Oral Traditions and Preservations of Cultural Heritage in Yoruba Society

Article Citation: Ọlawale HAKEEM (2023). Oral Traditions and Preservations of Cultural Heritage in Yorùbá Society. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 & 2. ISSN 0794-9316

ORAL TRADITIONS AND PRESERVATIONS OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN YORÙBÁ SOCIETY

By

Ọlawale HAKEEM

Abstract

Oral traditions play prominent roles in the continuity, preservations and peaceful co-existence in African society. Cultural heritage is fully embedded in the oral traditions like all forms of verbally communicated histories like traditions of origin, myths, legends, folktales, folk songs, proverbs, poetry, praise songs, praise names, panegyrics, religious and secular songs and all forms of ceremonies to mention but few. The researcher, as a native speaker of Yorùbá language used some data from his knowledge of Yorùbá oral traditions, personal observations, consultations and interactions with elders and some published texts on Yorùbá oral traditions. The theoretical framework adopted is the Sociological theory of literature because interactions of people and daily life activities from the time immemorial in the society results to oral traditions. This paper therefore discusses the relevance of oral traditions as a medium whereby multifarious African languages and cultural issues can be preserved and documented if properly utilized. So far language is a culture's dictionary, or rather its encyclopedia, its issues cannot be under-estimated or viewed with nonchalant attitude in the society. To preserve and document African languages in order to prevent them from going into extinction, oral traditions play prominent roles. This paper explicates the roles of oral traditions to revive or save the endangered languages and for the preservations of cultural heritage. As mentioned earlier, the aim of this paper is to explicate the authenticity of oral traditions towards the preservation, documentation and revival of African languages and cultural heritage. The paper concludes that if those multifarious aspects of oral traditions are carefully subjected to recordings, transcription, analysis and utilization, it is a good propeller for our African languages documentation, revival and preservation cultural heritage for the contemporary generations and the generations yet unborn.

Introduction

Africa is a home to about 2,000 of the 6,000 languages spoken in the world today and many of these languages are used mostly in the oral or unwritten form. It plays the role of recalling the past through its corpus complexity. It was pointed out by Ìṣọ̀lá (2010) that culture is God's own way of organizing people all over the world in cohesive groups, each around a language, with its own peculiar skills and knowledge... A group's language makes effective and independent operation possible. Moreover, Bọ́láńlé Awẹ́ in Adéẹ̀kọ́ (2001) opined that historians of non-literate societies should view oral traditions as valuable sources for chronicling the evolution of African social and cultural consciousness, because in societies without permanent archives, creative orature captures the mentalities of their milieu of production and consumption.

In African societies, oral traditions is the method in which histories, stories, folktales and religious beliefs are passed from one generation to generation. Put in plain words, “oral” can be described as “spoken rather than written,” while the word “tradition” means, “transmittal of element of a culture from one generation to another, especially by means of oral communiction” (Ọmọtọṣọ 2009:173-174).

Oral traditions can be regarded as the vast field of knowledge through which cultural information and messages are transmitted verbally from one generation to another (Akínyẹmí 2008). It is a set of practices by which societies communicate their vital knowledge and culture without writing. It is a tradition (knowledge, history, teachings) which is handed down by word of mouth. The Yorùbá race, from time immemorial, has used oral traditions in forms of statements, folklore, songs and proverbs to impart discipline in her people irrespective of political, religious or socio-economic status (Awósìkà and Fálànà 2009: 151). The relevance of oral tradition in African societies can never be under–estimated because of its power of preservation of cultural materials, ancestry and traditions that are orally transmitted within a community from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants. In this way it is humanly possible for a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system. Oyèbádé (2004:52) also posits that:

Oral tradition comes in variety forms. They consists of all forms of verbally communicated histories namely, traditions of origin, myths, legends, folktales, folk songs, proverb, poetry, praise songs, praise names, religious and secular songs, and all forms of ceremonies.

As education is germane to human life continuity and peaceful co-existence which starts from cradle and ends in the grave, however, oral tradition plays prominent roles most especially in African societies because the utterances of the elders to the younger ones and among the community people goes a long way to mould the younger generations, culturally, morally and in all aspect of human endeavours.

Finnegan (1999:22) opined that “interest in oral tradition and verbal art is… to understand people’s cultural activities and artistries.”

