Yoruba/Bahia

It is quite disheartening that when the country Nigeria is mentioned what registers on the minds of foreigners are Advance Fee Fraud popularly known as 419, drug trafficking, corruption accompanied by its debilitating ancillaries like fraud, graft, bribery and nepotism. Nevertheless, one cannot run away from the fact that, this country with over 120 million people is aptly described as the “Giant of Africa”.

It is a country richly endowed with natural, cultural and ecological resources.
Its vibrant cultures of over 140 diverse ethnic groups encompass, exhilarating festivals, dynamic music, dances and opulent history. Naija as its citizens call it, is a country endowed with abundant natural resources ranging from significant agricultural, mineral, marine and forest resources, including moderate climatic extremes, exotic landscapes, equatorial forests, fascinating beaches and savannah grassland abounding with alluring vistas of cascading waterfalls, towering rocks, rolling hills and ancient caves. Most importantly, it is a country inhabited by the most receptive and intelligent people on planet earth.

One of Nigerian’s main indigenous language, YORUBA, is being taught in most reputable universities in the Americas and the United Kingdom. The yoruba ethnic group that is known for its prominence in all artistic fields consists of the most highly educated people that the country has today. The group has spread and planted its well-cherished and scintillating culture and tradition all over southwest Nigeria to far away Brazil.

However, in renowned and touristy cities of Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia in Brazil, the beliefs, religion, tradition and culture of the Yoruba people of West Africa, particularly that of Nigeria has been well preserved for over 500 years. Its element and ethnic composition is visibly exhibited, alongside the strong influence that it mainly portrays on the culture of Bahia. Without mincing words, Salvador da Bahia is undoubtedly, the Afro-Brazilian state capital. Its music, outstanding cuisine, religious activities, and social ways of life are largely influenced by that of the Yoruba ethnic group from West africa, particularly that of Naija.

WHO ARE THE YORUBA PEOPLE AND WHY FOCUS ON NIGERIA AND BAHIA- BRAZIL?

It has been widely speculated by some historians that the religious and traditional history of the people of Bahia is mainly derived from Angola because it was a former Portuguese colony. Apart from capoeira (African style of martial arts developed into a dance and game) whose origin has been controversially and inexplicably argued and part of the Afro-Brazilian religion that was supposedly derived from Angola, the majority of the taste in art, music, mode of worship, names, customs, and beliefs which Bahia is known for is of Yoruba origin.

The Yoruba people (Yorùbá in Yoruba orthography) is a large ethno-linguistic group or ethnic nation in West Africa. The Yoruba constitute approximately 30% percent of Nigeria’s total population, and number upwards of 40 million individuals throughout the region of West Africa. They share borders with the Nupe and Borgu peoples in the northwest, the Esan and Edo to the southeast, the Igala and other related groups to the northeast, and the Egun, Fon, and other Gbe-speaking peoples in the southwest. While the majority of the Yoruba live in the south-west of Nigeria, there are also substantial indigenous Yoruba communities in the Republics of Benin and Togo, as well as Diaspora Yoruba communities in Sierra-Leone, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and the United States”

The Yoruba People are the main ethnic group in 6 major states in Nigeria namely Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo, which are political subdivisions of Nigeria; they also constitute a sizeable proportion of Kwara and Kogi states.

WHY BAHIA BRAZIL ?

12 Million was the number most historians estimated of the slaves that were captured and shipped to Brazil. Before getting to Brazil, about a million of them were confirmed dead. After the abolition of slavery which was initiated by the Brazilian Anti-Slavery Society founded in 1880 (with the backing of the king D. Pedro II), slaves were allowed to buy their freedom, which was not a very surprising fact even in the earlier colonial times. Black religious brotherhoods, supported by the catholic church and Jesuit missionaries, backed the process and raised the money. This happened all over Brazil, especially in Salvador da Bahia. This freedom gave the Africans firm grip in resisting the dominance of the white culture and religion. The Yoruba religion, which had been prohibited during the slave era, is today widely practiced alongside catholicism in every nook and cranny in Bahia.

The strong similarity between the people of Bahia and the Yorubas in south-west Nigeria in terms of religion, food, culture, lifestyle and their day-to-day living needs to be instilled and passed across to travelers to Bahia and most part of Brazil. Having experienced and done an extensive comparative case study on the former and latter, I have taken it upon myself to educate groups and travelers to Salvador da Bahia about my findings. But let´s just look at some of the similarities and difference about these people.

