By Moses Oludele Idowu
“Today, the government of Nigeria has identified the great opportunity inherent in the existence of over 450 million people connected to this spirituality world over.”
That was the Nigerian Institute of Cultural Organization on the appointment of Professor Wole Soyinka as Patron of World Orisha Congress ( WOOCON)
There are three things I want to say in this short remark on this issue. The first is to expose the grievous lie and falsehood that a government agency funded with tax payers’ money is perpetuating.
It is a lie to say 450 million Yoruba and associated tribes both in West Africa and in the Caribbean and Diaspora are connected to the Orisha spirituality and, by implication, Yoruba religion. And a grievous lie for that matter.
The entire population of Yoruba and related tribes/ kinsmen both in West Africa and the world is not more than 450 million if not less. And is NICO saying that all Yorubas are connected to this spirituality or way of worship? Do all Yorubas today worship the Orisha and subscribe to the Orisha religion? They do not.
To be honest to the facts most Yorubas in this nation in contemporary times disavow of this religion and form of spirituality. Most Yoruba today in Nigeria are either of Christian spirituality or Islamic spirituality and a tiny minority still adhere to the Orisha spirituality. It is a libel to put this label on all Yoruba as if we are all worshipers of Orisha.
There is always this subtle, subterranean effort to rope everyone into the Orisha system and make it seem as if we are all subscribers to a system that has long been rejected by the generality of the Yoruba.
Yoruba values
I am a Yoruba man born of a noble ancestry of Yoruba on both the mother and father side. I am proud of the Yoruba heritage and will defend it anywhere. There are many things about the values of the Yoruba that a child can justly be proud. Honesty, fairness, justice, respect for elders, humility, support for the weak,etc.
No one in his right mind will object to these. The Yoruba Religion,- and especially the Orisha spirituality, – is however a different thing altogether. I do not subscribe to the Yoruba Traditional Religion or even the Orisha spirituality. I do not.
I have examined each of the principal gods, divinities or deified ancestors of the Yoruba Spirituality, the pantheon of the Orisha that interminable generations of Yoruba have conferred superstitious veneration and I cannot go with any of them. None of them aligns with my nature or what I consider love, simplicity, true justice and mercy and kindness for humanity.
I recognize that some of them evoke genuine values that are worthy of emulation but there are also elements in their characters for which one needs to be genuinely afraid.
I recognize that Ogun has an acute sense of justice, truth-seeking truth- telling and forthrightness but how about his rage, foul temper that rises and falls like the mercury of a thermometer, his bloody orgies and purges, his savage instincts by which he destroys both enemies and even followers alike? Yes, he saved the people of Ire- Ekiti from their enemies but he ended up destroying them too in one spell of rage. Such a being is too violent for me to.go with or submit to.
And what of Sango , whose despotic and tyrannical rule in old Oyo led to widespread cries of the people for deliverance and ultimately rebellion?
Or of Esu the dreaded one that is most crafty and cunning, the “one that you do not wait to meet and you dare not flee on sighting.”
These are the principal ones and I can go on but is it necessary ? None of these can be my God. None of these can receive my adoration or subservience. I reject them. They shall not be my gods. I can’t see perfection here or even holiness.
Sacrifices
Dr. Makenzie has equally shown in a journal article that even Olodumare that Yoruba attach so much supremacy is different from Yahweh, the Supreme God of Abrahamic Tradition.
Sacrifices have to be performed to these gods and divinities. Animals have to be slaughtered and in some cases even humans. It is the reason for the increase in ritual murder today in this land. And the devotees don’t want to be sacrificed or their own children. Certain magic and magical potion require the blood of humans, I am told.
Any god that still receives blood sacrifices, whether of human or animal cannot be my God. The God that I serve put an end to all sacrifices with the Ultimate Sacrifice of His Own Son. Any other blood sacrifice now is not to the Supreme God but to Satan and his numerous subsidiaries, agents and sympathisers under different names, mutations and disguises.
That is why I object to the Yoruba Orisha Spirituality and that is why many Yorubas object. It is therefore a lie to say 450 million Yoruba are connected with the same spirituality. If you need subvention or grant from UNESCO there are better ways to get it than by putting forth a libel.
Two, I have heard some academic scholars who if the truth were to be told are neither academic nor scholars, opine that the reason NIgeria is backward and Yorubaland is not making progress is because we jettisoned our Traditional Religion and our Orisha spirituality and heritage.
They also affirm that Sango for instance is a god of thunder and lightning and could be leveraged to provide electricity; that Ogun is god of iron and metallurgy and can be invoked to lead the way to technology.
These are your scholars! Do.you see why your universities are warning? Some even suggest Ifa and Witchcraft studies to be incorporated in to the curriculum of the universities and even Primary schools. What for? So they could become witches? Because all knowledge ultimately lead to practical applications and all ideas have consequences.
