Ori and Human Destiny in Traditional Yoruba Thought – A soft, deterministic interpretation

By Ihesiulo Grace

30 September 2017

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ABSTRACT
The debate on the philosophical nature of the beliefs in Ori and human destiny in traditional Yoruba thought has for sometimes now, been controversial.

INTRODUCTION
The Yoruba constitute one of the major ethnic groups of modern Nigeria and they effectively occupy the whole of Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti, Lagos and a substantial part of Kwara State (Atanda 1980: 1)

Besides Nigeria, the Yoruba are also found in sizeable numbers, in South-eastern part of the Republic of Benin, Togo and Dahomey in West Africa, the West-India and South Africa.

There is also a thriving Yoruba culture in South America and the Caribbean, especially Brazil and Cuba where the descendants of the unwilling immigrants to the new world have been able to keep their identities and guard their cultural heritage (Gbadegesin 1983: 174).

While the Yoruba are dispersed throughout the world, this paper focuses on the Nigerian Yoruba. The reason for this choice is that the ancestral home of the Yoruba is in Nigeria and each of the Yoruba in the Diasporas still traces its origin to this home where the culture thrives best.

The Yoruba, whether at home or in The Diaspora, have a unique and distinct cultural life and their lineage can be traced to Oduduwa, with Ile-Ife as the cradle of (its) civilization.

The traditional Yoruba are associated with various beliefs that cut The Concepts of Ori and Human Destiny across different strata of human existence. Pertinent among such beliefs, are the beliefs in ori (1) and human destiny.

There is a well-developed body of literature in Yoruba philosophical studies, which have dealt with the concepts of ori and human destiny.

The polemics surrounding the meaning, nature, relevance and reality of the dual concepts of ori and human destiny have for long instigated philosophical interest.

The philosophical problem surrounding ori and human destiny in Yoruba thought has nothing much to do with either the meaning or relevance of the knowledge of the concepts.

Clearly, there is no controversy on the conceptual meaning and importance of the concepts. The controversy has not even much centered on the metaphysical reality of the traditional Yoruba belief in ori and human destiny.

Though, while discussions on their metaphysical reality are not conclusive, and are essentially uncontroversial, many of the philosophical literatures are apparently in agreement on the reality of the belief in ori and human destiny among the traditional Yoruba.

The problem surrounding the concept of ori and human destiny in Yoruba philosophical discussions centers on the philosophical nature and understanding of the concepts.

Such a problem has much to do with the metaphysical interpretations which will be reflective of, consistent and coherent with the traditional Yoruba belief in ori and human destiny.

Such works as Wande Abimbola, “The Yoruba concept of Human Personality” (1971), Olusegun Gbadegesin, “Destiny, Personality and the Ultimate Reality of Human Existence:

A Yoruba perspective” (1983), M.A. Makinde, “A Philosophical Analysis of the Yoruba Concept of Ori and Human Destiny” (1985), O. Oladipo, “Predestination in Yoruba Thought:

A Philosopher’s Interpretation” (1992), S.A. Ali, “The Yoruba Conception of Destiny: A critical analysis (1995), E. O. Oduwole, “The Yoruba concepts of Ori and Human Destiny:

A Fatalistic Interpretation” (1996), are pioneers and instances of volumes written on the Concepts of ori and human destiny.

While it will be a rewarding intellectual exercise to x-ray their contributions to an understanding of the crucial issues surrounding the concepts of ori and human destiny, the paper will in addition, examine their areas of agreement and points of departure.

My concern in the paper goes beyond mere analysis of the conceptual puzzles or reviews of literatures on the theme, but to establish and strengthen the argument that the Yoruba are soft-determinists in their understanding of, and belief in the concept of ori and human destiny.

Though the plausibility of this thesis may first appear absurd and bizarre to critics who had earlier believed or situated the Yoruba concepts of ori and human destiny within the framework of fatalism and hard-determinism, this type of 1 The Yoruba word, ori, literally translated, simply means ‘head’ (as in the physical head of a human or an animal).

However, giving concession to our discussion on destiny (which in Yoruba language means ori-inu and translated, inner or spiritual head) in the paper, our contextual usage, meaning and understanding of ori throughout the course of the paper should be construed as meaning the spiritual head, which symbolizes human destiny.

117 Nordic Journal of African Studies metaphysical understanding of the nature of ori and human destiny in traditional Yoruba thought has been widely applauded and accepted even by many of the pioneering works on the theme.

However, while the paper holds a contrary position, it is hoped that upon critical reflections and convincing arguments, such critics will at the end come to terms with the paper’s submission that soft determinism is more consistent and coherent with the Yoruba belief in the concepts of ori and human destiny than any other metaphysical interpretations.

1. A CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPTS OF ‘ORI’, HUMAN DESTINY, FATALISM AND DETERMINISM Before delving into a critical exposition of the metaphysical nature of the Yoruba concepts of ori and human destiny, there is need to make explicit, such metaphysical concepts that will subsequently enhance our understanding on the theme.

Hence the clarifications of concepts like ori human destiny, fatalism and determinism (or predestination). A person in Yoruba thought is according to Hallen and Sodipo (1986: 105) made up of three important elements: ara (body), emi (life giving element) and ori (Spiritual head, which is thought to be responsible for human destiny).

In the Yoruba concept of person, ara (body) refers to all the tangible elements that make a person both externally and internally such as the brain, kindly, intestine, heart etc. and not just the body frame which houses other constituents of a person.

(Balogun 1997: 333). Emi (the life giving entity), the Yoruba believe, is an immaterial element that provides the ‘animating force’ or energy without which a person cannot be said to be living at all, talk less of being conscious (Oladipo 1992: 19).

It is according to Bolaji Idowu (1962: 169), “closely associated with the breath and the whole mechanism of breathing which is its most expressive manifestation”.

In other words, emi (the life giving entity) is regarded by the Yoruba as the lifeforce of a person; its presence or absence in a person makes the difference between life and death2.

The third element, Ori which is of immediate concern to us in this paper, represents the individuality element in a person. Ori is the element responsible for a person’s personality and represents human destiny.

Ori, an immaterial entity, otherwise called ‘inner-head’ is intractably connected with human destiny. It is responsible for the actuality and worth of man in the material world.