Tracing the Origin of Twins’ Birth Through the Yoruba Oral Tradition

Abstract

In the distant past, giving birth to twins was said to be regarded as an abomination in Yoruba society, so no one dared to declare the arrival of twins publicly until the era of Alaafin Ajaka who gave birth to twins, and he felt loathe killing them and therefore sent them to Ondo. On the other hand, some scholars established the fact that twins have been accepted in Yorubaland since time immemorial. This paper, therefore, explores the Yoruba oral tradition such as praise names, poetry, proverbs and songs and other oral narratives in tracing the origin of twins’ birth. Other places like Ajashe and Igboọra where twins were well noticeable were also explored. The paper adopted historical method while both primary and secondary sources were used. Oral tradition such as poems, song,s and proverbs relevant to twins were explicitly explained while oral interviews were also conducted with the adherent of twins. This paper also uses secondary data such as relevant journals, books, and praise name that analyses twins praise poem (oríkì ìbejì) and songs. The finding shows that the first notable twins in Yoruba society was from Iṣokun quarters in Ọyọ.

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