In the last two weeks or so, Ifa, gospel songs and singers appear to be on trial in Yorubaland. People who shout Oludumare every day now say it is wrong to use other words from the same source to praise God. First, it was Oluwo of Iwo who attempted to throw Ifa under the bus in a newspaper interview. Then came latter day Christians who think they know more than their fathers. A video of a ministration in a church by the female gospel singer, Tope Alabi, went viral. In the video, the singer used certain words that are considered esoteric. Alabi, who was invited to the microphone by another singer, Aduke Gold, used the words: “Àbọrú, Àbọyè”, to praise God on the altar. The entire music show was more rarefied in content and delivery. Ever since, the social media space has not been at peace. The video has produced many ‘babalawos’, who with little or no knowledge of Opele, have jumped into the ring to interpret the meanings of Àbọrú, Àbọyè and Àbọsìsẹ. In the entire noise about the words, many have chosen to be the mouthpiece of God Almighty, and they have told us in clear terms that Tope Alabi is not “a good Christian” and might not make heaven. Really? The beauty of the whole thing is that the Àbọrú, Àbọyè, Àbọsìsẹ lexicons have thrown up a new seminar in Yoruba lexicographic, semantics and semiotic analysis. A few ‘digital’ traditionalists had also come into the fray and what we have out there is a combination of ignorance, half knowledge and sheer mischief at giving the gospel singer a bad name to hang her. Here, I would restrain myself from dabbling into the politics of the Gospel Musicians Association of Nigeria (GOMAN), and the group’s attitude to Alabi.
A lot of questions have been playing up in my head over this issue. One of these is, if any babalawo would make heaven? I have been wondering if Baba Falade and other ‘saints’ of his era are in heaven or in hell. Those babalawo who practised the Ifa religion before the coming of the white man and his religion, are they in heaven or in hell? But more importantly, I have been trying to figure out any dichotomy between the lexicons Ifa adherents use and those of the Christians. Are there Yoruba words that are of exclusive usage of the initiates, which, if uttered in the ‘sanctuary’ of the church, interrogate the spirituality of the user? What are the spiritual and semantic implications of the words: Àbọrú, Àbọyè, and the last of the tripod, Àbọsìsẹ? Are they arcane or mere linguistic realisations of deep-seated Yoruba recherche?
What if I ended up as a babalawo? Yeah, you read me right! I can predict what my wife would say after reading this. She would go on her knees to cast out the ‘evil’ spirit behind this thought and ask Holy Ghost to ‘arrest’ me. My first son would elect to be my first client; he is a liberal fellow. His younger brother would likely say: “Me, I don’t want to be a son of babalawo o”; and he would laugh. Oh yes, the eldest of my siblings, Anti mi Idowu, would shout “Blood of Jesus”. My pastors would argue that they had long suspected my claims to ‘Born Againism’. “Brother Ayodele is not broken”, many in the church would conclude. In all, the Lord will still be Lord. As for me, I would only be fulfilling a family atavistic regression. I will not be the first of the Obajusigbes to follow where his ori (destiny) takes his feet.
The first of my father’s siblings was Baba Daniel Falade Obajusigbe, simply Baba Falade. He died January 20, 1987, at the ripe age of 85. He was the Obajemu (head of Ukutanyin unit comprising Isalu, Idofin and Iboje) of Odo Oro Ekiti. He was equally the Aoro Orangun (chief priest of our family deity). He held the two inseparable positions for 52 years, having been installed as Obajemu Aoro Orangun in 1935, at the age of 33 years. But before then, he was a lay reader of the Anglican Communion, Saint Andrew’s Anglican Church, Odo Oro Ekiti. We are a family of spiritual people, which in the traditional parlance is called Omo Abe Ala (children from the inner shrine). The first lay reader in our locality was one of our fathers, Pa Emmanuel Olaniyi. Pa Olaniyi, a lay reader of the All Saints’ Anglican Church, Oke Bola, Ikole Ekiti, for over 70 years! The last of the first generation of Obajusigbe to die, Pa Johnson Kolawole Obajusigbe, was also a lay reader of the same church. But along the line, Baba Falade ended up as a babalawo, the very best of his epoch. You are wondering how a lay reader turned to be babalawo, right? Let me tell you how it happened.
Baba Falade, on several occasions, told the story of his ‘conversion’. According to him, he was baptised as an Anglican communicant and learnt the Bible and got ordained a lay reader. He was also versed in the religion of his forebears, Ifa. Sometimes, while waiting at the pew (your modern-day minister’s stand) to officiate, a pregnant woman who had been having difficulty to deliver smoothly would be brought into the family house and Baba Falade’s attention would be called. Using the back door to the vestry, the old man would go and attend to the pregnant woman. Lest I forget, Baba Falade was equally a traditional midwife and pediatrician known as Aremo. He used herbs and roots to attend to ailments of pregnant women and children. It could also be a case of a child who suffered convulsions and fainted and Ayajo (invocation) was required to bring him back to life. Baba Falade was also handy in that. After the feats, he would return to play his role as a lay reader.
