Photo credit: BAP Production
Wheneve I ponder over the Yoruba concept of omoluabi, I think it’s one of the few Yoruba terms that the English language could be said to have a meaningful response to.
It’s beautifully captured in the meaning of humaneness. Humaneness is compassion for others and others could be either people or animals.
A person who I think demonstrated compassion in his lifetime was the late Dr Beeko Ransome-Kuti. In spite of what Obasanjo did to his family in supervising the burning of his family’s Agege Motor Road residence which led to the eventual death of his mother, the destruction of Beeko’s clinic and the physical assault on his brother, Fela Kuti and members of his band, Dr Kuti still went ahead to cry out to the world when Obasanjo was being tried by Abacha.
In fact, when Abacha’s goons discovered the doctor had sent the facts of the case abroad, he was eventually arrested, tried and imprisoned.
An omoluabi is very close to being a saint except for the fact that nobody becomes a saint until they are dead.
The direct opposite of omoluabi is so present in people who come into money or gain political positions. That’s why until we get some financial strength or gain some
political power, it may not be possible to know the reality of our being omoluabi.
The outgoing President of the United States is obviously not an omoluabi. In fact, personally, I think he’s worse than the devil.
However, coming back home to Nigeria, I’ve not seen any trace of omoluabi in any of our presidents since 1999.
But then, if we consider the saying that a people deserves it’s leadership, how many omoluabi are amongst us?
I ask this question with every sense of responsibility knowing that it’s hardly possible for our so-called political leaders to be oppressing us without our consent. Mind you, being placid means we consent to the nonsense being meted to us.
We just must think!
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