Monday 30 July 2018

Ibadan and Witty Sayings





Ibadan occupies a pride of place in the development of Yoruba language. There is hardly an Ibadan person who is not gifted with oratory skills. Everyone in Ibadan is a linguist. Or let me say that I haven’t come across an Ibadan person who is not an orator.

The hallmark of Ibadan Yoruba is the ability to come up with situational wisecracks. You only need to visit Oja ‘Ba to confirm this. Whatever you say to the traders will be met with a sharp retort and you start to wonder whether they have rehearsed it beforehand. 

Let me share with you four of these witty sayings.

Adegoke Adelabu
Adélabú ta panla ri... [Adelabu was once a dealer in stockfish…]

Now, to someone who does not know Adegoke Adelabu (Penkemesi), this would have no meaning. But to an Ibadan person, this is the proper response to someone who delights in telling irrelevant stories. For instance, if you are boasting to an Ibadan lady that you were in the same class with MKO Abiola in elementary school, she would look at you from head to toe before retorting with ‘Adelabu ta panla ri’. 

Bi Agbaje ba n wo knickers ni igboro Ibadan, O mo egbe baba eni ti o nse [If Agbaje is seen wearing shorts around Ibadan city, he knows the social class that he belongs to]. 

I heard this from Luqman Animashaun in our first year in College of Education. This is reference to Agbaje Salami, one of the richest merchants of Ibadan in those days. Agbaje was reputed to have produced the first medical doctor from Ibadan [Dr. Saka Anthony Agabaje] as well as the first legal practitioner from the city [Chief Mojeed Agbaje]. That's Ibadan way of telling you not to assume someone’s worth based on his appearance; a cassock does not make a monk.

Ti Oke Ibadan o ba gba malu, kii se enu alagbaro lo ye ki a ti gbo! [It's not from the mouth of a commoner that we ought to hear that a cow is to be sacrificed to Oke Ibadan]. Believe it or not, it was from an Arab that I heard this saying. In Arabic, Oke Badan is ‘Jabal Ibadan’.

Mo fe ko ile mi bi ti Adebisi, esu aini ko rara ni [If you want to wait till you are as rich as Adebisi to build a mansion like his, you may not build anything at the end of the day.] Reference here is to Sanusi Adebisi Giwa of Idikan [1882-1938], one of the richest men of Ibadan in those days. That's Ibadan way of telling you to cut your coat according to your cloth; start small. I must have heard this from MBG’s wife, Anti Sekinat, a granddaughter of Olubadan Abass Aleshinloye. 

On the other hand, people who are envious of the good people of Ibadan have come up with their own witty sayings intended to ridicule Onigegewura's favourite town. 

Anytime I want my sister, Olori Omolara, to react, I only need to tell her that "Iyalode Ibadan, omo Egbe ni l'Eko" [Ibadan High Chief is but equal to a floor member in Lagos.]

There's another one about "Ibadan ti o...oju lo n ró" I can't remember the rest. Can you complete it for me?

Have you come across any funny saying from or about Ibadan?

19 comments:

  1. Ibadan mesi ọgọ. They have sharp mouths.

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  2. Amu ni nje amu ni, afinihan nje afinihan, ewo ni ti pele o ara Ijaye ti n lo lojude Ogunmola...

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  3. Ibadan mesi ògò, alo kí olóhun ó kígbe.
    Amúni ñje amúni, afinihàn ñjé afinihàn, èwo ni káàróò o ará Ibadan lojude Sódeké?

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  4. Ibadan mesi ògò, alo kí olóhun ó kígbe.
    Amúni ñje amúni, afinihàn ñjé afinihàn, èwo ni káàróò o ará Ibadan lojude Sódeké?

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  5. I will help you complete that last one, Ibadan ti o jale, oju lo n ro.

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  6. Airi kan se kan, ti n mu Onilu de Oke Ado....to warn when one is wasting time his time in unrewarding manner...

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  7. Eni ma s'orire l'Eko, oribu ma le kuro n'Ibadan.

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  8. Ibadan Omo alo kolohun kiigbe
    Omo agesin kole
    Ijamba Ibadan pade jamba Ilorin

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  9. Akinwale Adebisi2 August 2018 at 16:57

    Ija igboro ni ti Ibadan

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  10. Akinwale Adebisi2 August 2018 at 17:02

    Ibadan Omo alo kolohun kigbe

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  11. God bless you Onigegewura. Ibadan is my favourite town of all the towns I have sojourned.

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  12. Ibadan ilu Ojo,Ilu t'ajayi
    Ilu Ibikunle,olodogbo keri keri n'iwaju ol'ogun

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  13. Ibadan omo a te'ni so'ro ki wewe re ma ba gbon sile ( ibadan spreads mat on the floor during any altercation, so little words of anger,insults don't fall off)

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  14. O se gudu gude meje, ati ya ya ya mefa

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  15. Ibadan Omo ajegbin je Karaun.Proudly Omo Ibadan.... Thanks Onigege ara

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  16. "Ibadan lo mo, o mo laipo" Is another one use to warn people of the deceitfulness of Ibadan

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