Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon is a popular Ifa priest in Osogbo, Osun State. He is the Araba of Osogboland. This teacher of Ifa Divinity is an ambassador of Yoruba culture and tradition. In this interview with TIMOTHY AGBOR, Chief Elebuibon bares his mind on why Nigeria’s challenges remain unsolved and why politicians, security agents and Amotekun officials should be made to swear by Ogun. Excerpts:
You frequently travel out of the country to carry out consultations and research into traditional cosmology for people, do Nigerians still seek consultations with Ifa Divinity with the advent of Christianity and Islamic religions?
I am striking a balance between Nigeria and other countries. There are lots of people coming here for consultations to resolve their problems through rituals. I also have a branch at my house in Ibadan along Elebu Road. People come there for spiritual assistance. The only difference here is that Nigerians, either Christians or Muslims, know what to do when their problems become intense. They do consult the gods and they carry ebo (sacrifices). The only thing is that Christians and Muslims are ashamed of publicly participating in traditional religion or proclaiming Orisa (deities). When they are in problem, they come to us and when we ask them to do anything, they do it. But they are hypocritical in admiring Orisa (deities) publicly. People in the Diaspora don’t feel ashamed of identifying with traditional religion.
You don’t have any formal educational background, yet you speak English and even supervise academic programmes. How did you achieve this?
Point of correction. I will like to correct it in this way. Education starts from home. We started having education from our parents. There is no one without education. So, the knowledge of writing and speaking English is different from having sound moral lessons. One may even go to university and finish PhD but may not have real education that includes moral lessons and knowledge of upbringing. So, there is no one without education because your mother started teaching you how to sweep, work, respect elders; that is what we call education. This formal literacy which is to be able to write and speak, I will say I am lucky because one of the writers quoted me in one of his books as being lucky because I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school but I am still competent and relevant in the society. I give huge thanks to Eledumare, my creator for that because if you have 100 people, hardly will you find 10 people like me because it’s not easy. I suffered a lot in the hands of my mentor and master that I stayed with. Each time I was reading a book or writing, they would whip me and give me all manner of punishments.
When compared with Christianity and Islamic religions, do you think traditional religion is still relevant in Nigeria?
All traditional worshipers assemble every Saturday at the temple called Ile-Ijuba, where we brainstorm on “Ifangelism”. Sango, Obatala, Ifa Osun worshippers always attend. There are lots of challenges confronting African Traditional Religion from the hands of their tenants, the two imported religions (Christianity and Islam). There is a lot for crusade and evangelism, purposely to banish or eradicate the Traditional African Religion. There are lots of programmes on television, radio and social media that are geared towards eradicating traditional religion. But traditional worshipers are waking from their slumber by teaching their wives and children their religion and how to also propagate it. The Christians have the Bible, the Muslims have Qur’an, African traditionalists have Odu Ifa. Odu-Ifa is the Bible of Yoruba traditional religion. So, from each Odu, they teach their children the way of God and all the moral lessons they want them to know, pray and achieve their aims through sacrifices; that is what is known as Ifangelism.
Do you think Nigerians are feeling the backlash of abandoning the traditional religion?
Yes, it has created a lot of chaos. When you go to rural areas, you see a lot of abandoned shrines and houses. Even in urban areas, there are lots of empty and desolated houses. There are lots of people that are dying at the prime of their lives. There are lots of people that have been struggling and unable to achieve their goals because they abandoned their tradition. They do go to churches and mosques to pray and fast but the problems remain unsolved. Even, when some doctors diagnose some patients, they refer them to traditional priests and that is when they will get results. If that is not there, African traditional religion would have perished. The only thing that sustains Orisa worship is that it is capable of resolving problems when they become tense. Otherwise, it would have gone into extinction. There are some who call themselves prophets who will tell people to return to their family and offer some sacrifices to the gods of their families.
What do you say of some traditional rulers who are pastors and Imams?
