Ẹ̀KỌ́

OHUN TÍ N BẸ LẸ́YÌN Ẹ̀FÀ Ó JU ÈJE LỌ.
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[Corrected]
I know that many people must have heard and said the saying,
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’ohun tí n bẹ l’ẹ́yìn ẹ̀fà ó ju èje lọ’.
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This saying means that ‘there are more (numbers) after six than seven’ since in Yoruba, ẹ̀fà means six while èje means seven. It is usually used to tell people that there are more to a matter than someone else understands.
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But from the onset, in the olden days, the saying had absolutely nothing to do with ẹ̀fà and èje because these words were introduced into the saying by the modern day Yoruba.
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The original and correct way of saying it is
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‘OHUN TÍ N BẸ LẸ́YÌN Ọ̀FFÀ Ó JU ÒJÉ LỌ.’
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In case you wonder what Ọ̀ffà and Òjé are; Ọ̀ffà is a town in the present Kwara state while Òjé is a defunct town after Ọ̀ffà whose trace of existence has been totally wiped off now.
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In those days, most Yorùbá people considered Ọ̀ffà town to be far so they’d say
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‘Ọ̀ffà jìn o, àmọ́ Òjé tún jìnà ju Ọ̀ffà lọ. Òjé ló jìnà jù. Kò sí ìlú l’ẹ́yìn Òjé mọ
i.e
Ọ̀ffà is far but Òjé is farther and there is no town after Òjé. This they maintained until they embarked on an expenditure that took them beyond Òjé town.
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As they moved beyond Òjé, they realized that there were more towns and lands after Òjé such that they could not cover everything so they’d exclaim as they passed through the lands that,
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‘Áà, ohun tí n bẹ l’ẹ́yìn Ọ̀ffà, Ó ju Òjé lọ o’
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when they got back to Yorùbá land, they repeated it to the people that when they traveled, they realized that there were more (towns) existing after Ọ̀ffà than Òjé.
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Ever since then, when they want to tell people that there is more to a matter than what is known or seen, they will say:
{ OHUN TÍ N BẸ L'Ẹ́YÌN Ọ̀FFÀ Ó JU ÒJÉ LỌ }.
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- Adebayo Sheriffdeen Ilé Sanmí