Fridays are known generally for heralding our indigenous ways of life, especially in dressing and music. This is why I, as an indigene of the Yorùbá tribe presents Yorùbá Proverbs. In this post, I present a yorùbá proverb, it's literal interpretation and it's meaning and significance to the yorùbá people, and at times, Africa at large. The Yorùbá people predominantly live in the South Western part of Nigeria, and they speak the Yorùbá language. The theme for today's proverb is Peace Making.

Image Source

À ń jẹ èkuru kótán, o tún ń gbọn ọwọ́ rẹ̀ sí àwo

Literal Interpretation:

While we are trying to quickly eat and empty our plates of èkuru, you are busy scattering the crumbs on the plate.

Many people know consumable beans to be processed into forms like bean cake and moinmoin. However, some are ignorant of èkuru. Èkuru is also a form of eating beans and it could be similar in shape with moinmoin but is consumed differently. Èkuru when prepared, forms a lump of coarse-like particles which easily breaks into many crumbs while eating it. In fact, the food is enjoyed by breaking it into crumbs and mixing uniformly with its specially made stew.

That being said, imagine you trying to rush your plate of èkuru by eating it in smaller lumps instead of in crumbs, but someone now comes with a spoon and breaks the lumps down into crumbs. That makes it longer for you to finish as you need more time to deal with all the crumbs.

This proverb is used to describe the process of settling a quarrel or reuniting opposing parties, a process of peace making, in which someone else starts to make inciting statements to provoke the waring parties more and frustrating the reconciliation process. Imagine when a quarrel is being settled between a couple and a woman present chips in that she insists that the husband is at fault, and if it were her own husband that tries that, she would never forgive him. This is a step at provoking the couple to more anger and unforgiveness.

The proverb in English language can be likened to...

Adding salt to an injury

A person trying to incite more trouble is often silenced and ordered to keep shut if he cannot contribute to peace making, rather than creating more trouble or hatred.

The proverb is also used to caution a person who opposes, inhibits or limits the progress of an endeavour. For instance, a worker that takes the company a step backwards when every other person is taking progressive steps to benefit the company.

À ń jẹ èkuru kótán, o tún ń gbọ̀n ọ̀wọ́ rè sí àwo...