Evil

The concept of evil appears in most African societies. In the construction of African religion, the people have always recognized that all things were not good. However, there are some significant differences between the African concept and others. To demonstrate how evil operates in one particular society, this entry concentrates on the Yoruba culture of Nigeria.

Evil, among the Yoruba, is generally referred to as ibi, which is the negative dimension of life. Evil in its widest and all principal sense is the antithesis and reverse of ire (good). Nevertheless, ire and ibi are held to be so closely knit that good is believed to be of no special relevance without evil.

In Yoruba philosophy, ire (good) and ibi (evil) are held to be the two major forces that control the universe. This accounts for the saying tibi tire la dale aye (“the world is created with an admixture of good and evil”). This is best exemplified in the Yoruba understanding of conception and birth. The Yoruba people maintain that the fetus, which is held to be ire (the good side of conception), grows along with the placenta, which is held to be ibi (the evil aspect of conception). The labor period is always a period of travail, which represents another aspect of evil. The birth of the baby is ire (the good) from the evil of the travailing pain that the mother goes through during delivery. When the baby is eventually born, then ire ti bori ibi (“good has prevailed”). That is why the Yoruba believe that evil is in what is good and good is in evil (ibi ninu ire, ire ninu ibi).

This explains, in part, why to the Yoruba nothing is held to be good or bad. It is the consequence on the individual that determines whether something is good or evil. For example, the Yoruba philosophy states a truism that aisan (diseases) make adabunse (herbalists) relevant to human existence, and litigations (ejo) make agbejoro (the advocates) relevant in the society.

What is said previously notwithstanding, the Yoruba prefer ire to ibi. They know that the manifestations of evil are observable in every facet of life, whether physical, moral, social, or spiritual. Evil is summed up in four parts: (a) iku (death), which is responsible for putting an end to human life; (b) aarun (disease), which is responsible for afflicting human beings with illness; (3) egba, which is the misfortune that brings paralysis to man; and (d) ofo, which is the loss that destroys or carries away human's property.

Most of the time, the Yoruba conceive of evil as a personified masculine being: He eats, sleeps, dances, and walks about, afflicting humans. The odu Ogbe-rosun says that evil walks about at night as it covers itself with the darkness of the night. That explains, in part, why people are warned to put off the light so that when evil is passing by it will not feel attracted to come into a house as a guest to perpetrate mischief.

The existence of evil does not pose any contradiction to the goodness of Olodumare. The Supreme Being is regarded as a being who does what she or he wants, but it is generally held that God does not tempt people with evil, neither does she or he perpetrate evil against her or his creation. The Yoruba trace the perpetration of evil in a society to two sources: namely, visible and invisible causes. The visible ones are the consequence of human action or inaction. These include murder, violence, oppression, victimization, stealing, and refusal to help those in need. Invisible sources have a spiritual origin. This is often linked to anti-wickedness divinities. In the Yoruba pantheon, Esu (although not the Devil of the Bible) is more associated with evil than any other god. Perhaps this explains why many people regard Esu as the instigator and main power behind all kinds of evil perpetrated by human beings. The witches are nothing more than aggrieved ancestors.

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