RELIGION

The Yoruba people of Nigeria like the Brazilians in Salvador da Bahia are a highly religious group of people who have resorted in tolerating all other religions around them for donkey years. Amongst these people are Christians from different denominations, Muslims, traditional religious worshipers, spiritualists and pagans to mention but a few.

In Salvador, the Afro-Brazilian religion is married to Catholicism and a few other religious practices while in Nigeria some Yoruba households' blend traditional worship with Islam while some mostly Christian white garment churches like the Celestial Church of Christ also do likewise. Today, in most Yoruba speaking states of Nigeria, Pentecostal and Protestant Christianity has almost categorically taken charge of most of the religious beliefs of the people. The old traditional religious Yoruba practice of the worship of Orisa which is a pantheon of gods is fast fading away into thing air. This practice is carried out mostly in villages and far away outskirts of town. Nowadays, anyone who openly practices such belief in the cities is frowned at and considered evil. Most Pentecostal families that have adopted traditional names have changed their names to Christian names, because it is strongly believed that a name speaks volume to ones personality and success in life.

However, the Protestants and Pentecostal in the Yoruba speaking parts of Nigeria do not go about enforcing their religion on traditional worshipers and destroying traditional temples of worship like what the Protestants do in Salvador da Bahia. What baffles me when I came to Bahia was how the people, especially Afro-Brazilians have cherished and preserved their Yoruba adopted religion that people in the motherland are bidding farewell to. Though, the spellings of the names of the orisas in Portuguese called orixás are different, but their religious functions are quite the same to that of the Yoruba people of West Africa.
Olorun or Olodumare as He is also referred to in the Afro-Brazilian religion (Candomblé) is the supreme deity of the Yoruba people that created the divinities called Orixá to represent all their domains on earth. Each orisa has a specialty, with Ifa in Portuguese Ifá, whose other name is Orunmila as the pathfinder, he is also considered the Orixá of Divination and destiny.

For easy understanding ,I will have the names written in Portuguese in light green, while that of Yoruba -Nigeria will remain in brown .

Exu- Esu - Guardian of the temples, houses, cities and people, divine messenger of the oracles. In today's society, Esu is associated with anything wicked and evil. In fact he is considered the devil.
Ogum - Ogun is the orixá of iron, war and traveling.
Xangô - Sango is the orixá of thunder and lightening
Oxumaré- Osumare is considered as the orixá god of rain and rainbow.
Oxum- Osun is the orixá of the rivers, gold and love.
Iemanjá- Yemoja is goddess of the sea, fertility and mother to most of the orisas.
Ibeji - Ibeji orixá of twins
OrixaNlá - Obatalá - Obatala is considered the most respected, father of almost all the orixás, creator of the world and humans, Obatala, is the god of creation and he is also known as Orisa nla (great divinity) because he is next to Olodumare.
Odudua - Oduduwa an orixá regarded also as creator of the world, father of Oranmiyan and the yoruba people
Olokun- Olokun is divinity of the sea.
Oranian - Oranmiyan- son of oduduwa.
Irôco- Iroko is the orixá of the sacred tree called gameleira branca in Brazil.
Onilé- Onile is the orixá of the Egungun cult
Oxalufon- Obalufun Orixá of wisdom.
Obaluaiyê - Obaoluwaye is the orixá of the epidemic diseases and curses.

Others deities inculde Olosa, Ela or Oluorogbo, Moremiajasoro, Oke, Oranfe, Alafere,, Yemoo, Obameri, Obalufun e.t.c A visit to one of the Candoblé terreiros in Bahia or Babalawo domain in Ile-Ife, Nigeria will shed more light on these deities and their religious functions and importance.

CEREMONIES

In Salvador da Bahia, metaphorically speaking, everyday is a holiday and an opportunity to party. It is a place among all the places that I have been around the world that has the highest numbers of holidays. Apart from the major ones like that of the Independence of Brazil, the Independence of the State, the Carnival, Lavagem de Bonfim, Festa de lemanja, São João, workers day, children´s day, Christmas and New year celebrations, there are countless others, that I have lost count of. Most of the catholic saints have their respective holidays; every profession has its day, like teacher's day, doctor's day, secretary's day, lawyer's day e.t.c. Just every excuse to party and have fun. The Yoruba people are not any different from the Baianos in this area. They are considered the most party crazy tribe in Nigeria. For this reason, they as referred to as the J' aye J' aye tribe of the country (people who like to enjoy life). They have all kinds of ceremonies where they get down just to party, block major streets and highways like Brazilians do on weekends and carnivals and just party till the break of dawn. Let's look at some of these ceremonies below and other factors that differentiate as well as make these people similar..

