YORÙBÁ LIFESTYLE

ONÍWÀ ỌMỌLÚÀBÍ

Background.

In the world, mindless of what tradition, culture, custom, race you may belong to, one thing distinguishes you from any other person no matter the close resemblance and that is ÌWÀ (character).Ìwà is who you are, what comes out of you, what makes you, the easiest way to know and recognize you. Ìwà in English language means behaviour or character. It speaks you out; it tells people all about you; whether you are friendly or not; good or bad. Everyone in the world
possesses it.

What you look like is your behaviour not the physical appearances. Ìwà portrays you; it beautifies you or stains you. Your beauty or fineness is physical but ìwà is your inner shape. It either paints you beautifully or hideously.

Yorùbá people believe so much in ìwà, they believe that ìwà makes you become who you want to be in life. They believe that everyone is destined to be great in life but your ìwà may not let you fulfill the great destiny. In one of the Ifá verses of Èjì Ògbè, Ọyẹkú, it says:

‘…ìwà nìkàn ló sọrọ,

ìwà nìkàn ló sọrọ,

Orí kan kìí burú lótù u Ifẹ.

ìwà nìkàn ló sọrọ’

‘…Character is the only thing that determines

Character is the only thing that determines

No one is destined to be unfortunate

Character is the only thing that determines’

Yorùbá people believe that ìwà is of two types; ìwàọmọlúàbí/rere (good behaviour) and ìwàburúkú (bad behaviour). They believe that any behaviour that reflects out of you will attract same from others and it will be done back to you. That is why they say:

‘Ohun to bá şe lóo gbà’

‘Whatever thing you do to others, you shall receive back’

 They will also say:

‘Ẹni bá gbin èèbù ìkà, orí ara rẹ ló n gbìn ín lé’

‘He who plants an evil yam plants it on his own head’

 They will also say:

‘Ẹ şe rere kó baà lè yẹ yín’

‘Do well so that it will be well with you’

Furthermore, Yorùbás believe that ìwà makes perfect one’s religion and any religion that makes ìwà an exception is meaningless and that is why they say:

‘Ìwà l’ẹsìn’

‘Character is religion’

 All what religion preaches is nothing but good behaviour.

So, let us have it at the back of our minds that ìwàis the backbone of this write-up.

Introduction

Since we have known what ìwàis and the topic for the discourse is ‘oníwà ọmọlúàbí’, let me now introduce to you that ìwà is an abstract noun. ONÍWÀ is a two-morpheme word which is formed from:

ONÍ(the owner/someone who has) + ÌWÀ(behaviour)= ONÍWÀ(the owner of behaviour or someone who has behaviour).

ỌMỌLÚÀBÍ is formulated from three free morphemes;

ỌMỌ(child)+OLÚWA(Lord)+BÍ(gives birth)=ỌMỌ-OLÚWA-BÍ=ỌMỌ TÍ OLÚWA BÍ(the child given birth to by the Lord).

OLÚWA is a combination of two free morphemes;

OLÚ(head)+ÌWÀ(behaviour)=OLÚ-ÌWA=OLÚWA.

 In short, we say ỌMỌLÚÀBÍ is the child given birth to by the head of behaviour-such child must possess a good behaiour and character. So, when any child behaves well and has a good behaviour, they will say, ‘ọmọlúàbí l’ọmọ yìí’ means ‘this child is a child of good behaviour’.

Furthermore, ONÍWÀ ỌMỌLÚÀBÍ is someone who has a good behaviour. Yorùbás believe that children are to be taught ìwà ọmọlúàbí so that they will be useful to the world. That is why Ògúnşínà (1980:40) said:

‘Ìwà is the most valuable thing among all Yorùbá value

System. Without people who have it; the world would

be a very difficult place to live in.’

Many Yorùbá proverbs also agree with this fact. Yorùbás will say:

 ‘ọmọ ti a bá bí tá ò kọ ni á gbé ilé tí a kọ tà’ (Whatever achievement one has would be put on sale by a child who lacks home training); ‘láti kékeré lati n pẹka ìrókò, tó bá dàgbà tán, ẹbọ ni yóò máa yàn’ (we cut the branches of  ìrókò tree when it is young because when it grows bigger, it turns to a god); ‘Ilé lati n kẹşọọ rode’ (tidiness starts from home).

Every Yorùbá family likes their children to be Ọmọlúàbí so that they will be useful to the world. Since there is no shortcut to the top of a palm tree, where you choose to climb it is where you will alight even if ìwà ọmọlúàbí is innate, parents still need to teach their children how to possess it.

          There are different ways to kill a rat without shedding its blood; there are different ways of teaching one’s child ìwà ọmọlúàbí. Before the coming of the white people, one of the ways Yorùbásteach ìwà ọmọlúàbí is through àlọ (folk tales). Children gather every night at a place to listen to an elderly person tell them àlọ.

Different ìwà ọmọlúàbí are taught in each àlọ and that is why the elderly person who tells the àlọ will ask ‘kí ló kọ wa o?’ (what does it teach us?) and the children reply: ‘ó kọ wa wí pé ká má ma jalè, ká má ma purọ, ká ma ní ìtẹlọrùn,abbl’ (it teaches us not to be stealing, not to be lieing, to be satisfied, etc). Gradually, the children would know the dos and don’ts of the society. But since the coming of the white men, schools have now replaced the night classes of àlọ.

          Apart from àlọ, there are other ways of teaching ìwà ọmọlúàbí.  Parents would sit their children down after doing what is wrong, telling them the right thing to do next time. They will say ‘báyìí lọmọlúàbí n şe…’ (This is what ọmọlúàbí will do…) and they will start saying it and giving them examples. Sometimes, they might site an example of someone who fell into such situation and what he did to save himself. All these would be stored in their brains and they would turn out to be good children.

          Also, ìwà ọmọlúàbí can be taught in schools, churches, mosques, and every other place where they teach. If everyone can possess ìwà ọmọlúàbí, Nigeria will be far better than every other country in the whole world.

          So, my readers, let us teach ourselves ìwà ọmọlúàbí and teach our children too this ìwà ọmọlúàbí to make Nigeria a better place to live in.

How many dirts can we count in a rust teeth? Many are the different ways oníwà ọmọlúàbí can appear or behave.