A hunter who has only one arrow does not shoot
with careless aim.
A farmer does not boast that he has had a good
harvest until his stock of yams lasts till the
following harvest season.
Success is 10% ability, and 90% sweat.
# When the right hand washes the left hand and the
left hand washes the right hand, both hands become
clean.
# One does not become a master diviner in a day. A
forest is not made in a season. The swoop of an
eagle has seen many seasons and floods...
# A fowl does not forget where it lays it eggs.
# Pete Edoche said this one : It is from a small seed
that the giant Iroko tree has its beginning.
Let's fight, let's fight, no one knows whom fighting
would favor.
If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, If
you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime
A speech is like an egg, once it drops, it cant be
withdrawn. Or how do you translate?
The avoidance to catch a theif in a farm, is what
leads the theif to catch the owner. heheh yoruba
proverbs sha!!
Anything that goes up, the faith is downfall? (direct
translation again) yoruba.
bathing with gari does not heal hunger (hausa
proverb)
Agbajo owo la fi so ya - (u can't beat your chest
with 1 finger. U need them all).
Ko ju ma ri bi. Ese lo gun e. - (If u don't want to see
evil. Talk to your legs)
Bi o ba ni idi, obinrin ki je kumolu - (There's no
smoke without fire)
Bi omi ba gbagbe orisun e, gbigbe ni n gbe - (If
waters 4gets its source, it drys up)
A ni ko se to, o n se tototo, se ko ti se ju to lo? - (we
asked him to work, he was murmurin' and
grumblin', has he not done more than work?)
I don't know if these are specifically Nigerian but:
You cannont fatten a pig on the market day
It's not where you've fallen, but where you've
slipped
You don't know the shade of a tree until it's been
cut down
If you listen to the voice of the market, you won't
buy
It is little by little that a bird builds its nest.
To do one's duty is to eat the prized fruit of honor.
A farmer who would not work inside the rain and
would not work under the sun, would have nothing
to harvest at the end of the farming year.
You do not beat a child on d day dat he breaks a pot
One cannot live by the river n wash his hands with
spit
The child dat says his mother will not sleep, he
himself will not sleep
You can't sleep with ur house on fire
We do not use our bare feet to search for hidden
thorns which we have seen in day time.
The gods only hear one wish at a time, and nothing
more.
When will the goat be strong enough to kill a
leopard.
Every river knows where its water would not be
soaked up into the earth, and that is where it flows
past.
Strong people make things happen; weak people let
things happen.
Why be a second rate version of someone else
when you can be a first rate version of yourself
Big muscles do not make a farmer.
When a dying man cries, it is not because of where
he is going which he knows nothing about, but
because of what he wishes he would have done in
the world he is leaving behind.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his
shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he'll be a mile
way - and barefoot.
Going to church doesn't make you a holy person
any more than going to a garage makes you a
mechanic.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural
stupidity.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad
memory.
A closed mouth gathers no feet.
Criticism is easy but it does not create.
Love is better than a whip.
To eat from the same pot with another man, is to
take an oath of perpetual friendship with him.
A child does not die because the mother's bosoms
are dry.
The tree that cannot shed its old leaves in the dry
season, cannot survive the period of drought.
Monkey dey work, Baboon dey chop- my personal
favorite.
u can only stop a bird from making a nest on your
head but u can't stop it from flying over your head -
Hausa
what an elder sees when sitting down,a child cannot
see even on the highest mountain - grandpa
wise people use their tounges to count their teeth -
Hausa
a child that washes his hands well will learn to eat
and dine with elders - Hausa
"You can't fatten a pig on market day"
Why not huh
Bi omode ba laso tagba, ko le ni akisa tagba (If a
child has as man clothes as an elder, he cannot
have as many rags as an elder)
Ba mi na omo mi, ko de ni olomo (Help me
discipline my child, is not a heartfelt remark from
the mother)
Oga ta, Oga o ta, owo alaru a pe (Whether the
master sells or not, the servants wages are
guaranteed)
Ikan ti a fi eyin ti, to o gba ni, to ba wo, ko le wo
pani (What we lean on for support that does not
support one, when it falls cannot kill one)
Excuse the rusty translations cheesy
Omo
.when the elephant fights is the grass that suffers
The dance of a millipede does not impress he who
has seen the dance of a snake. grin
If you want to chop toad chop the big on.
a fool at 40 is a fool for ever
( My envented one for my kids) a crook cannot be
better than his master.
