PREFACE
AKUDAYA (LIVING WRAITH) is a mythical phenomenon found in Yoruba culture relating to persons purported to reincarnate after death in another place, to continue earthly existence as a quasi-human being. The belief in Akudaya is not only limited to Yoruba people, other tribes of Africa, Asia and even part of the Western world have legends, folklores and tales attesting to the existence of these phantom beings, who are reported to live on or sighted by their relatives or associates after death.
The concept as cognized by Yoruba culture is a fusion of metaphysics and cosmogony, dependent more on fiction or fantastic postulations than facts. This makes it liable to fallacies and conjectures; a phenomenon that cannot be verified as scientific truth or perpetuated at will. This however does not obliterate the truth of their incidences in Yoruba culture or invalidate their place in the scheme of things. AKUDAYA represents Yoruba’s people attempt at understanding one of the great mysteries of existence and this monograph will highlight features and significances of the cultural belief for the enlightenment of Africans in Diaspora and global readers.
It is important to note that names and personal details of interviewees have been changed according to their instructions. The publisher is grateful for all the inputs from resources sourced in the production of the book and especially for your patronage. Please note that inferences drawn in this book are neither true nor false and are not to be taken as such.
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CHAPTER 1
AKUDAYA- MYTH OR REAL
AKUDAYA is a name that conjures fear and awe in the minds of Yoruba people wherever it is mentioned. Its incidence is considered a strange event, head-swelling and bound to attract crowd wherever it is reported, thronged by people curious to confirm if indeed it is possible for a ghost to live on as an incarnate being.
The etymology of the name itself is strange. A-KU-DA-YA, meaning loosely to
