THE STUDY OF IFA IN OSUN SCHOOLS; A PATH TO REAL DEVELOPMENT
One
feels compelled to write this piece on the recent announcement by the
government of the State of Osun on the introduction of the study of Ifa
religion in all its schools. While no time should be wasted in
congratulating the government led by the visionary Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola on this courageous and needful step, a conscious attempt must
also be made to educate those who may be genuinely regarded as ignorant
on the socio-legal imperative of permitting a pan Yoruba ethos play a
pivotal role in the development of a society. All efforts made at
raising the level of development must be anchored on this all-embracing
substratum. As for the mischievous and the proselytising hypocrites,
commercial religionists with vast business empires which thrive on the
very objects of deceptive public excoriation, we must hasten to allay
their fears that this novel but necessary introduction will not affect
the enterprise of “miraculous healing” and the promise of prosperity in a
land already devastated by political locusts.
A multi cultural milieu, such as Nigeria, must recognise and accept
the reality of ethno-religious pluralism and the attendant divergence to
promote equity, fairness and justice among the ethnic nationalities and
groups, the necessary conditions for amity, peaceful co-existence and
realistic aspirations towards growth. This is the irreducible minimum
below which no group should be subjected. The omniscient posture adopted
by the adherents of the so called prominent religions, Christianity and
Islam, exposes abysmal ignorance on the essence of other indigenous
religions and explains why intolerance adorns an official garb in
various shades. This combative attitude is also symptomatic of a
post-colonial society still reeling from the debilitating effects of
foreign subjugation in all ramifications.
The dubious and ostentatious display of piety by these self-appointed
men of God, on one hand, and their obscene materialistic disposition,
is more than sufficient to cause a serious study into the misfortune of a
society in decline. We leave this interesting topic for another time.
For now it suffices to assert that this present move by the government
is the most significant since independence. If development is about the
people, then it should be taken as given that understanding the ways of
life of all who live in the society is a sine qua non to planning. The
challenges faced by various categories of people compel introspection
and determination which will ultimately lead to progress. Professional
politicians, deprived of patronage for two years now in the State of
Osun, considered the source of the people of the south western part of
the country, will also stop at nothing to confuse the people who have
been dispossessed over the years.
If our children are made to study foreign religions and some even get
higher degrees, including PhDs, knowing other peoples’ cultures, then
it is rather salutary that a government is considering making the study
of Ifa religion an option in the school curriculum in the State of Osun,
albeit belatedly. Nigeria is a place where elites take pride on being
proficient speaking and writing other people’s languages. We crave
advancement depending solely on the cultural ethos of other lands. Our
claims to decency are often predicated on the fact of our adherence to
the precepts of either of these foreign religions. We are nurtured to
imbibe the customs and traditions of those who treated our ancestors
with utter contempt. We grew to hate what is truly ours. We receive
awards aping the ways of life of other lands. What belongs to us is
despised and treated with unimaginable derision. Our cultures are
subjected to foreign prisms in determining their acceptability.
It is expected that deluded beings, who either believe genuinely in
the myth of superiority of these imposed sub-sets, products of the
perceptions of other peoples on natural phenomena observable within
their societies, will join issues with this truly progressive leader of
the people. What we must, however, eschew is silence which suggests
connivance at the unwarranted attacks on the dynamic governor who has
turned the fortunes of the state around positively with the little
resources at his disposal. Nuhu Ribadu, a man not known to suffer fools
gladly, just attested to the sterling qualities of this exceptional
character. Several other people have been commenting on this ascetic
being whose energy belies his physical stature.
Religion was central to the development of ancient Egyptian
civilization. The challenges faced by the Egyptians compelled them to
look for solutions in the spiritual realm. Disasters, prominent among
which was the constant inundation of the Nile were considered as
sanctions from the celestial beings. These ancient people used their
belief in life after life and the existence of a supernatural being, Ra,
whose decisions were unquestionable, to interact with their natural
environment. The modern world is the direct beneficiary of the legacies
of their fecund minds. Their children were nurtured on the nuggets of
beliefs which propelled keen observation of natural phenomena. This
attitude gave provenance to the unparalleled scientific discoveries for
which the Egyptians are still widely acknowledged.
