On thursday February 18,2016, the Recreation Ground, Epe was charged with excitement when the Olokun Festival Foundation, the culture promotional arm of Oodua People's Congress championed by Otunba Gani Adams hosted the third edition of Grandmother's Festival.
The event according to Otunba Adams is dedicated to applaud and extol the virtues of women. The carnival like festival was quite educative and entertaining. On the centerstage was Alhaji Shefiu Alao, the fuji music star who Adams described as the king of Yoruba culture based music considering is depth of knowledge on tradition and culture of the Yoruba race dominant in his music. Some cultural troupes also added spice to the event
In the opening speech by Otunba Adams, he said "This festival is held to celebrate our women. They are our mothers and
have been empowered by the Almighty with special spiritual authority to
oversee the affairs of men in the world. "
"Though, as a result of
ignorance, some people have wrongly labeled women as the weaker sex. But
nothing can be farther from the truth this shallow argument. The truth
is that women are stronger than their men counterpart, especially in
spiritual matters."
"If you look very well, you would see that most
successful societies in the world are those that give women a special
preference in the order of importance. It is therefore not surprising
that there is visible prosperity in countries like the USA and UK, where
women are treated with much respect."
"Unknown to ignorant people,
women form part of the instruments God uses in carrying out his plans
for humanity. For example, if you see anybody that is tormented by
witches, it is because God allows it to happen, either as a punishment
for that person or to teach some lessons which may never have been
learnt if that thing did not happen"
Below is the speech of the guest lecturer
ROLE(S) OF WOMANHOOD IN TRADITIONAL YORUBA RELIGIONS AND SOCIETIES: A CRITICAL RESPONSE
DANOYE OGUNTOLA-LAGUDA, PhD
DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIONS AND PEACE STUDIES,
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY, OJO
INTRODUCTION
The general perception concerning womanhood in Africa is that women are
suppose to belong to the kitchens and home where they are to make babies
after warming the bed of men. This is true in the opinion of western
scholars on African notion of womanhood. They see nothing positive
emerging from the black continent. The basic thinking is that African
women are witches, housewives, petty traders, child bearers, potters and
farmers who contribute nothing to the growth and development of the
nation and their immediate society. Therefore they cannot be
celebrated. The question therefore is: Can these claims be true? My
sincere response is NO. My intention in this presentation is to respond
to the critical question of who is a woman. Or put in another way, what
is womanhood? I shall locate my response(s) to these questions within
Yoruba Traditional Religion (YTR) by analyzing the traditional concept
of womanhood. I will then proceed to discuss the modern concepts of
womanhood within the post modern theory of feminism. The presentation
shall conclude with the roles of women in traditional religions and
societies with particular emphasis on the Yoruba people. However, we
need for academic purpose understand the basic concepts of Traditional
Religion and its practices in typical Yoruba society like Lagos.
African Traditional Religion in Lagos
African religion is, just like any other things that emerge from Africa
which has been labeled by early European writers (such as Emile Ludwig,
A.B. Ellis, P.A. Talbot, Leo Frobenius) with degrading terminologies.
Some of these terms that have now been jettisoned include, primitive,
native, tribe, savage, ancestor worship, animism among others. These
submissions might have come out of their ignorance which could be a
product of the problems that have often retarded objective study of
African Religion. These include the secret nature of African Religion,
the demography of African continent, lack of written scriptures and
dearth of depository (of “sources”) of African Religion. In spite of
this situation, scholars such as Talbot, Parrinder, Ellis, Smith, etc
made notable contributions to the development of the formal curriculum
for the study of African Religion.
Features and Characteristics of ATR
There are basic characteristics of African Religion that set it apart
from other religions on the continent especially Christianity and Islam.
African Religion has no founder that could be pointed to as the source
or origin of its theology and philosophy. It is a religion that
developed out of the culture and traditions of the people. It lacks
basic written scriptures such as Quran, Bible, Veda or Upanishad. It
relies heavily on oral scriptures that are embedded in the mind and
memory of the people. Oracular divinities are available to guide the
people on tenets, doctrines and theology of African Religion when
consulted. African Religion is also non-evangelical. The patrons of its
theology do not engage in conversion process. They contest no space with
other religions on the continent. However, because many Africans on the
continent and even in its Diasporas were born into the religion, they
use its ethics, and values for their political, economic and social
engagements.
