“Omoluabi: the way of human being.”
Omoluabi connotes respect
for self and others. An Omoluabi is a person of honor who believes in hard
work, respects the rights of others, and gives to the community in deeds and in
action. Above all, an Omoluabi is a person of personal integrity.
In Yoruba lingua structure, as
olu-iwa could denote a dignified parent with excellent character. However, olu-iwa may create an exemplar of
character or a baby as a person of dignity; yet, there is no guarantee that the
baby would remain an exemplar of character like the creator of the biological father.
And the ambivalence can also be seen in possibility that the child may turn out
to be an
Omoluwabi while not born by
someone with good character.
This
combination thus gives us a good picture of Omoluabi in Yoruba culture wherein
a person is given a deep knowledge, wisdom, and therefore be trained to be self
discipline and to develop a sense of responsibility that shows in private and
public actions which earns individuals social integrity, and personality in
Yoruba society.
Among the Yoruba of
Western Nigeria, the education of a child begins at the “naming ceremony,”
seven days after birth. During this process, the baby is introduced to the
ancestors, family, friends and community, and various food items such as salt and
honey are dabbed on the tongue of the newborn, thus its education in becoming
Omoluabi begins.
The
principles of Yoruba (African) traditional education, according to Akinyemi and Awoniyi, are based on the concept of Omoluabi. In other
words, the product of Yoruba traditional education is to make an individual an
Omoluabi. In essence, the main idea of Yoruba traditional education has always
been to foster good character in the individual and to make the child a useful
member of the community.
Therefore, traditional education embraces character building
as well as the development of both physical and mental aptitude. Education in
Yoruba culture is a life-long process and the whole society is the school.
As far as African
societies are concerned, personhood is something at which individuals could
fail, at which they could be incompetent or ineffective, better or worse.
Wande Abimbola
makes it clear that omoluwabi is a function of exhibiting and demonstrating the
inherent virtue and value of iwapele. Thus, Iwapele via Abimbola
tells us is “good or gentle character” and it is ultimately the basis of moral
conduct in Yoruba culture and a core defining attribute of omoluwabi, set as a integrated principles of moral conduct demonstrated by an omoluwabi with
the most fundamental of these principles include: oro siso,(spoken word),
iteriba (respect),
inu rere (having good mind to others),
otito (truth),
iwa (character),
akinkanju (bravery),
ise (hard work) and opolo pipe (intelligence)
It is
instructive to note that iwa (i.e. good character) adds to the quality of
appraisal that an individual garners; yet, it does not solely determine the
humanity of the person
in question, and for this reason, we can say that all human persons are human
beings, but not all
human beings are human persons (understood in the sense of omoluwabi).
Therefore, Iwa
character plays an important role in the making and passing of rights, and in
the integrity of individuals because a human being without good character,
though human, but is no less than eranko, an animal.
The import
of the above is that it is not the case that it is only ori (the guardian soul
symbolic of destiny) that is solely responsible for what personality a person
eventually becomes in life. Rather, it
is man’s character that aids man’s destiny. Therefore, in knowing one’s
personality,whether of repute or disrepute, and the ‘how’ factors that are
quintessential to developing human personality, the elements of good character
are imperative.
Ogbe Ogunda, which says:
Iwa nikan lo soro o,
Iwa nikan lo soro;
Ori kan kii buru lotu Ife,
Iwa nikan lo soro
Character is all that is requisite,
Character is all that is requisite;
There is no destiny (Ori) to be called
unhappy in Ife city.
Character is all that is requisite.