The originality of the thought process ensured that all nations in the
ancient world looked up to it. Greece became the greatest beneficiary of
this unique ancient civilization and, by necessary implication, the
western world in the modern sense of the expression. What the average
hypocritical and ignorant Nigerian will regard as superstitious and
sinful formed the basis upon which his faith predicated on this imported
religion is established. The judicial system of the ancient Egyptians
was an aggregate of their socio-cultural values. These were contained in
the curricula of the schools at various levels of learning.
The Chinese also developed their civilization independent of other
existing ones relying heavily on their cultural values. China today is
an exemplar in advancement because it has never allowed any undue
influence on her socio-political system built on oriental values. This
country stands out today as a bulwark of inspiration when most western
nations are grappling with issues of survival occasioned by debilitating
economic circumstances. A Chinese child will never look up to the west
for socio-economic redemption. The child believes that his/her language
is the best and only learns other foreign languages to derive advantage
in a competitive world. He/She does not in any way feel inferior to the
western child. The state has no official religion yet the Chinese child
is not precluded from studying any subject of interest.
American students now come to Nigeria to study specific aspects of
our much despised culture. They speak impeccable Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo,
among other Nigerian languages. That is not a challenge to them at all.
They are keen researchers on the mysteries of our ancestral past. They
come to study Egungun cult, the talking drum and its significance in
information dissemination, cultural values as encapsulated in the Odu
Ifa corpus, among others. They become initiates of the Ifa religion
which ignorant and ill-educated Africans denigrate. The tragedy of the
whole scenario is that they are now in a position to educate us on our
past. While we struggle to ape the Europeans, Americans and Arabs, we
have become alienated from our origin. Nothing from us is good except it
is subjected to western approval. So deracinated and uprooted from our
origin have they become that fanatical members of some families openly
destroy artifacts and other valuable vestiges of the glorious epoch when
crass mercantilism had no impact on the psyche of the people.
Traditional rulers are the most pitiable characters of these
tragic-comic elements. Some of them employed all manner of under hand
methods to subvert the process of selection to become deluded kings in a
republic. Once they ascend the so called throne of their fore-fathers
they soon discover that their past was sinful. In their hypocritical
exhibition of vacuous devotion, they destroy shrines and shun religious
rites which justify their anachronistic existence in the first place.
They invite commercial pastors to come and preach to their so called
subjects to do away with the traditional ways. These religious
businessmen in turn flaunt these clowns as trophies won in the battle to
civilise the natives. They denigrate the very essence of their
sustenance as custodians of the people’s customs and tradition.
They cherish the flowing three-piece traditional attire and the
complementary pony tail, veritable emblems of indulgence and vanity. And
just as their forbears collaborated with slave traders, commercial
precursors of the proselytising hypocrites to raid villages and hamlets
for slaves, they too are willing participants in the pillaging of the
resources of the state at the local government level. Very few of them
deserve attention in the midst of decent people.
Granted that the retrogressive position held on indigenous religions
is correct, does it not make sense that our children are trained to know
why their ancestral past must be condemned? We have fed generations of
Nigerians, nay Africans, on foreign diets before independence through
post colonial period to the present time. The ultimate ambition of an
average child is to be white in everything. Is it not ironic that at a
time when the western world looks towards African for cultural
renaissance our people strive unabashedly to cast aside everything which
reminds them of their beginnings?
Adherents of African traditional religions have been discriminated
against over the years. The Nigerian experience has been
heart-corroding. Supposedly educated religionists jettison family names
which remind them of “pagan” practices. They adopt scriptural names of
other cultures alien to the continent without understanding their
significance. Thus we see funny names such as “Olugbemi” in place of
“Fagbemi”. Jesus, which is a very common name among the Jews, is affixed
to praise names to depict piety. What ignorance!
