By Yemi Olakitan
Ebun Osunnike (Iya Adunbuyinbo) is the President of International Congress of Orisa Congress, Lagos state Chapter, an umbrella organization for all the Orisa Worship in Nigeria and in the Diasporas. Osunike is dedicated to the propagation of traditional religious worship. She fervently believes that a return to tradional religion will bring about a beter society. In the interview with Yemi Olakitan she bares her mind on various issues affecting tradional religion in Nigeria and while she believes that traditonal is the best. Excerpts
• It seems that most people have abandoned traditional religion and stick to Christianity and Islam, Why have you remained in it?
The Christians and Muslims have not abandoned our traditional religion. They are deceive themselves when they say that they have abandoned our traditional practices and I will tell you why this is so. There are ways in which they still observe our traditional religion. The Muslims still use what they call ‘‘Tira’’ which is a kind of Charm if look at it well. During the Salah celebrations, a good Muslim must slaughter his own ram and share such with the neighbors.
In the Christian Bible Jesus died for the sins of the world. The death of Christ was a sacrificial offering. In the old testament of the Christian Bible, God told them to make sacrificial offerings of bulls and rams. Therefore, it is all interwoven and related. Tradition is supreme and we are all involved in these practices in one form or the other. Each religion has its own rites and rituals. So, don’t tell me that they have abandon tradition. No, they have not abandon tradition because they all practice it in one disguise or the other. In actual fact, traditional religion is the first-born. Look at our Muslim and Christian bothers, particularly in Yoruba land, there are few names that do not have a connection with a Yoruba deity. Our names are either attached to Ogun the god of iron, Ifa the God of Divination, or Osun, the River Godess. These are deities that are attached to traditional religion, although these people may claim to be Christina’s or Muslims. The fact is that their traditional religion is the religion of our ancestors. Look at Governor Fashola. He may claim to be a Muslim; his name is derived from Ifa. Traditional religion is the first. Islam and Christianity are foreign religion. Islam was imported from Saudi Arabia while Christianity was imported from Europe. They are not our culture originally. We accepted these religions because we do not know the value of what we have. The white man knows what he has and he packages it well and he gave it to us and we accepted his own religion to the neglect of ours. I have been a Christian before, my Baptismal name was Ruth and I have been a Muslim as well, my Muslim was Falilat. I have examined the two and I am convinced that Orisa Worship is pleasing to me.
• Does it not feel a little odd sometimes, been a traditionalist among a sea of Muslims and Christians?
I grew with traditional religion. My father was a staunch traditionalist and so was my mother. I know the value of what we have. We have inherited a strong religion full of deep spirituality and strong philosophy of life. Honestly, there is nothing in Christianity or Islam that is not in Orisa Worship. My father’s name was Ogundeyi, my son’s name is Ogunshina and my other son’s name is Ifashola.
You see, traditional religion works if you practice it with truthfulness and right living. I believe in the Orisas. People have different problems. Christians, Muslims and even atheist they all come to us for help including those who condemn us in public. I want to appeal to Christians to stop castigating us. They say, all we do is evil. This is a lie!
People come to us with problems and we are able to help them. Some come with unemployment problems, some barrenness problems, some have business problems. We consult the Orisas for the solution and the solution is always there.
• Tell us about your work and your association
Well, I am the president of the Orisha Congress in the whole of Lagos state. I went to Abuja to establish it. I have established it in Minna, Sokoto, Benin Republic and every states of the Western Region. We are present in the United States of America. We are in Europe as well. Professor Wole Abimbola in Ile Ife established Orisa Congress, when he was a Professor at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile Ife. He is the President of the Association, worldwide. Yemi Elebun Ibon is the National President of the Congress of Orisa Worshipers. Traditional religion is the first-born and it is supreme.
Let me use this opportunity to address some things, there are some people that go about parading themselves as Orisa Worshipers. They are dressed in white attire and they sit in public places begging for money. These people are not part of us. It is not a Yoruba Culture to beg for money. It is not even in the tenets of Orisa worship. It is completely unacceptable. You don’t beg for money. You work with you hands. This is what the Orisas instruct is to do, although there is a certain deity that instructs his followers to go and ask for money and pray for those who gives. However, this comes up at a particular season and when that season is past. You cannot continue to do as if you are beggar. It is totally out of the religious inclination of Orisa Worship to turn oneself into a beggar and be begin in the name of religion. I have trained several priestesses and some of them are in the United States and some are based in the UK. Some are in Ghana. You cannot find them beg for money. Those who are doing that have deviated from tradition.
Our Association is fully registered with the government. We are registered just like the Christian Association of Nigeria. However, the government does not recognize us. They give attention to the Muslims and the Christians but not to us. We want to move close to the government but our government be like a woman who gives birth to three children but abandon one. They have thrown traditional religion away. We are the true identity of the country. The others are foreign importation. In traditional religion, you cannot lie. If you do evil, evil will overtake you. Many people cannot be here that is why they hide under Christianity and Islam and yet many still come to us for deliverance. As an Osun Priestess for example, I cannot lie or cheat. It is what Osun ask for that I must ask for. If Osun does not ask for money, I cannot ask for money. Yet, you will never lack. All the Orisas do not encourage wickedness. Therefore, it is a lie to attribute traditional religion with evil. I also want to appeal to the Nollywood people who are making films to portray us in good light. When they portray us in a bad light, they are castigating our collective cultural heritage. Christianity and Islam are just a question of good branding. Let us portray our culture and tradition in a positive light to the outside world.
• What other advice do you have for the Government?
The government should recognize us more. A father who has three children but throws away one is not a good father. If the Christians can help in nation building, we can also help. The Boko Haram issue, for example, they are not spirits, they are human beings. The government should involve all of us in finding solutions to the problem of the nation.
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