Sango is not a myth. He was a living, breathing human being. He was a married man. He may even have been one of the earliest Alaafin of Oyo. His name – ‘San’ meaning ‘vividly’ and ‘go’ meaning ’to strike’ – reflected a connection with lightening (Monamona) and thunder (Ara). Sango used the ingenious device of a club to capture electricity from lightening and thunder strikes, and then stored it for later use as missiles (‘hot stones’) to attack and burn down the houses of those who defied him. The club that Sango invented consisted of a crown or head, made of Ayan hardwood, and a handle, made of metal alloys (Irin). When the wood was wetted in a thunder storm, its ions conducted electricity to the alloys, which Sango had arranged to form a battery or power bank. Included in the battery was a mechanism which allowed stored electricity to be discharged with a flick of the wrist. What is remarkable about Sango is that he possessed scientific knowledge for harnessing energy from lightening and thunder strikes that today’s scientists still do not have. Our duty as Yoruba descendants is not to worship Sango as a god, which he clearly was not, but to seek to unravel the nature of the battery mechanism that he invented several centuries ago.
Baasegun (Dr) Olusola Oni, Leader of the Yoruba Party in the UK (YPUK,
www.yorubapartyuk.org