African Epics

The success of man is not in never failing, but to rise up each time he falls. Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi's mother, Abigail had married her first husband for 20 years without any child in Lagos. The parents of the husband separated them after the long-year barrenness. "What God hath joined together was put asunder by them." She was adjudged a barren woman. In order to hide from public shame, Abigail Oyindamola relocated to Idogo now in Yewa South Local government where she met Fabiyi, an Egba man who was a carpenter and cocoa trader. Their marriage was unexpectedly blessed with a boy and later, a girl. This was the reason the name "Ebenezer" was arrived at in 1942. Meaning: "Nihin ni Oluwa ran mi l'owo de". Ebenezer Oluwaremilekun Olasupo. Ile aanu Oluwa ki su. Like Sarah, God answered Abigail, and took away her reproach. So shall God's promises of the fruits of the womb manifest and fulfilled in the lives of all members of His Order. Eve...

ADEGBÖRÒ Do you know that the popular saying “ENI O LE SE BI ALABARU L'OYINGBO, KO LE SE BI ADEGBORO L'OJA OBA" among the Yoruba in South West Nigeria is a true story of a young man called ADEGBORO who left Ibadan for Lagos in search of greener pasture. He chose to carry consignment using his head as the tool in the popular Oyingbo market to earn a living. Few years after, he acquired a cart from his savings and this eased the pain of carrying consignments on his head for commercial purposes. The Cart also increased his income and he was able to acquire 6 more of its kind which he rented out to others. Some 8 years in this cart pushing business, ADEGBORO bought a van which many called BOLEKAJA and learning how to drive, he drove the van himself. 4 years into the Bolekaja business, ADEGBORO had been a proud owner of 6 Vans. When it was time to put a roof over his head and being a bona fide Ibadan son, ADEGBORO built a gigantic building at OJA OBA where the...

There are many Yoruba names whose meanings are now lost due to the facts that the words forming the roots of those words are no longer in use. For instance ask the young Master Olopade the meaning of his name and he will probably tell you that his name means " policeman has come". Ask Mr Olopade, his father, and he would probably tell you it means "the owner of the staff has come". The two of them would be wrong as Olopade actually means " the Opa devotee has come". The same goes for all other Opa names like Opatola, Opadotun etc. Those names show that the ancestors of the bearers of the names were worshippers or devotees of the Opa Cult otherwise called Awo Opa, one of the religion cults or secret societies proscribed by the British in colonial days. Or imagine another scenario: Pastor Obafemi, the pastor of a Pentecostal church, is asking Deacon Ogunyemi to change his name because he believes that the name of the deacon is associated with Ogun, an idol,...

Where were you in 1987? That was the year Oba Yesufu Oloyede Asanike, Olubadan of Ibadan made history. Olubadan installed Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola as the Bashorun of Ibadan. It was a prestigious title befitting of a distinguished personality in the mould of MKO Abiola. That was the title of  the legendary Bashorun Oluyole who was the paramount chief of Ibadan in 1850. It was also the title of Bashorun Ogunmola who reigned between 1865 and 1867. It was therefore historic that exactly 120 years after the death of Ogunmola, MKO Abiola became the fourth person to be conferred with the prestigious title. It was indeed a befitting honour for someone who had amassed chieftaincy titles from almost every town in Nigeria. As of the time of his installation in 1987, MKO Abiola was reputed to have over 150 chieftaincy titles. He was the Bobajiro of Ode-Remo. He was the Bada Musulumi of Gbagura Egba. As he drove out of the palace of Oba Asanike that fateful day with his son by h...

#Copied# Gani Fawehinmi was  the best legal mind of his time in Africa but he was not even the best in the University days,  truthfully, he had ordinary pass in his Law degree, not even a third class degree. He could be classified as "let my people go" in those days. After Gani left the University and passed his Law  school , there was nothing ordinary again in his life, he was the best in everything he  touched. He wrote lots of legal books and journals  in Nigeria.  He visited Courts more than those who made First class in the same school with him or those who became SAN before him. Gani's presence in any court was a big news to the Press and the nation, he was delightful and reassuring  to watch, he spoke the language of his profession like an angel and every judge knew him as a man of integrity. Gani was the most honorable lawyer Nigeria ever produced  To most Nigerians particularly the poor and middle class, he was their hope, and ep...

by - Ayomide Akinbode Have you ever asked any of your parents for money, especially continuously, and they gave you this reply: “Do you think I’m da Rocha?” Well, I experienced it and growing up, I never knew the meaning of the statement, until I came across a book a friend gave me, when I stumbled on the name “Candido da Rocha”. He was a rich man who would, from the balcony of his one-storey building, throw down coins to children who would, in a tangle of bodies and flapping hands, struggle for them. So, I remembered vividly why my parents denies being “a da Rocha” anytime I ask for monies I don’t literally need as a child. Also known as Nigeria’s first millionaire, he was a rich entrepreneur, businessman, landowner and creditor who owned Water House or Casa d’Agua on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, Lagos. It was named Water House because it was the first and only house in Lagos in those days to have a borehole and in turn sell water to the residents. Candido da Rocha, a native of ...