Yorùbá Proverbs 005: No Impossibilities
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 No Impossibilities.
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Báa bá gúnyán nínú ewé, báa sebẹ̀ nínú èpo ẹ̀pà, ẹni máa yó áyó...
Literal Interpretation:
If yam is pounded on a leaf, and soup is prepared inside groundnut shells, some people will still eat from it and be filled.
That being said, imagine pounding yam on a leaf instead of using a mortar. Sounds ridiculous and unrealistic right? I thought so too. What about preparing soup inside groundnut shells. How does that sound to you? Now, let's assume it were possible to do both. Consider the amount of yam you would be able to pound on a leaf and the amount of soup you would have in a groundnut shell. It would be so small and insignificant to the belly. However, today's proverb says some will eat from it and be filled.
This proverb is a figurative expression used to challenge people that gives excuses for failure or give reasons why they have refused to make an important move. Excuses in this regard could be financial constraints, lack of contacts needed for a business to grow, saturated market or competition, difficult school assignments or examinations, etc. If everyone is presented equally with these challenges, some people will still device a means to succeed, despite the constraints.
Back in the university, we did courses that seemed so difficult and wrote difficult examinations or had to answer questions outside the syllabus. In such cases, many students either failed or scored very low grades. Few others however made excellent grades despite the difficulty of the questions or the course. These are the people who have defied the challenges surrounding the issue finding a way out of it.
The proverb is also used to encourage people who are faced with very difficult situations and circumstances, so that they do not give up. It means to them that though everyone complains of the challenges, some will still break through and that person being encouraged could be among the few that will excel.
To him that believes, nothing shall be impossible.
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