The Yoruba in Transition

The Yoruba in TransitionHistory, Values, and Modernity

edited by

Toyin Falola and Ann Genova

Carolina Academic PressDurham, North Carolina

Copyright © 2006by 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 ToyinFalola 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, March26-28, 2004.

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 1-59460-134-81. Yoruba (African people)--History--Congresses. 2. Yoruba (African

people)--Ethnic identity--Congresses. 3. Yoruba (African people)--Social con d i ti on s - - Con gre s s e s . 4 . Ni geri a - - Social con d i ti on s - - Con gre s s e s . 5 . Ni geri a--Ethnic relations--Congresses. I. Falola, Toyin. II. Genova, Ann. III. Title.

DT515.45.Y67Y75 2005966'.00496333--dc22 2005008085

Carolina Academic Press700 Kent Street

Durham, North Carolina 27701Telephone (919) 489-7486

Fax (919) 493-5668www.cap-press.com

Printed in the United States of America

To Professor E. A. Ayandelefor his contribution to Nigerian studies

Contents

List of Figures xiAcknowledgments xvContributors xviiIntroduction xxv

Part AHistories Reconstructed

Chapter 1 Notes on Yorùbá Newspapers, 1859–2002 3Táíwò Olúnládé

Chapter 2 Ile Iwe Ofe: Socialist Epistemology in Awolowo’sReconstruction of Yoruba Identity and Nationalism 13ashimuneze heanacho

Chapter 3 Urban Politics in a Yoruba Frontier: Mushin 75Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani

Chapter 4 The Metamorphosis of the Bamidele Movement 85Lateef M. Adetona

Part BIdentity at the Crossroads

Chapter 5 Yoruba Ethnicity and the Pursuit of Western Educationin Southwestern Nigeria 101Ademola Babalola

Chapter 6 Law Making in Pre-Colonial Yorubaland 111Mojeed Olujinmi A. Alabi

Chapter 7 Dispute Settlement under the Yoruba Culture:Lessons for the Criminal Justice System 125Oluyemisi Bamgbose

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Chapter 8 The 419 Scam: Cybercrime and the Virtual World 151Anne Webb

Chapter 9 Motherhood as a Source of Empowerment of Women 171Taiwo Makinde

Chapter 10 Age Stratification and Marital Relations among the Yoruba 183Jacob A. Adetunji

Chapter 11 Understanding Demographic and Health Events through Yoruba Proverbs 195Jacob Oni

Chapter 12 Abortion among the Yoruba 227Ibigbolade Simon Aderibigbe

Chapter 13 Jinxed: On Being White and Yoruba 247Elaine Neil Orr

Chapter 14 Confronting the Future: The Yoruba at a Crossroads 259Jare Ajayi

Chapter 15 Confronting the Future: An Advocacy Agenda and Program 281John Babatunde Bamidele Ojo

Part CThe Future of Modernity

Chapter 16 Road Traffic Accidents in Yoruba States 303Bamidele Abiona Badejo

Chapter 17 AIDS Explosion in Yorubaland 321Oluwatosin Ige Alo

Chapter 18 The Oodua Peoples Congress and Crime Control in Lagos 331Adewole Akinyemi AtereAkeem Ayofe Akinwale

Chapter 19 Storage of Grains: The Nigerian Perspective 343B. O. Akintunde

Chapter 20 Culture, Technology, and Gari Processing 353T.Y. Tunde-Akintunde

viii CONTENTS

Chapter 21 Agriculture in Yoruba Society and Culture 361Adebayo A. Lawal

Chapter 22 Yoruba Associations: Sources of Empowerment 377Julius Adekunle

Chapter 23 Crisis and the Restoration of Older Values 391‘Tunji Azeez

Chapter 24 Dual Residence Patterns in a Yoruba Community 411Jacob A. AdetunjiKefa M. Otiso

Chapter 25 Women and Yoruba Culture 423Mary E. Modupe Kolawole

Chapter 26 Gender, Household Sex Roles, Work, and the Contemporary Yoruba Family 445Asiyanbola R. Abidemi

Chapter 27 Yoruba Cultural Influence on Junior and SeniorSecondary Curriculum 463Jamaine Abidogun

Index 491

CONTENTS ix

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Yorùbá Newspapers 4Fig. 2.1 Missionary Education, 1851–1931 27Fig. 2.2 Education in Nigeria, 1900 and 1960 31Fig. 2.3 School Attendance Fee-Paying Primary Schools in

Western Nigeria, 1954–1961 31Fig. 2.4 Secondary Schools in Southern Nigeria, 1859–1914 32Fig. 2.5 Curricular Domains 55Fig. 2.6 Primary School Enrollment in 1937–1966, 1970 by Region 59Fig. 2.7 Roots of Teaching and Learning 60Fig. 10.1 Age-Achievement Interactions 190Fig. 11.1 Pers ons Who First No ti ced Ch i l d ’s Ill n e s s 203Fig. 11.2 Pers ons Who First No ti ced Ch i l d ’s Illness by Ch i l d ’s Status I 204Fig. 11.3 Pers ons Who First No ti ced Ch i l d ’s Illness by Ch i l d ’s Status II 205Fig. 11.4 Mean Duration of Treatment Delay by Status of Child I 206Fig. 11.5 Mean Duration of Treatment Delay by Status of Child II 207Fig. 11.6 Persons Who Made Treatment Decision by the Status of

the Child 208Fig. 11.7 Child’s Status by Persons Who Made Treatment Decision 209Fig. 11.8 Persons Who Made Treatment Decision by Mother’s Position

in Polygynous Union 209Fig. 11.9 Person Who Paid for Treatment by Status of the Child 210Fig. 11.10 Person Who Paid for Treatment by Mother’s Position

in Polygynous Union 211Fig. 16.1 Epidemiological Model of Road Transport Accident 305Fig. 16.2 Phases of Road Accidents 305Fig. 16.3 Table of Reported Road Accident Cases in Nigeria,

1991–2002 309Fig. 16.4 Graph of Reported Road Accident Cases in Nigeria,

1991–2002 310Fig. 16.5 Reported Road Accident Casualties in Nigeria, 1991–1995 310

xi

Fig. 16.6 States Analysis of Reported Road Accident Cases in Nigeria,1995 313

Fig. 16.7 Table of Reported Road Accident Casualties, 1994–1995 314Fig. 16.8 Table of Road Traffic Accident Analysis in Yoruba States,

1990–2002 315Fig. 16.9 Geo-Political Structure of Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria

Analysis Summary, 1990–2002 315Fig. 16.10 Graph of Road Traffic Accident Analysis in Yoruba States,

1990–2002 316Fig. 16.11 Geo-Political Structure of Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria

Analysis Summary, 1990–2002 316Fig. 19.1 Mud Rhumbus 348Fig. 19.2 Mud Rhumbus 348Fig. 19.3 Grain Storage Platform 348Fig. 19.4 Inside of a Maize Crib 348Fig. 19.5 Thatched Rhumbus 350Fig. 19.6 Performances of Traditional Grain Storage Structures 351Fig. 20.1 Flow Chart of Gari Processing Techniques of Localities

in Nigeria 356Fig. 21.1 Calendar of Agricultural and Social Events 364Fig. 24.1 Percent of Respondents Who Were Farmers and the

Average Number of Days Spent on the Farm Weekly,Efon Alaaye, 1991 413

Fig. 26.1 Socio-Economic Information of the Households 450Fig. 26.2 Responsibilities of Women and Men 453 Fig. 26.3 Decision-Making with Respect to Residential House in High

Density Areas 454Fig. 26.4 Payment for Services in High Density Residential Areas 454Fig. 26.5 Decision-Making with Respect to Residential House in

Medium Density Areas 455Fig. 26.6 Payment for Services in Medium Density Residential Areas 455Fig. 26.7 Decision-Making with Respect to Residential House in

