Nigeria and Benin are two neighbouring countries. The border of the two countries has always been in the news due to incessant smuggling activities there. EMMANUEL ADENIYI, who travelled to Benin Republic, recently, writes about his encounter with smugglers, the Ketou-speaking Yorubas in Benin Republic as well as the neglect of towns along Nigeria-Benin border by the Nigerian government.
TO refer to them as Yorubas in Diaspora may not be apposite. Yes, they are, but the expression to them appears discriminatory and they would have none of it.
It offends their collective sensibilities and denigrates their age-long belief that their Yorubaness is not in any way inferior to other tribes of Yoruba, especially those in Nigeria.
With pele and abaja tribal marks adorning their cheeks, good Yoruba dialect, though influenced by French, rich lore of their existence and arrays of cultural artifacts, the Beninese Yoruba are just like other Yoruba persons.
Acting from the mindset that some Yoruba nations are scattered across the globe and may have lost their Yorubaness, this reporter went to Ketou in Benin Republic to engage the Ketou-speaking Yoruba people in the country in a cultural test thinking that the result of such an engagement would further fuel his belief that cultural gaps existed between the mainstream and “Diasporic” Yorubas. What he got was more than what he bargained for.
Though the 1884/85 Berlin conference and the subsequent colonisation of Africa, where the entire continent was partitioned by the European super powers, still leaves a sour taste in the mouth, the Beninese believe that it was rather advantageous to them as it carves an identity for them as Yorubas in a different socio-political space.
Rather than talking about a uniquely homogenous ethnic group of people within a geographical enclave, they believe the invasion of African states by Europeans has created sub groups of the same tribe that are scattered across the globe.
“What would have happened if all Yoruba-speaking people are all found in a country? Would that not affect them as a people and possibly limit their outlook? I think it is a beautiful thing that we have Yorubas around the world who speak French, English, Spanish and Portuguese alongside their mother tongue.
"The beauty of Yoruba is largely preserved and the sanctity of our religion and belief system remains untainted, despite our spatial or geographical separation,” said Ahmed Olatounji, a middle-aged Beninese businessman.
Ahmed’s Yoruba is flawless. His experience of the Yoruba people is vast and his dexterity in the use of Yoruba proverbs is phenomenal. He led this reporter to a shop in Ketou where a group of young men were seen watching a Yoruba Nollywood movie. All of them had tribal marks on their cheeks and their sense of humour was great.
One of them, Abijo Babatunde, said he was proud to be a citizen of Ketou, adding that his dream was to see the town become one of the best developed in the country.
Though a school dropout and presently rides okada (motorcycles) to earn a living, the 28 years old Beninese said he had never cherished the idea of leaving the country, noting that life was comfortable for him in Benin Republic.
Ketou town is really beautiful. With well-constructed trunk roads, neat environment and stable electricity supply, the town is in sharp contrast with Ilara, the Nigerian border town, that is home to some Ketou-speaking Yoruba people in Nigeria. Roads in Ilara are eyesores. Infrastructural facilities are non-existent there.
Government presence is unrecognisable and life in the town appears to be at a standstill. Comparing the two Ketou-speaking towns, which are less than 32 miles apart from each other, is a difficult task as one is bound to heap mountains of blames on the Nigerian government that cares less about its towns and people whereas the Beninese government at least, does something about its own.
When taken round the historical sites in Ketou, this reporter discovered that the strength of the town and the pride of its inhabitants lie in its numerous tourist sites and thousands of its cultural artifacts.
Explaining how the name “Ketou” came about and was adopted as the name of the town, Marianou Babalola, Lukman Razak and Patrick Alaye, said the town and its people fought many wars with the Dahomeans (Eguns) whom they said wanted to enslave Ketou people.
This, according to them, made the elders of the town to sacrifice a hunchback on a track, which served as the first path leading to the town, to ward off the rampaging Dahomeans.
“The name, Ketou, is derived from an abuke that was buried alive on the track long time ago. Ketou simply means Ke n tuke lehin abuke? (What is the hump on the back of a hunchback?)
"This path,” pointing to the track leading to akaba idena, an old building housing cultural artifacts, one of the guides said, “was manned by Ketou warriors during the wars to inspect whoever that wanted to enter Ketou. They would ask the person to talk, once they noticed he/she is Egun, they would simply kill him or her,” Marianou said.
Directly behind the spot where the hunchback was sacrificed is an imposing ancient door called lekun idena (door of hindrance). The door was made of pieces of thick wood and fastened to a frame at the entrance of akaba idena to prevent adversaries from gaining entrance into the town.
The door has a piece of white cloth strapped onto its middle part on which some oil was poured. The door was said to be magical as it returned itself to its present location when it was captured by the Dahomeans.
Akaba idena also has another door with the same features like lekun idena. The door, lekun abo, faces northward and is said to have powers to give children to barren women. Barren women are said to always frequent the door to ask for children.
In the middle of the building is a shrub with slanting branches called ode atoin/pasan. The branches of the shrub are sometimes cut to beat offenders as a way of executing instant traditional justice.
“The atoin or pasan is not ordinary. Anybody beaten with it would never remain a normal person. But during our festivals, people beat one another with ode pasan and nothing would happen. If an offender is brought here and beaten with it, that is the end of that person,” one of the guides added.
Ile eeru is another interesting feature of akaba idena. It is a small room with an engraved door inside which the new monarch of the town would spend seven days prior to his coronation.
The monarch is expected to commune with spirits alone and possibly perform some sacrifices. He is also expected to stay alone in some other rooms in the building for a period of three months performing one sacrifice or another.
Right in the building is also an enclave, ile aiwo ajidorun, whoever enters the enclave would never return as he would be beaten to death by spirits who would throw his corpse into a valley in the enclave.
Ketou also has a long dug out pit round the town, especially the ancient part of the town. The pit, koto yara, is about 10 meters deep and wide enough to accommodate five people at a time. Dug by a weird man, Ajingbolu, to protect the town and its people from the Dahomeans, the pit has largely been spoilt by some people as its edges are surrounded by filth and garbage.
In Ketou, Nigeria’s life appears to interface with the daily living of the people. They accept naira alongside their local currency.
This reporter was baffled when one of the guides cornered him and asked for money before he could be taken round the historical sites in the town. Having told him he only had naira on him, his joy knew no bounds as he heard naira. Most of the people are on the network of glo Benin.
Bill boards of the telecommunication network with pictures of Nollywood actors and actresses adorn strategic places in the town, giving one an impression that Ketou is an extension of Nigeria.
The people hold on to their cultural belief as religious houses were hardly seen on the road. Though the FM radio in the town was busy blaring Islamic songs, Ketou people appeared impenetrable and did not allow alien religions to take over their indigenous religious beliefs from them.
Ketou Yoruba is slightly different from others spoken by many Yoruba tribes. Dialectical differences should be expected due to geographical distance between the speakers and other Yoruba speakers both in Benin Republic, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and parts of South America.
Ketou Yoruba is interspersed with French words, the same way Yoruba spoken in Nigeria and South America is heavily influenced by English, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese respectively.
Of much interest is the orthography of some names in the dialect. The standard Yoruba, for instance, frowns at the use of double consonants in words while at the same time discourages the use of certain vowels together in words.
Sounds like (u) and (o) are never combined in standard Yoruba language, but in Ketou Yoruba it is allowed.
Names like (Olatounji, Segoun, Oulou, Adetoutou) and many more are common. You could also come across names having a cluster of consonants like (Akpmampa) and others.
NB: The story was published last year in Sunday Tribune in parts. Other parts are not included here.
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