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 responsibility.

Àgbà kìí wà l'ọ́jà, kí orí ọmọ tuntun wọ́

Literal Interpretation

An infant on his mother's back cannot have his head hanging inappropriately in the market place in the presence of elders, who will stay carefree.

The traditional way of carrying little children around in yoruba land and many other African communities is by placing the child on the mother's back and fastening him to the mother with the help of wrappers or cloths (ọ̀já) specially made for that purpose. In this method, the child is placed on the back and the wrapper is used to cover his body from the neck to the leg region, leaving the head open for proper respiration of the child. In doing this, the mother ensures that the neck of the child is upright, even if the child is sleeping, so that he doesn't take a wrong posture that will cause neck pain, or cause the child to choke.

This method of carrying children is the most adopted because it is more convenient than carrying children on the arms, in which case, the arms get weak easily. It also makes the child's weight somehow added to the mother's weight, making it seem she's moving her own weight alone. This method also gives the infant a sense of security, of safety and comfort. Most infants find this as the most convenient way of sleeping. The fact however remains that if the child is not positioned well and monitored, he could take a wrong posture that might eventually cause body pains. The elderly people know this and they communicate it to new mothers and potential mothers, carrying the knowledge from one generation to the next.

When a child's head is hanging in a wrong posture on the mother's back, youths that are not aware of the danger of this scenario might not see any wrong in it, but elders know well enough to correct such a mother to position the child appropriately. So imagine a market filled with many people, most of whom are likely to be old women and a mother is carrying a child whose neck is poorly positioned. The proverb states that it is impossible for the elders around to leave the mother and child like that without correcting the posture for the woman or calling her attention to it, thereby saving mother and child of any unnecessary ailment or disaster.

The proverb is commonly used to admonish elders to stand up to their responsibilities, not being complacent when things are going bad under their watch. For example, elders must ensure that younger generations uphold the cultural heritage, morality and peace of that tribe or region. Any contravening attitudes must be corrected or punished by the elders. This elder refers not only to age, but people who are more experience or more enlightened in an aspect of life, or people who take leadership positions. They must stand for what is right, and ensure that the activities of all those who they watch over conforms to the rules and regulations that bind their organization or community, etc...