Twenty Yorùbá proverbs on ogún (inheritance) and claim to patrimony, drawn largely from Owomoyela's dedicated section "On the right to one's patrimony and to property," focused on land, farm, throne, and territorial claim rather than movable wealth.
Ogún is inheritance or patrimony, and Owomoyela's collection gives the right to it a dedicated section, "On the right to one's patrimony and to property," pages 432-436 . That section covers inheritance broadly, movable and immovable property both, so this file selects from it and from two further entries found elsewhere in the collection specifically those proverbs whose argument turns on territory, land, farm, or a fixed place of standing (a throne, a father's house, a patch of ground) rather than on money, tools, or animals as such. The distinction is not always sharp, and where a proverb's image is land or place-based even though its lesson is general, it is included here.
Literal: Ibi tí a ti ń pìtàn the-place where one must-recite-genealogy ká tó jogún before inheriting, ká mọ̀ pé ogún ibẹ̀ ò kanni one-should-know that inheritance there does-not-concern-one.
Idiomatic: "Where one must recite genealogies in order to establish one's claim to inheritance, one should know that one really has no claim to patrimony there."
Meaning: A claim to land or inheritance that requires elaborate proof of lineage to establish is not, in fact, a strong claim.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "One need not go to great lengths to establish one's claim if it is genuine"
Notes: This proverb makes a sharp, almost legal point about evidentiary burden: a genuine heir's claim to land is assumed to be self-evident, known to the community without argument, so the need to recite genealogy is itself read as a sign of weak title rather than strong.
Source: Owomoyela 357.
Literal: Ẹni tí ó bà ogún-un baba rẹ̀ jẹ́ whoever ruins his-father's patrimony, ó ja òkú lórun lólè has-robbed the-dead-man in-heaven as-a-thief, yó sì di ẹni ìfibú and-will-become an-object-of-scorn.
Idiomatic: "Whoever ruins his or her father's bequest robs the dead and becomes a person of disgrace."
Meaning: Squandering an inheritance is not merely poor stewardship; it is a theft committed against the dead, and it carries lasting social shame.
Used when: Used as a warning against the specific failure of dissipating what has been passed down.
Notes: The proverb treats inheritance as an ongoing obligation to the deceased rather than as property that becomes fully and simply the heir's own once received, connecting this file directly to file 75's material on the ancestors and what is owed to them.
Source: Owomoyela 1527.
Literal: A kì í bá eku du igbó one does-not dispute the-bush with-the-rodent, a kì í bá ẹfọ̀n du dàn one does-not dispute the-grassland with-the-buffalo, a kì í bá Olúkóre du ipò-o baba-a rẹ̀ one does-not dispute Olúkóre's father's-position with-him.
Idiomatic: "One does not dispute the bush with the rodent; one does not dispute the grassland with the buffalo; one does not dispute Olúkóre's patrimony with him."
Meaning: Each creature and each rightful heir has an undisputed natural domain that outsiders should not contest.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "One should not seek to deny people their God-given rights"
Notes: This proverb builds its argument entirely from territorial examples, an animal's habitat, before naming the human case, Olúkóre's inherited position, explicitly, which makes territory itself the vehicle for the whole claim about rightful, undisputed possession.
Source: Owomoyela 4421.
Literal: A kì í gbé ọmọ Ọbà one does-not take the-child of-the-Ọbà-river fún Ọ̀ṣun and-give-it to-the-Ọ̀ṣun-river.
Idiomatic: "One does not give the child of the Ọbà river to the Ọ̀ṣun river."
Meaning: Do not take what belongs to one place or claimant to benefit another.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Do not rob Peter to pay Paul"
Notes: The proverb names two actual Yorùbá rivers, Ọbà and Ọ̀ṣun, each personified and each with its own claim; using named geographic features as the parties whose property must not be confused is a distinctive move that grounds the general principle in real, known territory.
Source: Owomoyela 4422.
Literal: Àkọ́bí ẹlẹ́ranko the-firstborn of-the-livestock-owner kì í já mọ́ wọn lọ́wọ́ does-not slip from-his-hands.
Idiomatic: "The first foal of the owner of the herd does not slip from his fingers."
Meaning: The firstborn of livestock kept for someone by another belongs, by fixed custom, to the original owner, not the keeper.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "People deserve to hold on to what is rightfully theirs" Owomoyela's footnote explains the custom directly: when livestock is given to another person to keep, and offspring result, the first offspring customarily belongs to the original owner to dispose of [S1, note 3].
Notes: This documents a specific, real Yorùbá customary rule of first-offspring ownership in animal husbandry arrangements, a rule of inherited or assigned right that has nothing to do with land directly but everything to do with fixed, customary claim, the same logic this file's land proverbs apply to territory.
Source: Owomoyela 4428, with note 3; variant at 4429.
Literal: Oko ti ikún the-farm is-the-squirrel's, ilẹ̀ ti pàkà the-ground is-the-groundnut's; a kì í bá àlùkẹrẹsẹ du ilé-e baba-a rẹ̀ one does-not dispute the-àlùkẹrẹsẹ-plant's father's-house with-it.
