“Thus the Edo people believe that their kings come from the sky or more appropriately, from Heaven or from God. It is this belief which explains why the Oba or king is the embodiment of the culture of the Edo people. The story of the people cannot be written without reference to their king or Oba. Indeed, everything revolves round the Oba.”–end of quote.
This note is to let you know that my family and I continue to enjoy the series on Edo culture and tradition that you have been sharing on this list-server. One can only wish that similar information is made available about all the other ethnic groups in Nigeria by their indigenes.
I have always wandered about the references to the ‘mythical origins’ of the Edo Royalty including the belief that the original Ogieso was sent from heaven by God. How does the modern day Edo interpret this statement, literally and otherwise? In other words, was the original Ogieso sent from heaven to rule over his/her subjects taken in the same vein as the Christian belief that “Jesus” , Son of God , was sent to earth by God Almighty to Redeem all of university?
Who came first, the Ogieso or his/her Edo subjects? This question is relevant because if the Ogieso came first, then by extrapolation all present day Edos and their forebears (as descendants of the original Ogieso) would in one way or the other be a member of the royalty. If the latter is true, (and I strongly doubt it is) how could one explain the traditional reference, respect and obeyiance that the Edo continue to have for members of their royal household? Wouldn’t this have led to a “republican” tradition as opposed to the historical “royal” tradition of governance amongst our peoples?
Even after acknowledging that most of the history about the origins of African people in general, and Edos, Yoruba etc in particular are forever shrouded in myths, I continue to wander about what the average practical modern educated Edo, Yoruba, Igbo or Igala etc really believe about the true origins of our peoples, in light of continuing scientific and archaeologic discoveries in Africa and around the world.
You would have guessed from the above that I have considerable doubts about the so-called “mythical” origins of our peoples and in fact that of entire humanity. Almost every ethnic group that has ever lived on earth has one or more stories to explain or describe the origin of their peoples. The story of creation in the Bible (Genesis), is one such myth which a presumably “dominant” European culture has suceeded in selling to most of the rest of the world in the name of “Christianity.”
Personally, I will continue to put my chips on theories and facts about creation which are based on solid scientific evidence. Current scientific knowledge about creation which is currently in its infancy as I write, continues to cast considerable doubts on some of the information contained in many traditional mythical beliefs about our origins.
Science in the end, at least in my view, will be the great leveller. Scientific knowledge will eventually (not necessarily in our lifetime), provide the much needed evidence to convince those who continue to doubt the fact that all humanity belongs to one stock! This knowledge may eventually lead us to drop most of the artificial barriers based on race, ethnic or national origins that human beings use to “classify” or differentiate ourselves! Hopefully, it will also put an end to the continuing anachronistic existence of royal house holds all over the world.
Scientific knowledge will relegate the different stories about the origins of human beings all over the world to what they truly are–“MYTHS” as opposed to “REALITY”!