All the oral forms of art most especially in the Yorùbá nation when voiced or chanted by the elders or experts, are always embedded with words and sentences that are stylistically aesthetical which portrays the richness of the language and heritage as a whole.

In his own opinion Okpewho (1992 : 137 – 138) stated that:

…there is hardly any occasion or activity in traditional African lifethat is not accompanied by songs or chants. When child is born, songs accompany the moment of rejoicing and merry – making at the good fortune; when the child is crying or about to sleep, lullabies are sung by the mother or a nurse, intended to ‘lull’ the child to rest. During the ceremonies marking entry into adolescence – initiation ceremonies for boys and puberty rites for girls, songs are performed to mark this important stage in traditional African life.

The above excerpts of the Okpewho’s opinion shed light to us that almost everything in African societies are with oral traditions backup. Therefore, attaching more importance to oral traditions in our societies by utilizing the aid of modern technology to preserve and document them will save our African language originality and thereby protect them from extinction. Though, the aesthetics of the context of performance may not be there again or dropped drastically but yet, our languages would be preserved from the threat of extinction. He further states that there are different songs for adults who gets married ; songs and chants also accompany the various honest occupations of men and women. Work songs to relieve the hours on the farm, in the fields, at the fishing traps, or at the weaver’s loom. There is war song too to encourage the warrior at war fields. There are also moonlight songs of different varieties intended to relax young men and women as well as their children after a hard day’s work in many areas of life.

Babalọlá (1966: VI) also buttressed it when he states further that:

Oral poetry is part of everyday life among Yorùbá; the same can safely be said of the pervasive role of songs and chants in traditional African life generally.

What Babalọlá is also trying to bring out is that orature is part of African societies. It is an integral part of African life. Therefore careful documentations of our language through them will be beneficial because of its sociological gravity and the lens with which we look at our society. Looking at various forms of different Yorùbá oral genres all of which falls under oral tradition, brief analysis of those example will show clearly how oral tradition in African plays important roles in our societies and its relevance as a propeller for proper documentation, revival and preservation of our language for the peaceful co - existence in our various communities. A wide range of oral literature such as: Ifá poetry, hunters’ genre (Ìjálá/ Ìrèmọ̀jé), praise descriptive poetry (oríkì), masquerade poetry (ẹ̀sà egúngún), epithalamium (ewì ajẹmọ́yàwó), Yorùbá music, riddles (àlọ́ àpamọ̀ /àrọ̀) among others depicts the richness of oral tradition if the moral teachings in them are carefully paid attention to. Therefore there is need to document and preserve them for the societal benefits and for the generations yet unborn. At the realm of language preservation and documentation, oral tradition can never be under estimated.

Ajíbádé (2012: 32) noted that:

Implicitly, the use of language depends so much on the language structures and diverse institutions existing in the community of a particular language. The institution range from political, religion, economic and others that could be found in a particular society. The existence of these institutions hinges on the usage of language to bear, praserve and save them.

Sociological Theory of Literature

Sociological Theory can be regarded as one of the most important and popular theories of literature that is accurate to analyse societal issues . This is because without the daily activities of people in the society, nothing can be called oral traditions. Therefore, one of the products of the relationships of people and all the natural phenomena in their environment can reasonably be analysed with Sociological Theory of literature.

Barber (1979: 1) opines that: “Sociology is a way of trying to understand society, its structure, how it works, the forces that bring about changes in it”. The opinion of Berber stresses the importance of sociological theory to know deeply about the society, and to discover some facts that can bring about changes and developments for peaceful co-existence.

Similarly, Ògúnṣinà (1987: 19) also goes thus:

Literature is concerned with men and his society. It is an art composed of words in such a way that it proffers entertainment, enlightenment and relaxation. It attempts to develop, elevate, expand and transform the experience of its audience.

What Ògúnṣínà is also pointing out is that literature and the society are closely interwoven and that all the actions and happenings in the society transforms differently to what is called literature of which oral traditions can never be over-emphasised.

Barber (1979: 2) explain further when he says:“One needs to exploit a theoretical framework that will explain the interrelationship between literature and the society that produces it”

The above excerpts also points out that society and literature are inseparable. Oral traditions among the Yorùbás is so unique and important in their daily activities and societal peaceful co-existence and continuity. In his own view too, Ajíbádé (2009: 11) says:

Sociological theory is broadly categorised into two – macro and micro sociology. But the focus of the two is that both bother on the study of society and interpreting the relationships. Everything bothers on the cultural understanding of the society and the interpretation an individual can give to various scenes and incidences within a given society.

