Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten - Chinua Achebe.

Like many African cultures, proverbs play an important role in expressions within the Nigerian community. Proverbs tell much about people's traditional ways of experiencing reality, about the proper or expected ways of doing things, about values and warnings, and rules and wisdoms the elders want to impress on the minds of their young. The punch line character of proverbs (the shorter the better), makes it easy to commit them to memory for ready recall when the occasion calls for serious or humorous comment or admonition. Created by people in high and low stations, humble folk and great authors, borrowed from ancient or neighbouring cultures, proverbs have been accumulating over many centuries. Some are only locally known; many are shared around the world.