NAMING CEREMONIES

"The Yoruba take names seriously, for names have meaning and are believed to live out their meaning. Thus, serious effort is put into naming a new born baby. As they say, ile ni a n wo, ki a to so omo l'oruko. That is, we have to pay attention to the tradition and history of the family before we give names to a child. The meaning of this is that each family has its own tradition, and therefore, its own historically determined name-group. The tradition may derive from the kind of profession that it is known for. For instance, a family of hunters may name their baby "Ogunbunmi" (the god of iron gives me this). Or it may derive from the kind of religion it practices. For instance, a family of Ifa worshippers will name their baby Falola (Ifa has honor). The bases on which names are given are much more varied as can be seen from the following examples taken from Samuel Johnson's The History of the Yorubas"

Like quoted above, most Christian Yoruba families have deviated and completely given up calling their children names that are linked to orisas or deities. Whereas in Bahia, the Afro-Brazilians practicing the candomblé religion are taking up these names.

In Yoruba land, it is mandatory that when a child is born, two parties are held. One is called Iko omo and the other is so omo l'oruko. The first welcomes the child into the world and the second is the naming ceremony where names are chosen for the child. Family members, friends and well wishes play active roles in these parties. Depending on the financial capability of the family, popular musicians could be hired to perform, goats and cows, are slaughtered, new clothes are bought and the streets are of course blocked. Gifts of all kinds are brought to the child to grace the occasion. "Since it is generally believed that names are like spirits which would like to live out their meanings, parents do a thorough search before giving names to their babies.

Naming ceremonies are performed with this in mind. The oldest family member is given the responsibility of performing the ceremony. Materials used are symbols of the hopes, expectations and prayers of the parents for the new baby. These include honey, kola, bitter kola, atare, water, palm oil, sugar, sugar cane, salt, and liquor. Each of these has a special meaning in the world- view of the Yoruba. For instance, honey represents sweetness, and the prayer of the parents is that their baby's life will be as sweet as honey.

After the ritual, the child is named and other extended family members are given the honor to give their own names to the child. They do this with gifts of money and clothing. In many cases, they would want to call the child by the name they give him or her. Thus, a new baby may end up with more than a dozen of names"

In Bahia, there is no such thing as a naming ceremony; the name of the child is given immediately the woman is pregnant and aware of the sex of the child. When the pregnancy is say 2 months and above, the friends and family members of the pregnant woman rally around her to have what is called chá de bebê,(baby shower) where they buy all sorts of stuff that the baby will need. This is a way of rendering financial assistance to the family. There is also what is called chá de fraldas, where strictly napkins and diapers are bought for the baby. In the past, in Salvador, when the baby is born in the hospitals champagne is popped up and drunk by family members while men smoke cigars. For Christian families, basically Catholics, the child is baptized 2 months later. Unlike in the Yoruba tradition, visitors are not allowed in until the child is a month old, but close friends and family members could see the child before the prescribed one month for visiting. During the visits, the parent of the new born prepares special presents for the first 10 visitors to the house. One thing that is presently rampant that can never happen in Yoruba land unless a woman is medically detected to have complications during child birth ,is the embrace of cesarean birth ( C-Section). 90% of families with pregnant woman comfortably embrace this form of birth in Bahia and even go extra mile to advice all pregnant women that it is the best form of delivery, because it relieves the critical pain of child birth.