P.A. Talbot, writing about African Religion in Nigeria, informs that
“The religion of the inhabitant of southern province of Nigeria would
appear to be compounded of four main elements; viz polytheism,
anthropomorphism, animism and ancestor worship” (Talbot: 1973). Although
we might agree with Talbot that there are elements of anthropomorphism,
polytheism (with regards to the pantheon) and animism in African
Religion, it will be wrong to refer to it as ancestor’s worship as this
only form one of its major beliefs. The Belief System in African
Religion could be broadly categorized into two: Major and Minor Beliefs.
The former gives meaning and value to the latter. These are: Belief in
God, Divinities, Ancestors, Spirits, Magic and Medicine. The minor
beliefs are derived based on the major beliefs. These include but not
limited to belief in death, life after death, judgment day, morality,
good work, social interactions, respect for human life etc.
As suggested by Paul Talbot, for any theistic religion to qualify as
religion, it must have God as the Supreme Being at the centre and in
fact God should be the focal point of such traditions. Thus, African
Religion is based on the acceptance of the existence of Supreme Being
that controls the affairs of all creatures having created them just like
He created every other thing. However, some western scholars are
convinced that Africans have no concept of God.
A.B. Ellis claimed that Africans borrowed the concept of God from
Christian and Muslim missionaries that visited the continent to
propagate their own traditions. Emile Ludwig, one of these scholars
posits: “How can untutored Africans conceive of God? How can this be?
Deity is a philosophical concept which savages are incapable of framing”
(Kayode: 1984, 34).
The positions of the European writers was informed mainly by the
apparent fanatical devotion of Africans to the divinities, the absence
of obvious place of worship (such as cathedrals of the Christian’s west
and minarets of the Muslim), lack of written revelation of God etc.
However, a good understanding of African culture will reveal that
Africans worship the Supreme Being through Divinities as a mark of
honour, fear and respect. Further, the transcendental nature of God
makes it impossible for him to be confined to space since he is also
Omnipresent. It is obvious that some of the degrading comments made on
the African concept of God is due mainly to the presumptuous notion of
the early writers (arm chair and traveler scholars) who are used to
monotheistic religion like Judaism, Christianity and Islam. To the
people, God is a reality that is invisible but whose greatness is
incomparable to any other being. Some of the attributes of God are:
transcendence, judge, creator, benevolence. The belief in God is the
bedrock upon which African Religion rests.
The belief in Divinities emanated from African conviction that God in
the creation process created some incorporeal beings to assist him in
the theocratic governance of the world. They are conceived as children,
messengers, agents and lieutenants of God. It should be noted that the
belief in the divinities even though a common feature in African
relation varies from one society to another even in the terms use in
calling or referring to them. The Yoruba of Nigeria refer to them as
Orisa, while Akans of Ghana call them Abossom. Africans use the
divinities as media through which God can be reached. Consequently in
their worship system the divinities play prominent roles. The
relationship that exists between the divinities and the Supreme Being is
a manifestation of African social orientation and culture where old age
and authority are venerated. Africans find it difficult, if not
impossible, to approach God directly, but rather through intermediaries –
Divinities.
The belief in Ancestor also form an integral part of the belief system
in African religion. This is based on the philosophy of the people that
death is not often the end of human existence. Also there is the
possibility of life after death. Based on these beliefs the cult of the
ancestor emerged. Africans beliefs in their ancestors who they contend
are still relevant to their well being here on earth. Consequently, the
general belief that communion and communication are possible between the
death and the living and the former has the power to influence or
molest the latter. However not all that die will become ancestors. For
anyone to qualify for the honor s/he must die at good old age,
procreate; contribute to the growth and development of the society. They
must also die peacefully and not due to the wrath of any divinity or
antisocial activities. The prominence given to ancestors in the African
religion has made scholars such as Talbot to erroneously conclude that
the religion could be called ancestral worship.