Ajíbádé’s opinion is that, though he categorised sociology into micro and macro, yet the focus of the two is to proffer solutions to those cultural issues, traditions and multifarious happenings that may be ambiguous.

Yorùbá Society and Oral Traditions Preservation

There are lots of Yorùbá vocabularies that are richly embedded in our oral traditions, majority of which are not put into use in our contemporary day-to-day activities today due to civilization and colonization. To save most of these vocabularies from going into total extinction, oral traditions should be quickly considered to propels the documentation and preservation of our rich Yorùbá languages and our culture at large. The chanters at the king palaces in Yorùbá most especially are well versed in the history of the past and the personalities and whenever they are in the mood, a lot are being gained from them due to their originality in the spoken Yorùbá. A typical example are the royal bards at the palace of Aláàfin of Ọ̀yọ́. Listening to them and subjected it to recording and transcription will go a long way in saving our languages. The same is applicable to the Ìjálá chanters, Ifá Priests and Iwì Egúngún specialists and all other aspects of our oral traditions.

If we want to move forward in Africa, oral traditions can never be under estimated due to its relevance and originality in African life. African continent is one of the richly endowed in the world most especially in the realm of oral tradition. There are lots of facts reasonably embedded in the heritage of Africa. Some of the languages that are endangered which are facing extinction threat can tactically be revived, preserved and be saved if our oral tradition is taken with seriousness. The tendency of regaining some lost glories in Africa lies in the seriousness with our oral tradition and our languages can best be preserved through the judicious utilization of those who are well versed in oral tradition in communities to communities and Africa at large. In Asia , for example where nature, languages and environment are valued, recognized and celebrated , there are lots of things keep on moving for them positively .In the same vein, oral tradition can serve as a tool for the documentation and preservation of our African multifarious languages. This is due to the fact that consultations with oral performers, recording them, transcribing the recorded tapes, subject them to serious analysis will go a long way in the preservation of language that are directly or indirectly fading away due to colonization that has affected many cultural values, civilization that has made many Africans to nonchalantly dropped their mother tongue for foreign languages due to their negligence or ignorance.

Though, some foreign scholars had erroneously denounced African unwritten literature using the lenses of the Western written literature as the yardstick for all forms of literature. Their belief is that anything unwritten cannot be regarded as literature. But this is totally untrue because there is cultural differentiation which arises from relativity in the sensorium of different cultures. Therefore, either oral or written, the function of literature as the channel that mirrors the society is of paramount importance to every society that has it ( Ajíbádé 2012: 30-31).

Proverbs and Songs

In our cultural heritage, oral tradition occupies reasonable segment. At the realm of proverbs as one of the baby of oral traditions, younger generations and generations yet unborn are bound to benefits in the contents and the moral lessons it teaches. For example:

“Àgbà kìí wà lọ́jà kórí ọmọ tuntun wọ́”

(An elder should not be in the market and allow a child’s head to hang).

The simple meaning of the above proverb is that elders should be always ready to mediate in the rifts to make things go well in the societies.

More so,

Àtẹ́lẹwọ́ ẹni kìí tanni jẹ” meaning

(One’s own palms do not deceive him ).

This is also teaching everybody the spirit of hard work and to avoid laziness; this will make everybody to be active to move the society forward. Laziness is not condone in African society.

Àjèjé ọwọ́ kan kò gbégbá dórí

(A single hand does not lift a full calabash to the head)

Also teaches the spirit of co-operation and togetherness in our African society.

Attention should be highly paid to the revival, preservation and documentation of our language in order to preserve it from colonization and civilization threats. Ward Hangh (1987) stated that ‘A pervasive myth about sub-Saharan African is that it was like a tower of Babel before European colonization. Babajide (2001:9) also buttressed it that ‘Even now that the colonialism has become history, the language situation is not even better. If anything, the colonial experience has further compounded the problem by introducing English, French and Portuguese as the case may be, as a unifying language’.

This directly reveals to us that oral tradition needs to be paid serious attention to in order not to send our African languages into total extinction.

An example of Kèngbè music in Ìlọrin goes thus:

Ojú olórò a pọ́n ọ́n ọ́n

Ojú olórò a pọ́n o o o ò

Bò ba rọ́kọ ọ ọ ọ

Bo bá rọ́kọ ní yàráà mi

Ojú Olóorò a pọ́n.

