I seem to be on a roll with the Yoruba Orisas. I simply felt I haven’t done much for my books in recent times. I chose to write oriki Ogun today because he featured in my book Abiku: A Battle of Gods. Whilst I am not a massive fan of his, I find something I once heard about him very amusing.
Ogun is the Orisa of metal and war, so it is said that whenever an animal is killed (by knife or gun or anything made from a metal), Ogun eats first before anyone else including Olodumare. So if one was making an animal sacrifice, Ogun eats from the sacrifice first before whoever the sacrifice was being made to.
Anyhoos, in doing my own little bit to ensure that the Yoruba language and culture does not become a lost language in the future, here’s Ogun’s oriki. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a full English translation because the oriki is very deep.
stock image of Ogun from Google images
Oriki Ogun
Ogun lakaiye
Ọsin mole
Ogun alada méjì
Ofi okan sanko
Ofi okan yena
Ọjo ogun nti ori oke bo
Aso ina lo mu bora
Ẹwu eje lowo
Ogun onile owo
Ọlo na ola
Ogun onile Kongun kongun Ọrun
Olomi ni ile feje we
Olaso nile fimo kimo bora
Ogun apon leyin iju
Egbe lehin omo kan
Ogun meje logun mi
Ogun alara ni n gb’aja
Ogun onire a gb’agbo
Ogun ikole a gb’agbin
Ogun ila a gb’esun isu
Ogun akirin a gb’awo agbo
Ogun elemono eran ahun ni je
Ogun makinde ti dogun leyin odi
Bi o ba gba tapa a gb’aboki
A gba ukuuku a gba kemberi
Nje nibo lati gbe pade ogun?
A pade ogun nibi ija
A pade re nibi ita
A pade re nibi agbara eje ti nsan
Agbara eje ti ndeni lorun
Bi omi ago
Bomode ba ndale
Ki o mase da Ogun
Oro Ogun leewo
Ara Ogun kan go go go!
***
So there you have it, well one version any way. As with culture that’s passed down orally, there’s bound to be a bit of Chinese whispers. Do you or anyone you know know the full English translation of Ogun’s oriki? What do you think are the chances of a language becoming extinct in the future as English remains the dominant language in a lot of countries, especially in Africa? Please leave a comment below.
PS Have you noticed the resemblance between Yoruba myths and Orisas and those of other cultures eg Greek and Norse mythologies? What do you think of them?
More from my site
Quick Guide To saving on Groceries By The Frugal Teen
Book reading: Why You SHOULD Date Emotionally Unavailable Men by Brooke Sprowl
Sunday Snippet: ‘Reincarnation in a Nutshell. Why reincarnation is Real’ by Else Byskov
Adam Hamdy: Organising London’s first crime writing festival
Teen Author Shanti Hershenson is interviewed by a 7-year-old podcaster
I love the oriki and I can translate most of it though…its very help for a drama I titled Abiku…ti n so oloogun deke….
And I think we need stuffs like this on internet more, especially historical on abiku, elere, odu IFA and many more….tnx so much for this oriki
Glad you liked it and thanks for stopping by. Have you read my novel Abiku: A battle of gods??
I love the oriki and I can translate most of it though…its very helpful for a drama I titled Abiku…ti n so oloogun deke….
And I think we need stuffs like this on internet more, especially historical on abiku, emere, odu IFA and many more….tnx so much for this oriki
There is a part of the ogun oríkì that says omo ogun kọrọbítí kọrọbítí, can you roughly translate it.
English language is one of the important subject to pass in the waec or neco exams in order to get into higher institutions, our native languages are not even important, we need to lay emphasy and make our native languages also part of the important top 5 or 6 subjects to pass before going into higher institutions cuz our native languages are our roots and we should be taught the history if our native language in school not just how to speak it.
you are very correct, that’s why I started making plans to open my own school in Nigeria. It is a business school for children aged 6 – 14. Teaching multiple languages are a core part of the curriculum. Unfortunately, COVID 19 halted our progress. Hopefully, things will get better before the end of this year. I hope for classes to resume this September. The Segilola Salami Preparatory School is based in Abuja, Nigeria. The website is due to be updated school.segilolasalami.co.uk
Okay i will check the website out although I’m in ogun state for now but i could also help spread the school website to my friends in abuja! thank you for the good work you are putting out to make us aware of our cultures, things will get better so we can move forward, i love the ogun oriki by the way!
thank you for your kind support
Thank you Sir/Ma ..for working hard to ensure that our language (yoruba) and culture does not go to extinction
God bless.