WEDDING CEREMONY

"Wedding ceremony is the climax of a process that starts with courtship. The young man identifies a young woman that he loves. He and his friends seek her out through various means, including playing pranks. The young man sends messages of interest to the young woman, until such a time that they are close enough to avoid a go-between (alarina). Then once they both express mutual love, they let their parents know about their love. The man's parents arrange to pay a visit to the prospective bride's parents. Once their consent is secured, the wedding day may be set. Prior to the wedding day, the payment of dowry is arranged. This secures the final consent of the bride's parents, and the wedding day is fixed. Once the day has been fixed through consultation with the Orisa, the bride and bridegroom are warned to avoid travelling out of town, including to the farm. This is to prevent any mishap. The wedding day is a day of celebration, eating, drinking and dancing for parents, relations, the new husband and wife and their friends and relations. Marriage is not considered to be only a union of the husband and wife, it is also seen among the Yoruba as the union of the families on both sides". In Salvador, courtship between couples starts as early as the age of 12, teenagers are seen billing and looing is public places. When its time to get down to brass task marriage wise, unlike the Yoruba tradition, the lady or man brings his or her partner to introduce to her folks as her intended. With or without the consent of the parents the couples might get engaged. But the wedding day is always taken seriously, where the bride and groom will be majestically dressed, the family members will also follow suit. The ceremony will end in a grand style reception, but the marriage could park up in 2 weeks or last forever. But majority ends up untimely. The similarity between the Yoruba and Brazilian marriage ceremony from Bahia is that lot of cash is involved in the preparations and festivities that follow. Another prominent similarity is that a woman or man can abscond with a lover and start living with him or her and start making babies without any pre-arranged marital celebrations or official courtship and they will be considered married provided they are living together in both culture.. The difference is that courtship unlike in yoruba land starts at age 13 in Bahia.

CARNIVAL

Salvador's carnival is the world's biggest 7 day concentration of people feasting and partying on the streets. Though there is no festival or carnival in Yoruba land that can be compared to it. What one can only observe is the colorful dresses that go along with this event. Like any festive occasion in Yoruba land, the carnival groups parade in an exhibition of different brilliant colorful costumes. The Bloco Afros (Afro- Brazilian groups) wear mostly what they call abada which is an adaptation of the Yoruba word for Agbada ,(a loosed short sleeved shirt that goes as far as the knee or ankle depending on the design and purpose), They are also dressed in head gears which the Yorubas refer to as gele…., almost similar to how the traditional Isale- Eko ( women from the Lagos Island) tie them. The music which is played during carnival by this Afro - Brazilian groups, which is termed African music, is percussion based and it's actually a far cry from a Juju, Apkala, or Fuji type of Yoruba music. One basic similarity in the Salvador carnival and most ceremonies in Yoruba land is, the people can save the great part of the money they make all through the year and lavish it on the carnival celebration, while even a very poor Yoruba man can also go all out and starve or even borrow money, just to save towards the preparation and realization of a successful organization of any kind of party a Baiano can equally do likewise for carnival.

RESPECT

Like the Brazilians, the Yoruba traditional society believes in strong family and cultural ties. This belief provides the hope and expectation of returning home wherever they find themselves around the world. If and when they do return, they want their children or foreign spouse to be able to fit into their extended families. Hence, they have the desire to teach them about their culture, especially those aspects that have to do with the etiquette of honest, generosity, truthfulness, humility, loyalty, greetings, and most importantly respect for elders and those in positions of authority. The Yorubas greatly belief that charity begins at home and it does not end there, that is why the concept of Iwa Pele (development of character) is being instilled into the children when they are born. Lack of respect for elders leaves much more to be desired, that is also why it is strongly believed that those who disrespect their elders will acquire curses and apparitions from them. The maxim the "words of our elders are words of wisdom" is held in high esteem in Yoruba land. The modern system of governance whereby elders are sometimes disrespected doe not apply in the Yoruba tradition. If a child misbehaves, to an elderly person or to a family member that is just some few years older than him, the rod will not be speared because the child will be spoiled.

However, in Salvador da Bahia, the people have inculcated and imbibed today's overly commercialized and individualized societal values, principles and philosophies and thrown away respect to the dogs. I was taken aback when I heard a child asked his father if he is crazy (Pai voce é louco); workers openly disrespect their bosses, children use swear words when talking to their elders. Different strokes they say for different folks. But the issue of respect is one great difference that I have witnessed between the Yorubas and Brazilians from Bahia. Yes, we know respect begets respect, but for crying out loud the young can disagree with their elders without resorting to calling them names or ridiculing them in the public places like it is done in Salvador.

PROVERBS

According to the Oxford Advance Genie dictionary a proverb is defined as a well-known phrase or sentence that gives advice or says something that is generally true.

