Omoluabi: Essence of Good Character

       Greetings... this is Serelle McPherson, coming to you with my summary, thoughts, and reflections of the previous week's lecture. The title of this lecture was "Omoluabi": Self-Actualization and Communal Responsibility. The instructor of this lecture was Dr. Segun Gbadegesin. Something that I immediately liked about this lecturer is that he gave homage and salutation to the "Creator of the Universe", stating that He did a great job. He also paid homage to his ancestors, his drummer, and his parents.

       At first I didn't know what the drummer was there for, so I came to the assumption that he was probably going to play a song for us. Instead, he and the instructor gave us a lesson on the "Talking Drum." The talking drum sends messages and mobilizes the people. The talking drum was used at a time when there were no radios or televisions to transport information. The drum not only spread news, it also told of the family history of people. We also learned that the drum speak english, but it has an accent, which I found amusing, because these are human characteristics given to a drum. After hearing the drum, sometimes I didn't know what it was saying, but after Dr. Gbadegesin repeated the words, I could hear them more clearly. It is said that no one fully understands the "Talking Drum" except the one that's drumming.
       The lecture then took a turn into the actual topic. Dr. Gbadegesin gave us a definition of the term Omoluabi, which is:

• the essence of the human person, a wellspring of good character, exemplified by an understanding of the self and its responsibilities to the community.

He then told us a story about the characteristic of patience and the importance of not losing your being or character.
       The "Story of Iwa" is a folktale about Iwa, the beautiful wife of Orunmilla. She is also the daugter of Suura. Before becoming the wife of Orunmilla, Iwa tells her fiance that he should never mistreat her or she will leave and this will cause him misfortune. Orunmilla doesn't take heed to this and mistreats her anyway, which causes her to leave him. This inturn, makes Iwa's prophecy come true and Orunmilla loses everything, so in desperation, he searches for his wife and begs her forgiveness. In the end she forgives him and decides to give him another chance.
       As i stated before, the moral or lesson of the story is to never lose your being and to have patience or you will lose everything. This lesson is better understood when you receive a little background information.

• Iwa means existence or character...
• Orunmilla was the god of wisdom...
• Suura means patience...

With the meaning of these words you can understand that mistreating his wife, who was the daughter of patience and the meaning of existence or being, caused Orunmilla to lose his fortune, which wasn't illustrating wisdom, and therefore was a loss of himself.
       These principles and morals can be attributed to African culture, but it also has its rooting in Ancient Egyptian culture. Before Jesus, Plato, and Socrates, there was the goddess of Ma'at. This lead to the Principles of Ma'at, Books of Instruction, Pyramid texts, and Coffin texts (which compares to the Ten Commandments).

       From the principles of Ma'at, Egyptians learned and practiced truth, justice, and maintained order. These morals set the beliefs listed below... 

Omo Olu Iwa Bi: a child begotten of the chief (or source) of Iwa; a person of character, disciplined, self-improving, thus earning the respect of peers and community on account of practical wisdom; not shying away from personal sacrifices when needed.

• When a person has the characteristics of "Omoluabi" or "Omo Olu Iwa Bi" they have a greater chance of becoming immortal. Not immortal in the sense that they won't die, but they receive immortality as in the crown of existence. They will be in the memory of the community, meaning that their name will go on past their lifeline.

Iwa as Character:

• Iwa lewa: good character is beauty
• Iwa loba awure: good character is the greatest talisman
• Iwa lesin: good character is the essence of religion.

"A man of good character is a man of wealth."