Publisher's Synopsis
In this well-analyzed book, Rev. Fr. Dr. Williams Aso, focuses attention on the central elements in Yorùbá culture namely human destiny depicted as Orí-Inú and Ọmọlúàbí, a carrier of desirable human compass. The major task of the author is to provide the framework for achieving Ọmọlúàbí derived from Ìwà (character) which is sine qua non to the achievement of and sustenance of good life, social order and happiness in society. The author is able to establish convincingly that Ọmọlúàbí is linked to human destiny and therefore its attainment has an ontological dimension. The author also shows that Ọmọlúàbí (a person who is morally upright) is a necessity for the attainment of social equilibrium and therefore social harmony. It must be stated that contemporary society is in deep crisis. The various dimensions of this crisis have made life not only chaotic but short and deadly. The case in Nigeria is so appalling that society is gradually returning to the Hobbesian state of nature in which there is war of everyman against everyman and life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". In such a situation, development in terms of life abundance will only exist in the imagination of the people.