Low Density Areas 456Fig. 26.8 Payment for Services in Low Density Residential Areas 456Fig. 26.9 Mode of Sharing Payment for Services 456Fig. 26.10 Variation in Activity/Roles for Men and Women 457Fig. 26.11 Result of Correlation Analysis between Wife’s

Employment/Income and Husband’s Participationin Household Chores 457

xii LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 26.12 Result of Paired Sample “T” Test Statistics of WomenPhysical Well-Being and Men Physical Well-Being 458

Fig. 27.1 Main Building at Abadina College 470Fig. 27.2 Courtyard at International School - University of Ibadan 470Fig. 27.3 Student Demographics of Abadina and International School 471

LIST OF FIGURES xiii

Acknowledgments

This vo lume is com pri s ed of p a pers that were ori gi n a lly pre s en ted at thei n tern a ti onal con feren ce Pers pe ctives on Yo ru ba Hi s to ry and Cu l tu re, wh i ch wash eld at the Un ivers i ty of Texas at Au s tin from Ma rch 26 to Ma rch 28, 2 0 0 4 .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 sf rom all over the worl d . Du ring the three - d ay peri od , p a n elists and parti c i-pants discussed important issues within the field of Yoruba studies. The goalof the con feren ce inclu ded revi ewing the current state of the litera tu re andmethodology as well as identifying new areas worthy of study.

Within the rich discussions during the conference on Yoruba culture, sev-eral themes stood out . S ch o l a rs passion a tely discussed the el a s tic natu re ofYoruba culture by praising some aspects and criticizing others. Of particularinterest was the role of women, the use of customary law, and the role of theYoruba in national politics. The conclusions reached called for the preserva-ti on of a s pects su ch as language , with a particular em phasis on Yoru b aproverbs, and the change of others such as the treatment of women. Partici-pants con clu ded that edu c a ti on within the family as well as the cl a s s room wasthe best place to instill traditional and modern Yoruba values.

A mu l ti - d i s c i p l i n a ry con feren ce of this magn i tu de could not have been po s-sible without the contributions of many. We would like to thank first all thep a rticipants that travel ed great distances to be with us in Au s ti n , Tex a s . Weare grateful to the graduate students that helped us run the conference (JoséBa rra g á n , E l i z a beth Day, Roy Doron , Tyl er Flem i n g, Ma t t h ew He a ton , An d reJo h n s on , Bra n don Ma rs h , As h l ey Ro t h rock , and Anne Tu rn bu ll) as well asSam Saverance and Laura Flack. We would like to extend a special thanks toAina Olomo and the Egungun of Ile Olokun Sanya Awopeju and the Univer-s i ty of Tex a s’ Af rican Stu dent As s oc i a ti on for bri n ging to life the ri chness ofYoruba cultu re du ring the con feren ce . The dep a rtm ents and or ga n i z a ti ons thatsu pported us financially inclu de the Dep a rtm ents of Hi s tory, G overn m en t ,English, and Theatre and Dance. Also, to the Center for African and AfricanAm erican Stu d i e s , the Office of the Vi ce Pre s i den t , the Un ivers i ty Co - Op, t h eSchool of Music, College of Fine Arts, Office of the Dean of Students, Office

xv

of Graduate Studies, Department of Technology, Literacy, and Culture, andthe Texas Cowboys Lectureship, we would like to extend our gratitude.

Toyin Falola and Ann Genova, University of Texas at Austin

xvi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

xvii

Contributors

Jamaine Abidogun holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an em-phasis in Af rican and Af ri c a n - Am erican studies from the Un ivers i ty of Ka n s a s .She has studied and conducted social science research in Ghana, Nigeria, andthe Un i tes State s . She is curren t ly the Program Coord i n a tor for So ut hwe s tMi s s o u ri State Un ivers i ty ’s BSED Secon d a ry Social Studies program in the De-p a rtm ent of Hi s tory at Spri n gfiel d , MO and head advi s or for their MSED pro-grams in history and in social science. Abidogun has taught in both second-a ry and high er edu c a ti on . She form erly held the po s i ti on of E du c a ti onProgram Con sultant for the Kansas Af ri c a n - Am erican Advi s ory Com m i s s i on ,Dep a rtm ent of Human Re s o u rces for the State of Ka n s a s . She has an inter-disciplinary background that incorporates African Diaspora studies with so-cial studies education.

Ju l ius O. Ade k u n l e holds a PhD in Af rican Hi s tory from Dalhousie Un iver-s i ty, Ha l i f a x , Ca n ad a . He is an As s oc i a te Profe s s or of Af rican Hi s tory at theDep a rtm ent of Hi s tory and An t h ropo l ogy, Mon m o uth Un ivers i ty, West Lon gBra n ch , New Jers ey. He has form erly held te aching po s i ti ons at Dalhousie andSt. Mary’s University in Halifax, and at Tennessee State University, Nashville.He teaches Western Civilization, African and Caribbean history. He has pub-l i s h ed several book ch a pters and re s e a rch publ i c a ti ons in journ a l s . His re-s e a rch interests inclu de et h n o - rel i gious po l i tics in Ni geria and his recent pub-l i c a ti on is Pol i ti cs and Soci ety in Ni geri a’s Mi d dle Belt: Bo rgu and the Em ergen ceof a Political Identity (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2004).

Lateef M. Adetona studied at the Lagos State University and the multi-disci-plinary department of Religions at the University of Ilorin. He is currently aLectu rer Grade One of Islamic Con tem pora ry Studies in the Dep a rtm ent ofRel i gi ons at Lagos State Un ivers i ty in Ni geri a . He has over a score of ac adem i ccontributions in reputable local and international journals. He is the electededitor 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 asbusiness manager of the Lagos State University Journal of Arabic and Islamic

xviii CONTRIBUTORS

S tu d i e s , Al - Ha d a ra h. He also has aut h ored a nu m ber of books and mon o-graphs including The Abuse of Islamic Rites and Ceremonies in the Contempo -ra ry Ni gerian Soci ety ( L a go s : Al - Basit Produ cti on s , 1 9 9 5 ) , The Holy Prop h etMuhammad: His Life and Sayings (Al-Haqq and OACE Publishers,2000), andThe Hei n ous Sins in Islam (al-Ka ba’ir fil Is l a m ) ( Free Enterprise Pu bl i s h ers ,2 0 0 4 , fort h com i n g ) . He is curren t ly wri ting his doctoral thesis on Is l a m i c“Propagation in the Southwest of Nigeria.”

Ibigbolade Simon Aderibigbe is a Senior Lecturer of the Philosophy of Reli-gion 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 andchapters 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 abortionand medical ethics. His areas of research and teaching include the philosophyof religion and African religion. He is married with children.

Jacob A. Adetunji, PhD, was trained as a Demographer at the Australian Na-ti onal Un ivers i ty, Ca n berra . He had po s t - doctoral re s e a rch ex peri en ce at Ha r-vard University and the Population Studies Center of the University of Penn-sylvania. He was formerly Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bowling GreenS t a te Un ivers i ty, but curren t ly works as Sen i or Technical Advi s or at the Bu-reau for Global He a l t h , US Agency for In tern a ti onal Devel opm en t . His re-s e a rch interests inclu de pop u l a ti on and devel opm en t , m a ternal and ch i l dh e a l t h , f a m i ly planning and reprodu ctive health, and HIV/AIDS. He has pub-l i s h ed several re s e a rch papers on these topics in intern a ti onal peer- refereedjournals. He has also conducted some research studies among the Yoruba ofsouthwest Nigeria.

Ja re Ajayi is the Exec utive Di rector of the Af rican Agency for an en h a n cedSoc i o - Ethic and Trad i ti onal Order (ASETO ) . He is an assoc i a te mem ber ofthe Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and hadserved as a one time assistant general secretary of the Association of NigerianAut h ors (ANA ) . He is also a litera ry figure of n o te whose work s , i n clu d i n gpoetry and pro s e , h ave won local and intern a ti onal accl a i m . He is a Poet ofMerit since 1994. Th ro u gh his works and the agency he head s , he has been anadvocate of synthesizing the positive ideals of the past with a view toward re-shaping the pre s ent to be able to have a more de s i ra ble futu re . A veteran jour-nalist, Ajayi lectures part-time at the Nigerian Institute of Journalists (IbadanCampus) and edits a bilingual community newspaper in Nigeria.

