Professor Jacob Olupona convened a conference for Harvard University to solidify the Institute of African Studies at Harvard with Ifa divination from Friday March 14 to Sunday March 16. It was graced by the Onirisa himself, the Ooni of Ife, His Royal Majesty Alayeluwa Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II. Contributions for the conference came not only from Harvard University, but also from Osun State Government that sponsored the Ooni of Ife and ten other Oba from the State. It was rightly preceded on Wednesday at Harbor Hotel in Boston where the Ooni of Ife, the ten Oba and Osun State Governor Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola were welcomed by the Yoruba Community of Massachusetts.

Yoruba has one of the world’s leading religions less appreciated at home in Nigeria. Since many of those practicing the Yoruba religion are spread all over the Americas, Europe and Asia, it becomes a legitimate question why Harvard would play a prominent role in the divination of Ifa that has been introduced to the ancient Greek and Roman Empires by the Yoruba before the time of Christ. Some of the questions and answers were wrestled with at the conference which will be appropriately published and documented by the organizers of the conference.

Nevertheless, the point of Ifa oracle is raised here as awareness for readers of this article to sensitize us to a culture less appreciated at its source. More important, it has been dominated and relegated to the background by foreign religions that took deep roots in our part of the world. If it were not for the Yoruba plays like Saworoide encouraged by Professor Akinwumi Isola, many Africans could not recognize Ifa oracle let alone authenticate it as African; introduced through the ancient Egyptian to the ancient Greeks and the Romans.

While the practice of Ifa oracle can never die in Nigeria, thanks to indigenous population that refused to tow everything foreign, its introduction to Harvard is not new because many of the Yoruba scholars teach in all universities all over the world. These scholars are not primarily Africans as some of the well endowed researchers are Europeans and Americans of different cultures and hues. Of course, these include Cubans, Brazilians, Peruvians or Trinidad Babalawo who held on to their heritage in spite of religions oppression in the Diaspora during slavery days.

Cuban Santeria, which was supposed to be the veneration of the Catholic saints, fooled the captors of slaves with our Yoruba worship of the gods as if it was the Catholic worship of saints at the alter. So instead of praying to St. Anthony for example, they were actually praying to the god of Osun. This tenacity of belief, held in captivity can be compared to the complacency at home where it became much easier for missionaries to convert us to Muslim and Christians.

The Yoruba of today actually spread beyond their ethnic enclave confided to Western Nigeria. It should not be a surprise if we encounter FA in Benin Republic, EFA in Benin Edo, AFA in Igbo of Onitsha, Dogon of Mali and similar Odu IFA in other African ethnic groups. Though brothers and sister refuse to recognize one another politically especially in Nigeria, our history points to one people and the same ancestors in Africa. If anyone is interested in this common lineage, see The Father Of All Nigerian Ethnic Groups by this writer.

Professor Wande Abimbola always says we can only stand on two legs; our language and our belief. If we loose both of these, on whose language and belief are we going to stand? Yoruba as a language is being bastardized in the cities to the point where our children say they can not speak Yoruba, with pride. If we ask the parents, those are us, we say they do not like to speak it. But we are the ones that send them to those expensive exotic schools where our languages are a no-no. When they come home, we reinforce that foreign language.

If we have no respect for our language or our belief, we can not respect IFA. Some of our “educated” folks think Ifa is fetish and sacrilegious. Any of the Yoruba plays that involve Ifa is seen as dangerous. There is no doubt that the sacred knowledge and power of Ifa divination has turned some of us who are Babalawo into magicians. So we have those who have certainly exploited this knowledge for the sake of making money. Indeed, are there still Babalawo who tell you to bring whatever you can afford?

Some people have their reservations about bringing IFA out into the open and are adamantly opposed to teaching it in the universities. It is passed from father to son among those whose lineage is classified as priest under the division of labor. So it is sacrilegious to bring it out of Africa and expose it at Harvard of all places where it can be changed beyond recognition as “refined”, hijacked, and then sold back to us like sardine or cashew nuts packaged in London.

In the first place, there is nothing wrong with sharing the science of Ifa with the rest of the world. What has happened for some centuries is that African sciences have been stolen without any acknowledgements and reconfigured for commercial purposes. During the conference, some people expressed the same fear. Why have these Ifa divinations that are so sacred and powerful exhibited outside instead of inside Nigeria where control can be exercised?

Harvard is a powerful institution, no doubt. If Harvard develops enough interest in Ifa divination and it takes off, more people will pay attention for that reason alone. As long as those in charge are authentic Africans who practice it at home, there is nothing wrong with people of all cultures to study, explore and teach Ifa divination to their own people. Some of those who came to the conference did because it was at Harvard, they would not have gone to the grassroots in the community. Indeed, Prof. Abimbola’s effort in the community was not well patronized; he had bought a building in Atlanta to start Ifa divination.

