Irin ajo...

I have been missing on the radar since Monday, ẹ ma binu wipe mo f’oju yin s’ọna. Wọn ni bi ò bá nidi, obirin kii jẹ Kúmólú—idi rèé ti mo fi sai si nibi o-- ẹma bami kalọ...

Mo lọ si ilu Osogbo ni, mo n wasẹ kan ni o—lagbara Ọlọrun mo mọ wipe a bọsi. Oju mi ri, eti mi si gbọ. Mo pade ọkunrin kan, baba agbalagba to jẹ ogbontarigi ninu imọ Ifa, ede ati asa Yoruba. This man has travelled far and wide teaching at universities and attending to people around the world. We met at the ministry of Culture and home affairs in the state of Ọsun. He looked at me in my complete Yoruba attire and said ‘yio daa fun ọ’—mo ni ‘Amin’ baba. Sèbí gbogbo yin ló mọ wipe màá beere awọn ibeere kankan lọwọ iru baba yi—lai fakoko sòfò, mo ki ọ̀rọ̀ b’ọnu—I said baba, kini Ọ̀yọ́? I know Ọ̀yọ́ is a town—but whats the root meaning?

He looked at me and said-- Ọ̀yọ́! You see when Ọranyan left Ifẹ with his brothers to avenge the death of his grandfather Lamurudu—you know he had some disagreement with his brothers and they parted ways—I said bẹẹni baba, Ọranyan was the last born and very sharp and wise. After they parted ways, Ọranyan asked Ọrunmila which way to go and settle because he was very religious. Ọruunmila told Ọranyan that anywhere you get to and ‘Ilẹ̀ yọ ẹsin rẹ, ibẹ ni ki o t’ẹdo si’. Meaning that anywhere you get to and your horse slips, thats where you should settle. When they got to a certain place, the horse slipped—then they called the place ‘ilẹ̀ yọ̀’ later ‘o yọ̀ọ́’ later ‘Ọ̀yọ́’—u gerrit?

Every Yoruba word has a root meaning—you may ask me any Yoruba word and I will tell you the root meaning beyond what you know.