Idiomatic: "The farm is the domain of the squirrel; the ground is the domain of the groundnut; one does not dispute its father's house with the plant àlùkẹrẹsẹ."
Meaning: Each thing has a natural, inherited domain, and outsiders should not contest possession of it.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Each person has the right to enjoy his or her patrimony in peace"
Notes: This proverb is close in structure to entry 3, again stacking territorial examples, farm and ground specifically, ahead of the underlying claim about patrimonial right, and it is one of the file's most explicitly land-and-soil-grounded entries.
Source: Owomoyela 4451.
Literal: Ọmọ Aláké the-child of-the-Aláké ní ń jọba lÁkẹ́ is-who reigns at-Àkẹ́; ọmọ olóko ní ń jọba lóko the-farmer's child reigns on-the-farm; àkọ́bí Ọ̀njọ ní ń jọba nÍjẹ̀bú Òde Ọ̀njọ's firstborn reigns at-Ìjẹ̀bú-Òde.
Idiomatic: "It is the firstborn of the Aláké [king of Abẹ́òkúta] that inherits the throne of Àkẹ́; it is the firstborn of the farmer who rules on the farm; it is the firstborn of Ọ̀njọ who inherits the throne at Ìjẹ̀bú Òde."
Meaning: The right to rule or inherit a particular territory follows fixed, known precedence, not arbitrary selection.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "The right to certain privileges is determined by set precedence, not at random" Owomoyela's footnote identifies Ọ̀njọ, of Òkèho, as a kingling of one of the provinces of the Ọ̀yọ́ kingdom, the Ìbùn tún [S1, note 7].
Notes: This proverb names three real, distinct Yorùbá territorial authorities, the Aláké of Abẹ́òkúta, an ordinary farm, and the Ọ̀njọ of Ìjẹ̀bú Òde, deliberately stacking a royal case, an ordinary case, and a second royal case to argue that the same principle of firstborn succession to a fixed place governs at every social scale, from farm to throne.
Source: Owomoyela 4458, with note 7.
Literal: A kì í ṣúpó alààyè one does-not inherit-a-widow's-place while-the-owner-is-still-alive.
Idiomatic: "One does not inherit the wife of a living man."
Meaning: Inheritance rights, including widow inheritance, can only be exercised once death has actually occurred, never in anticipation of it.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Do not attempt to wrest property or a right from its owner while the owner is still around"
Notes: This proverb documents the institution of widow inheritance directly, using its most literal and time-bound rule, that it activates only upon death, as the vehicle for the general principle that no claim to another's property may be exercised while that person still lives to hold it.
Source: Owomoyela 4426.
Literal: Ẹja ló nibú the-fish is-who-owns the-deep.
Idiomatic: "To the fish belongs the deep."
Meaning: The territory or resource most suited to a given creature or person belongs to it by natural right.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "People should not be begrudged what is rightfully theirs"
Notes: Four words compress the entire principle underlying this file's territorial proverbs (compare entries 3 and 6): possession follows fitness for and mastery of a particular domain.
Source: Owomoyela 4437.
Literal: Èkúté ilé the-house mouse ò lẹ́nu bá alákàsà wíjọ́ has-no mouth (standing) to dispute-a-case with the-granary-owner.
Idiomatic: "The house mouse has no mouth to dispute a case with the owner of the granary."
Meaning: A known trespasser or interloper has no standing to contest the rightful owner's claim.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "A known culprit cannot successfully plead innocence"
Notes: The granary, a fixed store of a household's food supply, functions here as the piece of property whose ownership is beyond dispute; the mouse's presence inside it does not constitute any competing claim, however long-standing.
Source: Owomoyela 4435.
Literal: Ìṣẹ́ kì í mú ọkọ mú aya poverty does-not grip the-husband and grip the-wife kó má ràn ọmọ and-not affect the-child.
Idiomatic: "Suffering does not grip the husband and grip the wife but spare the child."
Meaning: A household's fortune, including a diminished inheritance, is shared by its whole membership, not confined to those who caused the hardship.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "The dependent cannot escape the hardship that befalls his or her benefactors"
Notes: This proverb makes explicit that inheritance and its opposite, inherited hardship, both bind a household together as a unit, connecting the property-rights material of this section to the household solidarity themes of 10-owe-family-lineage-compound.md and 11-owe-children-parenthood-inheritance.md.
Source: Owomoyela 4443.
Literal: Ọmọ alápatà-á jogún bẹ̀bẹ̀ the-child of-the-butcher inherits a-knife.
Idiomatic: "The son of the butcher inherits a knife."
Meaning: A person typically inherits not only their parent's property but the tools and calling attached to it.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "One takes after one's parent's trade"
Notes: This proverb, and the cluster around it (entries 13 through 16 below), extends "inheritance" from land and title specifically to occupational lineage, the trade passed down along with, or in place of, physical property.
Source: Owomoyela 4459.
