Wọnu: It’s Wọle. He bought this Greek–English Bible and is calling everyone by some word in Greek.

“I see.” I responded. “Very interesting.”

Ọlaọmọ: Patrick is evangelos.

Wọnu: You know he gave Ọlaade a Greek name

“Really?” I asked. “What’s his Greek name?”

Ọlaọmọ: Timotheos. It’s not official or anything, just for the baby book.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Ọlaọmọ: The honor of God.

“I like that.” I responded. “I love names with godly meanings. Mine, Derbrah, just means a bee. However Deborah the prophetess was an outstanding Hebrew woman. I feel honored to model my life after her.”

Ọlaọmọ” At least you had a biblical name. All we had were Yoruba names. Also, it’s Ola, Ọmọ, or Oluwa.

“That’s fine.” I stated. “A name is just a name. God doesn’t give extra blessings for choosing a Hebrew or Greek name for one’s child.”

Wọnu: My thoughts exactly. That’s why the only official name for my son is in Yoruba. Hebrew is not the holy language, Greek is not the Christian tongue, English is not sacred and Yoruba is not sanctified. A name is for identity purposes.

Ọlaọmọ: It’s not about holiness or divinity. I don’t know, it’s just neater I guess.

“To me a name is just for identity purposes.” I replied. “If it has a godly meaning, I’m all for it.”

Ọlaọmọ: I like the meaning, the sound, the length of the letters, the biblical example of those who had borne similar names and the type of life I want my child to lead.

Wọnu: What an apostolos! Too much detail, information overload!

“I thought that was the downside of teachers.” I replied teasingly.

Ọlaọmọ: Apostles are teachers too.

Wọnu: Prophets are focused and precise.

Ọlaọmọ: They’re also stubborn and presumptuous.

“Every office has its peculiarities.” I stated. “That’s why we all need each other.”

Ọlaọmọ: If we have a boy, his name will be Emmanuel, if we have a girl, her name will be Dorcas.

Wọnu: If I have more than two kids what will be the names of the third and fourth?

Ọlaọmọ: I have more names like Theodora, John, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Phoebe, Sarah, etc.

“I have to confess those names you’ve listed have lovely meanings.” I put in.

Wọnu: So does my Yoruba name. Omọwọnuọla (A child brought into wealth) Oluwakẹmi (The Lord cherished me), Ayọtunde (Another joy).

Ọlaọmọ: Yes, your name has a good meaning. So does mine.

Do you have other Yoruba names? I asked Ọlaọmọ.

Ọlaọmọ: Yes. It’s Oluwatosin Ayọkunnu. Wọnu told me your Yoruba name is Adeşola.

“It’s one of my Yoruba names.” I nodded. “I have a string of others.”

Ọlaọmọ: That reminds me of the man that founded my elementary School, Revd Adeşola.

Wọnu: Have you ever considered that most Yoruba names rotate around Oluwa, Ola, Ade, Ọmọ and Ayọ?

Ọlaọmọ: Yes they do, don’t they?

“Remarkable.” I replied. “Anyway, I don’t think it’s important to give a child a name from the bible. It’s just a name.”

Wọnu: I agree with you. But then, many Nigerian Christians feel otherwise. I call is missionary brainwashing.

Ọlaọmọ: Well, it may be brainwashing, but at least everytime you call your child, you’re reminding him/her that they have been exposed to the true God and to His Christ. I think it helps the child to be interested in the bible.

“Now,” I responded, “that’s a nice way to put it.”

Wọnu: The ones that tune me off are these wannabe prophets, who say they received the name from God, and the life of the child is going to be like so and so in the bible.

Ọlaọmọ laughed and said, “You’re referring to your father-in-law, aren’t you? You’re still angry with the man for calling your only son, Solomon.

Wọnu: That’s part of it.

Ọlaọmọ: I can still visualize Wọle on the phone stating; “My son will not grow up to be like Solomon, he will not marry 700 wives and have 300 girlfriends. He will grow up to serve God and marry just one wife like me.”

Wọnu: The man really got to Wọle. I had to tell him to refrain from speaking with his dad for a week so things would cool down.

Ọlaọmọ who had been giggling for the past two minutes stopped and replied slowly,

“Well, you can’t really blame the man. He spent his life sleeping around like a dog. Didn’t Wọle mention that it was after his last girlfriend duped him that he returned to his mother? Of course, the man thought that Solomon was the best man in the bible.”

Wọnu: The unfortunate thing is Wọle cannot stand Solomon. He says Jesus Christ thought little of Solomon because he compared Solomon to the grass of the field. There was no way he was going to call his only son by that name.

Ọlaọmọ: Whenever I want to tease Wọle, I call him baba Solo (Solo’s dad).

We all laughed.

Ọlaade, who had since fallen asleep stirred in his sleep. I was getting the baby fix I needed.

“By the grace of God.” I prayed. “Ọlaade, you will grow up to chose eternal life and enjoy the essence of eternal life, the knowledge of God and Jesus that He sent according to John 17:3.

Wọnu and Ọlaọmọ both answered “Amen.”

Ọlaade opened his eyes and his mother held out her arms.

Wọnu: Time for some more omi iye.

“Please don’t tell me you are going to the bathroom again?’ I questioned.

Wọnu: I am.

Then I remembered. “Give me a second.” I stated then got up and went to mama Jade’s office. I returned with a lacey baby blanket. “Here, this is new and it’s on the house.” I told Wọnu. “Use this blanket. It has holes for the baby, so he won’t sweat.”

