Abiku

Abiku is a word in Yoruba. The word is derived from Yoruba: (abiku) "predestined to death", which is from (abi) "that which possesses" and (iku) "death". Abiku refers to the spirits of children who die before reaching puberty; a child who dies before twelve years of age being called an Abiku, and the spirit, or spirits, who caused the death being also called Abiku.

Ben Okri's novel The Famished Road is based upon an abiku. Debo Kotun's novel Abiku, a political satire of the Nigerian military oligarchy, is based upon an abiku. Gerald Brom's illustrated novel, The Plucker, depicts a child's toys fighting against an abiku.

See also

• Ogbanje

References

• "abiku definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-11-01. 
• Jones, Gertrude. Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols. New York:The Scarecrow Press, 1962.

External links

• Sacred Texts.com gives more explanations about Abikus - facsimile of a chapter from Yoruba-Speaking peoples of the slave coast of West Africa by A. B. ELLIS, 1894