(Her eyes will turn red

Her eyes will definitely turn red

Whenever she sees the husband …

Whenever she sees the husband in my room …

Her eyes will turn red).

The above songs of kèǹgbè traditional music in Ìlọrin is talking about the rivalry and jealousy among the co-wives in their husband house.There are lots of challenges in the polygamous settings which is paramount in African life.

Another one reads thus:

Ǹ ó gba Láádùba dé é é

Ṣó ń yé ?

Ǹ ó gba Láadùba dé o o o ò

Bòrogún mi in in

Borógún mi bá lọ sí Ṣàó

Ǹ ó gba Láádùba dé.

(I will be coming from Ládùba

I will definitely be coming from Ládùba

If my rival co-wife go to Ṣàó  

I will be coming from Ládùba).

This song also tells us about the extent at which the issue of polygamous house is serious. How they use metaphysical power and charms to fight one another in order to claim superiority in their husbands’ house. Ládùba and Ṣàó are some of the towns in kwara state where it is believed they have efficient metaphysical power and charms especially for self defense.

Nuptial Poetry

… Literature examines and mirror the society from which it emerges. Ajíbádé (2009: 33). All that is sung, chanted, told, performed etc. by the artists or the people in any African society are the replica of what is going on in the society which are all oral traditions. The nuptial poetry like all other types of orature in Yorùbá society is a combination of social and cultural commentaries. Unraveling it would reveal various heritages that are represented, created, generated and reflected. Ajíbádé (2009:101).

An example of nuptial poetry which the new bride chants before she is finally handed over to her husband goes thus:

Odò kan , òdò kàn

Tí ń bẹ láàrin ìgbẹ́

Ará iwájú ò gbọdọ̀ bù mu

Èrò ẹ̀yìn wọn ò gbọdọ̀ bù wẹsẹ̀

Èmi Àlàkẹ́ mo débẹ̀ mo bù bọ́jú

Ojú ù mí wá dojú oge.

Ìbàdí mi dìbàdí ìlẹ̀kẹ̀

Ìlẹ̀kẹ̀ tẹ́ ẹ bá kà tí ò bá pé

Ẹlẹ̀gbẹ́ mo ní ẹ tú mi láṣọ

Ire lónìí, oríì mi àfire.

(A certain river, a certain river

 Located in the tick forest

People before us (elders) must not drink it

People behind us (juniors) must not wash leg with it

I, Àlàkẹ́ got there, I took off a portion to wash my face

My face becomes that of a bride

My waist becomes a beaded waist

If you count the beads and any is missing

My comrades, you should strip me off and take my dress away

Goodness today, my head is definitely for goodness).

The simple meaning of the above nuptial poetry is all about the importance of virginity in Yorùbá society. How honorable it is for a lady to remain virgin till her wedding day only for her legitimate husband to deflower her which is a pride and dignity for her and her entire family. The ‘river’ in first line represents the private part (vagina) of the bride which is located in a concealed part of the body as represented by ‘forest’ in line two. Contextually, the river in the tick forest represents virginity where nobody can go unless the authorized and the legitimate owner which is her husband on the first night of her wedding. This is teaching morals to the young ladies to keep themselves from immorality of reckless and illegitimate sexual dealings. This will even save our society from sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.

Dàdàkúàdà Songs

The following are some of the example of dadakúàdà songs by Jáígbadé Àlàó, an indigenous musician in Ìlọrin:

Ẹni tọ́ bá le bínú

Ẹ ní kọ́ mọ́ ṣiṣẹ́ mọ́

Iṣẹ́ tó fogún ọdú ṣe

Ìṣẹ́jú kan àbọ̀

Ni ó ko dà sí kànga

Ọlọ́hun ṣọ́ wa pẹ̀lú inú bíbí

(He who can be too angry

Tell him to stop working again.

All his work for the last twenty years

Only within a twinkle of an eye

He will dump them into deep well

May God protect us from anger).

What the above song teaches us is patience and perseverance which if can be carefully tolerated will go a long way in reshaping our societies for better. Music and dance (a kind of poetry) as means of communication are not free from the constructions of reality that predominate in different societies (Blacking 1977:22).

Riddles

Riddle is another form under oral tradition. The example below will briefly explicate the importance of code and how to decode in Yorùbá orature.

Speaker: Ààlọ́ ooo! - A riddle!

