(London: Pall Mall Press, 1968) by Walter Schwarz.
(1) "I found the Yorubas much the most difficult to understand among the people of Nigeria. The Northerners have the predominant characteristics of dignity, courtesy and courage. The Ibos in the East are quick to learn, volatile, uninhibited, gay. The Yorubas are much more complex.
They have a long-established system of administration, a complicated set of rules governing the conduct of governments and their lives - a strange combination of what seem to us as barbaric customs and personal dignity and political finesse."
- Sir Hugh Foot, Chief Secretary, Nigeria, 1947-51.
(2) "...It is the Yoruba themselves who really characterise Ibadan - unruly, individualistic, politically unpredictable, brilliant traders, always good-humoured and ready to jest about their adversities in their loud, nasal, sing-song language...."
"...The West, the land of the Yoruba, is the centre of Nigeria. Lagos, the Federal capital, is a Yoruba town and its Yoruba hinterland experienced the earliest colonisation in Nigeria - the first churches, schools and factories. This early lead in sophistication and prosperity was further enhanced when cocoa became Nigeria's most lucrative crop, making the Yoruba an elite among farmers. In 1955 the Western Region government was the first in Africa to introduce universal free primary education.
"However, none of these advantages has brought the Yoruba much happiness. Their central position has helped to make them the cockpit of Nigerian politics, where Northerners and Easterners have fought for control of the Federation.
Their plight was aggravated by the perennial internal dissensions of the Yoruba themselves. These divisions, exacerbated from the outside, finally brought down the Balewa regime in 1966. But the West's role continued unchanged. Throughout 1966 and beyond it was still the Yoruba, sitting shrewdly on the sidelines of the continuing struggle between the Hausa and the Ibo, who held the balance; and, as usual, they were divided among themselves....Ceaseless infighting has largely robbed the Yoruba of their natural advantages.
"...A Yoruba village is remarkable for its liveliness. The niceties of social intercourse - elaborate greetings, endless gossip, dancing, drumming and formalities - take up much of the day. The women, splendid in their indigo-dyed home-woven robes and superb headgear, do most of the trading and some of the work in the field. For the men, hard work is generally limited to the rainy season. The very richness of their social life makes it relatively inaccessible to foreigners : for them the oyinbo (white man) is an object of mild curiosity, sometimes amusement, rarely respect. There is enormous respect, on the other hand, for age, rank and power...
"Nothing endears Nigeria more to the foreigner than the subtle contrasts between its main ethnic groups. The dignified Hausa, God-fearing and conservative; the inscrutable Yoruba,; the clever Ibo, go-getting and adaptable - the three stereotypes seem reassuringly complementary. Seen in slightly sharper focus, the stereotypes contain disturbing paradoxes.
The gentle manners of the Hausa proclaim him as the most civilised, yet he hails from the least educated of the Regions. For all his sophistication, the Yoruba seems furthest removed from the European mind, and in some ways least able to cope with 'modern' life. The Ibo is quickest to learn: he is at home in an office, a factory, a Rotary Club or a ballroom. Yet in the social and political arts of living with other peoples in a federation, without getting himself heartily disapproved of, he has failed totally and disastrously. The Northerners may be cultured, but it is in their own culture - Islamic rather than Christian. In fact they strike the European as cultured only in those aspects of culture which are universal : respect for tradition, politeness and the ability to wield power with moderation.
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Yoruba mix less easily with Europeans because their own culture is rich and their social relationships and obligations are so absorbing that they have less need for relationships with foreigners.
If the Ibo are 'clever' it is mainly because, like the Jews, they have had to be. Their overcrowded and agriculturally poor Region has forced them to seek their fortunes abroad in large numbers. Their own individualistic culture offered no inherent obstacles to Western modernisation. Coming from a largely fragmented society, with no big towns, no empires, no strong central leadership or even important chiefs, their condition made for physical and social mobility. How much Ibo 'aggressiveness' owes to all this, and how much is native, no one can say. The careful anthropologist has recorded simply that among the Ibo 'it is the go-getter that is admired, the man who has wives and children and who bestirs himself to make money. A man who sits quiet is not respected.' "
- Walter Schwarz was an Assistant Editor of the West Africa magazine, and correspondent of the UK Guardian, Observer and Economist magazine in Nigeria during the 1960s.
The writer may be condescending but as Hubert Ogunde sang and the writer reminds us, the problem of the Yoruba is the Yoruba. He also seems put out that the Yoruba culture absorbs the Yoruba.
#everygenerationisanewpeople
May Olodumare continue to guide us as we work to correct the mistakes of the past.
#oduduwa
Arabirin Sola
adex3g