Then one day in 1930, years after his ordination as a lay reader, a palm reader cum babalawo came to our town on a ‘missionary’ journey. He was quartered in Baba Falade’s house. The visiting babalawo read many palms and made predictions, which all came to pass. In case you don’t know, a man versed in palmistry studies your palm and tells you what the future holds for you; and what he says happens later in life. One evening, after attending to so many clients, the palm reader asked Baba Falade to bring forth his palm for reading. According to Baba Falade himself, after reading his palm, the visiting babalawo said, I am quoting Baba Falade now: “Falade, you are just wasting your time in the church. You will end up with the religion of your fathers.” End of prediction. Months later, the laity of the Anglican Communion, Ikole Diocese, moved Baba Falade up the ladder of lay readership. He became chief lay reader. Did the church authority hear about the palm reading? Nobody knew. He was just promoted.
Fate waited for the appointed time. The reigning Obajemu Aoro Orangun, Adalumorinbiibon Awe, died in 1934. After his rites of passage, the natural successor, Baba Olaniyi declined the position on account of his Christian faith. Ifa was then consulted for a replacement. Every divination cast pointed at Baba Falade as the choice. In the year of our Lord 1935, five years after the palm reader’s prediction, Baba Daniel Falade Obajusigbe was installed as Obajemu Aoro Orangun of Ukutanyin.
Without sounding immodest, babalawos who understood Ifa more than Baba Falade in the entire Egbeoba of yore, were very few. He was a dynamic traditionalist and an “Eni Owo” (the reverend). His divination predictions were as accurate as that of Adifa se bi aje of Oba Adeyemi 1 era in the old Oyo Empire! His mastery of the Bible as a lay reader was legendary; his dexterous rendition of Ifa corpus, infectious and his recitations, without repetition of Ayajo, inimitable.
The internet babalawos, who have joined the Tope Alabi debate told us that Àbọrú, Àbọyè and Àbọsìsẹ, are three daughters of Olodumare (Supreme God), and that any Babalawo who wishes to get anything from Olodumare must worship. They cited Ògúndá Méjì as the Ifa Corpus containing the story. We are not disputing that claim. It is a common knowledge that in Yoruba culture, as in many African cultures, certain professions and crafts attract special greetings. For instance, if one runs into a hunter on the path to the forest, the hunter is saluted as “Arinpa Ogun, or owo a de” to wish him success in the game hunting expedition.
For a blacksmith, the greeting is “Aro ye” (May the shape come out as desired). While a Yoruba Oba is saluted as Kabiyesi (the unquestionable one), his chiefs receive the salutation “Ebo afin, eru a da” (May the sacrifice and the offering be acceptable).
So, for a babalawo, who is on a divination session, the greeting is Àbọrú, Bọyè and Bọsìsẹ (Àbọrú, Àbọyè, Àbọsìsẹ). The simple Yoruba semantic implications of the greeting are: Àbọrú, (May you spring up as you worship), Àbọyè (May you live as you worship) and Àbọsìsẹ (May what He [object of worship] says come to pass as you worship). The question now is, are these words and their meanings in tandem with Christianity or if uttered in a church, do they situate the user as an unbeliever? If Tope Alabi said in that praise and worship session that God is Àbọrú, Àbọyè, and added, Àbọsìsẹ, has she committed any sacrilege?
If it is true that Àbọrú, Àbọyè, Àbọsìsẹ are special women of Ifa or babalawo, have they no significance in the Holy Trinity? What do we have in Christendom? God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! Have we ever thought of why Ifa and babalawo pay attention to the trinity? For instance, when the men of the ancient Ilubirin (The town of women) wanted to get their freedom from their oppressive wives, they consulted three babalawos: Igbo-Etile-Tohun-Tegbin (The bush close to the house attracts dirt) Adapo-Owo-Tohun-Tija (Trade partnership results in fight) and Emi-O-Ju-O-Iwo-o-Ju-Mi-Ni-Mu-Ara-Ile-Eni-F’oju-Dini (Too much familiarity brings contempt). In another instance, when an old babalawo known as Ologbojigolo wanted to embark on a divination journey, he consulted three other diviners: Ehiniwamowo (I look at what is in the front from the back), Moworere (I look intently) and Mowojojo (I look searchingly). Are these instances mere coincidences? What about the trickster deity, Esu? Where does he live? Why does he reside at “Orita Meta” (There-way junction)? At the mount of Transfiguration, as recorded in Matthew 17:1-3, our Lord Jesus Christ took only three of His disciples (Peter, James, and John) along with Him. Why not four out of 12?
The problem between Ifa religion and the modern-day religions especially Christianity, is due to the way the religion came to our land.
I wish we could go back to the days when, in the village, after the Sunday Holy Communion, our fathers would pick up their guns and head to the deep forest to harvest venison for us. And when they returned in the evening, we gathered to watch them chant their Ijala Are Ode (Hunters Chant) to wit:
Igbagbo o ni kii nma s’ode – Being a Christian does not foreclose me from hunting (2ice)
Ti nba ti church de – Once I return from church
Ma mura Egan – I head to the forest
Igbagbo o ni kii nma sode – Being a Christian does not foreclose me from hunting.
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