“I USED THE HOLY BIBLE TO DEFEAT IFÁ DIVINATION.” says a Yorùbá Monarch.

The Daily Independent newspaper of Nigeria, in an interview published on the 19^th of September 2015, reported that a Yorùbá monarch claimed to have defeated Ifá with the Christian Bible. On reading the interview, there was no indication of a contest between Ifá and, indeed, any religion.

In another vein, the Olú Ìwó of Ìwó declared that he should no longer be addressed as such but has now become the Emir of Ìwó! By no means are we asking any ọba to renounce whatever faith he chooses. However, what it comes to preserving and upholding our culture, any ọba who is not prepared to promote the culture should vacate the stool. It is very ironic that a Yorùbá ọba (monarch), whose selection is always through Ifá divination and who should be the custodian of the culture and tradition, should make statements against the bedrock of the tradition which he purports to uphold. So has our monarchs lost their mystique?

The extent to which the Yorùbá abhors the denigration of their culture is encapsulated in the following adage “Ọmọ àlè ló nfi ọwọ́ òsì júwe ílée bàbá ẹ̀.” (It is a bastard child that will use his left hand to point to his father’s house – the left hand here is more symbolic). This issue of our monarch’s unwholesome attitude to our cultural philosophy, begs the question of whether there is any hope of our culture evolving beyond the perception of superstition which appears prevalent.

It is a very serious aberration that the custodian of the rich Yorùbá culture is providing the basis for undermining it. According to the late Professor Sophie Olúwọlẹ́, Ifá is the embodiment of Yorùbá Intellectual and Spiritual Philosophy, which she claims, as a scholar of philosophy, can be as profound – if not more – as that of the West. She was well-placed to make such a declaration having studied philosophy from a Western standpoint before embarking on a study of Yoruba philosophy embedded in the Ifá corpus. Indeed, she declared that Ọ̀rúnmìlà, the personality who introduced Ifá to humanity and deified as an Òrìṣà, (from Òrí – ‘head’ and ṣà – ‘select’) was much more advanced in his philosophical pronouncements than Socrates who was considered the master in Western philosophy!

Going back to the issue of our ọba’s attitude to culture, another adage sees the denigration from our monarch as a form of treachery. “Ẹni a ní kó ti ẹni lẹ́yìn, ẹ̀gún ló fi s’ọ́wọ́.” (one relied on to support one’s back had thorns in his hands). If our monarchs, relied on to preserve and promote our culture, are the ones actually denigrating it, how does our race become emancipated? Yorùbá monarchs, like most Africans, have a tendency to uphold Christians and Islamic values, both Abrahamic religions, to the point of intolerance for African systems of spirituality. Their mission is the total destruction of African spirituality in the belief that there’s is the one endorsed by God as the only sure way to salvation. Unfortunately, the educational system in Africa was firmly entrenched and instituted through Christian missionaries whose objective was to convert and win souls. Consequently, they were the precursor to the colonialism which, not only balkanised the African continent, but also destroyed the African traditional institutions of which the ọbaship is one.

The replacement of the Yorùbá theocracy (a system of government which takes root in the spirituality of the people) with Western (Eurocentric) political systems, transformed the powerful monarchs into ceremonial chiefs holding sway in mundane matters and, consequently, subjected them to the authority of the alien neo-colonialist system. Kàkà kí kìnìún ṣ’akápò ẹkùn, kí oníkálùkú ṣ’ọdẹ ẹ̀ lọ́tọ̀ (instead of the lion to be subservient to the tiger, let each carry out their hunting separately). Why should another culture be allowed to overrun ours? Let everyone restrict themselves to their enclaves rather than encroach on each other’s space creating undue confusion and relegating the other.

The Ọ̀yọ́ Empire had the Aláàfin as the paramount ruler. It was a political stronghold which controlled a vast number of domains in Yorùbáland. It is said to have had one of the most developed democracies in the world through the Ọ̀yọ́mèsì system. Contrary to the widely held belief that the ọba is totalitarian with unfettered powers to do and undo, the system in Ọ̀yọ́ had checks and balances which sanctioned the ọba when he stepped out of line. Till date, this system still subsists. However, the watering down of the sacredness of our rites has encouraged corrupt practices in the process of installing an ọba. Allegations of bribery have been levelled against what was hitherto a pristine system. It is very certain that if this is so, the inherent forces of cause and effect in the spiritual system is bound to have its repercussion. Èèwọ̀ á gbè’jà ara ẹ̀ (taboos fight for themselves, that is, when you breach a natural law the consequence sets in without anyone’s intervention.)

Iyán ti di àtúngún, ọbẹ̀ ti di àtúnsè. (The yam needs to be re-pounded and the soup needs to be re-cooked). Africans conscious of their authentic history should swing into action in researching and devising a system that serves the African interest rather than continue to ape alien systems incapable of pulling us out of the political and economic doldrums.

Dubi Imevbore

Olúwo Speaks