awa_omoyoruba

20/11/2023

AKỌNI ỌMỌ YORÙBÁ: AKÍNWANDÉ OLÚWỌLÉ BABÁTÚNDÉ ṢÓYÍINKÁ.

Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright, poet, novelist and political activist. Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family on 13 July 1934 in Abeokuta, which is in Ogun state, today. Before earning a degree in English from the University of Leeds in England in 1958, Soyinka attended Government College and University College in Ibadan. After coming back to Nigeria, he established an acting group and wrote his first significant play, A Dance of the Forests, for the country's independence celebrations (published in 1963 and produced in 1960).
In 1986, Soyinka became the first Black African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. In addition, Soyinka is a political activist who called for a cease-fire in an article written during Nigeria's civil war. For this, he was detained in 1967 and kept as a political prisoner for 22 months, until his release in 1969.
Some of Wole Soyinka's works are; The Lion and the Jewel, Trial of Brother Jero, Kongi’s Harvest, Death and the King’s Horseman.

16/11/2023

Days of the week (Àwọn ọjọ́ nínú ọ̀sẹ̀)

15/11/2023

Mọ́remí Àjàṣorò: The Courageous Queen of Ilé-Ifẹ̀

Mọ́remí Àjàṣorò was a legendary Yoruba queen and heroine who aided in the deliverance of the people of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ from the nearby Ugbo Kingdom who raided and enslaved a large number of Ife inhabitants.

Mọ́remí was the wife of Ọ̀rànmíyàn, the son of Odùduwà, who was the first king of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ and the founding father of the Yoruba people.

The people of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ were enraged over the raids, but they lack the resources and courage to protect themselves because the invaders, who showed up as masquerades entirely covered in raffia leaves, were perceived by the Ilé-Ifẹ̀ people as spirits.

Queen Mọ́remí was a valiant, brave and beautiful queen who promised to make a tremendous sacrifice to the river Èsímìrín in order to learn the strength of the nation's foes, therefore, address the problem confronting her people. So, she bravely offered to be taken as prisoner by the invaders.

She was then taken as a slave by the Ugbo invaders, and with Èsímìrín's assistance and her beauty, she married their ruler and became his queen. Once she became acquainted with the tactics of her new husband's army, she fled to Ilé-Ifẹ̀ and told the Yoruba people about it. The people of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ used her information to defeat the Ugbo people in battle.
After the war, Mọ́remí went back to her first husband, King Ọ̀rànmíyàn, who had her back as queen right away. In order to keep her word, Mọ́remí went back to Èsímìrín river, who demanded a sacrifice of her only son, Olúorogbo. She paid the price and kept her word.
In order to make up for the child she had lost, the entire Kingdom of Ilé-Ifẹ̀ offered to be Queen Mọ́remi's children forever, a promise they have upheld till this day

The picture above is the Queen Mọ́remí statue of liberty, which is the tallest statue in Nigeria, erected by the Ọọ̀ni of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Ọba Adéyeyè Ẹniìtàn Ògúnwùsì in 2016.

Follow to learn more about the Yorùbá language, people and culture.

24/10/2023

Bí a bá sọ̀kọ̀ sọ́jà, ará ilé ẹni ní bá

Translation: He who throw stones in the market will hit someone he knows

Meaning: Be careful of your deeds because it may bounce back on you.

23/10/2023

Ní irú ọjọ́ òní lọ́dun 1936 ni wọ́n bí Àníkẹ́ Agbaje-Williams ní ìlú Abẹ́òkúta.
Àníkẹ́ Agbaje-Williams ni obìnrin agbóhùnsáfẹ́fẹ́ àkọ́kọ́ ní Naijiria àti nílẹ̀ Adúláwọ̀.

Àṣẹ́yí ṣàmọ́dún, koko lara ọta n le, igba ọdún, ọdún kan

A happy birthday to Àníkẹ́ Agbaje-Williams.
She was the first female broadcaster in Nigeria and Africa.

May you celebrate more years in good health Ma.

11/05/2023

Njẹ́ o mọ̀?

01/08/2022

01/08/2022

Welcome to the month of August