After the conversation, I was deeply impressed but still had the urge to discover more about my culture. I watched the beautiful sunset by the beach, listened to the gentle, mild swash of the calm waters as I reflected on what the fisherman told me and tried to comprehend what led to Nigeria’s agricultural wealth. I took refuge for the night under the tall palm trees and protected myself from the cold of the night with huge palm leaves. The next mourning I was woken up by the sunrise; I felt brand new as I had regained my full energy, turning to my left I saw a book ashore and picked it up.
I had coconut milk and some coconuts for breakfast, and then I set out exploring to satisfy my curiosity. The book was titled ‘Wealth and Culture of Nigeria’, from this book, I understood there were three main languages and ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Ibgos, Hausas and Youruba. I discovered I was Yoruba and began to seek out on Yoruba tradition. I travelled to the Youruba land in the western part of Nigeria where I met a kind old woman weaving dried grass in a hut; she sat me down for long hours and told me about Yoruba. The Yoruba claim that they have 401 deities; in truth, there are more deities. The arts of the Yoruba are as numerous as their deities, and many objects are placed on shrines to honor the gods and the ancestors. Beautiful sculpture made from brass, wood and occasionally terracotta. Additional important arts include pottery, weaving, and bead working.
Each town has a leader (Oba), who may achieve his position in several different ways including inheritance, gaining the position through participation in title associations, or being personally selected by an Oba already in power. Every Oba, however, is considered a direct descendant of the founding Oba in each city. A council of chiefs usually assists the Oba in his decisions.
She continued by saying when a child is born, he or she must be named after eight days. The naming of a child is usually a big ceremony, families and friends gather together to witness the event; grandparents bring forward names of their choices whish usually have a meaning within the family. A child could have more than one name with different meanings. The child may be named after warriors, disasters that occurred in the family; At this point, I began to have deep thoughts about the meaning of my name, she stopped and told me it meant ‘Day dreamer’. I was astonished, as this old woman had read my mind; I thanked her for she had totally solved all my mysteries and given me an in-depth knowledge of whom I really was.
Reaching the end of ‘Wealth and Culture of Nigeria’; It was concluded that the Yoruba believe that when they die they enter the realm of the ancestors where they still have influence on earth. Maskers (egungun) appear at funerals and are believed to embody the spirit of the deceased person. Other important orishas (gods) include Eshu, the trickster; Shango, the god of thunder; and Ogun, the god of iron and modern technology. I returned to England with thoughts of how complex and diverse the Yoruba culture is.
It was seven o’clock on the dot as the loud ringing of my clock awaked me, to find out I was late for work and my long voyage in search of where I come from was only a dream!!!!!!!!