The last two of the major beliefs are spirits and magic and medicine.
The former are incorporeal beings that are conceived to have
supernatural powers that could aid human aspirations and agitations. The
spirits uses natural phenomena as their abode. These include hills,
mountains, trees, rocks, or oceans etc are some of the natural habitat.
The attempt to control nature to do man’s will may have informed the
African belief in magic. Medicine on the other hand demonstrates the
appreciation of natural objects to confront the challenges posed by
ailments to man. These ailments could be physical or spiritual. Herbal
formulae could be used to cure or prevent the “physical” ailments while
metaphysical ailments need intervention of spiritual agents like the
divinities and ancestors as well as diviners for efficiency.
Interestingly, it is these pharmaceutical products that are now being
used as tools for negotiation for space by patrons of African Religion
in pluralistic environment like Lagos. The belief system in ATR
necessitated the worship of God through the media of the divinities. And
these worships are sometimes express within groups.
Idowu describes a typical worship mo of God (Olodumare) among the Yoruba of Nigeria as follows:
The ritualistic worship offers to Him takes place in the
open. The worshippers make a circle of ashes or white chalk and the
circle symbolizes eternity libation of water in poured on the circle. At
the centre of the Circle, kolanut is placed on white cotton by a
priest. He takes the kolanut and slips it and holding the values firmly
between the hollows of his palms; he stretches them up and prays to
Olodumare offering the kolanut. The priest then cast the kolanut values
within the circle. Often a white fowl or pigeon is offered in the same
way (Idowu: 1996, 123)
The chief priest is in charge of this ritual that is performed every
morning on behalf of Oni of Ife and all Yoruba people. This process is
however “dying” out as the Yoruba societies are now becoming
cosmopolitan and sophisticated. However, there are still private
worship, communal worship, group worship etc. The conditions of worship
are clear to all adherents of the religion. Ceremonial cleanliness and
purity of heart are very necessary condition for worship. During worship
worshippers seeks forgiveness of sin and protection from God and his
agents. They also seek material and spiritual blessing. Thus, it is
observed, that the process of worship in African religion is to show
devotion to God through adoration, admiration and love for His role in
their lives. The process of worship involves invocation salutations,
prayers for forgiveness of sins and materials as well as spiritual
blessings. Women are involved in the practice of the religion of their
fore bearers in all ramifications. This is an observation that is based
on the study of the involvement of female gender in the liturgies,
doctrines, ethics and morality of African
Religions in Lagos.
In Lagos South-West Nigeria, there are three dominant religions. These
are: Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion (ATR). These
three religious traditions and epistemologies engage women in their
rituals, liturgies, doctrines and ethics.
However, the engagements of the women in these traditions are more
obvious in Islam and Christianity. In Christianity, for example, women
are involved in the choir (song ministries) of many denominations. Some
are ordained as pastors and given leadership responsibilities in the
church. In three churches visited by this writer during the course of my
study of women involvement in Religion in Lagos (2014) there are women
Organizations and Associations. At All Saints Church, Yaba (a parish of
Anglican Communion), Women Associations such as Young Women Christian
Association(YMCA), Christ Women Fellowship (CWF) and Mothers Union(MU)
to mention a few are visible on guide. The formation of the Women
Associations is to engage this gender in church activities and also to
give them opportunity to look inward.
Interaction with some women in the church shows that they are happy with
church activities. In fact, All Saints Church organizes social events
for female members to assist them in economic and social engagements
that will enhance the viability in the society as a whole. Seminars,
workshops and vocational trainings are organized in this regard.
Islamic groups in Lagos engage their women in Tafsir retreats and skill
acquisition programs are put in place to empower women. NASFAT, QUAREEB
and NADFATS, to mention a few of such Islamic Pentecostal groups are
very active in such empowerment programmes. For example women are part
of the employees at a beverage manufacturing company of the group. The
point we are making here is that in all religious in Nigeria engage
women in all their activities. It is therefore not correct to claim that
women in Lagos and by extension Nigeria(and African) have negative
perception and understanding. We shall now examine the involvement of
women in African Traditional Religion (ATR).
