Elijah Adebero
Afrobeat artiste, Agbeniyi Edaoto, has again tackled popular gospel musician, Tope Alabi, over her claim that ‘aboru aboye’ expression belongs to all Yoruba people and not to traditionalists alone.
Edaoto said on Tuesday that she was ‘ignorantly delusional’ concerning the ownership and essence of the chant.
He noted, “Àbọrú àbọyè is an exclusive of Ifa devotees, Babaláwo, Ifa acolytes and more. It’s beyond just a usage of greetings within the ìṣẹ̀ṣe community and space, it is for these aforementioned group.”
Alabi had run into a controversy when she gleefully turned the parlance into a song at a Christian live show, with some accusing her of flirting with traditionalists while others said she was trespassing.
Other people, however, believe she is only exploring her spiritual, creative and communal heritage or licence.
After a relatively long time, she revisited the matter, saying ‘aboru aboye’ was generally part of Yoruba Language.
In a Facebook post on Tueday, Edaoto, an Ifa devotee who has been vehement in his disagreement with Alabi, wrote:
There are several other forms of greetings exclusive to ìṣẹ̀ṣe community. A Babaláwo will not likely greet another babaláwo ‘àkíìkà’ ordinarily. This is an exclusive for Ẹgbẹ́ propitiation.
What Tọpẹ Alabi did is cultural appropriation and the people backing her are mostly suffering from the same colonial mentality and ignorance she’s equally suffering from.
If we need to admit that àbọrú àbọyè are just mere Yorùbá words, it shouldn’t be too hard to shout ‘eríwo yà!’ in the church, since it only means ‘to be silent’ or when the choir are in their procession for their special number, they can simply say ‘éépà mọlẹ̀!’ since it simply means ‘give way’. The people who conduct services in your churches should be referred to as Olúwo. Olúwo simply means the ‘leaders of initiates, believers or converts’.
You can’t be speeding into people’s spaces on and off to take whatever suits your inept narratives in the name of language.
Christianity has no language equivalence in Yorùbá language and culture. It’s also not important, what’s important is that its adherents stay on their lane without infuriating other people of other faiths with the appropriation of their ‘property’.
Calling their gods’ names belonging to Yorùbá òrìṣà is like using Ìjẹ̀sà panegyrics for Ẹ̀gbá.
