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| Sir Adeyemo Alakija |
The Egbe Omo Oduduwa [The Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa]
was Yoruba premier cultural organisation founded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and a
group of Yoruba students in London in 1945. It was rejuvenated in Lagos in
December 1947 and was formally inaugurated in Ile-Ife in June 1948.
Its
first president was the late Adeyemo Alakija while Obafemi Awolowo was elected as
the first General Secretary.
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| Chief Obafemi Awolowo |
The
main objectives of the Egbe were the
organisation of a virile, efficient and modernized Yoruba state within a
Federal state of Nigeria, the protection and development of Yoruba culture and
traditional institutions, and the protection of the interest of the Yoruba so
that future generations of the Yoruba would have a secured place in Nigeria.
Between
1948 and 1951, the Egbe awarded
scholarship to 21 students from various Yoruba towns. The Egbe was banned by the Federal Military Government in 1966, along
with similar ethnic group associations.
Please find below the Oath an applicant was required to take
upon admission as a member of the Egbe:
Èké pa obì o di
Òdàlè pa tire má yàn
Oniwa rere nikan soso lo pa tire
to yan gedegbe
Emi,
…………………………………………………………………………………..se ileri tokantokan niwaju Olorun ati eniyan,
lati duro dede ninu Egbe Omo Oduduwa ati lati faramo gbogbo ofin ati eto Egbe
yi.
Bi
mo dale Egbe yi ni onakona ni gbangba tabi ni ikoko, nigbangba ni mo fi ara mi
bu fun ijiya ti Olorun pa lase fun Oduduwa pe: “Eke a pa eleke, Ilè a pa odale.”
Ki
Olorun ki o ran mi lowo ninu ileri yi ati ninu ise rere mi gbogbo si Egbe Omo
Oduduwa. Ase!!!
[English Translation]
The efforts of a dishonest person
are abortive
Those of disloyal citizens are
futile
Only the upright shall be
successful in their endeavours
I,………………………………………………………………………….faithfully
promise before the Almighty God and in the presence of my fellow compatriots,
that I shall ever remain loyal and firm in the Egbe Omo Oduduwa and I shall
ever obey and support the constitution of the organisation.
If I
betray the Egbe either publicly or privately, I make myself liable, in public,
to the penalty which the Almighty God prescribed for Oduduwa, to wit: “Evil shall haunt the evil doer, and
betrayers shall be destroyed by the mother earth.”
So
help me, Oh God, in this my oath and in my obligations to this Egbe Omo
Oduduwa. Amen!!!
Source:
S. O. Arifalo, The Egbe Omo Oduduwa: A
Study in Ethnic and Cultural Nationalism
Nice piece. You are always on point. See the way you translated the oath. I was almost lost while trying to read the Yoruba direct. Well done and God Almighty bless your work. Thanks for always been there
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the breed of politicians today can make such a oath. I doubt If we can find 1%
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the breed of politicians today can make such an oath. I doubt If we can find 1% .
ReplyDeleteOne of Justice Kayode Es̩o̩’s most significant judgements concerned the attempted deportation of the Speaker of a Northern State House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdurrahman Shugaba Darman .
ReplyDeletePlease, O Golden-penned One, if you have not already done so, kindly unsheath your literary sword and dissect the matter for us lesser mortals, that we may relive one of the landmark cases in Nigeria’s legal history.