Audience: Ààlọ̀ ọ̀ọọ̀! - A riddle!

Ì kòkò rúgúdú fẹ̀yìn tigbó o

(A small roundish pot rest in the bush with its back.)

The answer to the above riddle is snail (ìgbín) due to the belief that the natural habitat of snail is bush. In fact, imagery also is not left out to decode the riddle .It also teaches children how to think quickly to proffer solutions to issues.

Masquerade Chants

Also masquerade chants (Iwì-Egúngún) which is one of the aspects of Yorùbá orature is not left out in oral tradition. An example goes thus:

…Ìbà ó o,

Ẹ jẹ́ n ríbà kí n tó ṣeré.

Bá a bá rìbà Èsù tán

Ká máa ríbà Ṣàngó

Ká rí ti Láfián

Ọmọ ẹlẹ́bọ tíí jorí ẹran

Òkàkà tí wọn ń ṣobìnrin yàngì yàngì.

…obìnrin ò ní sinmi asọ̀

Òjòwúbìnrin ò jà

Kó wá sinmi asọ̀ lédè…

(Ọlájubù 1981:25)

(I pay homage,

Let me pay homage before I perform

After the homage paid to Èsù

Let us pay homage to þàngó

We should also pay homage to Láfián

The son of ritualists who eats the goat head

Òkàkà who troubles females surprisingly.

…females do not stop grumbling.

Jealous woman will not fight

And stop grumbling ...).

The above masquerade chants is talking about the importance of due respect for elders and paying of homage to those that deserves it in our societies. It sighted Èsù and Ṣangó who are important deities in Yorùbá nation. It further talks about the jealous nature of women in their matrimonial homes and how they grumbles continuously even on some small issues.

Lineage Panegyrics

According to Ọlátúnjí (1984: 67 ):

Oríkì is the most popular of Yorùbá oral poetic genres, a fact which is attested to by the several collections of the genre. It features in the performance of all Yorùbá chanters as they address members of their audience.

Ulli Beier and Gbàdàmọ́sí (1959:12) opined that oríkì is ‘a poetic phrase that is used to describe or praise’.

Ọláwálé (2011:3) further opined about oríkí-orílë that:

Below extract from Olúfọ́n’s lineage according to Ọláwálé (2011:138) reads thus:

Oríkì orílẹ̀ jẹ́ ọ̀kan pàtàkì láàrin àwọn lítíréṣọ̀ alohùn Yorùbá nítorí ọ̀pọ̀lọpọ̀ ìwúlò rẹ̀ bíi títọ́ka orírun àwọn ìran àti ìtànmọ́lê sí ọ̀pọ̀ ìyánrôfẹ́rẹ́ àti ohun tó farasin.

(Oríkì-Orílẹ̀ is one of the most important and highly recognized among the oral poetic genres of Yorùbá because of its multifarious importance like tracing the origin of many lineages and shedding lights on many allusions and ambiguities ) .

Olúfón Adé Òròlú

Omo kẹ̀láwẹ̀

Ọmọ Aládé ṣẹ́ṣẹ́ ẹfun

Òròlu mo níyọ̀ mo jàtẹ́

Níjọ́ a bímọ sílé

A lépo nílé, a jilá ní funfun

Mo lẹ́ní tuntun ńlé, mo sùn lẹ́ẹ̀kan

Mo rìnhòòhò re balùwẹ̀…

 

(The offspring of Olúfón Adé Òròlú

The offspring of kẹ̀láwè

The offspring of beaded–crown owner

Òròlú, I have salt; I eat soup without salt or seasonings.

We gave birth in the house

We have palm oil, but eat white okro

I have new mat at home but slept on grass

I walked nakedly to the bathroom.

Summarily, the above portion of Olúfọ́n’s lineage descriptive poetry comprises of about three allusions. First of which is derived from ‘Ọmọ Olúfọ́n’ meaning the offspring of where mushroom was spread which symbolizes where their forefather Aládìíkún Ọláosà first settled at the first Ifọ́n Òrìṣátóyìnbó (2000:9) Also the offspring of beaded crown owner in line three symbolizes how important Olúfọ́n’s lineage is and as an offspring of Ọbàtálá who are the possessor of original beaded crown like Ọọ̀ni of Ifẹ̀.

