African Heroes, Legends and Myths

Once upon a time, the ear was the most radiant beauty in the whole world. It was normal that every one wanted to marry her, the ear had become used to prospective grooms challenging themselves to a duel. She was just too beautiful, the poor, weak and small creatures knew to stay away, all except the mosquito. The mosquito had mad crush for her

A long time ago, there lived a very beautiful hen. Her parents were very poor and in dept, so it was decided that who ever was able afford her ridiculously high bride price would be her groom

Once upon a time there lived a girl named Obaledo, she was very beautiful and she was the talk of her village. At a time when monsters roamed about at night stealing whatever they desired most from people, adults and teenagers alike knew to play by the rules if they hope to remain intact

Once upon a time all animals lived in peace with Leopard as their king. Amongst these animals only Dog had sharp teeth and claws, so he was mocked for being different. Dog learned early on to keep to himself. While the animals played and had fun together, he would remain in his cave. He would show up only on important occasions Soon the rains came and Deer who was always so filled with ideas went to the king

"Long, long ago, when the world was young, all the animals lived together in one country. In those days there were not as many tortoises as there are today but only one tortoise, Mbe, the ancestor of all tortoises..." In this idyllic world, a time of famine comes. Tortoise, in desperation, journeys out in search of food. At last he comes upon a palm tree with "thrice four hundred" ripe palm fruits. Atop this palm tree, one of the fruits slips from Tortoise's hand. Unwilling to give up even one of these succulent fruits, Tortoise descends. But the fruit has fallen into a hole, and Tortoise follows.

A man takes his family of two wives--the senior wife with many children and the other wife with just one--to work on their distant farm at the border of the human and the spirit lands. They are careful to return home before nightfall when the spirits come out to tend their own crop of yams. Upon returning home, however, the only son of the younger wife finds that he has forgotten his flute in the fields. It is a flute he made with his own hands, and he is determined to retrieve it despite his parents' pleas to stay home.

Three brothers were traveling through the dense rain forest jungle. They had been traveling on foot for almost a full day and night was falling. They needed a suitable place to rest for the night, a place where they would be safe from prowling animals of the night

A long time ago spirits lived along side men on the same lands, to avoid clashes among men and spirit, certain days were set aside for the ethereal beings to go about the land with their activities. During these days, men were forbidden to go out of their houses to their farms or work

Once there lived in a village, a hunter, who had a wife. When she was under pregnancy, old people of the village warned the husband, “It is time now for you to suspend killing bush animals, for if you continue to do so you will kill the baby that your wife is going to deliver when it is time, and she will deliver of a terrible creature in the form of a baby when it is time for her to deliver.”

There was a man who had two wives.The senior wife was called the Iyale while the junior wife was called the Iyawo. The senior wife was very mean to the Iyawo. She made life difficult for Iyawo such that the Iyawo never had enough food to feed her children or  provide nice clothes for them to wear. The nicer the Iyawo was, the meaner the Iyale became.

Many years ago, in a town called Ebu there was an old woman who always came to the market to buy bundles of fire wood. One fateful morning, a young boy was walking down the road when he saw the old woman with a heap of fire wood on her head. He offered to help her and she accepted. Having walked on for about 15 minutes, he asked her if they had not gotten to her house, she replied no

Once upon a time in the village of Aiyegberu, there lived a maiden called Olajumoke. She was the most beautiful woman in all the lands As news of her great beauty spread, suitors came lining asking for her hand in marriage but she refused them all. None of them was handsome enough to match her beauty she proclaimed

Long time ago, Dog used to live in forest like his cousins Fox and Wolves but there was a terrible famine in the land so great that the animals decided to eat the old amongst them in turn.

One upon a time in the animal kingdom, the tortoise and the monkey had a disagreement, the monkey had cheated the tortoise and he had promised he would make him pay. The monkey laughed at the tortoise telling him that he was too slow and stupid to do anything about it.

