This Ifa verse of EJI OGBE tells the story of how he became the first among the sixteen major Odus. Eji Ogbe was the youngest among the sixteen and he was also the least endowed physically. When it was time to go to Olodumare to choose a leader amongst them for the mission to earth he went to his own babalawo and seek guidance and direction on the way forward. He was told to make a sacrifice of a cow, sixteen cowries shell, and a change of cloth. Eji Ogbe was so poor that he could not afford a live cow so he bought just the head of a cow. He gathered the sixteen cowries shells and took the only cloth he had on his body to make the sacrifice as directed by his awo.
Soon after the sacrifice Olodumare called all the sixteen Odus and they were lead by OFUN MEJI because of his size for he was a giant amongst them. When they assembled at the presence of Olodumare he gave them a cow and told them to return to him in sixteen days after sharing the cow accordingly. He would then choose a king and leader amongst them for Orunmila’s mission on earth. When they got home they started making preparation on how to kill the cow and share it. None of them was prepared to go anywhere or do any preparation for fear of being cheated out of the cow. So, they all decided that the smallest among them Eji Ogbe should go to the woods and bring firewood, leaves, and other ingredients needed for the cow’s preparation. So it was that Eji Ogbe went into the woods and before he came back the cow had been slaughtered and distributed with Ofun Meji taking the choicest part and all other Odus taking theirs as well. Eji Ogbe was left with just the head stripped of all meat. He took the head without grumbling because he was too small to fight or argue with them and he said to his self, “even if I was there, I will still get whatever they decide to give me, not what I want!”
So they all went to home with their parts of the cow. On the sixteenth day, Olodumare summoned all the sixteen major Odus into his presence to ask them how the cow was shared amongst them. They said, “OFUN MEJI took the thighs, OSE MEJI took arms, IRETE MEJI took the heart and so on according to their physical size and power.” Olodumare now asked who got the head. They all laughed and said it was EJI OGBE because he was the youngest and was also the smallest. Olodumare now turned away from them and caused sixteen horses to appear with different robes and staffs of office and said to them, “your greediness has made you give your rights to the one that is small and powerless amongst you, therefore, he that has the head will be your king, because ‘ori ni oba ara’ the head is the king of the body.” So it was that Eji Ogbe became the king and leader of all the sixteen major Odus. Olodumare then gave Eji Ogbe the task of molding the human skull before Obatala joins all the other parts of the human body. Aboru Aboye nile Ifa!