CONTRIBUTORS xix

B. O. Ak i n t u n de, is an agri c u l tu ral en gi n eer specializing in crop proce s s i n g.He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the Department of AgriculturalE n gi n eering at the Un ivers i ty of Ib ad a n . He is a Sen i or Lectu rer at the Fed-eral College of Agriculture and has published a number of papers on the de-s i gn and con s tru cti on of a gri c u l tu ral processing mach i n e s , su rvey of po s t - h a r-vest losses, and stora ge stru ctu res of s ome fru i t s , veget a bles and cere a l s . Ot h erpublications include papers on the effect of tillage methods on planting cow-pea and the safety and causes of tractor-related accidents.

Akeem Ayofe Akinwale is at Lagos State University. His research interests in-clude the social response to criminal activity in Nigeria.

Moj eed Olujinmi A . Al a bi, L L B, P h D, is a Ba rri s ter and So l i c i tor of t h eSupreme Court of Nigeria. He taught Political Science at Obafemi AwolowoUn ivers i ty in Il e - Ife , Ni geria (1990–1998) before he ven tu red into practi c a lpolitics for four years (1990–2003). He is now a Senior Lecturer in Compar-a tive Po l i tics and In tern a ti onal Rel a ti ons at Ba bcock Un ivers i ty in Il i s h a n -Remo, 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 So-ciology and Anthropoloy at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

As iya n bola R. Abi demi B S c , M U R P, was tra i n ed at the Ob a femi Awo l owoUniversity in Ile-Ife, Nigeria and the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Nigeria.He is curren t ly com p l eting his doctoral dissert a ti on at the Un ivers i ty ofIb ad a n . He is a past rec i p i ent of CODESRIA aw a rd , a small grant for thesiswriting. He is also a Lecturer in the Department of Geography and RegionalPlanning at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria. His researchi n terests are in gen der, u rban geogra phy / p l a n n i n g, h o u s i n g, and envi ron m en tand population studies.

Adewole Ak i nyemi Atere, P h D, is a Sen i or Lectu rer in Cri m i n o l ogy and Pen o l-ogy at the Lagos State University in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a Co-editor of Cap -tives Captor and Soci ety: A Soci ol o gical An a lysis of Ad j u s tm ent Me chanism ofPrisoners in Nigeria. He recently co-edited Crime Management in Nigeria. Hehas several publications in scholarly journals. He is currently working on TheTreatment of the Elderly in Prisons.

‘Tunji Azee z, t h e a ter arti s t , s ch o l a r, and poet has a BA (Hon ors) in Dra m a ti cArts and an MA in Th e a ter Arts from the Ob a femi Awo l owo Un ivers i ty in Il e -Ife , Ni geria and the Un ivers i ty of Ib adan in Ib ad a n , Ni geria re s pectively. A on e -time 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

( 1 9 9 2 – 1 9 9 4 ) , he is pre s en t ly a lectu rer in both the Dep a rtm ent of E n glish Stu d-ies and the Dep a rtm ent of Th e a ter Arts & Music at Lagos State Un ivers i ty andthe Arti s tic Di rector of a Lago s - b a s ed theater- ori en ted non - govern m ental or-ga n i z a ti on call ed Opti m om Arts Kon s o ti om (OA K ) . He has publ i s h ed a boo k ,Pra ctical Hints on Pl ay wri ting (2003) as well as sch o l a rly essays in journals andboo k s . His cre a tive works aw a i ting publ i c a ti on are the plays , T h ree Devel op -m ental Pl ays, Te ch . Ni te Revel a ti o n and Ka biyesi Ga l a ga l a (an ad a pt a ti on of Al-bert Ca mu s’ C a ll i g u l a) and a co ll ecti on of poem s , Arrival: Songs of Ho m a ge. Heis curren t ly a doctoral stu dent at the Un ivers i ty of Ib ad a n .

Ademola Ba b a l o l a, P h D, is a Sen i or Lectu rer in the Dep a rtm ent of Soc i o l ogyand An t h ropo l ogy at Ob a femi Awo l owo Un ivers i ty in Il e - Ife , Ni geri a . Hete aches co u rses in the areas of s ocial ch a n ge and devel opm en t , Ni gerian soc i-eties and cultu re s , and com p a ra tive social insti tuti on s . Babalola has publ i s h edex ten s ively on how the introdu cti on and adopti on of com m ercial flu e - c u redtob acco produ cti on in the Oyo north divi s i on , u n der the auspices of the Bri ti s hAm erican Tob acco (BAT) , a f fected the soc i o - econ omic lives of the peop l e . Ba-balola also has publ i s h ed works on how soc i o - econ omic devel opm ent in Ni ge-ri a , f rom pre - co l onial 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 Geogra phy andPlanning Department at Lagos State University in Lagos, Nigeria. He is alsoan Assistant Director at the School of Part-Time Studies at the university andthe Exec utive Di rector at the Af rican Re s e a rch In s ti tute of Tra n s port and Com-mu n i c a ti on Devel opm en t , wh i ch is a non - govern m ental or ga n i z a ti on basedin Lago s . He also served as the Acting Di rector for the Cen tre for PlanningStudies at the University. Badejo is widely published with five books, severalarticles in reputable journals, and chapters in books. He has attended manyconferences with paper presentations locally and internationally. He has overtwenty years of research, teaching, and administrative experience in the aca-demic/university system.

Oluyemisi Ba m g bo s e, L L M , B L , is an As s oc i a te Profe s s or of Criminal Lawand 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 par-ticularly interested in the human rights of women and adolescents. Her arti-cles on these issues inclu de “Vi o l en ce against Wom en : A Reocc u rring In ter-n a ti onal and Cri m i n o l ogical Probl em ,” “ Human Ri ghts and Health Is su e sa rising from Street Trading Practi ces among Young Girls in Ni geri a ,” “Teen a geProstitution: The Future of Female Adolescents in Nigeria,” and “CustomaryLaw 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 profes-sor in criminal procedure at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee,Wi s con s i n . She is curren t ly the ch a i rpers on of the Federal Govern m ent Stu dyGroup on the Death Penalty in Nigeria.

a s h i mu n e ze heanach o, P h D, is an As s oc i a te Profe s s or of P h i l o s ophy and Edu-c a ti onal Th eory at Cen tral Mi ch i gan Un ivers i ty. He is the aut h or of s everal pa-pers , i n cluding “ Forms of Kn owl ed ge Th eory,” Revi ew Jou rnal of Ph i l o sop hy andS o cial Sci en ce (RJPSS) 3 8 , 2 (2002):42–8 8 . He is also the 2004/2005 Series Edi-tor of the R J P S S’s i s sue “ Mi n d , Cu l tu re , and Edu c a ti on” and a founding ed i torof the fort h coming journal of Af ri co l ogy, Ep i s tem e. h e a n acho is com p l eting abook manu s c ri pt , Optimal Edu c a ti o n, a stu dy of d i s tri butive ju s ti ce , due in 2005.

