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 Training a child".

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Láti kékeré lati ń p'ẹ̀ka ìrókò, tó'bá dàgbà tàń, ẹbọ ló máa gbà

Literal Interpretation

It is from a young stage that we start to reduce the branches of an iroko plant. When it becomes a fully grown tree, it will require a sacrifice.

Ancient African traditions ascribe some level of honour or deity to any substance that they cannot fathom how it came to being, or anything that looks out of the ordinary. They therefore make gods (deities) out of things like rocks / mountains, Iron, thunder, oceans, very big trees, etc. In this category of deities is the Iroko tree (Chlorophora excelsa). The tree grows to an average height of 50 meters (164 feet).

According to yoruba legends, the tree is said to have supernatural powers, therefore they treat iroko trees with honour and worship it in awe of its powers. Therefore, in taming these trees so it does not overgrow its bounds, one will need a regular trimming right from its seedling stage of growth. Otherwise, when it is fully grown, it may be a very difficult task or impossible to trim, or cut it down.

This proverb likens the iroko tree to a human, meaning a child can be easily corrected and given good counsel to follow while he is still very young. The older a person grows, the more difficult it is for him to be corrected of any ill behaviour he is engaged in. Children are innocent and largely obedient to the instructions of their parents; this is why parents must instill in them discipline as they grow. They must be taught what is right and what is wrong to do to others, they must learn to respect others, to be fair, well behaved, and they must also be taught contentment, which is one of the most important areas to train a child.

Children are largely adventurous and inquisitive. They therefore easily adopt the behaviour of people around them, whether it is good or bad. The parents then have the duty of guiding them to imbibe the good character and discard the bad. When children grow in this training, they are guided and they have a sense of judgment to notice good and bad behaviours as they grow but a child that is left to carelessly mingle without a damper, such will get himself into several illicit and illegal acts that will be difficult or impossible to correct when he grows up.