Agbede was a prominent hunter in Agbado Village. One day he killed a leopard and made way with her cub

Once upon a time, a feast was organized for birds in the sky. Tortoise persuaded birds that he would love to go with them but the birds refused to allow Tortoise go with them because besides not being a bird he had a reputation for being cunning and greedy

Long time ago, there was a man called “Aigboran”. He got married to the most beautiful woman in all the lands, her name was Aaye. He cherished her, he worshiped her like a goddess. News of his wife's beauty spread everywhere, some came to his village just to take a peek at her, because of this Aaye's business was booming. She sells beans like most other women at the village market. She was always the first to go home. But it wasn't enough for Aigboran that his wife came home early, he became jealous because he knew his closest friends had eyes for her

Long time ago, there was a woman called Olurombi. This woman was  unhappy as she couldn't bare a child for her husband. She tried so many remedies but all to no avail. So she went to a spirit–tree (god) called lroko Oluwere. Iroko was a powerful tree god, people go to him and requested for things they needed from it. At the end of their requests, they will make a vow with the god to give something back as appreciation

There are so many legends surrounding the origin of Oduduwa.Oral tradition on creation says he is the favourite son of Olodumare. As such, he (or she, as the primordial Oduduwa is gender fluid) was sent from heaven to create the earth upon the waters, a mission he/she had usurped from his/her consort and sibling Obatala, who had been equipped with a snail shell filled with sand and a rooster to scatter the said sand inorder to create land. These beliefs are held by Yoruba traditionalists to be the cornerstone of their story of creation. Obatala and Oduduwa here are represented symbolically by a calabash, with Obatala taking the top and Oduduwa taking the bottom. In this narrative, Oduduwa is also known as Olofin Otete, the one who took the Basket of Existence from Olodumare Oral traditional historians believe he was an exiled prince of a foreign people who left his homeland with a retinue and journeyed south, subsequently settling amongst the aboriginal Yoruba at some point in th...

Olokun is the Orisha of the great seas and oceans, her wealth is vast and her powers are beyond comparison. She is revered as the authority over other water deities

Orunmila is the Orisha of wisdom, knowledge and divination. It is said that he visited earth and gifted Yorubas with Ifa( wisdom of the gods). He is the prime god, it is him more than any other god who can affect a person's reality Orunmila was said to have lived in the spiritual realm for over 400years without food and water before descending to earth to help mankind. He set foot first on Oke-Igbeti. When Orunmila was at Oke Igbeti, he would call on strangers walking passed him, he would endeavour to tell them about what danger lies ahead and how to avert it. From Oke- Igbeti he traveled across all lands helping people along the way

Yemoja is often referred to as  "the mother of all Orishas" She is dicpicted as a mermaid, and is associated with the moon, water, and feminine mysteries. She is the protector of women. She governs everything pertaining to women; childbirth, conception, parenting, child safety, love, and healing. She oversees deep secrets, ancient wisdom, the moon, sea shells, and the collective unconscious. She is the major water deity from the Yoruba religion

Oya is the Orisha of the wind, violent storms, lightning and death. Her name in Yoruba translate to "she who tore" She manifest as winds ranging from the gentlest breeze to the raging hurricane. Oya is known as a fierce warrior goddess and protector of women, she is the elder sister to the goddesses Yemaya and Oshun Her violent rainstorms is believed to be the source of the river niger. Oya's number is nine, her metal is copper and her colour is burgundy or purple

The goddess of beauty, sensuality and love was said to be the favourite Orisha of Obatala because of her beauty. Oshun is the Goddess of the river of the same name, and She is especially worshipped in river-towns

Yewa- is the Orisha of the dead. Her sole mission is to live and take care of cadavers and lead them back into the earth It is believed that Yewa was the favourite daughter of Olofi, the last virgin living at his palace. One day while she was tending  to Olofin's garden, Eshu watched from a distance with disdain. How could one be so pure he asked himself?

