Yoruba’s political class as divided and not always committed to their people. A bright future, according to Ajayi, can only come if economic and political paradigms
are altered. John Ojo wri tes in a more com b a tive tone, p l e ading to the Yoru b a
not to be shy of fighting, and never to expect good to come from the rule of
the military and other non - dem oc ra tic system s . In Ojo’s essay, we find the
7. Elaine Orr, “Jinxed: On Being White and Yoruba.”
8. For more on the implem en t a ti on of the shari a , s ee Tij jani Muhammad Na n iya, “Hi story of the Shari’a in Some States of Nort h ern Ni geria to Ci rca 2000,” Jo u rnal of Islamic
Studies [Great Britain] 13 no. 1 (2002): 14-31.
INTRODUCTION
xxxi
mer ger of cultural and po l i tical nati onalism and the fru s tra ti on of an el i te who
wants its people to do better in a federal Nigeria.
Fashioning the Future
The el i te proj ect since the nineteenth cen tu ry is always abo ut the futu re of
m odernization, defin ed in terms of Western edu c a tion, jobs, devel opm ent, and
power to control Ni geri a . In the last segm ent of this boo k , we pre s ent some
essays that look at the ob s t acles to a successful proj ect of m odern i z a ti on. Much
of t h eir concern cen ters on the expansion of c i ties and towns wi t h o ut an inf ra s tructu re to support them . This is particularly the probl em in southwe s tern
Nigeri a , in the heart of Yorubaland, the most den s ely populated region of Nigeri a . For anyone that has travel ed along the major roads in this region, it is no
surprise that these roads are con s i dered among the most dangerous in the
worl d . The highway that ex tends northeast from Lagos to Ib ad a n , for ex a mple, is one of the worst because of the com bi n a ti on of poor road and veh i cl e
conditions mixed with rampant criminal activity occ u rring along them . To
Ba m i dele Abi ona Badejo, the ra te of acc i dents is too high on roads in Yoru b aland, and he makes a nu m ber of recom m en d a ti ons to redu ce the nu m ber of
tra n s portation-rel a ted casualties. In ad d i ti on to the risks of travel , Nigeria has
also stru ggl ed to redu ce the nu m ber deaths of rel a ted to disease.
In Africa, AIDS represents the most deadly disease. It emerged in the late
1970s in Africa and has silently spread, becoming pandemic by the 1980s. Esti m a tes by the Un i ted Na ti ons place the number of people living with AIDS
in Ni geria at almost 4 mill i on .9 For Oluwatosin Ige Alo, AIDS and HIV are
problems in Nigeria which require creative solutions drawn from traditional
and modern medical practices. He em ph a s i zes that, in Ni geria, n ew dru gs and
m edical assistance are not wi dely ava i l a ble or are too ex pen s ive . Because of
this, the death rate from AIDS is extremely high. What is crucial to the prevention of HIV/AIDS is an understanding of how it is contracted and how to
prevent it. The spre ad of HIV/AIDS hits hard at the cultu ral standards and
taboos. Many view the invasion of HIV/AIDS on their community as the result in a breakdown of moral codes. A belief exists in Nigeria that modernity
and urbanization have encouraged the breakdown of social values. This idea
also applies to an increase in criminal activity.
9. Un i ted Na ti ons Programme on HIV/AIDS, “Ep i dem i o l ogical Fact Sheets on
HIV/AIDS and Sexually Tra n s m i t ted Diseases: Ni geri a ,” G en eva : UNAIDS, 2004, 2. Retrieved from http://www.who.int.html.
xxxii
INTRODUCTION
To Adewole Akinyemi Atere and Akeem Ayofe Akinwale, a rising crime wave
is making the cities ri s ky to live in, and the use of vigilante groups is de s i rable. He high l i ghts the Oodua People’s Con gress (OPC) as a commu n i ty - b a s ed
body that en forced laws in Lago s . The orga n i z a ti on has ri s en in pop u l a rity
since its formation in the 1990s due to rampant problems of corruption and
inepti tu de . Atere and Ak i nwale’s ch a pter high l i ghts one of the examples of the
failure of the formal sector in solving many problems.
