State of osun: Bishops for hire

For purposes of whatever may be coming to some of our churches, if any, from the U.S, must we continue to denigrate that which is ours?

In his article, ’Osun and Traditional Religion: A Bishop’s Howler’, the erudite scholar, Professor Moses Akinola Makinde, did such a marvellous job of dissembling Bishop Mike Bamidele’s misdirected shibboleths as they concern Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s wide ranging educational reconstruction in the state of Osun that it becomes almost superfluous to weigh in again at all –See P. 73, The Nation on Sunday, February, 2014. However, while Professor Makinde was content with taking only an intellectual view of the Bishop’s convoluted views, I am by far more inclined to see the man’s dirty politics of name-calling. He won’t be the first Bishop in this game since it looks like hiring Bishops –call them Rasputins – by some Southwest politicians has become a fad. The other day, it was Hon Opeyemi Bamidele carrying a nonagenarian retired Bishop on a farewell visit to his erstwhile political leaders, and the reader wins nothing for correctly guessing which Osun politician might have our Bishop on his payroll in the instant case.

Since I had no previous knowledge of Bishop Bamidele, and in order not to be unduly judgmental, I decided to google-search him. The little I found on him was quite instructive. Left to him, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is the devil itself, and, ipso facto, ill-suited to be the number one citizen in the state of Osun. What pointed, unmistakably, to this was his UTube presentation titled: Light Make Different.

In that short presentation, paganism, which he accuses Aregbesola of encouraging in the state, is presented in the most lurid of terms; it is not only the opposite of light but it is out to kill and destroy. You need not be told that in the Bishop’s thinking, devotees of traditional religion are destined for the hottest part of hell. This, he, therefore, hangs on Aregbesola who, many sensationally allege, is too much of a Muslim, as leading the good people of Osun into. Many readers of this article will be whispering under their breath: ‘touch not my anointed, do my prophet no harm’, but what exactly do you do when an otherwise very articulate Bishop forgets all about comparative religion, a study of which should have enabled him do a helpful comparison of the doctrines and practices of the world’s religions in order to have a deeper understanding of human beliefs and practices regarding the sacred and the divine.

In completely writing off Yoruba traditional religion, a man who many expect to educate and enlighten is busy obfuscating, for what purpose only he knows.

Let me now tell our Bishop how the Yoruba traditional religion is regarded outside our shores even as our ‘men of God’ choose to be more white than the white man. I document below, two eye witness accounts of events that put a lie to the mindset of the Bishop Makinde’s of this world.

The first is by U.S-based Bunmi Fatoye-matory who recently wrote as follows on ekitipanupo:

‘I and my hubby, a scholar of Yoruba religion, are living in Berlin this year. Berlin, Germany, is the last place I expected to find Yoruba religion and culture, but there it is. We found the Orisa temple, called Candomble by the Brazilians in a very nice neighbourhood in Berlin. It was very elegant and inviting just like it is in Brazil. The founder is a Brazilian priest who has lived in Berlin for a long time. We attended the ceremony for Iyansan, known to us at home as Oya. The crowd was mostly white and some few black Germans and Brazilians. There were songs and dances for each Orisa and that night Osun, Iyansan and Ogun came down to possess the initiates. They danced, they spoke and they offered blessings. The crowd in this place was educated, writers, film makers, anthropologists, etc. many of whom are initiated. They paid obeisance to the gods and we all danced. The officials who address the gods all spoke YORUBA. These were not Yoruba people. I later introduced myself to the Pai de Santo, the priest, and he showered me with that special honour and attention given to me as a Yoruba woman and as a person from the home of Osun, Igede. Since then, I have had several requests from the devotees to be taught Yoruba. Writing further, Mrs Fatoye- Matory said: ‘Folks, in the 21st C., Yoruba religion is becoming a World Religion and the torch bearers are not Yoruba people. Either in Cuba, Brazil, or many cities such as Miami, New York, Berlin, Port of Spain and Lisbon, our gods and goddesses are marching on in spite of the desertion by their children, without the advantages of missionaries or The Book. I met two Danish guys who came from Copenhagen to attend the ceremony. They are initiated even though there is no temple in Denmark yet. Yoruba people – obviously the likes of Bishop Makinde – are spreading Abrahamic Religions around the world; some of them are mutilating their names to get

rid of the evidence of their families’ ancestral Orisas. Many refuse to teach Yoruba to their children. Europeans and Latin Americans of all races are thirsting for our gods, language and traditions. Only Eledumare knows where this is going. One bit of hope is the response of Diaspora children. Across U.S. Colleges, many of them are interested in connecting to their roots. They are learning the languages of their ancestors and researching the traditions.’

‘Yes, indeed, my sister’, interjected Professor Akin Oyebode, a Law Professor of international repute: ‘I recall watching the cultural troupe of Cuba in Moscow in 1967 rendering songs to Obatala, Sango and Yemoja in heavily Spanish-adulterated Yoruba but still somewhat understandable to my humble self. In fact, a former Cuban Ambassador once told me that the Yoruba religion and culture were more authentic in Cuba than Nigeria…So, I’m at one with you on the passion of the African Diaspora for their roots.’Now, has it occurred to our Bishop that the Yoruba culture and language are thriving in as far afield as Brazil, Cuba, Portugal, the West Indies –where there is a town called ‘Beokuta, according to our own WS -, even in the United States of America? Does he know that this ensures the indestructibility of the Yoruba language and culture even where, back at home, our elite no longer like to speak the language to their children because it is considered infradig if their 4-year old does not speak English?

Has it occurred to Bishop Bamidele that in an age when the Southwest is fervently preaching fiscal federalism and taking it gingerly to the national conference, only agriculture can dwarf tourism as our main source of revenue in Yoruba land? For purposes of whatever may be coming to some of our churches, if any, from the U.S, must we continue to denigrate that which is ours? Probably unknown to the Bishop, many of our states in the region have poured billions into tourism development and both Osun Osogbo and Ikogosi in Ekiti are already showing what a milch cow tourism could become for us.

And as a passing shot, our reverend gentlemen, not just the Bishop, should either be content with their tithes or remove their cassocks and join partisan politics.

They will be more than welcome