Logun-Ede is often referred to as the prince of the Orishas. He is the son of Oshun and Oshosi, he is an androgyne or he is male but crossdresses for half of the year. It is pretty much agreed though, that the reason for this is that he lives between worlds, with his father half of the year, and his mother the other half of the year. So for half of the year, he lives and hunts on the river, and the other half of the year, he lives like a princess in the forest

Obaluaye also known as Babulu-Aye and Shopona is the Orisha of illness and disease. He is both feared and loved as he can both infect and cure. He is sometimes referred to as the wrath of the supreme god as he punishes people for their transgression. His ritual tools are cowries, broom and terra-cotta vessel. Grains are his prime offerings Obaluaye demands respect and even gratitude when he claims a victim hence earning him the title Alápa-dúpé, meaning “One who kills and is thanked for it A popular story about Shopona is one where he was old and lame. It is said that he attended a celebration at the palace of Obatala and when he tried to dance, he stumbled and fell. As the Orishas began to dance, he became furious and turned around to infect them with smallpox but was stopped by Obatala who then cast him into the bush. He has been living as an outcast ever since

Oshosi is the Orisha of feast, hunting and wealth. He is describes as light, astute and clever, his weapon is bow and arrow. Animals offered to him are goats, cooked pig and guinea fowl When one pays homage to this Orisha, he reaps the reward in wealth and positive energy. He has also be described as the thought that is able to be transferred to any site or any time to capture or to take something. Some people considers him a magician and wizard. His name comes from the Yoruba Osóssí (Osó: wizard, Sisé: to make work, Sí: for), literally “The one that works with witchcraft” His number is three and it's multiples while his colour is blue

Ogun - is the god of iron, war, and patron of hunters and blacksmiths Ogun is also referred to as the god of creation as it was him who created the chain Obatala made use off to come down to the earth. After the earth's creation Ogun became the first Orisha to establish a kingdom and cleared path with his iron tools for other Orishas to establish their own kingdoms

Eshu also known as Elegba or Legba is one of the most respected deities in Yoruba tradition. He is the god of chance, accident and unpredictability. Some refer to him as the protector of travelers and god of crossroads

Obatala is the sky father and creator of humanity. In some accounts he is regarded as the father of all Orishas and humans while certain stories speaks of him as the offspring Olokun and Olorun

Bantu Mythology rarely try to explain creation, they don't consider any god to be the creator of humanity. They believe the first humans came from plants; a bamboo stem in Zulu, and from a "Omumborombonga" tree in Herero mythology. There are those who believe humans came from a hole in the ground while a few simply stick to the cave

The majority of Igbos today are Christians but in the past they had a religious system referred to ODINANI . It comprises the traditional religious practices and cultural beliefs of the Igbo people of southern Nigeria

According to Yoruba mythology, it was Obatala who created humanity. By some account he is the offspring from a union between Olorun and Olokun

According to the people of Dahomey, Mawu is the creation goddess. She is often associated with the sun and moon. In some accounts, the name Mawu-Lisa is used. Lisa being the male, it is said that they both siblings and couples, and they created the known world together After creating the earth and all life and everything else on it, she became concerned that it might be too heavy, so she asked the primeval serpent, Aido Hwedo, to curl up beneath the earth and thrust it up in the sky Other gods includes Age - patron god of hunters Avrikiti- patron god of fishermen Ayaba & Loco- sister goddesses Gleti- moon goddess Gu- god of war, craftsmen and blacksmiths Okanu- god of dreams Sakpata- god of smallpox Zinsu and Zinsi- demigods and twin magicians Nana- goddess of fertility Egberun- god of prosperity, clairvoyance and protection Fa- god of wisdom Legba- gatekeeper of the spirit realm Xevioso- son of Mawu and god of thunder

The Binis, although a minority in modern day Nigeria built one of the most impressive empires in pre colonial West Africa. According to them, this is how life began on earth When OSAN'OBUWA ( God, the Creator) finished creation, He decided to send his sons to live on earth. Before they departed, He asked each one to take along a talent or a gift. Among the talents were wealth, knowledge, wisdom and an old snail shell. One of the sons chose wealth, another knowledge,and another wisdom. When the youngest was to choose, only the old snail shell and a couple of nondescript items were left. As he wondered which to take, a hornbill emerged and whispered to him to choose the dirty, old snail shell and he obeyed the hornbill and told OSA N'BUWA he wanted the shell They set forth on their journey, each in his boat They arrived at their destination and found it was water. The boats could not berth. The hornbill appeared again and told him to pour the shell's content into the wa...