Women in Traditional Religion and Society
A typical African society is made up of male and female gender. And it
normal that every member of such society has roles to play in its
social, economic, religious and political engagements. It should be
stated here that our society is patrilineal. That is it dominated by men
and women only play second fiddle. This may be the reason why the
political, economic and religious status of women is viewed with
contempt and scorn. In Yoruba tradition, women are to be their husband
helpers. They are “to be seen but not heard” According to Dopamu and
Awolalu(1979: 288) “Traditionally, in every home, the man is the head;
he owns not only the house but also all that is contained therein,
including the women” The implication of this quotation is that women
form part of man’s wealth and a man can use his wealth as he deem fit.
In some Yoruba societies (like Egabado land) women are not allowed to
eat on the same table and time with their husband. They are also to
kneel down when they talk and serve food and drinks to their spouse. A
woman during her monthly period may not prepare food for her husband as
she is considered to be impure. Such impurity may reduce the medicinal
power of their husband. In opinion, in many traditional worship setting,
women “assumed” impurity has led to discrimination as men presides over
worship and liturgies of groups while women play subsidiary roles. This
is the case in Osugbo, Amukala, Ogboni and Reformed Ogboni Fraternity.
The exceptional case in my experience is in Ijinla Fraternity (Awo Opa)
where women have their own spiritual enclave and have leadership roles
as expressed in the offices of Iya Agan and Adurofo. According to Arinze
(1970:73), writing about the Anang Ibibio;
Women are entirely excluded from being Eze-Alusi (the
spirit chief). They are not allowed to enter the innermost parts of the
shrine and are forbidden to touch certain idols……Possible local
exceptions could be found when it is only a question of family cult of
the spirits. Thus elderly women could at times make sacrifice directly
to their personal chi behind the holes in their house.
This is clear demonstration of restrictions placed on women in Ibibio communities in South East Nigeria.
In Yoruba land, women are often seen and conceived as a gender that
cannot keep secrets as they gossip a lot. As a result women are always
secluded or restricted in religious rituals that required secrecy. On
such occasions only men are allowed to participate in such rituals.
Among such rituals and festivals that exclude women in Yoruba land are:
Oro, Egungun (limited restrictions), Agemo, Eluku among others. The
general saying in the Oro cult is: Bi obirin fi oju kan oro, oro agbe
(if a women sees oro, oro shall devour or kill her). Based on the above
we can argue that men in Yoruba societies use their physical power and
social position(s) and assumed spiritual superiority to suppress women
in religious participation. However, scholars’ observations over the
years are that there are more women in religious congregations than men.
Further they are more pious and zealous than men in religious
engagements as they carry more of the domestic problems than their male
counterparts. In the opinion of Dopamu and Awolalu:
She carries pregnancies for nine months and she is hedged
round with innumerable taboos. She knows the problem she encounters
before, during and after child birth and the different crises she faces
from the teething period of her baby to adolescence…..she depend on
consulting the diviners and medicine men, offering prescribed
sacrifices, taking the prescribed herbs and doing all that was necessary
to be done to relate well to the ancestral spirits
These discriminating tendencies against women in our clime perhaps could
be the reason why people think that women in our understanding and
conception are mere figures and numbers without value. Scholarship in
the west (America and Europe) considered African women as negative
elements that deride social value(s) of the society as they engage in
gossips, witchcrafts and other wicked acts that are derogatory and
hinder human developments and growth. In spite of the discriminatory
attitude of men to women in our societies in Nigeria especially in
religious matters, women still play significant roles in Yoruba land
both in religious and social-economic engagements. We shall now
highlight and discuss these roles.
Women in Worship:
John Onaiyekan(1983:35) writing about the Owe people of Kwara state,
Nigeria mentioned the role of women in the traditional religion of the
people. Even though the religion is dominated by men, Onaiyekan observes
that:
Women who are initiated into an esoteric and deeply
religious society, involving periodic and authentic spirit possession.
