When I was 7 (I think), a woman had a baby and called her child “Aja”, hearing a child called the name of a dog (in Yoruba land “aja” means “dog”) for the first time was strange to me.
So I asked my mother, and she told me that the child was an “abiku” (spirit-child) and belongs to “mother earth”. I was confused and curious about the name “Aja ” but my mother never went further because I was just a child back then.
The birth of an “abiku” is full of mysteries and myths. Abiku (spirit-child) in the Yoruba culture is a child fated to die before puberty. People believe that an “abiku” has a relationship with the spirit world, so they die early to be reborn to a particular mother countless times.
The mystery of an Abiku (spirit-child)
It is unbelievable that a human being will orchestrate its death and die willingly when the spirit world destinies it.
The process of giving birth to an “abiku” is a mystery. In the spirit realm, it is believed that an “abiku (spirit child) will kick out a foetus already growing in the womb of a pregnant woman and position itself in the womb to be born by the woman. Pregnant women are usually advised to attach either a needle or a small pin to the edge of their clothes to avoid such incidents.
Abiku (spirit-child) are believed to belong to the spirit world “Egbe” (a gathering of children who live temporarily on earth “human world”). Before leaving the spirit world to be born on earth, they choose their birth mother and promise to return to the spirit world at a specific time.
Childbirth
When a child is born, parents and relatives are joyous about the newborn’s arrival in the family, but an “abiku” (spirit-child) is born to die soon. It is believed that at night an “abiku” will transform into a grown-up to go into the spirit world, then return before dawn into the same body as an infant.
Mothers who suspect that their newborn is an “abiku” (spirit-child) give their children names like “Aja” meaning “dog”, “Jekiniyi” meaning “let me have a bit of respect”, “Akisatan” meaning “no more rags to bury you with”, “Duro-Oro ike” meaning “stay and see how you will be petted”, Durosinmi meaning “stay and bury me”, Durojaiye meaning “stay for the joy of life”, Kashimawo meaning “let us wait and see if the child survives”, Jokotimi meaning “sit down and stay with me” and Malomo meaning “Do not go again.”
In Yoruba land, the mother of an “abiku” (spirit-child) will do whatever it takes to persuade the child to stay in the world rather than return to the spirit world.
If these children are still showing signs of returning to the spirit world, they will be excommunicated from the spirit world. The body of an ‘abiku’ will be burnt or marked, so the child will be forced to stay in the human world.
But once an abiku dies, the dead body will be mutilated and buried in a deep forest which serves as a punishment so an “abiku” can be recognised once its return to the human world.
The myth of an “Abiku” (spirit-child)
In the early ’70s, many intending couples married because they were in love; they did not check their genotype.
Among the educated elite, scientists have proved that the symptoms associated with sickle cell diseases in children support the conclusion that the high rate of mortality experienced in the ’70s could be described as the Yoruba case of “abiku” (spirit-child).
There are six types of genotypes in humans: AA, AS, AC, SS, SC and CC.
The genetic factor that determines sickle cell anaemia;
AS genotype married to AS genotype
AS genotype married to AC genotype
AS genotype married to SS genotype
AS genotype married to SC genotype
SS married to AC genotype
SS married to SC genotype
SS married to SS genotype.