Just at the DNA of Khoisan people have proven to be of great value in genetic studies, their stories holds similar importance as theirs is one of the oldest stories ever told. Here are the mythical creatures rocking Khoisan culture CAGN , KAANG OR KAGGEN is a trickster god who created everything. He can also shape shift and his favourite form is the praying mantis. He is either extremely foolish or completely smart while his favourite animal is the eland COTI is the wife of CAGN. Their union gave birth to the Eland and it became Cagn's favourite child. Cagn fearing the eland looked different from his other children hid it on a secluded cliff so he can grow in peace. It was almost successful until one day when Cagn's sons, Cogaz and Cewi went out hunting; they spotted the eland and killed not knowing their father's love for the creature. Cagn was furious, he told Gewi to put the blood from the dead eland into a pot and churn it. Blood spattered from the pot onto the...

Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant on 3 December 1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa 3 December 1967, Dr Christiaan Barnard, performed the world's first human to human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. This extraordinary event which pushed the boundaries of science into the dawn of a new medical epoch took place inside Charles Saint Theatre at Groote Schuur Hospital. After a decade of heart surgery, Barnard and his gifted cardiothoracic team of thirty, were well equipped to perform the nine hour long operation He retired as Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in Cape Town in 1983 after developing rheumatoid arthritis in his hands which ended his surgical career. Today, Dr Chris inspires us to be the best we can be at all times, to dare the odds and raise the bar

Frederik Willem de Klerk is a South African politician. He was the president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994. In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with Nelson Mandela. They were given the prize for peacefully ending apartheid and setting up a new government in South Africa. From 1994 to 1996 he was vice president of South Africa. In 1997, he retired from politics Now here's what made De Klerk a truly great African; abandoning tradition and doing what was right, not by his own tribe or the indigenous people of South African but for the country as a whole. Without his actions, we would never have known Nelson Mandela like we do thus qualifying him along side Mandiba as the two greatest south African leaders of all time The lessons we must draw from the story of this great man is that we must never stay conservative over traditions; Traditions were created by men & men are doomed to flaws

If there ever was a Nigerian qualified enough to be considered as truly great, that person was Fela Kuti. He was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer, pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre, human rights activist, and political maverick. During the height of his popularity, he was often hailed as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers but what made Fela truly great was how he succeeded to inspire an entire generation Today, Nigerian music has taken over the African music scene and everyone of those artist pay homage to the musical colossus Fela gave meaning to what an artist should be or strive for by becoming the the voice of the people in a time when speaking out could get you killed

Wole Soyinka is a is a Nigerian playwright, poet and essayist. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first African to be honoured in that category He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its struggle for independence from Great Britain. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years Soyinka was and still is strong critic of successive Nigerian governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe and Gaddafi regimes. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it" During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka e...

Queen Idia was the mother of Esigie, the Oba of Benin kingdom who ruled from 1504 to 1550. She played a very significant role in the rise and reign of her son. She has been described as a great warrior who fought relentlessly before and during her son's reign as emperor Queen Idia was a renowned warrior-queen, skilled administrator and the first Iyoba (Queen Mother) of the Kingdom of Bini (Benin) in the present-day Nigeria. Queen Idia's visage is the most widely known face of an African royal woman after the Egyptian Queen, Ahmose-Nefertari or Nefertiti. Her face has gazed on us from countless museums around the world A well documented instant where she came out victorious was when the emerging militia kingdom of Igala attempted to invade Benin, while her son was on the battle front, she raised her own military and took the invaders by surprise, crushing them into submission

The Yoruba people occupy what is now southwestern Nigeria and parts of The Republic of Benin, According to them, this is how humans came to be In the beginning, there was only the sky above, water and marshland below. The great god Olorun ruled the sky while the goddess Olokun( owner of the seas and goddess of wealth) ruled what was below. Obatala, feeling creative went to Olorun to ask for permission so he can create dry land and he was granted, then he went to Orunmila, Olorun's eldest son(The god of prophecy) to seek advice He was told he would need a gold chain long enough to reach below, a snail's shell filled with sand, a white hen, a black cat, and a palm nut, all of which he was to carry in a bag. The gods contributed what gold they had, and Orunmila supplied the articles for the bag. When all was ready, Obatala used the chain to climb down from the sky with the bag hunged over his shoulder, when he reached the end of the chain he saw he still had some dis...

