Women of Oduduwa
Heritage
Women In Oduduwa Society
Women have always held a significant place in the Yoruba society. They are highly referred and mothers are always said to be ‘first among the gods’ (orisha bi iya ko si). However, the image of a helpless, oppressed, and marginalized group has undermined their true strength and impact in the society, and little recognition has been granted to the various integral functions that Nigerian women have performed throughout history. Women have been involved not only in nation building but as custodians of great legacy in a country with rich cultures and potential.
Precolonial period, women played a major role in social and economic activities. Division of labour was often shared along gender lines, and women controlled such occupations as food processing, mat weaving, pottery making, and cooking. Land was communally owned, and women could access it through their husbands or parents.
Among the Yoruba, they were the major figures in long-distance trade, with enormous opportunities for accumulating wealth and acquiring titles. The most successful among them rose to the prestigious chieftaincy title of iyalode, a position of great privilege and power. The queen mother, a powerful title among the Yoruba, could be bestowed upon the king’s mother or a free woman of considerable stature. In her own palace, the queen mother presided over meetings, with subordinate titleholders in her support. Yoruba legends describe periods when women were either the actual kings or heroines. Such women as Moremi of Ile-Ife and Efunsetan Aniwura are notable legendary figures, as powerful women who commanded authority in the society.
In politics, women were not as docile or powerless as contemporary literature tends to portray them. They were a powerful voice in the society and championed a lot of protests and revolutions which led to social reforms. Through a united front, they unseat despotic rulers and abolish arbitrary policies.
Post-colonial period, the most powerful agency of change has been Access to formal education, from which a large number of powerful women have emerged. Intelligent, educated, and confident, they can be found in all leading occupations; displacing those places wherein it was considered reserved for the male folks and are gradually pushing the borders for female inclusion in the area of politics. We will now discuss some of these women.
- MOREMI AJASORO
Moremi was a Yoruba heroine who saved her people during the time of unrest. She is reputed for her bravery, love for her people and doggedness and her statues in Ile-ife are a memorial of her votive sacrifice to her people.
Moremi made herself a votive sacrifice to preserve the lives of her people from the hands of Ugbo people who made incessant rampaging invasions on Ile-Ife. According to History, Ugbo people of Ilaje are the aboriginal settlers in Ile-Ife while Ife people were later immigrants. There was a rift between Ugbo and the people of Ife over kingship which led to Ugbo people been driven out of Ile-Ife to a new settlement now known as Okeigbo, in Ondo State, a distance not too far from Ile-Ife. As a result of this subsisting rift, Ugbo people made several counter attacks on the people of Ile-Ife. Market days were dreadful for the people of Ife, Ugbo people usually came and ransacked them, looted their goods and carried some of them as slaves. It was one of such occasion that Moremi purposed to deliver her people from these wicked men and devised a plan. She then allowed herself to be captured by the Ugbo people in order to discover the secret behind their strength and the successes of their operations. As fate would have it, Orunmakin, the reputed warlord and leader of the Ugbo people was enthralled by Moremi’s beauty and decided to marry her. As a result of this, she moved from a slave into the palace. Moremi through the Yoruba attributes of ifarabale, (calmness), iluti (teachability), imoju-mora (sensibility), tito (steadfastness), suuru (patience) and iwa pele (gentleness which she possesed), got the secrets of Ugbo people. She discovered that the Ugbo people disguised themselves in twigs and grasses to look like spirit beings whenever they were going to Ile-Ife, these coverings were highly inflammable and the tyranny of the Ugbo people could be ended by this secret. She stealthily escaped from the palace and ran back to Ile-Ife. The people of Ile-Ife later conquered Ugbo, using fire balls as instructed by Moremi. Moremi later sacrificed her only son, Oluorogbo as ebo eje, (votive sacrifice) for the support of the gods over her success in discovering the secret behind the rampaging Ugbo people. Moremi and her son Oluorogbo are regarded as heroine and hero respectively in Ile-Ife till today (Awolalu, 1981: 151).
Through the singular act of bravery by this woman, a whole tribe was saved. She is celebrated among the Yoruba especially in Ile-Ife where her statutes decorate Ooni’s palace and Obafemi Awolowo University.
- FUNMILAYO RANSOME-KUTI (1900-1978)