A set of other essays look at ways to create a better future, making use of
divers i fied natural resources drawn from indigenous Yoruba and Western techn o l ogical innova ti on s . The regi on tod ay call ed Ni geria has a long history with
an agri c u l tu re - b a s edecon omy. The on s et of colonial rule en couraged the mass
production of agriculture for export, which placed a strain on food available
for dom e s tic con su m pti on . Un til the oil indu s try began, a gri c u l tu rewas Ni geri a’s main source of forei gn exch a n ge . The discovery of com m ercial qu a n tities of oil in the late 1950s caused a dramatic drop in agriculture as the country inve s ted in oil producti on and not in expanding its agri c u l tu ral
productivity. Farmers received little or no support from the government, and
many left their farms for urban employment. Those who rem a i n edin the bu s iness used outdated, non-mechanized equipment, and switched to cash crop
produ cti on . Within a short peri od , agri c u l tu ral produ cti on for dom e s tic consumption nearly crumbled.
During the oil boom years of the 1970s, attempts were made to revitalize
Ni geri a’s ailing agri c u l tu ral sector. For example, du ring the Th i rd Devel opment Plan (1975-1980) Nigeria invested millions on irrigation projects, road
con s tructi on , and incre a s ed use of ferti l i zers and insecti c i de s . But , a few ye a rs
into the plan, it became clear that it was nei t h er helping the small scale farm er
nor the quality of food produced for domestic consumption.10 Several chapters address this issue of Ni geri a’s weak agricultural sector and con n ect the import a n ce of its revival to the mainten a n ce of Yoruba cultu re. By examining
the link between agri c u l tu re and Yoruba cultu re, we are introdu ced to the important crops of the Yoruba to produce and consume, as well as unique harvesting techniques based on traditional Yoruba practices.
Bayo Lawal has written an overview of the centrality of agriculture among
the Yoruba. Lawal presents a society grounded in agriculture, but witnessing
a decline due to ch a n ging econ omies and urbanization. His work examines
Yoruba traditional met h ods and intimate knowl ed ge of c u l tiva ting food wh i ch,
10. Tina Wall ace , “The Ch a ll en ge of Food: Ni geria’s Approach to Agri c u l tu re 19751980,” Canadian Journal of African Studies 15 no. 2 (1981): 239-258.
INTRODUCTION
xxxiii
even today, are used throughout Yorubaland. Among these basic methods of
planti n g, harve s ti n g, and storing thro u gh a land tenu re sys tem , the Yoru b a
add the use of spiritual forces, traditional calendars, rainmaking, and much
m ore. They vi ew the worship of certain dei ties as essen tial to the su ccess of
t h eir crop s . Festivals are also an integral part of t h eir farm i n g. In this way, religion and agricultural production become intertwined as representations of
Yoruba culture.
For the Yoru b a , what a griculture they produ ce not on ly repre s ents a crucial part of their economy, but also acts as a symbol of Yoruba culture. Diet
among the different ethnic groups in Nigeria varies. The Yoruba diet is based
on solid foods less than the Ig bo or those in the Mi d dle Belt regi on. Th ey consume large amounts of gari (a granular, starchy food), which separates them
from the Hausa, for example, who consume no gari. To discuss gari, then, is
to discuss a long-standing dietary tradition among the Yoruba.
The necessity of food is covered in two chapters, one by B. O. Akintunde
on how to store grains, and the other by T. Y. Tu n de - Ak i n tu n de on how to
improve the production of gari. Cassava, from which gari is made, is one of
the most important crops in Nigeria, and is consumed in various forms. Gari
is formed from gelatinized flakes of cassava and is the most common product
obtained from cassava. Nigeria accounts for forty percent of all cassava produced in Africa. Its popularity throughout the country stems from its ability
to grow high yi elds in poor soil. In low income areas, cassava is useful in that,
after it has matu red , it can remain in the ground. T.Y. Tunde-Akintunde’s goa l
in her ch a pter is to su ggest ways to improve the produ cti on of the cassava into
ga ri in order to increase its nutri ti onal va lue, dec rease the natu ral cyanide content, and reduce the particle size and swelling capacity.
B. O. Ak i n tu n de examines the types of on - f a rm stora ge stru ctu res amon g
the Yoruba. Because the Yoruba live in a more humid climate of s o ut hwe s tern Ni geria, t h ey deal with a high percen t a ge of grain loss. Humidity raises
the moi s tu re level in stora ge stru ctu res, wh i ch allows grains to become damp
and moldy quick ly. For this re a s on , farm ers have developed bet ter met h od s
in storing their grains; and thro u gh the stu dy of s tora ge tech n o l ogy, researchers have devi s ed more ways to redu ce the spoiling of grains. However,
Yoruba stora ge units are made from mud and thatch roofs , wh i ch Akintunde
con tends yi elds a low level of u s e a ble grain. Fu rtherm ore, the use of pepper
and ash as natural insecti c i des is not en o u gh . Ak i n tu n de conclu des by saying that, within this region of Ni geria, tech n o l ogical improvem ents are a
must in order to prevent loss.
