The Àbíkú Deity, The Gospel And The Nigerian -By Kehinde Oluwatosin B.

Àbíkú so oló’gùn d’èké is a Yoruba maxim that opens a window into the spiritual world of the Àbíkú diety. I couldn’t find an appropriate English equivalent for the word Àbíkú, the difficulty of finding the appropriate word for Àbíkú is similar to the difficulty of getting an Àbíkú child to live. In Yoruba mythology an Àbíkú child is described as a child who dies before his prime. An Àbíkú child has the gift of dying, when an Àbíkú does not die before his prime he would wait till the parents have accepted the truth of now having a heir before he dies. The goal of the Àbíkú is to cause untold misery to his parents. Unlike Craig David who was born to do it, an Àbíkú is born to die, for not to die violates the ethos of the spirit world the Àbíkú represents.

Àbíkú names in themselves provides  meaningful insights into the range of emotions involve, for instance you may choose to hear the angry defiance of the parents in the name Kòsókó; there’s no hoe (to dig a grave for this child), or the passionate appeal to the child who is named Dúrósimí, pleading with the child to “wait” this time “to bury me”

It’s often expensive to raise an Àbíkú child as the parents are obliged to excessively pamper and raise  propitiatory offals to appease the spirit family the Àbíkú comes from, this is crudely interpreted as sàárà in Yoruba’s cultural world. Àbíkú so oló’gùn d’èké describes how the Àbíkú child mocks the herbalist who makes attempt at redeeming his life, he makes him look like a liar at his attempts to confine him to this earthly world by encircling on his feet a bracelet of charms, and invoking the spirits of the ‘Òsòròngà mothers’ over him; the Àbíkú laughs hysterically because he’s aware that no charm would stop him from dying.

The Àbíkú maxim opens a window into the kind of gospel we preach in Nigeria. Never in my life have I encounter preachers of the gospel like the ones I see in Lagos, they are courageous, outspoken, vibrant in preaching the gospel of Christ. “Repent for the kingdom of God is near” is their popular catch phrase, I get early morning tracts as early as minutes before 6.am, you encounter various scenes of freelance preachers setting up alters in the middle of the market at dawn preaching the gospel and creating awareness for the return of Christ.

However, one seem to be confused  when the same city tells you to often put on your garb of ìfúra (caution) through her many straplines such as ‘Èkó ò gba gbèré, or “shine your eyes”, the same city  where the gospel reign supreme tells you not to handle your phone while sitting close to a window in a bus because it will surely be snatched, the same city ransacks your valuables unknown to you in the popular act  known as pickpocket, the same city loots you of your belongings in the decoy practice called “One chance”.

One may be quick to question the efficacy of the gospel. Do not be quick to blame the gospel, blame Nigeria’s Àbíkú syndrome. The scriptures boldly tells us  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”(See romans 1:16). The gospel is salvation, and salvation is deliverance from bondage: the bondage of corruption, selfishness, pickpocket etc.

That the gospel is preached so much here and all these vices still exist in our social system; blame not the gospel, blame the Àbíkú syndrome engraved in our social construct, the Àbíkú is the Nigerian who insist on making the gospel (the herbalist ) a liar. God will not agree with you.

Kehinde Oluwatosin Babatunde is a prolific writer and speaker based in Lagos.

E-mail: kehindeobabatunde@gmail.com