This was the kind of mindset that brought FESTAC upon Nigeria and set NIgeria on a backward trajectory from which it is still descending till today. Those same gods of Africa were rehabilitated at FESTAC in the bogus name of cultural renewal and revival.
What is the effect on Nigeria and Africa since then? Has Nigeria moved forward technologically and scientifically? Has her economy mounted? In 1977 Nigerian universities were world class, professors were dignified and respected; today your universities don’t even have a name in Africa. NIgeria today is under the rulership of the worst segment , the most immoral vestigial remnants of the predatory gangs of local agents of international capitalist conspiracy and colonialist perpetuation.
Sango and NEPA
Sometimes a truth can be deciphered from even a lie. An idea can be put forward that shows its basic contradiction and illogic. When NEPA ( National Electric Power Authority) was established Sango was made the principal idol and symbol. The wand of Sango, the most notable emblem of Sango devotees was the symbol of NEPA that was later anglicized to PHCN.
Yet NEPA became one of the most accursed institutions, the most hated , most corrupt and debased institution in Nigeria corporate history. It became a bottomless pit where unaccountable billions of dollars went into private pockets and generated darkness.
Till today NIgeria still range between 3000- 4000 megawatt of electricity after sixty years and with billions sunk. Why couldn’t Sango make NEPA that was consecrated to it a success? Why couldn’t he use his taunted success as a carrier of lightning and thunder to provide uninterrupted electricity for Nigeria? NEPA was finally sold in a negative income to private individuals by Federal Government after being unbundled. That is the result of what Sango achieved for NEPA after several years.
It is always downward trajectory not upwards. But I assure you if NEPA had been dedicated to Jesus Christ at inception, the Light of the World, it would be another story today. Nigeria won’t be in darkness today.
Some of your scholars are mouthing nonsense. Plenty of pernicious nonsense in the name of scholarship. Things that can’t be proved by empirical validation or backed by genuine theories or sound hypothesis.
Yoruba nation will.fail if…
Yoruba Nation will fail tragically and spectacularly if on inauguration she makes the terrible mistake of endowing these gods her patron deities and object of veneration. Why is Haiti not prosperous with its voodooism and Orisha spirituality?
The last thing I want to say is about the interface of culture and religion. It is an error to think you can promote culture without promoting religion. Every culture is a subset of religion and every culture is inspired by certain religion. You cannot separate it. This fact is known to the scholars who are promoting this but they deliberately deceive the people by mouthing Yoruba Culture instead of Yoruba Traditional Religion which would be objectionable to the majority. It is deception.
Thus when the votaries say they are promoting Nigerian culture it is a ruse. When they say they are promoting Yoruba culture, what aspects of Yoruba culture are they promoting? Often time this is the guise to promote Orisha religion in the guise of promoting Yoruba culture. Thus Orisha religion and spirituality is taken as normative of Yoruba culture. This may be true centuries ago. Not anymore.
It is the reason today some Isese adherents are fighting and cursing that Christians and Muslims cannot be traditional rulers even if they are of the Royal Seed and even if they are recommended by kingmakers. It is as if a person cannot be Yoruba and Christian or Muslim. It is false. It is this kind of deception that I am trying to combat and fight. Some are saying in essence that no one can be a king and be Christian or Muslim on Yorubaland; only Isese practitioners.
This is false logic. Extremely so. I understand that a king must defend his people and all his subjects no matter their beliefs but that only practitioners of a certain religion can be rulers – a religion that has been rejected by majority of the natives of the towns is a recipe for instability and chaos. A minority cannot rule over a majority except with their willing consent.
This struggle is presently ongoing now. The Oluwo of Iwo represent one extreme in this fight. There is other extreme. In Ogun State now there is a law that criminalises the tampering with the corpse or grave of a departed king. That is a backlash from the forces of anti- Tradition against Isese. It will go on.
The reality today is that things have changed in Yorubaland. The patterns of religious adherence and acceptance has changed. Enough of making it look like Orisha worship is our general culture and we all worship Orisha. We do not.
I, Moses Oludele Idowu do not serve the Yoruba gods or divinities or by whatever names they are called. I respect the right of anyone to worship whatever he wishes to worship and I demand that everyone respects my own choice to worship my own God in the way I choose.
Whether the God is “foreign” or local or whether the religion is “foreign” should not be the business of anyone or anyone’s cup of tea. It is my choice and I have the right to choose who I worship whether foreign god or local god.
At any rate I do not know of any foreign god or religion. As I have conclusively shown in another paper Christianity was in Africa promoted by black Africans long before even the Orisha religion and the gods of Yorubaland were in place. So which is foreign and which is indigenous?
Enough of this lie for our own good.
Follow me:
WhatsApp: 08034697670
Facebook: Moses Oludele Idowu
X:@MosesOludele
© Moses Oludele Idowu
January 25, 2025
All Rights Reserved