The Òròlú in line four is derived from ‘Orò – Ìlú meaning ‘town rituals’ and the remaining lines explicates how the senior wives of the first Olúfọ́n severely punished their junior wife after her childbirth and which later transformed to compulsory town rituals as a form of sanction, failure to complied with that may have bad results.

Ifá Divination Poetry

On the final note, according to Ajíbádé (2009:34), an Ifá verse of Òfún-Rẹtẹ̀ or Òfún-Alààyè collected from Awo Fátóògùn of Ìlobùú goes thus:

Epo ṣe é jẹṣu

Iṣu ṣe é jepo

Àkàsọ̀ ló dùn ún gàká

Obìnrin ṣe é básùn jọkùnrin lọ

Ọkùnrin ṣe é sùn tì jobìnrin lọ

Bọ́kùnrin bá ń bọ́kùnrin ín sùn

Bí i kóko bo oówo ni

Bí ìkù bí àgbáàrín.

Bóbìnrin bá ń bóbìnrin ín sùn

Bí ẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀ bí òórùn   

Bí ẹrọ̀fọ̀ bí èérí

Bọ́kùnrin bá ń bóbìnrin ín sùn

Bóbìnrin bá ń sùn tọkùnrin

Bi ẹni ń fọlá yunpun ni

Bí ẹni ń fọlá yunra ni

Igi Òfún-Rẹtẹ̀ ló ró gangan-òlèlè

A díá fún Àpọ́n-Àko

Níjọ́ tí ń lọ rèé f’Ọ̀lẹ́lẹ́ ọmọ Ọlọ́fà ṣaya…

(Boiled yam is good to be eating with palmoil

Palm oil is good to be eating with boiled yam

Ladder is good to climb a barn/rafter

It is pleasant for a man to have sexual intercourse with a woman

It is pleasant for a woman to have sexual intercourse with a man

If a man is having sexual intercourse with another man

It results in lumps, boils and yaws

It results in various diseases

If a woman is having sexual intercourse with another woman

It results in fetid and foul odour

It results in mud and dirt

But if a man is having intercourse with a woman

Or if a woman is having intercourse with a man

It makes them feel they are on top of the world

It makes both of them have unlimited bliss.

It was the penis of Òfún-Rẹtẹ̀ that became extremely turgid and stiff

Ifá divination was made for a chronic Bachelor (Àpọ́n-Àko).

On the day he was going to propose to Ọ̀lẹ́lẹ́, the daughter of Ọlọ́fà…)

The above Ifá verses is simply campaigning against lesbianism, gay or homosexuality which is not ethical in Yorùbá nation and African society at large. It is foreign concept which is being forced to Sub-Sahara Africa. There is no aspect of human life that is not touched by Ifá corpus being a repatoire of knowledge. The above Ifá corpus talks about how convenient and good the sexual intercourse between male and female is, rather than the same sex intercourse which is not reasonable and traditional at all in African societies most especially in Yorùbá nation. The essence of binary complimentarities of men and women in Yorùbá society is explicated. It also depicts the conveniency in the intercourse between the legitimate male and female or husband and wife. This also goes a long way too in the campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The corpus however, is embedded with multifarious words that needs to be critically analysed for the contemporary youths of nowadays for better understanding. There are words like àkàsọ̀, àká, básùn, kókó, oówo, ìkù, àgbáàrín , ẹ̀pẹ̀tẹ̀, òórùn, ẹrọ̀fọ̀, èérí, fọlá yunpun, fọlá yunra etc. among others in Yorùbá oratures in Africa which needs to be preserved, documented and to revive many of our old vocabularies to save them from going into extinctions for our own benefits and the benefits of the generations yet unborn.

Conclusion

Considering the meaning of some definitions of oral tradition above and the analysis of some example carefully used, it could be clearly seen that it is an integral part of African culture. When those multifarious aspects of oral traditions are carefully subjected to recordings, transcription, analysis and utilization, it is a good propeller for our African languages documentation, revival and preservation which are very useful for the contemporary generations and the generations yet unborn. I am suggesting that , all the African oral literatures should be carefully and continuously recorded and documented in order to extract vocabularies by the researchers and give meanings and necessary explanations to the ambiguous vocabularies for the benefit of our wards in schools and the societies and to save our African languages generally. All the research outcome should also be uploaded to the internet apart from book forms in order to have wide accessibility. Therefore, if all these could be carefully done, it will definitely go a long way to save African rich cultural values and languages from going into extinction.

References

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