Ma ry E. Modu pe Ko l awo l e, P h D, is Profe s s or and Chair of E n glish and Wom en’sS tudies at Ob a femi Awo l owo Un ivers i ty in Il e - Ife , Ni geri a . She is the aut h or ofm a ny intern a ti onal arti cles and books including Womanism and Af rican Co n -sci ou s n e s s (Tren ton , N J : Af rica World Pre s s , 1 9 9 7 ) , Gen d er Perception and De -vel opm ent in Af ri c a ( L a go s : Arra bon , 1998) and Zulu Sofola: Her Li fe and HerWo rk s ( Ib ad a n : Ca l top, 1 9 9 9 ) . She has been a rec i p i ent of the Na ti onal Endow-m ent for the Hu m a n i ties and As s oc i a ti on of Com m onwealth Un ivers i ti e s . S h ewas a Rockefell er Fell ow at Corn el Un ivers i ty, a guest re s e a rch er at the Nord i cAf rica In s ti tute in Sweden , DAAD Fell ow at Hu m boldt Un ivers i ty in Germ a ny,and an As s oc i a te of the Af rica Gen der In s ti tute in So uth Af rica among others .She is the Na ti onal Coord i n a tor of Wom en Wri ting Af rica and a con sultant toa gencies su ch as Ford and the Un i ted Na ti ons Un ivers i ty. She is curren t ly inter-roga ting gen der theories from a cro s s - c u l tu ral and tra n s - n a ti 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 : F i rst Ac ademic Pu b-l i s h ers , 2003) and is the aut h or of s everal arti cles and book ch a pters on theeconomic history of Nigeria, West Africa and Africa. He is a founding mem-ber and has been the acting sec ret a ry of Am erican Studies As s oc i a ti on of Ni ge-ria (ASAN).He was a Fu l bri ght and Rockefell er scholar in the 1990s. Cu rren t lyhe is the head of the Hi s tory Dep a rtm ent and Stra tegic Studies wh ere he is re-searching on Ila’s relations with the Igbomina up to 1900.

Ta iwo Ma k i n de is in the Dep a rtm ent of Pu blic Ad m i n i s tra ti on at Ob a fem iAwo l owo Un ivers i ty. Her re s e a rch interests inclu de the vi ews of wom en inNigeria.

John Ba b a t u n de Ba m i dele Oj o received his PhD at How a rd Un ivers i ty inWashington, D.C.

xxii CONTRIBUTORS

Táíwò Ol ú n l á d é, M A , P G D J, PhD (in vi ew ) , is a Sen i or Lectu rer in Yoru b aand Com mu n i c a ti on Arts at Lagos State Un ivers i ty in Lago s , Ni geri a . He isthe 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 Broth-ers Ni geria Pu bl i s h ers , 1 9 8 6 ) . 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 -ri a ( 1 9 9 6 - 2 0 0 0 ) . He is also the ed i tor- i n - ch i ef of Yo ru ba Id e a s ( L a go s :G l en dora In tern a ti onal Ni geria Pu bl i s h ers) and is curren t ly working on Yoru b anewspapers for his PhD thesis.

Jacob Oni, PhD, currently teaches Sociology at Roxbury Community Collegeas an Ad ju n ct Profe s s or and does su b s ti tute te aching for the Bo s ton publ i cs ch ool sys tem . He is a re s e a rch er, co u n s el or and minister. He is the curren tNew England Region Coordinator of Programs for the Deeper Christian LifeMinistry.

Elaine Neil Orr holds a PhD in Litera tu re and Th eo l ogy from Emory Un i-vers i ty. She te aches cre a tive non - f i cti on , Am erican litera tu re , and con tem-pora ry litera tu re at North Ca rolina State Un ivers i ty in Ra l ei gh , North Ca r-o l i n a . She also te aches in the short - re s i dency MFA in wri ting program atSpalding Un ivers i ty. She is the aut h or of Gods of Noo n d ay: A W h i te Girl ’sAf rican Li fe ( Ch a rl o t te s vi ll e : Un ivers i ty of Vi r ginia Pre s s , 2 0 0 3 ) , Su bje ct toNegoti a tion: Reading Feminist Cri ti cism and Am erican Wo m en’s Fi cti o n s( Ch a rl o t te s vi ll e : Un ivers i ty of Vi r ginia Pre s s , 1 9 9 7 ) , and Ti llie Olsen and aFeminist Sp i ri tual Vi s i o n (Jack s onvi ll e : Un ivers i ty Press of Mi s s i s s i pp i , 1 9 8 7 ) .She has publ i s h ed essays , revi ews , and poems in Si gn s, Am erican Li tera tu re,The Mi s sou ri Revi ew, S ou t h ern Cu l tu re s, Ka ll i ope, Obsidian II, Mod ern La n -g u a ge Quarterly, and Jouvert: A Jou rnal of Po s tcolonial Stu d i e s, a m ong otherp l ace s .

Kefa M. Oti s o is an urban and econ omic geogra ph er with a PhD in Geog-ra phy from the Un ivers i ty of Mi n n e s o t a . He is curren t ly an assistant pro-fe s s or of G eogra phy at Bowling Green State Un ivers i ty. His work has ap-pe a red in refereed journals su ch as the Si n ga po re Jou rnal of Trop i c a lGe o gra p hy and Ci ti e s and in ed i ted vo lumes su ch as a Co n tem po ra ry Af ri c a,Af rica Volume 5, ed i ted by Toyin Falola (Du rh a m , N C : Ca rolina Ac adem i cPre s s , 2 0 0 3 ) , and C l othing and Footwear in Af rican In du s tri a l i s a ti o n, ed i tedby Doro t hy Mc Corm i ck and Ch ri s tian Rogers on (Pretori a : Af rican In s ti tuteof So uth Af ri c a , 2 0 0 4 ) .

Ha keem Ibikunle Tija n i, is an Assistant Profe s s or of Hi s tory at Hen ders onS t a te Un ivers i ty. His te aching interests are Af rican Hi s tory, Bl ack / Di a s pora

CONTRIBUTORS xxiii

History, History of Islam, and Modern Middle East. His areas of research in-clu de Econ om i c , Po l i ti c a l , and Urban Hi s tory of Su b - Sa h a ran Af ri c a ; Na-ti onalism and An ti - Com munism in West Af ri c a ; Im perialism and Co l on i a l-ism in Af ri c a ; and post-1945 An gl o - Am erican interest in West Af ri c a . Herecently received grants from the McMath Endowment, Ellis Faculty, and theUn ivers i ty Devel opm ent Fund at Hen ders on State Un ivers i ty. He had previ-o 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 In s ti tute , and a nati onal defense medal from the Un i ted StateArmy.

T. Y. Tunde-Akintinde, is a Lecturer in the Department of Food Science andEngineering at Ladoke University of Technology in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. Shespecializes in the optimization of food processes. Her current area of study ison the processing of f ruits and veget a bles to redu ce po s t - h a rvest losses. S h ehas 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 on of the pro-du cti on process of s oym i l k , s oybean oi l , ga ri , and some sor ghum produ ct s .Other papers involved the design and construction of some agricultural pro-cessing machines, and post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables.

Anne Webb is a Ma s ter ’s Ca n d i d a te of L i n g u i s tics at the Un ivers i ty of Texas atAu s ti n . She is curren t ly con du cting re s e a rch on regi onal dialects of E n gl i s h .Her re s e a rch interests inclu de dialecto l ogy, border cultu re s , s tyle and iden ti ty.

xxv

1 . Sa mu el Jo h n s on , The Hi s to ry of the Yo ru bas: From the Ea rliest Times to the Begi n n i n gof the British Protectorate (London: CMS Bookshop, 1921).

Introduction

Toyin FalolaAnn Genova

Elitism and Liberal AgendaThe emergence of elite history is one of the defining moments of the his-

tori ogra phy of the Yoru b a . Du ring the nineteenth cen tu ry, a pion eer el i teem er ged , thanks to We s tern edu c a ti on and Ch ri s ti a n i ty. This el i te played aprominent role in creating the idea of the Yoruba, both as a people and as an a ti on . So su ccessful were they that one of t h em , Sa mu el Jo h n s on , com p l etedthe longest history ever written on them, in the last decade of the nineteenthcen 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 epower was manife s ted in the establ i s h m ent of n ews p a pers , a devel opm ent an-alyzed in this volume in the chapter by Táíwò Olúnládé. While not telling usmu ch new inform a ti on , Ol ú n l á d é ’s em phasis on the su rvival of Yoruba news-p a pers should be noted . It dem on s tra tes the con ti nu i ty of the stra tegy of tu rn-ing literacy into power, via the med ium of the pre s s . As he points out , Yoru b an ews p a pers rise and fall , but there is never a vac u u m , and the circ u l a ti onnumber keeps rising. Of course, the impact of those published in English ismu ch stron ger. The diminishing role of the print media is not peculiar toNi geri a ; in the era of In tern et , no media out l et can be faster than moving amouse aro u n d . One po s s i bi l i ty of ex p a n s i on may lie in the Yoruba news p a-pers being made available via Internet services.