In 1224 King Sumanguru led the Sosso in a devastating raid on the Malian capital of Djeriba. They razed the city and killed most of the ruling family. Eleven princes were put to death in the massacre, but Sumanguru spared one of them, the one he thought was no way a threat; a crippled boy called Sundiata. Six years later, Sundiata triumphed over his disability and became the ruler of the Malians. He surrounded himself with the most rugged people he could find, and began a guerrilla campaign against Sosso dominance. First he conquered Sangaran, a neighbouring kingdom and then he  started a campaign against Labe and the Niger Region. In 1235, w...

Whenever people hear the word Amazon, they are tempted to think about the mythical Amazons of ancient Anatolia probably because they didn't know real Amazons actually existed somewhere in Africa, in the kingdom of Dahomey This group of female warriors was referred to as Mino , meaning "Our Mothers" in the Fon language, by the male army of Dahomey. One of their more popular victories was the defeat of a neighbouring kingdom called "Savi" after the amazons conquered their all male army Membership among the Mino was supposed to hone any aggressive character traits for the purpose of war. During their membership they were not allowed to have children or be part of married life (though they were legally married to the king). Many of them were virgins. The regiment had a semi-sacred status, which was intertwined with the Fon belief in Vodun. The Mino trained with intense physical exercise. They learnt survival skills and indifference to pain and death,...

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, pan-Africanist theorist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. Here are some reasons why he is regarded as one of the truly great African leaders He vaccinated 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles in a matter of weeks. He initiated a nation-wide literacy campaign, increasing the literacy rate from 13% in 1983 to 73% in 1987. He planted over 10 million trees to prevent desertification He built roads and a railway to tie the nation together, without foreign aid He appointed females to high governmental positions, encouraged them to work, recruited them into the military, and granted pregnancy leave during education. He outlawed female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy in support of Women’s rights He sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars and made the Renault 5 (the cheapest car sold in Burkin...

Kwame Nkrumah was an African political leader and the first prime minister of Ghana. He imagined a united Africa. On March 6, 1957, after ten years of campaigning for Ghanaian independence, Nkrumah was elected President and Ghana gained independence from British rule. His administration was both socialist and nationalist. Thus it funded national industrial and energy projects, developed a strong national education system, and promoted a national (and pan-African) culture. Under Nkrumah, Ghana played a leading role in African international relations during the decolonization period After the military and police forced Nkrumah from power, he fled to Guinea where he was later diagnosed with prostrate cancer. He went to Romania for treatment and died in Bucharest at the age of 62

Yaa Asantewaa is often compared the African Joan of Arc, her heroism continue to inspire Ghanaians and the rest of Africa long after she's gone. Politician, war strategist, and political activist, women like her were rare in her time. In 1900, at a time when the men of Ashanti kingdom were dispirited, she led a rebellion against the British to defend the Golden Stool, a stool which had stood for centuries as the symbol of royalty The rebellion was eventually quelled by British forces and she was exiled to Seychelles YAA ASANTEWAA reminds us not to be cowards in the face of oppression

Kagame has as many detractors as he has fans, but one thing is certain: Kagame has not only transformed a country, but he has become Africa’s metaphor of reconciliation. In 1994 Rwanda was engulfed by ethnic genocide and the world watched in diplomatic stupor. Eventually, after over a million deaths, Rwanda ended up being saved by one of its own: Paul Kagame. He did it by defeating Hutu extremist forces and by creating a lasting peace, co-existence and economic prosperity in a land that nobody thought would recover from that harrowing time. Rwanda still hasn’t recovered fully, but under Kagame the country has remained peaceful and stable, earning it the title of Africa’s ‘biggest success story’. Kagame is more than a saviour of Rwandan people; he is the public advocate for new models of foreign aid that has helped its country be self-reliant. He might not be remembered for a lot of things, but for sewing Rwanda together he deserves to be in Africa’s history books.