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The Araba Agbaye: The Akudaaya

Posted on 25 May 2009 by Babalawo Aworeni

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The Araba Onisese Agbaye, the head of all the Awos in the world was recently interviewed by the Nigerian Compass newspaper. The Nigerian Compass is a widely distributed newspaper in Nigeria. The Araba Agbaye was interviewed by Kayode Falade and Yemisi Adeniran on the akudaaya phenomena.
The akudaaya is a person that is dead, but has not gone to heaven. They go to another town away from all who knew them in life and live like regular human beings, which includes marrying and having children.

According to the Araba,
“[It] is not everybody that dies that becomes an akudaaya. When someone dies untimely, they are usually seen here and there as they roam around. At times, they are also re-born but mostly they go to other places different from where they had dweled to continue their lives. These are the beings Yoruba refer to as akuda or akudaaya. Whenever their covers are blown, they re-locate to other places.”
The akudaaya are basically ghosts that have turned to another thing and dwell on earth in towns other than where they lived when alive.
“[The akudaaya] would never make themselves known to anybody who knows them before. But he or she may appear to those who know they had died in dreams but not physically. They may appear to those ones as apparitions but never face to face and physically.”
The akudaaya live normal lives eventhough they have died. They do almost everything a live human does and they are very difficult to recognize.
There used to be a place where the akudaaya gathered, this was many years ago. In the town of Ajiran, they would cogregate at a market held at night, but they didn’t necessarily live in this town. The Araba also spoke about the places where the akudaaya congregate:

“There is even another like that here in Ile-Ife. It is called Oja Ejigbomekun. In the days of yore, the market held in the dead of the night. It would begin around 10p.m. and reach its fullest around 1.00 a.m. The site is just there (pointing outside) where the Chief Obafemi Awolowo statue is mounted. But now, because of Western civilisation, it no longer holds in the night. The whole of the area then was filled with Odan trees but they have all been felled.”

When the Araba was asked about a particular place where one can find their relative that had passed on he replied:

“No, there is not. I told you, you cannot. Even if you meet him, you can never recognise him or her. It is possible that he or she is there but you would not recognise them even when you come across each other. Unless one employs supernatural powers that will make you see extra terrestrial beings. But again, that is very dangerous as one begins to see so many things without being able to tell anybody. In fact, one must not tell. It is sacrilegious. Any attempt to do that turns one into one of them. That is why babalawo do not seek that type of powers. (wi we oju) opening the third eye. Anybody who does that will be seeing all sorts of things and beings. As you were entering here, you might have stepped on some beings but they would not take offence because they knew that you have no third eye to see them. But if you had seen them and still stepped on them, the action may be your last.”

The Araba was then pressed on the point of seeing the beings that are not normally seen with normal human sight. The interviewers wanted to know again if it is possible to see a dead relative. To this the Araba replied more firmly:

” I told you they cannot be seen. May Olodumare never allow you to see them because if you do, the consequences would be disastrous. May death not claim you now because that is the only time you can see these beings.”

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