Excerpts About The Meaning Of The Nigerian Saying "Egungun Be Careful Na Express You De Go”

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about the Nigerian saying "Egungun be careful na express you de go”.

Part I presents article excerpts that explain the meaning of the Nigerian saying "Egungun be careful na express you de go”.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/06/videos-of-2001-fuji-song-egungun-be.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II provides information about the Nigerian Fuji singer Abass Akande Obsere and information about the contemporary Nigerian singer Zlatan. Part II also showcases a video of the 2001 Fuji song "Egungun Be Careful" as well as a March 2020 video of that song's remix by Obsere and Zlatan. Some comments from the discussion thread for the video of Abass Akande Obsere's 2001 song are also included in that post.

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural and linguistics purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Abass Akande Obesere for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SAYING "EGUNGUN BE CAREFUL NA EXPRESS YOU DE GO"
Excerpt #1:
From https://www.informationng.com/2020/03/fuji-legend-obesere-explains-meaning-of-egungun-be-careful-video.html
Fuji Legend, Obesere Explains Meaning Of ‘Egungun Be Careful’ (Video)
By Amaka Odozi -March 7, 2020
"Fuji legend, Obesere, in a recent interview with Boom Buzz, explained the meaning of his trending song, “Egungun be careful na express you de go”.

The singer revealed he released the song 19 years ago and it is a warning or a slang.

RECORDED EGUNGUN BE CAREFUL 19 YEARS AGO AND IT'S STILL RELEVANT TODAY. GIVE GOD THE GLORY. PIC.TWITTER.COM/HZXVQYDEA6

— ALH. ABASS AKANDE OBESERE (@ABASS_OBESERE) MARCH 5, 2020

The Fuji singer, whose full name is Abass Akande Obesere, explained that a masquerade’s face is masked and he needs a guide to lead him.

Thus, when the guide and the masquerade were heading towards the express, the former tried to warn the latter about the express road by calling him “Egungun” because his name cannot be exposed but the masquerade failed to listen so he got knocked down by a car.”...
-snip-
This saying is given in Nigerian Pidgin English. I think one standard English form of this saying is "Egungun, be careful as you are heading toward the expressway ("highway", busy street.)

That saying warns people to be cautious as their actions (and words) have consequences.

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Excerpt #2
From https://businessday.ng/opinion/article/egungun-be-careful-na-express-you-dey-go/ "Egungun Be Careful Na Express You Dey Go" by RILWAN BALOGUN On Mar 25, 2020
"Egungun is a generic name given to various kinds of Yoruba masquerades, traditionally believed to have connection with ancestor reverence. They are visibly seen in masks of various native costumes whenever they appear amidst crowd. Some 19 years ago, a popular Fuji musician, Abass Akande Obesere, hit the music genre with an album titled “egungun be careful” I could recall, vividly, no sooner had the album hit the air, than the news rented the air that the formerly cross dresser artiste, Obesere, had been held incommunicado. It was however rumoured, though, that the reason for his hostage was simply to “deal” with him by the Ojes, who are the innate practitioners of egungun, thus, an action purportedly taken to caution the Fuji maestro.

[...]

What does the removal of an emir has to do with masquerade, locally called egungun, dodo and mmanwu in the 3 major languages in Nigeria? Why the call of caution for it to be careful? The reason for my adoption of this title is a sheer sarcasm and a satire as well, deployed to caution whoever holds the office of a traditional institution to be wary of enthusiastically engaging in criticising the power that be, for risk of vendetta or reappraisal of attacks. For the revolutionist, who thinks the government has failed the nation, beloved, please tell him that his egungun be careful na express he dey go. For that crusader who is on a lone mission to liberating the downtrodden from the shackles of political desperadoes, please, do him good by ringing the bell of warning down to his auditory canals, that his egungun is going to the express, thus, should exercise every caution.

[...]

Any traditional ruler, dabbling into the murky ocean of politics should be signaled that his revered royal regalia is calling the bluff of going close to a raging fire. In addition, to that political office holder, elected or appointed, who sees alignment with political hawks, gathering, whining and dining with the heists, whom are the power that be, should please be wary of the consequences of masquerading against the truth.

One may need to ask, whether this piece tries to advocate against voices that stand to speak the truth for the fear of one’s masquerade being jammed by the ferocious ruling government’s truck? The simple answer is NO! Rather, this is an exposition of the rulers’ innocuous intoxication withy power, inebriation at the expense of the good to the society."...

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Excerpt #3
From https://www.opinionnigeria.com/sanusi-lamido-sanusi-egungun-be-careful-na-express-you-dey-go-by-tife-owolabi/ "Sanusi Lamido Sanusi: Egungun Be Careful Na Express You Dey Go" -By Tife OwolabiOpinion Nigeria Staff, March 18, 2020
"There is a rule of thumb for comedians: “Get off the stage while they are still laughing.” For politicians, maybe it should be “Get off the stage while you are still laughing!”

"Egungun becareful na Express you dey go ” which was used 19years ago by popular Fuji Musician,Abass Akande Obesere popularly known as “Omo Rapala or Papa Tosibe has resurfaced and assuming new order as a Cliche . It is a friendly- advice or warning ; a deep hearted one to a friend not to misbehave looking at his/her current position or disposition.

This is also no offense to the attire and emir stool as I have chosen this topic not to disparage the royal regalia but to speak on the current ordeal of the deposed Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II . Sanusi as gone from sublime to the ”ridiculous” given the circumstances surrounding his dethronement which he is oblivious of that he is being used as a pawn of chess by some political Gladiators."...
-snip-
The article given as #2 above also references the Emir of Kano (Nigeria) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II who was deposed in March 2020 as a political example of the saying "Egungun be careful". Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanusi_Lamido_Sanusi for information about Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II.

There are numerous online articles from Nigeria and YouTube videos from March 2020 to date of Nigerian comedy skits, dance videos, and more about the saying "Egungun Be Careful".That saying appears to still be still trending in Nigeria as of the June 8, 2020 date of this pancocojams post.

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This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.

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