They are considered the ‘wives’ of the ebora and unlike other women who
have no active in the ebora cult, they have some specific part to play
in the worship of the ebora(35)
In the Atinga cult in Ojo Local government, women play
prominent roles in the liturgies of the group. They are known as Aberewa
and go into spirit possession during worship. Female deities are also
noticeable in the cult. They include; Juru, Sheshereshe mammy and
Akonshi among others. It should also be noted that most water spirits in
Yoruba pantheon are female deities. They include Osun, Oya, Olokun and
Olosa. The leaders of worship in their cults as obvious in the case of
Osun- Osogbo are women. Similarly Dopamu and Awolalu(1979: 292)
identified in Osi-Ekiti women actively participates during the annual
Olua festival- fertility worship. In this case women are the leaders.
During the Oke Ibadan festival, the Aboke(a male) normally dress like a
woman. This arguably signifies that the priest is symbolically a female.
In some prominent traditional groups there are liturgical roles for
women as earlier mentioned. Such is the case of Adurofo and Iya Agan.
The two leads worship among women in their conclave.
Women as Medium:
In some parts of Yoruba land women play the role of spirit medium. They
experience spirit possession and therefore act as link between human
beings and the celestial world. They acts in this instance as mouth
pieces for the deities that possess them. Under such ecstatic moments
(during dances, music and drumming) women perform feats that they cannot
perform under normal circumstances with spirit possession. Through
these media spiritual messages are delivered to devotees from the spirit
world. This is also the case during healing rituals in the Atinga cult
earlier mentioned.
Women as Diviners and Healers:
In recent time women are very active in the application of traditional
healing methods and processes. So set up healing home and traditional
clinics and centres for the cure of numerous diseases. Such was the case
of Mama Leader (Mrs. Adenike) in Shomolu area of Lagos. She sells
fertility drugs for both women and men with remarkable patronage between
1980 and 2005. Such therapeutic medicines alleviate psychological and
physical discomforts that people may have in area of common ailments.
Some of such women in this regard utilize a combination of divination
and healing to bring assurance to the disturbed persons and restoration
of health to the invalid. They consult oracles, prescribe sacrifices and
give herbs to their clients and patients. At popular Oyingbo, Jankara
and Shomolu markets, we have women that are involved in the sale of
herbs, roots, barks and leaves. They also engage in gynaecology and
obstetrics services.
Women in Special Services:
Writing about the roles of women in the worship of Orinlase in Ilawe-
Ekiti, T.A. Ilesanmi(1996:5) observes that women engaged in cleaning
services, singing and dancing during worship. In his words:
Women are spice of religion. They are more sentimental than
men folk, committing themselves unreservedly to all the demands of
liturgy, especially where there is no prohibition for their taking any
role in the religious drama. They put up their best in dress, in body
decoration, in recitation, chanting and singing, in choreography,
twisting their bodies in a warm boneless fashion to raise their spirit
high to the level of the divine……
The above is a clear manifestation of the roles of women in traditional religion and the society
Conclusion
In this presentation, I have examined the roles of women in religion
and society using basically the Yoruba examples. It is clear from our
discussion so far that the Yoruba people do not conceived women as
negative and repulsive member of the society like some people in the
West wants us to believe. We observed that women are very important and
instrumental to the survival and continuity of the society through
procreation. Although our cosmology, cosmogony and theology suggest that
women play supporting role(s) for men, their spiritual and social and
economic values cannot be over emphasized. Even in modern conception of
feminism (womanhood), it is clear that women are still trying to block
the gap in the space between them and their male counterparts. In the
post colonial Nigeria the roles of women in our society are very
minimal. However as observed in recent times women such as Deputy
Governor of Lagos state, Senior Special Assistant to the President(SSA)
on Foreign and Diaspora affairs, Minister for Finance among others are
doing great in their engagements. In the immediate past administration
women were also prominent in our political clime. Even in agitations
women are not left out. I wish to end here by saying that the Yoruba
nation need to encourage our women to come to the fore to contest for
political “spaces” with their male counterparts. In the current war on
corruption by the current administration NO woman have been taken to
court for stealing our “common wealth”. It is therefore very important
to join the United Nations (UN) and Odua People’Congress (OPC) to
celebrate womanhood as we do today. The government of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria (Federal and states) should set aside a day to
celebrate the female gender.