Education has always been the key to the empowerment of the Yoruba andthe con s tru cti on of el i ti s m . Af ter 1940, the agenda of l i beral reforms inclu deda massive ex p a n s i on of the edu c a ti on sys tem . The dominant pers on a l i ty in

xxvi INTRODUCTION

2 . See , for instance , Abn er Co h en , Cu s toms and Pol i ti cs in Urban Af rica: A Stu dy ofHausa Migrants in Yoruba Towns (London: Rutledge and Kegan Paul, 1969).

3 . Sa n d ra Ba rn e s , Pa trons and Power: Cre a ting a Pol i tical Co m mu n i ty in Metropol i t a nLagos (London: Manchester University Press, 1986).

this enterprise was the leading hero of the twentieth century, Chief ObafemiAwo l owo. He was a strong advoc a te of f ree edu c a ti on , an issue thatashimuneze heanacho explores in his chapter. heanacho gives us the compre-h en s ive road map to understand the devel opm ent of We s tern edu c a ti ona m ong the Yoru b a . This new era began in 1955 with the introdu cti on of We s t-ern education, an initiative that took elementary education to towns and vil-lages. While that decision made Awolowo very famous, his larger agenda wasto empower the Yoruba, making them competitive in Nigerian economy andpolitics.

The Yoruba have always constructed their identity in the context of inter-group relations within the region known as Yorubaland, as well as within thel a r ger geogra phical regi ons of the Yoruba in Ni geria wh i ch even tu a lly ex-p a n ded from sout hwe s tern Ni geria to nort h ern Ni geria and el s ewh ere . Nort h-ern ers , too, i n term i n gl ed with them , f a s h i oning establ i s h ed stra n gers’ com-munities that generated conflicts and competitions.2 Hakeem Ibikunle Tijaniretu rns to this issu e , by high l i gh ting ten s i ons in intra - group rel a ti ons in Lago sin 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 we a ken ed , a n dthe con du ct of po l i tics has become far more com p l i c a ted . In Ju l ius O.Ade k u n l e’s essay, we see how people com bine to attain po l i tical and econ om i cobj ective s . 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 organi-zation, the Bamidele movement, rooted in traditionalism, projected itself onthe larger com mu n i ty and went abo ut rec ru i ting new converts and ex p a n d i n gits mem bers h i p. The stra tegy of the Ba m i dele movem ent was to rej ect thech a n ges perceived as We s tern and corro s ive . As the ben efits of We s tern form a ledu c a ti on became cl e a rer, the Ba m i dele began to ad ju s t , a ll owing the cre a ti onof We s tern - s tyle sch ools while sti ll running Quranic on e s . While this bl en dcon ti nu e s , it is clear that tod ay that the majori ty of Yoruba sti ll opt for theroute of Western education, although many have argued that Western educa-tion draws pupils toward the usage of European languages, dress, and cultureand away from those of their traditional ethnic groups. The issue of identityhas emerged from this conflict.

INTRODUCTION xxvii

Identity and NegotiationsThe Yoruba el i te 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 i den ti ty and how human bei n gs see kto com mu n i c a te their va lu e s , proj ect an image , and live their live s . E du c a ti onremains the key, with Demola Babalola reminding us of the con n ecti on be-t ween et h n i c i ty and the devel opm ent of We s tern edu c a ti on . To Ba b a l o l a , et h-n 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 ofWestern education to be connected to an ethnic-cum-political calculation.

L i ke el s ewh ere , the Yoruba re s pond to the ex i gencies of l aw, and the ten-s i ons bet ween order and disorder. As to law, t h ere is nothing new in the for-mu l a ti on of l egal codes to deal with human rel a ti on s . Before the on s et ofco l onial ru l e , the Yoruba had their own form of l aw ad 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 ex-pected to settle the dispute . Al t h o u gh they were not wri t ten or cod i fied , t h el aws were wi dely accepted . We see the example of l aw making among theYoruba 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 , h i era rch i c a l , and rep u bl i c a n .Al a bi wants us to note the limits they impo s ed on the exercise of power, a n dto treat them as an important legacy to ad a pt for the pre s en t . For dem oc rac yto work tod ay, the trad i ti on of ch ecks and balances that worked in the pastmust be em braced anew.

Some of the older elements have been reworked into what we may call, forwant of a bet ter term , the ambi g u i ty of m odern laws . Si n ce indepen den ceNigeria has witnessed its political and, as a consequence, its judicial systemsbreaking down . Its govern m ent has been unable to ef fectively curb corru pti onand halt the downw a rd spiral of its econ omy. In gra ppling with this issu e ,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 l aw.Oluyemisi Bamgbose supports this idea by suggesting that Nigeria reforms itscriminal system with ideas from Yoruba culture, particularly with respect tolaws relating to disputes. Her work builds on that of Alabi because the issuesshe raises have relevance for the present. However, the present society is nota parti c u l a rly happy on e , s i n ce it is under going profound moral dec aden ce .The most notable example of this is the recent wave of e-fraud connected tothe Yoruba.

Al t h o u gh the ori gin has not been con f i rm ed , Ni gerians are all eged to bethe ori gin of the “ 4 1 9 ” s c a m s . More spec i fic a lly, the Yoru b a , who are the dom-

xxviii INTRODUCTION

4. LaRay Denzer, “Yoruba Women: A Historiographical Study,” International Journal ofAfrican Historical Studies 27 no. 1 (1994): 2.

inant ethnic group in Lagos, have been accused of this because the authors ofthe letters use Yoruba names and Lagos addresses. The notorious 419 crimesh ave intern a ti on a l i zed the level of c ri m i n a l i ty among edu c a ted men andwom en who use their talents for du bious means in ways ex p l a i n ed by An n eWebb in her chapter. Thanks to the Internet, 419 scams are global operationsthat link the Yoruba to wider international networks of e-fraud. Anne Webbeven con n ects the tra n s acti ons with issues of ethnic iden ti ty, for their capa-bility to destroy a culture and its image.

But areas of positive activity are more numerous than those of criminalitywh i ch reveal the need to revisit history to bring out the best in Yoruba cultu re .Three essays explore issues around family and lineage units. Motherhood asan agency of empowering women is explored in Taiwo Makinde’s essay. Thes tu dy of wom en in Af rica has ch a n ged over ti m e . Wh en looking at the historyof Yoruba wom en since pre - co l onial ti m e s , s ch o l a rs have foc u s ed pri m a ri ly onthose working as po l i tical activists or within the upper cl a s s . However, wi t h i nthe past ten years, scholars are focusing on ordinary women who work in themarkets or in their homes.4 Makinde joins this latter group with her progres-s ive ch a racteri z a ti ons of Yoruba wom en as wive s , pri e s te s s e s , d a u gh ters ,wi tch e s , and mothers . She high l i ghts the idea that each gen era tes va rious po s-i tive and nega tive re s pon s e s . Con cluding with a policy statem en t , Ma k i n dewants society to give women more power and resources to play their roles asmothers.

In ternal power stru ctu res in households remain import a n t , as we are re-minded in the chapter on age stratification by Jacob A. Adetunji. While age isimportant to the Yoruba, and most especially within the household, Adetunjishows how achievement, urbanization, and Western education are now erod-ing its sign i fic a n ce . His re s e a rch focuses on a Yoruba com mu n i ty in Ekiti , wi t hwhich he conducted his research studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. InE k i ti , Adetunji ex p l ored the level of male and female parti c i p a ti on in the com-mercial production of rice. And he expanded his analysis to look at the con-sequences of this work on marital relationships.

