Iyalaya Anybody: Pencils, Nigerian Innovation, & Africa’s Path in the 21st Century



Being the keynote lecture delivered at the 5th Innovention Series of Verdant Zeal, Lagos, Nigeria on Tuesday, March 22, 2016





You must excuse the obscenity, “iyalaya anybody”, in my title. When you invite a well-known scholar of African popular cultures to address such a distinguished assembly of actors and professionals in Nigeria’s corporate and entrepreneurial world, you must be prepared to be illuminated by the philosophical nuggets often hidden in the lingos and cultures of the African street. You must be prepared for some discomfiture.

In its pristine cultural bacground in the Yoruba world, “iyalaya” is an obscenity hurled at your opponent in a brawl to display contempt for his or her maternal lineage. It is usually accompanied by the insulting palm and five-finger flash we call “waka” in the face of your opponent. The consequence, as you all know, is often a bloody nose and an unscheduled trip to the hospital. However, as cultures evolve across generations, new meanings emerge and old words or expressions and are sent on new errands by the human imagination.

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