Alaafin laments demonisation of African religious belief, lauds Gani Adams on global promotion of Yoruba culture, tradition

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba  Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, has  warned the Western world against  misleading and encouraging Africans to disrespect, dishonour and abandon their cultural heritage.
He said African religious beliefs have been demonised and discarded to the extent that some uninformed Africans, especially Yoruba, now abandon their family names  in preference to names without bearing to  their backgrounds.
 This danger, according to him, is imminent and it is already destroying the African personality and confidence.
The paramount ruler gave the warning when the National Co-ordinator of Oodua Peoples’ Congress [OPC], Otunba Gani Adams, and his entourage paid a courtesy visit on the royal father in his ancient palace in Oyo town.
According to Oba Adeyemi, “Our religion is a cultural heritage of inestimable value. It defines us, provides understand for our life and connect us without past, so that we can chart a course of greatness and development for our children’’.
He noted  that the religious foundation of the Yoruba traditions and culture is presently under  serious threats posed by guest  faiths in Africa, adding that the parlous socio-economic conditions  in  Africa, which is a creation of neo-liberal economic policies, have continued to impoverish many African states.
Said he: “Every culture has an explanation for the creation of the Universe. The Yoruba traditional beliefs see the world as a product of two connected worlds; the visible world of material life and the invisible spiritual world. The connection of these two worlds produces power that is called ASE  in Yoruba cosmology. For the Yoruba, the Creator rules over the entire universe manifesting the elements of nature. These indigenous beliefs and practices are a life philosophy and natural science’’.
Alaafin continued, ‘’we see the relationship of man with nature and universe. Revealing the ways in which humans can be in harmony with the energies of nature and the universe. It is the basis for understanding the beginning and end of life. All the elements of the visible world are symbolized as Orisa in the invisible world., using the instance of Sango, which is the energy symbolized by light as a major element in creating the universe’’.
With the belief of re-incarnation, Oba Adeyemi argued that each of the Orisa after their ascendance soon revisited the earth with evidence.
 ‘’Our traditional religion is part of our heritage, which needs to be preserved and recognised. The frontal attack on Yoruba religious, socio-cultural and spiritual traditions must be resisted and confronted with spiritual force. Humanity forbids me to be indifferent to the hundreds of lives perishing daily. The whole Yoruba race is a gift from God to me and hence every loss of life even to an untimely birth is a loss to the Alaafin. Today, Alaafin is duty bound to stand for and defence of every Yoruba soul either on the continent of Africa or in the Diaspora in a globalized world.’’
 Yoruba culture, Alaafin asserted, is today spreading and attracting many studies, adding that It  has been said that Yoruba is the best studied African civilization and has attracted the attention of the largest number of  scholars, leading to the production of impressive number of publications.
Oba Adeyemi stated that the Yoruba developed a highly sophisticated system of government with effective checks and balances, which was spiced with a high level of gender consciousness, adding that the Yoruba traditional system of government is indeed one of the oldest forms of democracy in the world.
‘’The Yoruba have unique and rich cultures and civilizations which have remained resilient to any foreign cultural domination in spite of Yoruba contact with the Europeans. In all walks of life, the Yoruba people have utilised their rich cultural heritage to contribute greatly to national development’’.
 ‘’We must not allow the foundation of our life to be stolen, or destroy the basis of our existence as a race, but rather to support the efforts Dr. Gani Adams, an astute promoter of our culture, and his affiliate union, the Oodua Peoples’ Union [OPU] which to my understanding has been established in seventy eight countries across the globe, in promoting and preserving salient aspects of our culture and the values inherent in them.’’
Alaafin  described Gani Adams thus,’’ the OPC National Coordinator  is a focused, committed and pragmatic  Nigerian whose un-relent efforts and sense of devotion in the vanguard of making Yoruba traditional religion a reference point in global circles is inspiring, laudable and worthy of emulation’’.
Earlier, Otunba Gani Adams who met the Alaafin behind closed doors and said his visit was private, described Oba Adeyemi as ‘’ the soul of Yoruba Nation’’.
Speaking with reporters, Adams, dressed in white agbada, said culture is the bearing of every human action and aspiration, adding that ‘’any society, region or nation that does not pay sufficient attention to its culture will thus, certainly not grow, never develop and will ultimately extinct. It will be swallowed up within the scheme of things as it will lose its very essence and define character that makes it different for others and that which will drive his growth and development’’
He said some nations, including the Asian Tigers started the journey to development with Nigeria, but had since left Nigeria far behind on the race to development.
‘’The gap is very wide and is still being widened as the missing link in Nigeria is still not being annexed. What is the missing link?, cultural tourism, promotion and re-armament’’. Gani Adams said.
The OPC National Coordinator explained that ‘’Oyo Empire was in possession of all the land. Oyo was very fast in expansion and became one of the earliest states with a central authority system. This makes Oyo, probably the greatest of the forest states in West Africa. At   the highest of its existence, having fully developed a sophisticated internal system of government, Oyo dominated all other Yoruba kingdoms namely; Ife, Ekiti, Ijesa, Egba, Ijebu, Ondo, Sabe and Owu. It stretched into Dahomey, Togo and parts of the Ashanti in Ghana’’.
He went further, ‘’this  achievement marked a new phase in the history of the Yoruba, for it witnessed  the effective  transfer  of power from  Ile-ife to Oyo which became the  Centre  of a new powerful empire  with  far flung cultural, political and linguistic influences. Oyo soon became the seat of government of the Yoruba people. Interestingly, the new identity of Oyo was diffused to all parts of Yoruba land with overwhelming adoption. This is not the first time I and my entourage will be visiting the palace. To us, it home coming, and a chance of meeting the Alaafin is a rare opportunity into a repository of knowledge’’.