L i ke Adetu n j i , Jacob Oni focuses on the state of E k i ti , one of the Yoru b astates in southwestern Nigeria that formed out of the creation of 36 states in1996.One of the nort h ernmost states in Yoru b a l a n d , it is pri m a ri ly ru ra l , wi t hmountains and fertile land. The regi on is loc a ted at the bend of the Ni gerRiver, wh ere agri c u l tu re is the dominant econ omy activi ty. Within farm i n g

INTRODUCTION xxix

5 . Com p a ri s ons can be drawn with We s tern cultu res and Ch ri s ti a n i ty. See Jon a t h a nKell ey et al, “ Moral Re a s oning and Po l i tical Con fli ct : The Aborti on Con trovers y,” B ri ti s hJournal of Sociology 44 no. 4 (December 1993): 589-612.

6 . See , for instance , Wo l f Bl ee k , “ In du ced Aborti on in a Ghanaian Fa m i ly,” Af ri c a nStudies Review 21 no. 1 (April 1978): 103-120.

communities such as this, the family plays an important role in the success oft h eir livel i h ood . The inhabitants of E k i ti are patrilineal and practi ce ei t h erm on oga my or po lyga my. From his work in the regi on , Oni iden ti fies casu a ls t a tem ents and profound proverbs that captu re aspects of f a m i ly life . With ex-amples of expressions that explain health and demographic issues, he focuseson the issue of po lyga my. The stu dy of po lygamous marri a ges in Af rica hasbeen a major topic of research. While scholars in the West have tended in thepast to focus more on women’s responses and why modern African societiescontinue the practice, scholars are beginning to focus, instead, on the impactthis practice has on the family unit as a whole. To Oni, polygamous marriageis a scene of rivalry between co-wives based on child welfare. His work showsus a happy marri a ge of c u l tu re and met h odo l ogy in ways that su ggest new ap-proaches to these issues.

Social bel i efs are of ten su s t a i n ed and com p l em en ted by rel i gious on e s . Ibi g-bo l ade Si m on Aderi bi g be cre a tes this kind of l i n k a ge bet ween rel i gi on and tra-d i ti onal medical practi ce s , with a focus on aborti on . Trad i ti on a lly, ch i l d renwere the main re a s on for marri a ge . A wom a n’s barrenness was seen as a curs e ,and the husband was justified in taking another wife. Traditional Yoruba be-lief rejected the practice of abortion, but it did not stop women from seekingthem. Referring to the Ifa oracle (the unwritten scripture of this indigenousrel i gi on wh i ch guides almost every aspect of a practi on er ’s life ) , Aderi bi g becites passages that reject abortion. It is said to be derived from the Ifa’s oppo-s i ti on to adu l tery and its denu n c i a ti on of k i lling human bei n gs .5 Overa ll ,Aderibigbe’s work asserts Yoruba beliefs into the wider global debate regard-ing aborti on .6 In Yoru b a l a n d , we find the same con ten ti on that if a borti on waslegalized it could be regulated and more safe for women. Aderibigbe sees thedebate 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 areno excepti on . The issue of a borti on high l i gh t s , a l s o, the interp l ay bet ween tra-ditional medicine and Western medicine.

Th ro u gh o ut modern Ni geri a , trad i ti onal medicine con ti nues to play an im-portant ro l e . Al t h o u gh We s tern medicine is wi dely practi ced , m a ny Ni geri a n srely on these traditional remedies. Elaine Neil Orr, the daughter of a medicalmissionary who was stationed in Ogbomoso, Nigeria, understands the paral-

xxx INTRODUCTION

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 Mu h a m m ad Na n iya , “ Hi s-

tory of the Shari’a in Some States of Nort h ern Ni geria to Ci rca 2000,” Jo u rnal of Is l a m i cStudies [Great Britain] 13 no. 1 (2002): 14-31.

l el role of Yoruba trad i ti onal medicine and We s tern med i c i n e . Du ring heryo ut h , she fell ill and sought help from trad i ti onal healers . She wro te that,“ [ my] parents had taken medicine to Ni geri a , but paradox i c a lly, I would needYoruba 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 oi r, b a s edon 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 experi-ences can be the roots of social activism. In defining herself, she is also defin-ing the Yoruba.

Two chapters look ahead into the future. Many Yoruba warn about the fu-ture, painting pictures of doom and gloom, seeing the legacy of colonialismstill alive and corrupting Nigeria. The most important rift within Nigeria ex-ists bet ween the predom i n a n t ly Muslim north and the Ch ri s tian south on bo t hreligious and political grounds. Since independence, more and more north-ern states have implemented Islamic, or sharia law, which has distanced thesestates from those of southern Nigeria.8 Politically, the history of this politicaltension between the north and south in Nigeria goes back to British colonial-ism. After almost a hundred years of colonial rule, the British began the han-dover of the co l ony to a Ni gerian govern m en t . Bri tish favori tism tow a rdn ort h ern Ni geria was evi den t , p a rti c u l a rly du ring the 1959 el ecti on , wh en theBritish allegedly manipulated the situation for a northern win. Jare Ajayi andJohn Ba b a tu n de Ba m i dele Ojo both ad d ress this issu e , but in very differen tstyles.

Both Ajayi and Ojo present the Yoruba as victims of both British rule andnortherners. They use the fall of Obafemi Awolowo in the early 1960s as thep ivotal point at wh i ch Yoruba solidari ty and po l i tical strength in the nati onbegan to decl i n e . To the Yoru b a , Awo l owo repre s en ted the voi ce of the Yoru b apeople thro u gh his uncom promising activism and sch o l a rs h i p. FromAwolowo’s decline in power, Ajayi and Ojo build their analysis on the presentstate of the Yoruba in politics. Ajayi regards the members of the Yoruba’s po-litical class as divided and not always committed to their people. A bright fu-ture, according to Ajayi, can only come if economic and political paradigmsa re altered . John Ojo wri tes in a more com b a tive ton e , p l e ading to the Yoru b anot to be shy of fighting, and never to expect good to come from the rule ofthe military and other non - dem oc ra tic sys tem s . In Ojo’s essay, we find the

INTRODUCTION xxxi

9 . Un i ted Na ti ons Programme on HIV/AIDS, “ Ep i dem i o l ogical Fact Sheets onHIV/AIDS and Sex u a lly Tra n s m i t ted Di s e a s e s : Ni geri a ,” G en eva : U NA I D S , 2 0 0 4 , 2 . Re-trieved from http://www.who.int.html.

m er ger of c u l tu ral and po l i tical nati onalism and the fru s tra ti on of an el i te wh owants its people to do better in a federal Nigeria.

Fashioning the FutureThe el i te proj ect since the nineteenth cen tu ry is alw ays abo ut the futu re of

m odern i z a ti on , defin ed in terms of We s tern edu c a ti on , j ob s , devel opm en t , a n dpower to con trol Ni geri a . In the last segm ent of this boo k , we pre s ent som ee s s ays that look at the ob s t acles to a su ccessful proj ect of m odern i z a ti on . Mu chof t h eir con cern cen ters on the ex p a n s i on of c i ties and towns wi t h o ut an in-f ra s tru ctu re to su pport them . This is parti c u l a rly the probl em in sout hwe s ternNi geri a , in the heart of Yoru b a l a n d , the most den s ely pop u l a ted regi on of Ni ge-ri a . For anyone that has travel ed along the major roads in this regi on , it is nosu rprise that these roads are con s i dered among the most dangerous in theworl d . The highw ay that ex tends northeast from Lagos to Ib ad a n , for ex a m-p l e , is one of the worst because of the com bi n a ti on of poor road and veh i cl econ d i ti ons mixed with rampant criminal activi ty occ u rring along them . ToBa m i dele Abi ona Badej o, the ra te of acc i dents is too high on roads in Yoru b a-l a n d , and he makes a nu m ber of recom m en d a ti ons to redu ce the nu m ber oftra n s port a ti on - rel a ted casu a l ti e s . In ad d i ti on to the risks of travel , Ni geria hasalso 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 late1970s in Africa and has silently spread, becoming pandemic by the 1980s. Es-ti m a tes by the Un i ted Na ti ons place the nu m ber of people living with A I D Sin Ni geria at almost 4 mill i on .9 For Oluw a tosin Ige Al o, AIDS and HIV areproblems in Nigeria which require creative solutions drawn from traditionaland modern medical practi ce s . He em ph a s i zes that, in Ni geri a , n ew dru gs andm edical assistance are not wi dely ava i l a ble or are too ex pen s ive . Because ofthis, the death rate from AIDS is extremely high. What is crucial to the pre-vention of HIV/AIDS is an understanding of how it is contracted and how toprevent it. The spre ad of HIV/AIDS hits hard at the cultu ral standards andtaboos. Many view the invasion of HIV/AIDS on their community as the re-sult in a breakdown of moral codes. A belief exists in Nigeria that modernityand urbanization have encouraged the breakdown of social values. This ideaalso applies to an increase in criminal activity.

