Ejigbede Lona Isalu Orun was written by Joseph Ogunshina Ogundele and published in 1956 by Longmans, Green and Co LTD.
Ejigbede (translated as “a pair of young pigeons or doves”) was born in heaven to Laburukusege. My guess of the meaning Laburukesege is somebody you don’t wish to offend. Coming out of the womb with a bag on his shoulder, hiss parents were afraid and wonder aloud about what sort of child they had. To their surprise, he replied that his bag contained his destiny. He further told them that the bag contained two pigeons and his name shall be call called Ejigbede.
One day, the divinities of heaven decided that they will send Ejigbede to earth and he consented. However, he had a change of heart when one of the poets of heaven recited a riddle:
Ejigbede o kare iwo omo akin, akata nje ogede o nyun idi, ko mo wipe ohun ti o ba dun a maa pani.
Translation of the riddle:
The jackal is eating banana and licking his lips, he does not realize that sweet things can kill
To persuade Ejigbede to head to earth, his father’s poet intervened:
Eniti aigbon pa ni o po, eniti ogbon pa ko to nkan
Ile aiye, ile afe
Ile aiye, ile ayo
Bi enia ba nwa ire ti ko ba ri
Ki o fi ori le ile aiye
Bi enia ba nwa ayo nitarata
Ki o fi or le ona Akamara
Gbefe Ileke aiye po ju ti orun lo
Ejigbede, gbera nle ki o dide
Ki o ya ma lo si Ileke Aiye
Translation:
More are killed by ignorance than wisdom
The world is a place of fun
It is also a place of joy
If you are looking for a blessing and can’t find it
Go to the earth
If you are looking for instant gratification
Head to Akamara (a synonym for earth)
The pleasure of earth is more than that of heaven
Ejigbede, hasten your trip to earth.
The problem that Ejigbede did not realize was that after spending a thousand years on earth, he was expected to come back to heaven, having stuffed all the inhabitant of earth in his bag of destiny.
When Ejigbede arrived on earth, there was nobody there. It was void (this is a word borrowed from Genesis Chapter one, remember the first name of the author was Joseph). He started wandering around the earth and one day, he naturally arrived at Ile Ife, a town in South Western Nigeria, where he discovered a married couple, the Sun and the Moon. In the history and myths of the Yorubas, there is always a primacy of Ile Ife.
In the process of time, Ejigbede married Ogere Afokoyeri. After a thousand years, the divinities of heaven decided it was time for Ejigbede to fullfil his promise. They sent three emissaries Esu, Oran and Iku. Apparently, Esu was expelled from heaven, therefore, he is similar to Satan, the devil as in the bible. Oran means trouble and Iku means death. The three emissaries reminded Ejigbede of his promise. Esu told Ejigbede that he had three options. Ejigbede could walk to heaven through a very difficult route that humans are unlikely to survive, or he could commit suicide with a knife or poison. For emphasis, Esu added the following:
Ka ku ni kekere, ka pa eran nla bori sanju idagba ailedie irana
Translated
It is better to die young with a honorable burial than to die old without a decent burial
You catch a glimpse of the importance of burials among the Yorubas. The threat here is if you try to work to heaven, Ejigbede, and you don’t make it, you might die in the middle of nowhere, without anybody nearby to bury ou.
When Ejigbede heard the emissary from heaven, the difficulty ahead of him became very clear. Tears dropped. This was followed by a speech:
Igbesi aiye omo enia dabi opa itele
Omo araiye a ma fe e nigbati o ba se itele
Sugbon bi o ba di wipe o da lojiji
Omo araiye a ko ehin si i, a si di itele igi aro
Oba ti nfo bi eni wipe iku ko si mo
Iwo olori ti o nhu iwa bi eniti ko ni imo
Ibasewipe o mo wipe igba ki lo bi orere
Loni ni iwo iba bere si fun rere
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Igbesi aiye omo enia da bi atupa
Atupa ti o mole ninu okunkun
Sugbon ti a fe pa lojiji, ti ahon ina na si fo lo
Okunkun a tun pada bo si ipo re
Beni eniyan ki yio si mo ipa atupa na mo
Omode ile akose ninu okunkun na, a si subu
Translation:
The life of a human is like a walking stick
When the stick is fulfilling its purpose, it is treated with care and love
If it breaks suddenly,
It becomes a log for a bonfire.
If you are king ruling with impunity
If you are a queen acting in ignorance
If you realize that nothing lasts forever
You will change immediately and start sowing good sees
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The life of a human is like a lamp that is burning
The light shines in the darkness and bring illumination
if the lamp goes out suddenly,
The lamp becomes useless an ineffective
Children in the house would start to stumble due to the darkness
Ejigbede Lona Isalu Orun is a fiction with the purpose of entertaining people with stories that are rather exotic and in the realms of fantasy. Ejigbede, the main character was born in heaven. It is not clear whether he was human or not. He interacted with the divinities of heaven who eventually voted to send him to earth. How did he come to earth? He climbed a tree in his father’s garden and found himself on earth. He lived for a thousand years, he was older than Methuselah, the oldest man in the bible.
The emissary from heaven, Death, Trouble and the Devil, took a form that the inhabitants of the earth could relate to, though the disturbance and unease that humans experienced when they turned up made it clear these were no ordinary beings.
Like D.O Fagunwa’s books, Ejigbede Lona Isalu Orun was not just a book that focuses on entertainment. It also taught some moral lessons. For example, it asked those in position of power to realize that nothing last forever. It brings awareness that things can change suddenly by using the examples of a burning lamp and walking stick. He also called out those in power (the King and the Queen) that when they exercise power, they should realize that nothing lasts forever.
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