I had previously said "There is an old Yoruba song "Ma deniyan" - "I will become human." It speaks of a group of apes, watching humanity and deciding that what humans had they too would have. So, they decided to do whatever it took to become human. "

Self-correction : I have found the Sikiru Ayinde version, and while it does speak of the wish of apes to become human, it says nothing about them doing anything to harm humans. The main lesson in the song is about how, through impatience, the apes sabotaged thier own ambitions.