xxxii INTRODUCTION

1 0 . Tina Wa ll ace , “The Ch a ll en ge of Food : Ni geri a’s Approach to Agri c u l tu re 1975-1980,” Canadian Journal of African Studies 15 no. 2 (1981): 239-258.

To Adewole Ak i nyemi Atere and Akeem Ayofe Ak i nw a l e , a rising crime waveis making the cities ri s ky to live in, and the use of vi gi l a n te groups is de s i r-a bl e . He high l i ghts the Oodua Peop l e’s Con gress (OPC) as a com mu n i ty - b a s edbody that en forced laws in Lago s . The or ga n i z a ti on has ri s en in pop u l a ri tysince its formation in the 1990s due to rampant problems of corruption andi n epti tu de . Atere and Ak i nw a l e’s ch a pter high l i ghts one of the examples of t h efailure of the formal sector in solving many problems.

A set of other essays look at ways to create a better future, making use ofd ivers i fied natu ral re s o u rces drawn from indigenous Yoruba and We s tern tech-n o l ogical innova ti on s . The regi on tod ay call ed Ni geria has a long history wi t han agri c u l tu re - b a s ed econ omy. The on s et of co l onial rule en co u ra ged the massproduction of agriculture for export, which placed a strain on food availablefor dom e s tic con su m pti on . Un til the oil indu s try bega n , a gri c u l tu re was Ni ge-ri a’s main source of forei gn exch a n ge . The discovery of com m ercial qu a n ti-ties of oil in the late 1950s caused a dramatic drop in agriculture as the coun-try inve s ted in oil produ cti on and not in expanding its agri c u l tu ra lproductivity. Farmers received little or no support from the government, andm a ny left their farms for urban em p l oym en t . Those who rem a i n ed in the bu s i-ness used outdated, non-mechanized equipment, and switched to cash cropprodu cti on . Within a short peri od , a gri c u l tu ral produ cti on for dom e s tic con-sumption nearly crumbled.

During the oil boom years of the 1970s, attempts were made to revitalizeNi geri a’s ailing agri c u l tu ral sector. For ex a m p l e , du ring the Th i rd Devel op-ment Plan (1975-1980) Nigeria invested millions on irrigation projects, roadcon s tru cti on , and incre a s ed use of ferti l i zers and insecti c i de s . But , a few ye a rsi n to the plan, it became clear that it was nei t h er helping the small scale farm ernor the quality of food produced for domestic consumption.10 Several chap-ters ad d ress this issue of Ni geri a’s weak agri c u l tu ral sector and con n ect the im-port a n ce of its revival to the mainten a n ce of Yoruba cultu re . By ex a m i n i n gthe link bet ween agri c u l tu re and Yoruba cultu re , we are introdu ced to the im-portant crops of the Yoruba to produce and consume, as well as unique har-vesting techniques based on traditional Yoruba practices.

Bayo Lawal has written an overview of the centrality of agriculture amongthe Yoruba. Lawal presents a society grounded in agriculture, but witnessinga decline due to ch a n ging econ omies and urb a n i z a ti on . His work ex a m i n e sYoruba trad i ti onal met h ods and inti m a te knowl ed ge of c u l tiva ting food wh i ch ,

INTRODUCTION xxxiii

even today, are used throughout Yorubaland. Among these basic methods ofp l a n ti n g, h a rve s ti n g, and storing thro u gh a land tenu re sys tem , the Yoru b aadd the use of spiritual forces, traditional calendars, rainmaking, and muchm ore . Th ey vi ew the worship of certain dei ties as essen tial to the su ccess oft h eir crop s . Fe s tivals are also an integral part of t h eir farm i n g. In this way, re-ligion and agricultural production become intertwined as representations ofYoruba culture.

For the Yoru b a , what a gri c u l tu re they produ ce not on ly repre s ents a cru-cial part of their economy, but also acts as a symbol of Yoruba culture. Dietamong the different ethnic groups in Nigeria varies. The Yoruba diet is basedon solid foods less than the Ig bo or those in the Mi d dle Belt regi on . Th ey con-sume large amounts of gari (a granular, starchy food), which separates themfrom the Hausa, for example, who consume no gari. To discuss gari, then, isto discuss a long-standing dietary tradition among the Yoruba.

The necessity of food is covered in two chapters, one by B. O. Akintundeon how to store gra i n s , and the other by T. Y. Tu n de - Ak i n tu n de on how toimprove the production of gari. Cassava, from which gari is made, is one ofthe most important crops in Nigeria, and is consumed in various forms. Gariis formed from gelatinized flakes of cassava and is the most common productobtained from cassava. Nigeria accounts for forty percent of all cassava pro-duced in Africa. Its popularity throughout the country stems from its abilityto grow high yi elds in poor soi l . In low income are a s , c a s s ava is useful in that,a f ter it has matu red , it can remain in the gro u n d . T. Y. Tu n de - Ak i n tu n de’s goa lin her ch a pter is to su ggest ways to improve the produ cti on of the cassava intoga ri in order to increase its nutri ti onal va lu e , dec rease the natu ral cya n i de con-tent, 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 gthe Yoru b a . Because the Yoruba live in a more humid cl i m a te of s o ut hwe s t-ern Ni geri a , t h ey deal with a high percen t a ge of grain loss. Hu m i d i ty ra i s e sthe moi s tu re level in stora ge stru ctu re s , wh i ch all ows grains to become dampand moldy qu i ck ly. For this re a s on , f a rm ers have devel oped bet ter met h od sin storing their gra i n s ; and thro u gh the stu dy of s tora ge tech n o l ogy, re-s e a rch ers have devi s ed more ways to redu ce the spoiling of gra i n s . However,Yoruba stora ge units are made from mud and thatch roofs , wh i ch Ak i n tu n decon tends yi elds a low level of u s e a ble gra i n . Fu rt h erm ore , the use of pepperand ash as natu ral insecti c i des is not en o u gh . Ak i n tu n de con clu des by say-ing that, within this regi on of Ni geri a , tech n o l ogical improvem ents are amust in order to prevent loss.

An o t h er set of e s s ays tu rns to the broader issues of va lues and cultu re s .‘Tunji Azeez thinks that indigenous va lues can combat the co llapse of con-

xxxiv INTRODUCTION

1 1 . Susan Gei ger, “Wom en’s Life Hi s tori e s : Met h od and Con ten t ,” Si gn s 11 no. 1 (1986):334-351.

temporary morality. His essay focuses on aspects of morality that are encour-a ged out s i de the rel i gious re a l m , but within the com mu n i ty. One way thatyoung people learn these va lu e s , he says , is thro u gh son gs wh i ch are short andsung in traditional styles. These songs, and their message, are passed withinthe community for generations, expressing the moral values of the commu-nity and complaints against any injustice such as government corruption.