Wọnu reluctantly received the blanket and fed the baby. When she was done, Ọlaọmọ teased,

“Now that was not so bad was it?

Wọnu: Okay. I’ll use this outside the house. Are you both happy?

We both nodded and smiled.

Wọnu: How come mama Jade just happens to have a lacey blanket?

“She’s preparing to have a baby.” I responded.

Ọlaọmọ: Isn’t that the woman? She pointed at mama Jade’s photograph on the wall

“Yes. It is.” I confirmed.

Ọlaọmọ: She looks too old to be bearing children.

“Well. She doesn’t think so, and so does God.” I went on to explain the miracle God had wrought in mama Jade’s life.

Ọlaọmọ: I just love those clear-cut testimonies. I heard the testimony of a sister that God changed her genotype from the sickle cell gene to the normal gene. God is great! My faith is just not that strong.

“Faith grows.” I assured her. “God has provided you another way to have your baby. We are thankful for that.”

Ọlaọmọ: I am thankful o. More so we just finished thanksgiving. It’s just that sometimes I wonder how my life would have been if I did not have this condition.

Wọnu: Sister, I’ve asked you many times not to go there. I escaped sickle cell mutation but your life has been more fulfilling than mine.  Having sickle cell gene is nothing so bad.

Ọlaọmọ: Many people have died before they should.

Wọnu: They died from the poor health care system in Nigeria. Very rarely do people die from sickle cell nowadays.

“Did you ever ask your parents if they knew their genotype status before they married?” I asked

Ọlaọmọ: I did. They knew. They were hoping it would not happen to them.

“Ah.” I replied sympathetically. “O ma se o (what a pity)!”

Wọnu: You know how many people live in fantasy la-la land. They were too much in love.

Ọlaọmọ: Well the hospital bills surely brought them to reality.

Wọnu: I remember auntie Kofo. She believed it was one witch or wizard that was responsible.

Ọlaọmọ: That auntie has to become born again. Everything is due to one oşo (wizard) or ajẹ (witch).

Wọnu: Sometimes it is due to witchcraft and occultism. There is such a thing as ogun ife – (potion of love). I tease my parents a lot. I tell them cupid struck both of them with his arrow.

Ọlaọmọ: So Cupid now is real? Who will it be next, Aphrodites?

Wọnu: Sister, ẹ de ni yen. I was just joking.

Ọlaọmọ: Let’s joke about real things. Many people are deceived believing these lies or jokes.

Wọnu: Na wah for you apostles jọ. One cannot be lighthearted anymore.

Ọlaọmọ: I did not write the bible. Papa Paul said in Ephesians 5:4, no stupid talk. I never joke with spiritism and spiritualism. The spiritual world is real and Satan is wicked.

Wonu: Okay, mom’s the word.

“I understand.” I responded. “ What we say bears spiritual weight. Also, as ministers we never know who’s learning from us so we must be considerate.”

Olaomo: This auntie is so strung on spiritism, she’s deluded.

Wọnu: It’s not just auntie now. It’s us Yorubas. We are too religious as a people. We see spiritualism in everything.

“I have to agree with you there.” I replied. “That’s why I am thankful for the missionaries for introducing Christianity and literacy. You know Yoruba language alphabets were designed primarily so that people could read the bible.”

Ọlaọmọ: Yet the Yoruba bible is full of so many mistakes. They still mixed some Yoruba religion terms in the translation. Imagine translating Devil as Esu.

“That’s true.” I said. “An updated Yoruba bible was released last year. I plan to read it next year. I hope it fixed the errors of the old one.”

Wọnu: Why would anybody even want to read the Yoruba bible? There are so many English versions.

“Don’t you and Wọle want Ọlaade to speak and read Yoruba?” I asked.

Wọnu: We haven’t discussed it.

Ọlaọmọ: I’m so glad you brought it up. I believe they should only speak Yoruba in the house, that way the boy will learn the language faster.

Wọnu: I think it is unnecessary. We are living here now. He will only visit Nigeria. He’s not going to live there. Why should I start teaching him A, B, D?

“He is Yoruba-American.” I replied. “It’s his cultural heritage. I have many African-American friends who desire to associate with African nations. Some choose an ethnic group. Some even trace their genetic make up.”

Ọlaọmọ gave me a high-five and stated;

Yio ma da fun e o jare. Oluwa a da e si. Gbogbo ohun to badawọ le, rere lo mayọrisi. (It will be well with you. The Lord will keep you. Everything you lay your hands to will prosper).

Wọnu: I see you’ve stolen my sister’s heart. So now I have to start looking for Yoruba teaching aids.

“What does Wọle think?” I asked.

Ọlaọmọ: Wọle kẹ? That one can’t stand anything Yoruba. He is still pissed off by his dad if you ask me.

“Really, o tio o.” I stated. “He wears the clothes and eats the food. He speaks the language and adheres to the godly cultural values. What went wrong?”

Ọlaọmọ: He will soon be here, then you can ask him.

Derbrah writes courtesy of Agape for All Ministries. Author retains copyright.        

Jadesọla’s restaurant is a drama ministry of the Yoruba Christian Women (YCW), an international faith-based non-governmental, not-for-profit organization. Similarity of names and stories are coincidental. Feel free to copy for non-commercial use. Commercial use requires permission. For more information on YCW write Jesutoyin Ajikẹ-King (toyinking@yahoo.com).

Robot  # 1 | 29.12.2007 03:47

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