Even some of the African scholars misinterpreted the essence of white color in Ifa divination because they have been compromised by their European mentality which was quickly pointed out and corrected by Professor Olasope Oyelaran. Black which is a mediating color between the extreme colors is highly dignified in our culture. Some authentic African scholars can sell us out if reputable scholars are not consulted.

So it is not every time that we have to leave our faith purely in the hands of Africans. If Barrack Obama had to wait for Africans for his campaign for the President of America to take off, Iowa would not have been possible. It is a plus that Africans finally rally around him. Harvard can not be the keeper of Ifa divination, Yoruba in the Western part of Nigeria will always be but we can share our experience and spread our belief like Christians and Moslem. Believe it or not, that may be the only time some Africans may come to appreciate their own religion. When initiated by outsider Ifa missionaries!

Robot  Villager

# 1 Professor Jacob Olupona convened a conference for Harvard University to solidify the Institute o...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 21.03.2008 18:46

eleniyan  Villager

# 2 beautifully written article...i absolutely agree with you...Good work! Posted by eleniyan| 23.03.2008 13:36

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 3 I enjoy reading and listening to Odu Ifa, not because I am a worshipper, but because of the insight it gives into Yoruba history and some of the lessons taught therein. If that is also the interest of Havard in the Ifa theology, I support it wholesale. I have truly not seen a worshipper of Ifa that is free from fetish practices. Maybe its because I have not gone far enough. Posted by Mikky jaga| 24.03.2008 15:21

Son of the Delta  Villager

# 4 Others are exporting goods, these ones are exporting their gods. I pity the Country that is planning to adopt them cant they see how backwards Nigeria is. Posted by Son of the Delta| 24.03.2008 17:59

eleniyan  Villager

# 5 =Son of the Delta;4294998748>Others are exporting goods, these ones are exporting their gods. I pity the Country that is planning to adopt them cant they see how backwards Nigeria is. Can you pls educate us about the backwardness of Nigeria? Do you mean in terms of culture or in terms of governance? Did you say or have you said anything about the western exportation of their gods or the Arabian exporting and exacting their gods on us?...I presumed you belong or worship the "gods" of these foreigners. I suppose somebody in those foreign countries pities you for embracing their "gods"... Posted by eleniyan| 25.03.2008 07:39

jenny boisot  JJC

# 6 This is a good piece of work. However, your assertion that "Indeed, Prof. Abimbola’s effort in the community was not well patronized" clearly missed the point. With a little bit of further investigation you would have been able to find out that that, The Harvard conference was conveyed by Professor Oluponna, to commemorate Wande Abimbola's (and Late Balscolm’s) originality and contributions to the development and revival of Ifa Literary Corpus and Yoruba Culture in general through out the world. The Harvard conference and the presence of Oniirisa, The Royal Majesty Alayeluwa Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, attests to one of the key successes of Wande Abimbola's contribution to Ifa in particular and Yoruba culture at home and abroad. As the Awise Awo ni Agbaye (an important role after that of Araba in Ifa hierarchy) Wande Abimbola play important role in upholding and reviving Yoruba culture (Abimbola was installed as Awise by Oniirisa after more than 50years without an Awise in Ile-Ife). Osun State was very well represented because Professor Wande Abimbola, then at the African Studies Centre in Ife, was one of the first to recognize, honor and brought the work of Doyin Faniyi 's (Doyin Olosun) Father at the then University of Ife. This was at a time when such an eminent traditionalist and an Olosun were then regarded as 'illiterates' that cannot have any role to play within an academic setting. This collaborative effort influences the link between the late Faniyi and Susan Wenger’s greatly influence the growth of Osun Festival as a cultural phenomenon in its own right. Wande Abimbola’s time at Ife also witnessed the success of the professorial careers of eminent scholars such as Professors Oluponna (though his area was then broadly on Christian Theology) and, Abiodun, (Abiodun incidentally play a crucial role in curating Professor Ulli Bier’s collection of Yoruba Artistic heritage at Amherst). Ulli Bier is now a guest of the Osun State Governor. You see, success if not measured in selfish individualist terms is more rewarding and fulfilling to the whole society as it is evident in the role of Wande Abimbola in its influence and scholarly contributions to the growing recognition of Yoruba heritage and culture through out the world. Farouk thank you for your commendable efforts in reporting such an important conference. Posted by jenny boisot| 25.03.2008 10:41