The new policy on education in the State of Osun will afford our
children the opportunity to know that the difference you find in all
religions of the world is in the practice. Doctrinal issues have now
subsumed the didactic and edifying aspects of religion. In Nigeria
economic consideration far out-weighs the sincere quest for spiritual
regeneration. The Osun example has exposed the lie peddled by people who
exploit religion for selfish purposes. Our children must be allowed to
know something about what they are called upon to hate. They should be
able to decide if there is any remarkable difference between the
promoted religions and the message in the Ifa corpus. Students whose
parents are adherents of Ifa religion must also be allowed to study
their faith in an ambience devoid of discrimination and intolerance.
Virtues such as continence, loyalty, honesty, piety, civic
responsibility, devotion to parents and elders, humility, among others,
are embedded in Ifa. Any child who has the good fortune of being
nurtured on this unadulterated teaching will be useful to himself and
the community at large. The hypocritical posture of politicians on this
policy must be condemned.
Our children must be allowed to understand, for instance, that Esu,
the perfect trickster with a dual personality is not Satan or Lucifer,
the arch angel in the Christian pantheon of the gods. When our children
hear names such as Esubiyi, Esugbayi or Esuronmbi, the ready connotation
in their minds is the devil of the Bible or the Quran. They cannot
fathom why anyone who is not insane will bear such names in the society.
Beyond names, certain virtues are considered the exclusive preserve of
the established religions. Experience has, however, shown that there is a
wide gulf between mere avowal and the actual deeds of those who profess
piety.
The very first lesson to the Ifa devotees is on contentment as against complacency.
“Ohun enu ri ni enu nje,
adifa fun igbin ti o je erupe la”.”
The mouth is satisfied with whatever comes as food just as the snail
relishes in the nutrients of the soil.” There are fables of the
adventures of Orunmila or Obatala which are also didactic. The
treacherous deeds of the bush rat, Okete and Osanyin, are replete in the
Ifa corpus. The consequences of unfaithful deeds are taught with the
fables of these mythical characters. Temperance is a virtue of the gods
and any mortal lucky enough to be endowed with this special gift will
experience peace which is beyond the understanding of man. A man’s
character determines how successful he will be on earth. The story of
“Iwa” teaches us that one of the greatest gifts bequeathed by the gods
to man is the ability to do what is right.
I had the rare privilege of listening to Professor Olu longe who
informed most of us who were ignorant of the invaluable contribution of
the Ifa religion to the Yoruba accounting system. The basis of the
computer is the Odu. The first 8 in 2 places making 16 multiplied by 16
making 256 to infinity is the principle upon which the operation of the
computer is based. Whoever insists that our children do not deserve to
know this fact is not only ignorant but wicked. I enthusiastically
recommend the eminent professor’s lecture, “Irapada Onka Isembaye wa ni
ile Yoruba”, to those who may not know that such as the ancient Egyptian
religion, the Ifa corpus contains aspects of science, mathematics,
accounting, medicine and ethics. It is most unlikely that any child
properly nurtured on these pristine values can ever grow to become a
burden to the society.
The government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is among the very few that
can be regarded as focused. All good people must come together to
encourage this exceptional leader who has displayed rare administrative
acumen amidst the daunting challenges faced by him since he assumed
office as the governor. Other ACN governors should follow the good
example of this diminutive man who has taken giant strides in ensuring
real development in a state once ravaged by locusts.
Doyin Odebowale, PhD, LLB (Hons), BL.
Lecturer, Department of Classics, University of Ibadan.
Kiswahili
is a language spoken by more than 100 million people, predominantly in
several states of East Africa. The language also has a significant
presence in major cities of Europe, the United States of America and the
Gulf states where African Diaspora communities are found. As a result
of its global reach and millions of speakers the language pervades the
lives of many across the globe and is never far away, even if not
realised. For example it is taught in several universities around the
world, and many media stations such as the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Deutsche Welle, Radio Moscow International and Radio Japan International all have programmes in Kiswahili.
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