They are really affecting the traditional religion negatively. I call them modern Obas. It affects their roles as Paramount rulers because there are some Obas who call themselves Christians and Muslims and they refuse to go through Ipebi (seclusion) and perform other vital rituals before they are coronated. Obas of nowadays lack royal orientation. There used to be royal orientation of traditional rituals that Obas had to go through before being enthroned. I always tell people that what makes Obas different from other people is the performance of necessary rituals before being crowned king. If this is not done, then Obas are just ordinary persons. The Oba has to relate with all the Orisas of that land, attend to ancestors of his lineage, learn the oriki (panegyric) of his ancestors, and know different rooms for special deities in the palace. Some rooms belongs to Sango, some to Oya, among others. They will also learn how to pay homage to these deities. An Oba who doesn’t do all these is not an Oba and this affects their behaviours in the public. That is why some Obas now misbehave in public. A prospective Oba ought to take two to three months course before coronation. But it’s unfortunate that once they are announced today, they get coronated the next day.
But there is nothing that stopped an Oba from worshiping in Church or praying in Mosque because all religions belong to an Oba. Oba is on top of all religions and he must accommodate all. If an Oba says he wants to be born again and become a Christian, its fine but he must participate in other religions.
How do you think Nigeria can overcome her challenges?
There are some prayers that can’t be answered by God. For instance, some people like to be rich but refused to work and this person is asking God to make him rich. It won’t be answered. There are so many problems that we can resolve by ourselves. Nigerians are the enemies of themselves. Some blame government for these problems but they forget they are part of the government. Also, our leaders caused the problems we face. Every year, government budget for agriculture but I have never seen any harvest of a crop and they budget a lot of money for this. What has happened to this money? Is it God that will come down and make food available for us? But go to other countries, things are working for them. For instance, in Brazil, there are some hotels that offer free breakfast to citizens. At least 100 citizens eat breakfast free of charge daily. Yoruba has an adage, ‘Ti ebi bati tan ninu ise, ise buse’ (even in the midst of poverty, once there is food, then the situation is salvaged). We are the enemies of ourselves. Another thing is that Nigeria is a lawless country. We have problems with our security agencies. All the lawlessness in this country is caused by the Nigerian security agents. We are killing ourselves in this country. Police have refused to repent from taking bribes. When some people commit offence in this country, security agencies don’t punish them once they have collect bribe from them. Only the poor get punished when they commit offences in this country. With all this, even if we fast and pray for years, nothing is going to happen unless we start respecting laws and simple rules.
How do you think sanity could be restored among the members of the Nigerian security agencies?
To start with, all security agents starting with the Inspector General of Police and other security chiefs and personnel should be made to swear by Sango or Ile (land) before they start practising. These people know where the criminals are and if they want to eliminate crimes in this country, they know how they can do it. But they can’t do it because they are corrupt too, because they swear with Bible and Quran. Let them try Ogun. Also, elected officials and policy makers should also swear by Ogun. If someone says he is a Christian and would not swear by Ogun and someone claims to be a Muslim and would not want to swear by Sango, what about soil (Ile)? We are all products of the soil. Once this is done, there will be solution in this country. Otherwise, we will continue to experience problems in this country.
Is it true Ifa priests are born and not made?
Yes, it’s not a profession one chooses to do. It’s not a profession everyone can do. One that would be an Ifa priest must have an extraordinary memory. A good Ifa priest must be able to memorise 256 Odus (corpus) and must be disciplined. So, it’s not a profession many like, but they are born because they are sent by God. All of mankind is sent by God to carry out certain missions on earth.
How do you think Amotekun can operate well?
There is nothing wrong with Amotekun. I commend those who organised it but they need to be careful. Those who will be Amotekun personnel must be honest and they must swear in the name of Ogun. Government should be careful not to recruit rogues, who pretend to be good because some of them may be serving as spies to some terrorists. Amotekun coordinators must also swear by Ogun, be honest and be of good character. According to Yoruba concept of belief, Ogun is god of war. They should use their gun or any other metal object to swear by themselves.
How will you rate the President Buhari-led Federal Government?
Well, in the beginning it appeared his administration was working towards his goals but all of a sudden, his administration started derailing. The expectation was so high, but his administration is not living up to the expected standard. So, he needs to pay attention to what he is not getting right so that he will not disappoint the masses that voted him. Nigerians should also be patriotic and honest. They should know that whatever they do wrong affect others. Constituents should stop asking lawmakers for money for burial or naming ceremonies because this is why lawmakers dodge and run away from their constituencies. Once this is not there, we will see lawmakers around and we can also challenge them on their duties.