Son of the Delta  Villager

# 7 =eleniyan;4294998843>Can you pls educate us about the backwardness of Nigeria? Do you mean in terms of culture or in terms of governance? Did you say or have you said anything about the western exportation of their gods or the Arabian exporting and exacting their gods on us?...I presumed you belong or worship the "gods" of these foreigners. I suppose somebody in those foreign countries pities you for embracing their "gods"... @ eleniyan If the westerners and arabians exported their gods and exacted them on you, you think they will open open theirs doors for you to exact and export your gods to them. They know your gods are nothing, they could not prevent the slave trade, they could not prevent colonialism, and they could not produce development, they could only much you people. They know these were the gods that took your people out of the African continent so why not invite them to take them out of their current continent. Why is Haiti the poorest country on the Western hemisphere or why were Olusegun Obasanjo's 8 years the worst in Nigeria's history. Somebody in those foreign countries pities you for thinking you can play their game on them :lol:. Posted by Son of the Delta| 01.04.2008 05:37

Alata  Villager

# 8 SOD, Thank for for reminding us all as to why societies need very strong social nationalism as much as they need strong economy and military, in order to establish and sustain higher standards of living than average. In many of your recent posts that relate to Yoruba aspirations or frustrations, you have often acted the gadfly role to remind us all of the adage: "those who fail to plan, plan to fail". It is indeed the tolerance and moderation of Ifa/Orisa that provides fertile breeding ground for the foreign religions in west/central Africa. It was indeed the military weakening of the Yoruba following the numerous fraternal wars of the Ijebu, Oyo, Egba, Benin, etc that paved way for supply of war prisoners and then kidnapped innocents to foreign slave traders. It was the economic weakness of Yoruba elites to invest the rest of the people - in the latest technologies, sciences and organisational structures - that enabled merchantilist (and then colonialist, ever racialist) societies to establish exploitative systems across mid Africa through 'altrusitic' projects in education and religion. It has been the continuing intellectual weakness of Ifa/Orisa practitioners to recognise these historical failings as weaknesses not in any particular religious system, not least Ifa/Orisa, but cultural. The world is driven by culturally violent, culturally hegemonic, and culturally hypocritical principalities and powers. No matter how strong the military or pure the spirituality, no society can survive the dominant forces of the world with weak economy or ignorance of the latest technologies, good and bad. You cannot beg, bargain or ally permanently with these forces. There will be no 'development' if the development agenda is designed such that every effort is an abnegation of ourselves to the profit of others. To move forward, the Yoruba must first address their moral/cultural weakness. Culture is everything we do. It is impossible to be of both Yoruba and foreign culture. One must overcome the other. That is why Europeans/Arabs pretend they are too stupid to say African names properly, or bother to speak 'foreign' languages or eat 'foreign' food or wear 'foreign' clothes, unless they are to benefit from such 'multi-cultural' 'diversity'. The Ooni of Ife cannot both be spiritual head of the Yoruba aborisa and a second-class Arab muslim. No 'pastor' oba or governor or president can both be heritage leaders of the Yoruba people and second-class European christians. Is it any wonder that these 'traditional/democratic rulers' have no moral/cultural authority over the people? To be Yoruba is more than commonality of language or culture of belief. I would rather be a first-class Yoruba spiritual person than a second-class christian/islamist religious semi-person. Having decided to be a first-class person, then I must invest to make and keep my society above average, in language and culture, in economy and military, in education of my children, and in confusion of others. It is this investment weakness, that the Yoruba now need to address. Posted by Alata| 02.04.2008 07:50

Alata  Villager

# 9 The book ' "Black Ivory: Slavery in the British Empire" by James Walvin' may influence your perspective on the history of Haiti. My current understanding is that Haiti is a singular exception in the Caribbean because of its history and ethnic demography. It became the first independent African republic when the enslaved population formed guerilla army and defeated the might of European subjugation. Ever since then, European principalities in France, Germany, UK and USA have maintained severe economic warfare against Haiti to set an example for other 'African upstarts', even to the point of severing the country in two and establishing the Dominican republic. Cuba, Guatemala and Nicaragua have documented experience of the same economic warfare, albeit in milder doses because they feature 'multi-cultural' minorities in power. As with Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and the Caribbean island nations, Haiti's population remains mostly composed of African peoples. Haiti always proudly wears its African hue. As the economies of the others improve, they are re-invigorating their Yoruba traditional beliefs blended with pragmatic investments in education and social accountability. Posted by Alata| 02.04.2008 08:31

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 10 Iyaalata, If Ifa/Orisa worship will experience the renaissance that you so earnestly yearn for, something drastic must be done to neutralize the efforts of these fire eating pentecostal pastors that are brainwashing our people that Ifa/Orisa worship is an abomination. Going by the following these people enjoy among the Yorubas today, Ifa/Orisa worship does not seem to be on the rise at all. It appears to be heading for the archives. Don't you think so? Posted by Mikky jaga| 02.04.2008 11:11

---

The conversation continues in our forum. Click here to read all comments

---