Literal: Ọmọ erin-ín jogún ọlá the-elephant's-child inherits greatness.
Idiomatic: "An elephant's child inherits greatness."
Meaning: Standing and stature pass down through lineage just as land or title does.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "One takes after one's parents"
Notes: Paired with entry 12, this proverb shows the inheritance vocabulary of this section applied to abstract social standing (ọlá, honour or greatness) rather than to any concrete object, extending the file's territory from land and trade to inherited reputation.
Source: Owomoyela 4460.
Literal: Ọmọ tí àgbẹ̀ bí the-child a-farmer fathers, oko ni yó ro a-farm is-what-he-will-cultivate; ọmọ tí Gàbàrí bí the-child a-Hausa-man fathers, okùn ni yó ran rope is-what-he-will-weave.
Idiomatic: "The child sired by a farmer will engage in farming; the child sired by a Hausa man will engage in rope weaving."
Meaning: People usually take up the occupation, and by extension the land or trade-territory, associated with their lineage.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "People usually take up their lineage profession"
Notes: The farmer's case ties occupational inheritance directly back to land, the farm itself passed down along with the calling to work it, which makes this proverb one of the clearest bridges in the file between inherited trade and inherited ground.
Source: Owomoyela 4465; compare variants 4461 and 4466.
Literal: Ṣòkòtò ní ń jogún ìdí trousers inherit the-buttocks; ọmọ ní ń jogún-un baba a-child inherits from-the-father.
Idiomatic: "To the trousers belong the heritage of the buttocks; to the child belongs the patrimony of the father."
Meaning: Just as trousers naturally succeed to and take the shape of what they cover, a child naturally succeeds to a father's patrimony.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Children survive and inherit from their father, just as the trousers survive and inherit from the buttocks"
Notes: This is the closing proverb of Owomoyela's dedicated patrimony section , and its domestic, almost homely image, an article of clothing outlasting and inheriting the shape of the body part it covers, gives the whole section's abstract legal reasoning about ownership and succession a final, concrete anchor.
Source: Owomoyela 4468.
Literal: Ta ní ḿbá kẹ̀-kẹ̀ṣẹ̀ du èlùbọ̀ kù? who would-dispute with-the-sieve the-remaining-yam-flour?
Idiomatic: "Who would dispute with the sieve the function of sifting yam flour?"
Meaning: No one contests a claim so obviously proper to its holder that disputing it would be absurd.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "No one can or should deprive people of what is rightfully theirs"
Notes: This proverb closes the section's run of rhetorical questions (compare the dung beetle variant, Owomoyela 4471, not separately reproduced here) that all make the same point through absurdity: certain claims to a role or a place are so self-evidently proper that disputing them would be nonsensical.
Source: Owomoyela 4470; compare variant 4471.
Literal: Tẹni ntẹni one's-own-thing belongs-to-one, ààtàn ló làkísà the-dung-heap owns the-rag.
Idiomatic: "One's property belongs to one; to the dung heap belongs the rag."
Meaning: No one should begrudge another what is properly and rightfully theirs, however humble that possession is.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "No one should begrudge a person what is rightfully his or hers"
Notes: The proverb pairs the general principle with its most deliberately unglamorous possible illustration, a rag on a dung heap, to make the point that the principle of rightful possession holds regardless of the value of what is possessed.
Source: Owomoyela 4472.
(Cross-referenced from file 85, entry 10, on the impossibility of sweeping a market's ground evenly for everyone's satisfaction. Included here only as a pointer, since its subject is the market's ground specifically, not inheritance; not counted separately in this file's total.)
Source: Owomoyela 3605.
(Cross-referenced from file 71, entry 4, and file 86, on a god's grove or shrine-ground not being counted as part of the town's ordinary settled land. See those files for the full text; not counted separately here.)
Source: Owomoyela 612.
(Cross-referenced from file 87, entry 6, on the named boundary of Ọ̀yọ́ and on home as wherever dignity is found, rather than a fixed plot of land. See that file for the full text and Owomoyela's footnote on Akẹ́san; not counted separately here.)
Source: Owomoyela 4394, with note 2.
Seventeen fully reproduced proverbs here (entries 1 through 17; entries 18 through 20 are cross-references to material fully documented in other files of this section and are not added to the count) converge on a single, repeated argumentative shape: naming an animal's or plant's natural, undisputed domain, a rodent's bush, a buffalo's grassland, a fish's deep water, a squirrel's farm, before or alongside naming the human case, a father's patrimony, a firstborn's throne, a butcher's trade. This is the same rhetorical technique of stacking natural and social examples together seen throughout this corpus, and it is especially concentrated in Owomoyela's dedicated patrimony section, which supplied the great majority of this file's material . The two most consequential entries, 1 and 2, both concern the moral weight of a claim to inherited land specifically: entry 1 holds that a claim requiring elaborate proof is thereby suspect, and entry 2 holds that squandering an inheritance is a theft committed against the dead, tying land and patrimony directly to the ancestral obligations documented at file 75.
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