Yoruba nouns are composed of a principal verb, which tells what action, and a prefix, the noun maker, which did the identification. What Ifa was invented for is apparent from its Old Yoruba meaning. The principal verb is ‘fa’ meaning ‘to lead’, the noun maker is ‘I’ or ‘something’, so that Ifa meant ’the thing that serves as a guide’ in Old Yoruba. Similarly, what Odu was invented for is apparent from its Old Yoruba meaning. The principal verb here is ‘du’ meaning ‘to emulate’, the noun maker is ‘o’ or ‘the thing’, so that Odu meant ‘the exemplar’ in Old Yoruba.

Ifa is a physical asset; primarily a probability system that uses a board (Opon) upon which are cast 16 6-eyed nuts (Ikin). Interpretation is based on 16 principles. The way the seeds lay after being cast provided the probability that a particular event might or might not occur. The Yoruba invented Ifa also to act as the ‘hyperlink’ to the Odu providing ‘page numbers’ to each Odu chapter and information contained therein.

Odu is a literary corpus, an intellectual asset; a body of work; a collection or compendium of ancient Yoruba philosophies, ideas and historical vignettes. It is said to comprise of 256 pieces or chapters. Like the Bible or the Quran, the Odu is almost certainly not the work of a single mind. Indeed, in recent times, both Christian-leaning and Islam-leaning chroniclers have added their own bits to the Odu.

Some use the word ‘divination’ (seeking knowledge through rituals and tools) to describe the connection between Ifa and Odu. The word ‘divination’ demeans as well as misrepresents. What Ifa does is consultation not divination. Ifa works by algorithm, a numbers-based mathematical concept similar to a computer. The Ifa-Odu connection is merely a means for finding information, an ingenious device by a people who had not developed the art of writing.

The issue of Ifa and Odu reveals how we Yoruba are so gullible. We think of ourselves as puppets of the gods. We almost always accept opinions as facts, and then build on the falsities. We almost never question. We never track back to seek the true, Old Yoruba meaning of words before making stuff up. As a result, we have knowledge to transfer to the world but cannot do so because we do not define and refine that knowledge unfettered with religiosity. Ifa has theorems to be transferred to the world of mathematics and computing. Odu has theories to be transferred to the world of social sciences and economics. it is up to us to bring our forefathers’ ideas of  to live.

There more like the above on www.yorubapartyuk.org