one of the most flattering ways to describe a  person is to say they have much ‘itutu.’ The  

word denotes a particular approach to life:  unhurried, composed, assured and unflappable.  

If a bus is late, a person of ‘itutu’ won’t  shout or get in a dispute with a ticket vendor,  

they’ll let out a minor sigh and pull a weary  smile. If the skies open just when they’ve  

laid out chairs in the garden for a party, they  will - in their normal tranquil and unaffected  

way - simply take them all back in again. There  isn’t much that should rattle a person of ‘itutu.’ 

Crucially, ‘itutu’ isn’t any sort of divine  gift or chance trait. It’s a quality that can be  

cultivated and is the outcome of having absorbed  a particular view of existence. For the Yoruba,  

agitation and anger flow from a mistaken and  over-ambitious sense of what it lies in our  

power to alter. It’s when we believe that we  are more in command of external reality than  

we actually are that we respond to reversals  and frustrations with rage. The calm person  

of ‘itutu’ may be every bit as sad as their  hysterical counterpart about the delayed bus  

or torrential shower, but what underpins their  equanimity is a sense that trouble could not  

be skirted and must be accepted as belonging to  the order of things. In their noble resignation,  

a person of ‘itutu’ displays a grasp of  another key term in Yoruba philosophy:  

‘àṣẹ’ which we might translate as destiny,  existence, or the cosmic order. What lies  

in the province of ‘àṣẹ’ can’t be altered  by any human will but an enlightened person  

should understand the direction of ‘àṣẹ’ and then  adjust their desires and ambitions accordingly. 

There is an important detail here: ‘itutu’ doesn’t  only render a person wise. It additionally makes  

them attractive, including physically attractive,  and what we might call ‘cool’ - which is why any  

self-respecting young Yoruba will strive hard  to adopt its outward signs, particularly when  

a distinguished local photographer like Rachidi  Bissiriou has offered to take one’s portrait. 

Many cultures retain a lingering suspicion that  being effective might rely on a capacity to be  

frantic and hot tempered. For the Yoruba,  agitation isn’t merely an offence to a  

proper understanding of the universe;  it’s also just horribly unfashionable.