An o t h er set of essays tu rns to the broader issues of values and cultu res.
‘Tunji Azeez thinks that indigenous va lues can combat the co llapse of con-
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INTRODUCTION
temporary morality. His essay focuses on aspects of morality that are encouraged out s i de the religious re a l m , but within the com mu n i ty. One way that
young people learn these va lues, he says , is thro u gh son gs wh i ch are short and
sung in traditional styles. These songs, and their message, are passed within
the community for generations, expressing the moral values of the community and complaints against any injustice such as government corruption.
Three essays look at the zone of socialization wh ere the family plays a cru c i a l
role. The habit of dual residence remains, as explained by Jacob A. Adetunji and
Kefa Otiso, as people travel between the cities and vi ll a ge s , working as farm ers
and fulfilling their soc i o - econ omic functi ons in the citi e s . So, the image of
Janus-headed migrants em erges, since the Yoruba see their journ eys as tem pora ry, and loya l ty to their host commu n i ties is seen as unnecessary if they intend
to return to their Yoruba homeland. Those who typ i c a lly live this dual life are
farmers, traders , and cra f t s m en. An d , t h ey maintained this lifestyle even before
the arrival of the Europeans in the fif teenth cen tu ry. Adetunji and Otiso ex a mine how many urban dwell ers work as ru ral farmers without compromising thei r
social and econ omic activi ty in either location. So, these people are considered
to be living a tru ly dual life . Once again, a town within the state of E k i ti is used
as a case stu dy. The town , Efon Alaaye, and its surrounding areas are ri ch wi t h
fertile lands. What Adetunji and Otiso found in this town was a coex i s ten ce of
trad i ti onal va lues mixed with urban modern i ty. Understanding the importance
of wom en in agri c u l tu ral produ cti on among the Yoruba did not go unnoti ced
in Adetunji and Oti s o’s work . As part of their research , t h ey interviewed and
analyzed the participati on of women in ri ce production. Th eir work once aga i n
h i gh l i ghts that women are crucial to Yoruba culture and devel opm ent.
With regard to the importance of women, Mary E. Modupe Kolawole argues in her chapter that the production of culture moves not in a progressive
decline away from tradition, but more toward the incorporation of both traditi on and modern i ty. She wri tes that trad i ti onal Yoruba cultu re has shown
great resilience. And this cultural pre s ervation provi des insight into gen der rel a ti on s . Using the palace poetry on wom en regen t s , she shows the powerf u l
side of women in real life and in literature. To Kolawole, this form of poetry
shows the power of culture in sustaining an old institution. Kolawole’s work
con tri butes to the life - s tory approach that ga i n ed pop u l a ri ty in the 1980s,
looking at gender in Africa, which is where scholars take the life of a historical figure and placing it within the context of culture.11 Using women’s auto-
11. Susan Gei ger, “Wom en’s Life Hi s tori e s : Method and Con tent,” Signs 11 no. 1 (1986):
334-351.
INTRODUCTION
xxxv
bi ogra phies and oral histories and com bining culture and history, scholars are
able to draw new understandings of women in Africa. In her examination of
female regents within well known kingdoms su ch as the Oyo, she illu s trates
n ew domains in wh i ch Yoruba wom en display their power. Th rough their
songs, they emphasize the importance of family.
Similarly, Asiyanbola R. Abidemi views women as important in sustaining
the family. In spite of the Western influ en ce s , Abi demi notes the su rvival of
traditional stereotypes in the division of labor. Irrespective of their work and
income level , women con ti nue to do more work than men in childcare and
house chores. Abidemi writes that the division of labor within the household
appears constant. The role of women in the home has resisted change despite
that an increasing number of Yoruba women work outside the home. The result has been that wom en work essen ti a lly two job s , and find them s elves
stressed and overworked. In order to initiate change, Abidemi tells us, there
is a need for edu c a ti on and consciousness-raising among men . This, he bel i eves, could be ach i eved through sem i n a rs and work s h ops for men . E du c ati on serves as the key not on ly to ch a n ge outd a ted social va lu e s , but also to
preserve those considered too valuable to forget.