Every language possesses its particularities. The proverbs in English like the ones in Yoruba and Portuguese have certain historical meanings. They portray the existence of one or more generations and are capable instruments of conduct to be applied in our daily living. They say how we should behave, through giving pieces of advice, orders or direct prohibitions; they give signals of dangers and traps and even criticize the human behavior.
"In the Yoruba culture, proverbs are appreciated as the vehicle for words. As one proverb on proverbs puts it: proverbs are the horses for words, for when words are lost, we use proverbs to seek them out. The value placed on proverbs extends to those individuals who are well-skilled in their use. They are revered in the community because they have the ability to get to the heart of a matter through the use of appropriate proverbs. Since proverbs are not immutable, and since they have times and contexts of application, it is important for a skillful verbal artist to know the appropriate time and context for their use. There is what is called "asipa owe" or wrong proverb-making. A person who is able to detect "asipa owe" and come up with a counter proverb is also deserving of respect in the community."
"Take the following example:
: "Ibi ti aiye ba ba'ni, ni a ti nje," "Home is wherever you find life in abundance."
Eniti ko ni baba ni'gbejo, bo ba ro ejo are, ebi ni i je.
(A person who has no mentor on the judgment throne will lose even if he has a clean and just case.)
Eniti ko ni baba ni'gbejo, bo ba ro ejo are, ebi ni i je.
( A person who has no mentor on the judgment throne will lose even if he has a clean and just case.)
Erin ki i fon ki omo re fon
(Mother elephant and baby elephant do not trumpet at the same time.) ( see Owomoyela, 1988)
This is used to discourage a person from enhancing his/her children's image through his/her own status. For instance, a politician may be campaigning for an elective position while his son is also interested in a political career. The father's opponent might discourage them with this proverb. However if the father is also well versed in proverbs, the appropriate response is
Fere ko pe meji ni
(Only if there is not more than one trumpet.)
The point of this response is that the first proverb is irrelevant in this situation because there are more than one position and the father and son have enough resources to compete successfully on their own individual merits.

Kira kita k'o mola, ka sise bi eru ko da nkankan
That the Yoruba are generally pragmatic in their approach to ethics and moral issues is illustrated by their proverbs which may appear contradictory, but which actually are meant to indicate caution. Consider the following pair of proverbs on hard work:
(Strenous laboring does not bring wealth; struggling like a slave does not eradicate poverty)

Ise loogun ise
(Work is the cure for poverty)

An adequate resolution of the apparent conflict here must take account of the fact that the Yoruba are generally against extremes in any direction. To work excessively in order to have wealth is to expose oneself to untimely death. This is what the first proverbs cautions against. On the other hand, to refuse to work is to expose oneself to incurable poverty. This is the point of the second proverb.

Some proverbs arise from observations of natural phenomena and/or human affairs. For instance:
Obe kan ki i mu ki o gbe eeku ara re
(No knife is so sharp that it is able to carve its own hilt.)

This proverb can be interpreted in two ways. First, it is impossible for a knife to carve its own hilt because it cannot cut anything without having a good hilt. Therefore, since it will have to have a hilt in order to cut anything, it cannot cut its own hilt. Second, even after it has got a hilt, however sharp a knife is, it cannot cut or scrape its own hilt. Another knife will have to be used for that purpose. The meaning of this is that however smart one is, one will still need other people to help one with important personal matters. One should therefore avoid arrogance."
Like in the Yoruba language the Brazilian Portuguese spoken in Bahia is also filled with proverbs, as a matter of fact, one cannot say amongst these two groups who make use of proverbs the most. Let's look at some popularly used Portuguese proverbs.

A pressa é inimiga da perfeição.- Haste makes waste

Tudo o que é bom, dura pouco - All good things must come to an end

Mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois voando - A bird in hand is worth two in the bush

Desgraça pouca é bobagem - Bad things never come singly

Atrás de um grande homem há sempre uma grande mulher.- Behind a great man there is always a great woman.

Em boca fechada não entra mosquito - A closed mouth catches no flies

Cada um sabe onde o sapato aperta - He who wears the shoes knows where it pinches

Olho por olho, dente por dente - An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth

Curta que a vida é curta - Enjoy every moment because life is short

Gato escaldado tem medo de água fria - Once bitten twice shy

Quem ama o feio, bonito lhe parece - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder -

Onde tem fumaça tem fogo- Where there is smoke there is fire

Água mole em pedra dura, tanto bate até que fura - Constant dripping bores the stones

Quando um burro fala, o outro abaixa a orelha - When one speaks, the other should listen.

As aparências enganam - Looks can be deceiving

Quem não arrisca não petisca - Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Quem tem boca, vai a Roma - He that has a tongue in his head may find his way anywhere

Roma não foi construída num dia - Rome was not built in a day

Quando um não quer, dois não brigam - It takes two to make a quarrel

OTHER ASPECTS to be compared include funeral ceremony, family setting, pet names, food moving into a new house, dress codes, curses, e.t.c.

For more information on individual or group lectures you can contact me on markstevensonfuo@gmail.com