Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, has described religion as a tool for the fulfillment of God’s purpose on earth, saying there is a need for peace and unity among religious practitioners across the southwest.
Iba Adams made the appeal on Tuesday while speaking at the 2023 edition of Ifa Festival at Alagboole, Ogun State, even as he sadly noted that religious fanaticism had set the country back for a very long time, with many lives lost and core values destroyed.
According to the Yoruba generalissimo, true religion, in most cases, is about the beauty of life and about God the supreme being as well as the hereafter, pointing out that countries like China, and Japan, among others in Asia, became what they were today because they appreciated their culture and traditions.
“Religion is purely an act of fulfilling God’s purpose on earth. It is about our destiny. It is about God’s perfect
creation and reflection of life.
“True religion, in most cases, tells us about the beauty of life, about God the supreme being and the hereafter. So, we should see it as such.
“For instance, China, Japan, and other great countries in Asia become what they are today because they appreciate their culture and traditions,” Iba Adams said.
“In Asia, except in Indonesia, where religious crisis was prominent and had been stopped for over a decade now, you hardly see cases of religious crisis.
“In Europe, the 28 countries of the European Union are predominantly Christians.
“But they always allow people to practise the religion of their faith without molestation or threat. Even there are people in Europe that have no religion.
“Also, in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, religious issues are a non-issue.
“It is a thing of the mind, and every individual is at liberty to practice whatever religion that suits his or her purpose in life,” he added.
The Yoruba generalissimo, who is also the Chief Promoter of Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF), while pointing out that the three main religions of Islam, Christianity, and traditional worship “take the centre of the stage of our beliefs” in Nigeria, cautioned that there was the need for the devotees of the three regions to be moderate in preaching the gospel of their respective religions.
He cautioned that the use of derogatory words and name-calling should stop among the religious practitioners, asserting that the truth was that the three religions were most useful for Yoruba land.
“Therefore, efforts should be made to forestall religious crisis in Yoruba land.
“Preaching should be based on truth, unity, peace, tolerance, love, honesty, fear of God, reward for good deeds
and the beautiful words of being our brothers’ keepers.
“There is no reason for us to stoke religious crisis or war by promoting comparative preaching that one religion is better than the other,” Iba Adams stated.
“It is not too good for us as a people to use religion as a tool for heating up the polity,” he cautioned.
The event, which featured prayers from religious clerics and iwure by Ifa priests, traditional and cultural dances, was graced by traditional rulers, chieftains of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) from across Yoruba land, members of Aareonakakanfo-in-Council, among others.
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