Painters, blacksmiths and wordsmiths: building molues in Lagos

African Arts, Autumn, 2008 by Damola Osinulu

Within the category of Text as Prayer, one can identify Prayer as Praise. An example is "Oluwa lo Seyi" ("This is the Lord's doing"), an entrepreneur giving credit to God for his successful ownership of a molue. Other examples are "Alhamdulillahi" ("All Glory be to Allah"), "Abanise ni Oluwa" ("The Lord is a Helper"), "My God is Good," "Power belong [sic] to Jesus," and "Asela" ("Enabler"). These written offers of praise must be considered with the understanding that they are also created for the eyes of other commuters and are therefore a tactic to achieve a specific goal. They can be understood asa signification of the owner's humility--humility so that they do not become the object of other's scorn or jealousy. As Oyetade deduces from Nigerian musician King Sunny Ade's lyrics, "one's good luck, successes, and prosperity in life may attract enemies" (ibid.). Implicit in many of the bus's statements of the thanksgiving is a warning of the source of the owner's spiritual strength. In other words, if you want to take them on, then you must take on God. The texts are therefore a tactic of survival.

[FIGURE 17 OMITTED]

A more explicit statement of the driver or owner's source of spiritual strength is found in the Prayer as Protection category. Some examples of this are "Touch not my anointed" "God Pass Them," "Guide us Oh Lord" and "Maje npofo" ('Spare me from tragic loss'). Here text becomes talisman and even more so when it is simply a citation of the divinity's name, as in "El Shaddai" or "Sweet Jesus." The attributive name of God is deployed to tap into the relevant attribute or as an act of devotion that will gain the favor and therefore protection of God.

Slogans can also act as sacramental devices through which the bus operator blesses others. These include statements like "God Bless" or "Baba Dariji won" ('Lord Forgive Them'). In the hostility of Lagos driving, statements like "God Bless" are radically conciliatory statements to other drivers. The statement "Baba Dariji won" does however point to an offending third party that must be forgiven for its prosecutorial actions.

Written prayers on the buses can also be simply devotional. An example of this is "Let the Will be done O Lord!" Many of the other textual prayers described above can also fall into the devotional category.

One must also consider the category of Text as Affirmation. One finds slogans like "Is still dey go" or "I shall return." These boasts can be seen as defiant statements made despite the best efforts of aiye and ota. These boasts can also be due to the lack of support of one's supposed allies. Robert Farris Thompson tells the story of a young man in Zaire who, upon not receiving a loan from his elders, named his new truck "There Goes Our Boy" (whose truck we don't own a piece of; 1996:39). In Yoruba thought, ota is in fact often part of one's household--ota ile--or one's lineage--ota idile (Oyetade 2004:82-3). These affirmative texts are therefore acts of defiant resistance.

Text can also be deployed as proverbs or citations. Perhaps the most poplar texts in this category are admonitions or pieces of advice. Examples are "Foro l'agba" ('Seek the counsel of the elders'), Ise kolowo ('Work isn't money'), and "Igbe o legun ('Shit contains no bones'). These slogans have to be seen in a different light than Texts as Prayer since they don't deploy an "I" against "the world" philosophy. Rather, there is a sense of solidarity, a sort of "we're all in it together" approach. In this world view, other drivers are given advice to help them navigate the difficulties of life. But wisdom is not simply stated; rather ir has to be unpacked for meaning by the reader. "Igbe o legun's" literal meaning was quite clear but it was only when sign writer Sulaiman helped me unpack the proverb that I understood that "when you step in shit, you'll know it's shit." So even in the transmission of knowledge to one's peers, one must be tactical. One bus operator adopted a trickster-like stance in doling advice (Fig. 16)--on the left side of the bus's rear he wrote "magbagbe" ('Don't forget') on the right side, he wrote "gbagbeyen" ('Forget about it'). Both pieces of advice are of course true and appropriate depending on the circumstance. This reminds us of the story of Esu, the Yoruba trickster god who sowed confusion among two friends on opposite sides of the road by wearing a hat with two different colored sides (Pemberton 1975:25). Who but the trickster god better embodies subversion by trickery?