Fridays are known generally for heralding our indigenous ways of life, especially in dressing and music. This is why I, as an indigene of the Yorùbá tribe presents Yorùbá Proverbs. In this post, I present a yorùbá proverb, it's literal interpretation and it's meaning and significance to the yorùbá people, and at times, Africa at large. The Yorùbá people predominantly live in the South Western part of Nigeria, and they speak the Yorùbá language. The theme for today's proverb is Fore warning

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Ogun àwítẹlẹ̀ kìí pa arọ

Literal Interpretation

A war that has been announced beforehand (or foretold) cannot claim the life of a lame man.

The major challenge or limitation of a lame man is locomotion. For example, the distance a lame man will cover in 30 minutes may be covered by someone else in 10 minutes or less. This therefore means a lame man's response to impending danger in his environment will be slower than other people who are not suffering from the same health challenge.

When a battle erupts where a lame man is located, he stands a much lesser chance of survival than others. So, except a lame man wants to get himself killed, he will not move close to a war front or remain in an area where he has heard that a battle is going to take place. This is why they say such a foretold war cannot kill a lame man.

This proverb is used to justify one's self when a note of warning is uttered to someone else. It is used to wash one's self off the guilt of the repercussions of the person's action if he chooses to ignore the warning. The proverb simply preaches that you should take conscious efforts to avoid an impending danger that you are already aware of.