Bójú Bójú: Hide and Seek
The Yoruba hide-and-seek game, its sung call-and-response opening, its rules, and the Òrò imagery embedded in the chant that most players no longer connect to the masquerade tradition it names.
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The Yoruba hide-and-seek game, its sung call-and-response opening, its rules, and the Òrò imagery embedded in the chant that most players no longer connect to the masquerade tradition it names.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Bójú bójú na the Yoruba game of hide and seek, wey dem dey play by covering eye, dey sing short call-and-response chant wey dey announce say search wan start, and then dey hide while the seeker dey count and search. Na children game, wey common well well for school compound and residential yard and, older sources show say, historically na game wey dem dey play for festive and moonlight evening. The name itself na the instruction: bo ojú mean to cover eye, and as dem repeat am as bójú bójú, e dey serve as both the name of the game and the first word for the chant wey dey start play.
Bójú bójú Oloro ń bọ̀ Ẹ pa ara mọ́ Ṣé kí n sí? Sí sí sí sín sí í Ẹni tí olóró bá mú a pa jẹ
Cover your eyes, cover your eyes, the great masquerader is coming, go and hide yourselves. Should I open my eyes? Open, open, open them! Whoever he finds will be killed.
Yoruba text and English translation as e dey on Mama Lisa's World, wey be crowdsourced international archive for children song, wey the site editor translate . Confidence medium on the exact wording and line breaks: the source print the chant without full diacritics and without to name the original person wey contribute am or the region wey dem collect am from, and this compiler don put standard diacritics on top the words wey clear (bójú, ń bọ̀) while leaving compound or uncertain forms conservative. Where published academic transcription dey, dem no locate am for this file.
The picture wey the chant dey paint dark pass the game itself far far: hunting "poison-owner" wey go kill and chop anybody wey e catch no be real literal threat inside children game, and the site note self understand this figure say e get connection to Òrò, wey be masquerade and cult association for Yoruba tradition wey historically no dey allow women see am under serious consequence . Whether average child wey dey sing this chant today dey link oloro to that specific religious institution, or dem just inherit scary-stranger figure wey don cut off from where e come from, the source no talk about am, and this file no claim say e know. The word olóró, wey literally mean "person wey get poison" or "person wey get something fierce," dey work figuratively here as standard frightening pursuer, the same way bogeyman dey work, instead of to name real person wey dey poison people.
One player, the seeker, go cover their eye and lead the chant while the others dey listen. On the line wey dey ask permission to look, Ṣé kí n sí?, "make I open am," the group go answer together with the "open am" refrain, and na that point the seeker go open their eye and start to find the others, wey don use the time between the chant start and the answer take scatter and hide . The chant itself dey work as timing mechanism for the game: instead of silent counting, like the international style of counting reach particular number with closed eyes, the Yoruba version dey set the hiding time to the length of the song exchange, and the collective answer from the group na wetin dey give the seeker permission to look, wey make the opening be something wey everybody participate inside instead of private countdown wey na only the seeker dey control.
Apart from this starting exchange, the game dey go on as hide and seek dey go everywhere: the seeker go search the compound or yard, and normally, the first person wey dem find na him go be the next seeker, although no source wey this file consult specify any formal rule for exactly how dem dey choose the next seeker, whether na by who dem find first, by the last person wey dem find, or by another arrangement, and this file no invent one.
Dem document Bójú bójú as children game, wey dem dey play mostly for school compound and residential yard settings . No source wey dem consult give exact age band; wetin the game require, to fit count or follow short chant, run, and hide by yourself, put practical minimum age around early school age, but this one na wetin the compiler infer from how the game dey work, no be from sourced age range.
The chant require make child hold memorized sequence for head and answer at the correct cue, wey be small part of the same call-and-response discipline wey dey structure the storytelling style wey dem describe for yoruba-alo, where storyteller and audience dey exchange fixed response before story fit start. The hiding-and-searching mechanic itself dey train spatial reasoning, both for the person wey dey hide wey dey judge wetin person fit see and wetin person no go fit see from particular angle, and for the seeker wey dey build mental map of where hiding places dey for compound and which ones dem don check already. The game also dey train self-control under one kind collective honor system, since child wey hide wey dem never find go need to judge by themselves how long dem go stay quiet and still instead of make outside referee disqualify dem.
No source wey this file consult document regional variation for the chant wording or for the game rules across different Yoruba-speaking areas. As the international hide-and-seek method itself dey well documented with local naming and playing styles, make some regional variation dey for Bójú bójú specific chant no go surprise person, but this file no make any claim about am pass to note say the record wey dem consult keep quiet.
One 2022 nostalgia article about Nigerian children games of di 1990s list Bójú bójú join oda school games as games wey "we play," dey use past tense throughout and dey present di whole list like wetin one generation dey remember instead of to describe how children dey play now . Dis one follow di same pattern wey dem document across dis section: outdoor game for compound wey adult no dey supervise like dis depend on children dey outside, inside group, without oda programs wey adult arrange dey drag di same time, conditions wey urban Nigerian childhood dey fail to provide more and more. Dem no find any dedicated academic study wey measure how Bójú bójú specifically take dey survive for dis file.
For di earliest form wey dem document, Bójú bójú work as night-time recreational game wey dem dey play inside compound and open space for traditional Yoruba compounds . During di era of di Ọ̀yọ́ Empire, communal open space (ìta) and fortified lineage compound provide safe environment where children gather under moonlight to do call-and-response play, dey use domestic hiding spot while dem dey learn communal vigilance . Di nineteenth-century Yoruba wars scatter rural settlements and force people move enter towns wey get wall, but communal compound play still continue as important way for children wey dey live for crowded domestic space to play .
Missionary contact from mid-nineteenth century bring Christian mission schools wey often discourage indigenous cultural expressions, but traditional games still continue outside formal supervision during free playtime . Under British colonial rule for di twentieth century, urban development, street trading, and social welfare programs change girlhood and children leisure for cities like Lagos, where traditional games dey exist side by side with colonial physical education drills for school compound . After Nigerian independence for 1960, Bójú bójú continue to dey everywhere during primary school break time and neighborhood gatherings across di south-western region .
Today, urbanization, modern house designs wey no get open compound, and digital media don reduce outdoor street play, but primary school teachers still recognize di game important pedagogical value to build motor skills and social cooperation . Across di Yoruba diaspora for Americas and Europe, dem dey preserve di chant and di game inside cultural enrichment classes, youth workshops, and language immersion initiatives, wey dey maintain living link to indigenous folklore and oral performance traditions .
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