Th ree essays look at the zone of s oc i a l i z a ti on wh ere the family plays a cru c i a lro l e . The habit of dual re s i den ce rem a i n s , as ex p l a i n ed by Jacob A . Adetunji andKefa Oti s o, as people travel bet ween the cities and vi ll a ge s , working as farm ersand fulfilling their soc i o - econ omic functi ons in the citi e s . So, the image ofJa nu s - h e aded migrants em er ge s , s i n ce the Yoruba see their journ eys as tem po-ra ry, and loya l ty to their host com mu n i ties is seen as unnece s s a ry if t h ey inten dto retu rn to their Yoruba hom el a n d . Those who typ i c a lly live this dual life aref a rm ers , traders , and cra f t s m en . An d , t h ey maintained this life s tyle even beforethe arrival of the Eu ropeans in the fif teenth cen tu ry. Adetunji and Otiso ex a m-ine how many urban dwell ers work as ru ral farm ers wi t h o ut com promising thei rs ocial and econ omic activi ty in ei t h er loc a ti on . So, these people are con s i deredto be living a tru ly dual life . O n ce aga i n , a town within the state of E k i ti is usedas a case stu dy. The town , E fon Al a aye , and its su rrounding areas are ri ch wi t hfertile lands. What Adetunji and Otiso found in this town was a coex i s ten ce oftrad i ti onal va lues mixed with urban modern i ty. Un derstanding the import a n ceof wom en in agri c u l tu ral produ cti on among the Yoruba did not go unnoti cedin Adetunji and Oti s o’s work . As part of t h eir re s e a rch , t h ey intervi ewed anda n a ly zed the parti c i p a ti on of wom en in ri ce produ cti on . Th eir work on ce aga i nh i gh l i ghts that wom en are crucial to Yoruba cultu re and devel opm en t .

With regard to the importance of women, Mary E. Modupe Kolawole ar-gues in her chapter that the production of culture moves not in a progressivedecline away from tradition, but more toward the incorporation of both tra-d i ti on and modern i ty. She wri tes that trad i ti onal Yoruba cultu re has showngreat re s i l i en ce . And this cultu ral pre s erva ti on provi des insight into gen der re-l a ti on s . Using the palace poetry on wom en regen t s , she shows the powerf u lside of women in real life and in literature. To Kolawole, this form of poetryshows the power of culture in sustaining an old institution. Kolawole’s workcon 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 histori-cal figure and placing it within the context of culture.11 Using women’s auto-

INTRODUCTION xxxv

bi ogra phies and oral histories and com bining cultu re and history, s ch o l a rs areable to draw new understandings of women in Africa. In her examination offemale regents within well known kingdoms su ch as the Oyo, she illu s tra te sn ew domains in wh i ch Yoruba wom en display their power. Th ro u gh thei rsongs, they emphasize the importance of family.

Similarly, Asiyanbola R. Abidemi views women as important in sustainingthe family. In spite of the We s tern influ en ce s , Abi demi notes the su rvival oftraditional stereotypes in the division of labor. Irrespective of their work andi n come level , wom en con ti nue to do more work than men in ch i l dc a re andhouse chores. Abidemi writes that the division of labor within the householdappears constant. The role of women in the home has resisted change despitethat an increasing number of Yoruba women work outside the home. The re-sult has been that wom en work essen ti a lly two job s , and find them s elve sstressed and overworked. In order to initiate change, Abidemi tells us, thereis a need for edu c a ti on and con s c i o u s n e s s - raising among men . Th i s , he be-l i eve s , could be ach i eved thro u gh sem i n a rs and work s h ops for men . E du c a-ti on serves as the key not on ly to ch a n ge outd a ted social va lu e s , but also topreserve those considered too valuable to forget.

The edu c a ti onal sys tem must be anch ored on core cultu ral va lu e s , con-clu des Jamaine Abi dog u n , who sees a link bet ween moral and ethical code sand the school curriculum. To Abidogun, education should inculcate respectfor divers i ty as well as te ach high moral code s . She wri tes that the sch ools ten dto blur lines of culture and ethnicity, and that these actually need to be pre-served within the formal education system. She believes that within the con-text of an equ i t a ble edu c a ti onal sys tem , the uniqu eness of e ach et h n o - l i n-g u i s tic group should be apprec i a ted . The driving force of h om ogen ei ty com e sfrom a capitalist economy that overshadows the value of human distinctive-ness with a drive for market uniform i ty. Abi dogun draws these con clu s i on st h ro u gh 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 ryschools located in Ibadan. She used the curriculum to measure the degree towh i ch it was “Af ri c a n i zed ,” or inclu ded indigenous cultu ral referen ce s . Herchapter concludes with a call for the teaching of more indigenous languagesand a greater use of cultural references in the social studies textbooks. Abido-gun touches on the reoccurring concern among scholars that the moral andcultural fabric that makes up the Yoruba is changing. Many call for its preser-vation. At the same time, however, these authors recognize the need for pos-i tive ch a n ge , p a rti c u l a rly in rega rd to wom en . What makes Yoruba cultu reunique, they agree, is its resilience and adaptability to change. Over time, theYoruba wi ll con ti nue to settle into a com fort a ble balance of trad i ti onal andmodern values.

xxxvi INTRODUCTION

12. E. B. Idowu, Olodumare: God in Yoruba Beliefs (London: Longman, 1962), 154.

The chapters in the final section enable us to see the search for some kindof ethical va lues to sustain modern i ty and move to the futu re with con fiden ce .In many ways , this reflects the ten s i on bet ween a disappe a ring past and an un-folding futu re . In the search for a moral order to or ga n i ze the pre s en t , t h eYoruba keep seeking answers in the past, as Azeez and Atere have done. Reli-gion and the family are tasked with the burden of supplying answers to deca-dence and shepherding the society in a direction that many can tolerate.

In breaking the Yoruba notion of morality, the stress is always on the con-cept of iwa (character), a positive set of individual habits linked to sanctionsfrom God. E. Bolaji Idowu calls iwa the “very stuff which makes life a job be-cause it is pleasing to God .”1 2 The linkage bet ween habits and mora l i ty, a n dm ora l i ty and God remains a probl em in modern soc i ety. Nevert h el e s s , m ora l-i ty con ti nues to be def i n ed in its trad i ti onal essen ce of the va lu ed habits ofc a l m n e s s , m i l d n e s s , and hon e s ty. In one com m on citati on drawn from the If aOdu corpus, iwa is regarded as the only thing worth possessing:

Iwa nikan lo soro oIwa nikan lo soreOri kan kii buru lore IfeIwa nikan lo soro.

Character is all that is requisiteCharacter is all that is necessaryThere is no bad destiny in the city of IfeCharacter is all that is requisite.

In the modern met a - n a rra tive of iwa, it is set against the declining eco-n omic and po l i tical fortunes in the po s t - oil boom era since We s tern edu c a-ti on arrived , and since the beginning of oil produ cti on . As Yoruba soc i ety face smyriad problems, moralizing intensifies, calling on people to keep the ethicsof ch a s ti ty, h on e s ty, h o s p i t a l i ty, and kindness. As if a ppealing to the perpe-tra tors of 4 1 9 , the Yoruba are call ed upon to avoid ch e a ti n g, wi cked n e s s , s te a l-i n g, and hypoc ri s y. The cultu re of an agra rian soc i ety is being interroga ted todeal with a con tem pora ry formal econ omy, as indivi duals are asked to re s pectel ders , va lue hard work , prom o te family toget h ern e s s , and be con ten ded . Th econflicts and competition in modern politics and economics make the com-mitments 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 gerwork to curtail or discipline them . The anonym i ty of i n d ivi duals in large citi e s

INTRODUCTION xxxvii

l i ke Lagos means that the shame that can come with certain tra n sgre s s i ons wi llnot expose them to societal ridicule. Even the good person lacking in moneyin Lagos may appear like a madman. The promoters of 419 crime are pursu-ing reckless sel f - i n tere s t , u n ch ecked by any rec i t a ti on of the old rules and sanc-tions of iwa. Even the fear of suffering in the after-life cannot stop a cocainedealer from doing business. Contemporary Yoruba have to seek fresh answersto many of the problems identified in this volume.