People in Yoruba land locate good things and fashions to Ede. It is said of good things “o daa d’Ede” (meaning, it is good, elegant and beautiful to Ede standards). There’s no linkage of anything substandard to Ede.
Also, we have proverbs like, “e ma tori pe e nlo si Ede ki e ba Eede je” (meaning, do not spoil your home because you are going to Ede – the Elegant Town). Or, do not say you love the good things in Ede and go there to neglect or condemn your living abode. In the same vein, there’s a proverb that says, “ko ni r’eni Dede ka ma Lee d’Ede,odo Timi laa yaa niiya” (literally, even if you are too tired, you need to visit Ede, the elegant town, if only you cannot afford to visit Timi {title-name of king of Ede}).
ON ‘AJI LALA OSO’ (The Elegant Dreamer)
Ede indigenes are referred to as “A ji la ‘la oso, abi f’ojo gbogbo dara ni Egbin”. This line expresses and extols Ede people as those who love elegance and strive to achieve same at all costs. ” Dreaming of elegance” is an expression that denotes aiming at things that are good. Hence, beauty, goodness, peace,honesty, diligence, bravery, patience, courage and perseverance are virtues Ede people aim at. And strive to achieve.
The phrase “lala oso” should be seen as a means to an end while “Aji, so’so” is an end in itself. Therefore, it is wrong to refer to Ede people as “Aji so’so” instead of “Aji lala oso”. Even, going by the dictionary meaning, dreaming is to indulge in imaginative thoughts while awake. It is an act of hoping or wishing to be or achieving something especially when such is difficult. Dreaming of elegance by Ede people therefore, is a task embarked upon to achieve excellence at all times in whatever we do in our immediate environment and even beyond.
It is a common knowledge that to be an inventor and innovator, one must first be a dreamer. Dreamers imagine a lot. They are idealists who have vision of a golden and beautiful world. Though dreamers may not initially create that world with their imagination, but merely seeing the world as it exists in their souls spurs them into action to translate their dreams into reality. Ede people, being dreamers of elegance, are therefore the visioners of a golden, the visioners of beautiful world, the vision of things that are good and fashionable and the real architects of greatness and elegance……
ORIKI EDE
Ede Mapo Arogun
Gbongan Timi Agbale
Omo Ede Mapo Arogun
Yafon Agbo
Omo Arun Agbado la ilu ja
Aje guguru wole Ede
Aji lala oso
Aji fojo gbogbo gbogbo dara bi egbin
Ede Ile Timi
Timi Agbale Olofa Ina
Timi Agbale Agbaaja
Omo Eso Ikoyi Arogun yo
Compiled by: Jimson Jaat Taofik