The edu c a ti onal sys tem must be anch ored on core cultu ral values, conclu des Jamaine Abi dog u n , who sees a link bet ween moral and ethical code s
and the school curriculum. To Abidogun, education should inculcate respect
for divers i ty as well as te ach high moral codes. She wri tes that the sch ools ten d
to blur lines of culture and ethnicity, and that these actually need to be preserved within the formal education system. She believes that within the context of an equitable edu c a ti onal sys tem , the uniqu eness of e ach et h n o - l i ng u i s tic group should be appreciated. The driving force of hom ogen ei ty comes
from a capitalist economy that overshadows the value of human distinctiveness with a drive for market uniform i ty. Abi dogun draws these con clu s i on s
through her re s e a rch on the curri c u lum of t wo ju n i or / s en i or secon d a ry
schools located in Ibadan. She used the curriculum to measure the degree to
wh i ch it was “Af ricanized,” or inclu ded indigenous cultu ral references. Her
chapter concludes with a call for the teaching of more indigenous languages
and a greater use of cultural references in the social studies textbooks. Abidogun touches on the reoccurring concern among scholars that the moral and
cultural fabric that makes up the Yoruba is changing. Many call for its preservation. At the same time, however, these authors recognize the need for posi tive ch a n ge , particularly in rega rd to wom en . What makes Yoruba cultu re
unique, they agree, is its resilience and adaptability to change. Over time, the
Yoruba wi ll con ti nue to settle into a comfort a ble balance of trad i ti onal and
modern values.
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INTRODUCTION
The chapters in the final section enable us to see the search for some kind
of ethical va lues to sustain modern i ty and move to the future with confiden ce.
In many ways, this reflects the ten s i on bet ween a disappe a ring past and an unfolding futu re . In the search for a moral order to or ga n i ze the pre s ent, the
Yoruba keep seeking answers in the past, as Azeez and Atere have done. Religion and the family are tasked with the burden of supplying answers to decadence and shepherding the society in a direction that many can tolerate.
In breaking the Yoruba notion of morality, the stress is always on the concept of iwa (character), a positive set of individual habits linked to sanctions
from God. E. Bolaji Idowu calls iwa the “very stuff which makes life a job because it is pleasing to God .”12 The linkage bet ween habits and mora l i ty, and
m ora l i tyand God remains a probl em in modern soc i ety. Nevertheless, m ora lity con ti nues to be def i n ed in its trad i ti onal essen ce of the va lu ed habits of
calmness, mildness, and hon e s ty. In one com m on citati on drawn from the Ifa
Odu corpus, iwa is regarded as the only thing worth possessing:
Iwa nikan lo soro o
Iwa nikan lo sore
Ori kan kii buru lore Ife
Iwa nikan lo soro.
Character is all that is requisite
Character is all that is necessary
There is no bad destiny in the city of Ife
Character is all that is requisite.
In the modern meta-narra tive of iwa, it is set against the declining economic and po l i tical fortunes in the post-oil boom era since Western edu c ation arrived , and since the beginning of oil produ cti on. As Yoruba soc i ety faces
myriad problems, moralizing intensifies, calling on people to keep the ethics
of ch a s tity, honesty, hospitality, and kindness. As if a ppealing to the perpetra tors of 419, the Yoruba are call ed upon to avoid ch e a ti n g, wi ckedness, ste a ling, and hypoc risy. The cultu re of an agra rian soc i ety is being interroga ted to
deal with a con tempora ry formal economy, as individuals are asked to re s pect
el ders , va lue hard work , prom o te family toget h ern e s s , and be con tended . The
conflicts and competition in modern politics and economics make the commitments to the elements of iwa harder for many to sustain.
To those who vi o l a te the ex pect a ti ons of iwa the sancti ons of old no lon ger
work to curtail or discipline them . The anonym i ty of i n d ivi duals in large citi e s
12. E. B. Idowu, Olodumare: God in Yoruba Beliefs (London: Longman, 1962), 154.
INTRODUCTION
xxxvii
like Lagos means that the shame that can come with certain tra n sgre s s i ons wi ll
not expose them to societal ridicule. Even the good person lacking in money
in Lagos may appear like a madman. The promoters of 419 crime are pursuing reckless self-interest, unch ecked by any rec i t a ti on of the old rules and sanctions of iwa. Even the fear of suffering in the after-life cannot stop a cocaine
dealer from doing business. Contemporary Yoruba have to seek fresh answers
to many of the problems identified in this volume.