Its the person that steped into the poo that feels it.
A child that says his mother won't sleep would also
not sleep. N that's so true. grin cheesy
It is in the house of a coward that people gather and
point to the tomb of yesterday’s warrior
It is better to eat mushroom in freedom than to eat
meat in slavery
If you choose to lie down with dogs then you must
be prepared to wake u with fleas
It is a foolish fly that is buried with a corpse
It is in the eyes of a lazy man that maize ripens
He who cannot rest cannot work; he who cannot let
go, cannot hold on; he who cannot find footing,
cannot go forward.
DO ME I DO YOU GOD NO GO VEX
Since all lizards lie on their bellies, we cannot tell
which one has a belly ache.
The monkey believes his bushy eyelashes cost him
his beauty
If a snake fails to show its venom, little kids will
use it in tying firewood
A sheep that will grow horns should ask the ram
how its neck feels.]
Yes u can. I remember one of the goats i sold when i
was in the village. I took her to the water side and
feed her until she could no longer drink. The buyer
taught she was pregnant and bought it at a high
price cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy
IBO PROVERB-He who the Gods want to destroy,
they first make mad.
YORUBA PROVERB-'Eni to ba ya igbe sile kin ranti,
eni to ma ko lo man ranti'- He who ****s on the
ground never remembers, but the person who
cleans up the mess never forgets
PIDGIN ENGLISH PROVERB-'Who no know go know'-
Anyone who is not aware of what's going on will
eventually find out.
YORUBA PROVERB-'To ba tori isu je epo, wa tori epo
je isu'-If you don't eat yam for the sake of palm oil,
you'll eat palm oil for the sake of yam.
This Are All Afrikan Proverbs cool
When a fool is told a proverb, its meaning has to be
explain to him
Proverbs are the daughters of experience
It is the wife who knows her husband
The ruin of a nation begin in the homes of it people
When the rooster is drunk he forget about the hawk
It is the calm salient water that drawn a man
One can not both feast and become rich
Being well dressed does not prevent one from being
poor
Wood may remain ten years in the river, but it will
not become crocodile
To love someone who does not love you, is like
shaking a tree to make a dew drop
Sleep is the cousin of death
A close friend may became a close enemy
Restless feet may walk into a snake pit
Woman without man is like field without seed
If a friend hurts you, run to your wife
He who digs too deep for a fish, may come out with
a snake
The dog I bought, Bit me, the fire I kindle, burned
me
Too modest man goes hungry
A silly daughter teaches her mother how to bear
children
Too much discussion means a quarrel
He who marries a beauty marries trouble
The rat cannot call the cat to an account
Fine words do not produce food
Children of the same mother do not always agree.
When one is in trouble one remembers God.
Time destroy all things.
If you son laughs when you scold him, you ought to
cry, for you have lost him, if he cries, you may
laugh, for you have a worthy heir.
Don’t try to make someone hate the person he
loves, for he will still go on loving. but he will hate
you,
Invite some people into your parlor, and they will
came into your bedroom.
Do not tell the man carrying that he stinks.
Poverty is slavery
With wealth one wins a woman
Follow the customs and flee the country
The rich are always complaining
Even an ant may harm an elephant
A MOTHER DOES NOT THROW THE BABY AWAY
WITH THE BATH WATER
YOU CANNOT SHAVE A MAN'S HAIR IN HIS ABSENCE
(MKO ABIOLA)
HE WHO FIGHTS AND RUNS AWAY LIVES TO RUN
( sorry FIGHT) ANOTHER DAY
GRAMMAR NO GO PUT FOOD FOR YOUR TABLE
(SHINA PETERS)
JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS WITH ONE
STEP
HE WHO PAYS THE PIPER (or DRUMMER) DICTATES
THE TUNE.
THE CHICKEN DOES NOT KNOW THE COST OF CORN
THE RABBIT DOES NOT RUN IN THE DAY TIME FOR
NOTHING
MY MOTHER'S SOUP IS ALWAYS SWEETER THAN
YOUR MOTHER'S
When a tse-tse fly perches on ur balls,it takes great
skill not force to kill it.I love this one