A video somehow caught my attention two nights ago. The video in which a lady speaks eloquently and with undoubted grasp of the subject cannot be timelier. The subject is diabetes. It is a disease ravaging our world today. Centuries-old researches to eradicate it have not gone beyond the borders of relief, albeit commendable, though. Eradication or total cure seems farfetched as things stand now. I want to believe I can take Professor Oyeku Oyelami’s generous liberty to be a pretender to the throne by making copious references to his book on this all-important matter. Come to think of it, this column attempted to delve into the subject in these pages 32 years ago. At the time, it was already afflicting mankind, and was a sufficient cause for worry. It was not at the alarming rate and spread of these times.

As the lady states in the very instructive presentation, “Diabetes is a fairly modern disease. Diabetes is a lifestyle disease.” She reminds the world: “Hypocrites, the father of medicine made no mention of diabetes in his writings. Quoting Newton’s Law of Motion, she says: “Newton’s third Law of Motion states that to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” She speaks about the place of pancreases in our body system. “Why is it the pancreases are not working? That is the question we should be asking. One of its main roles is to release two hormones—one is insulin bringing down sugar level and the other glucagon which gets the sugar level supply up.” With the two working in harmonious hormonal collaboration, the sugar level is regulated. Generous protein, legumes and grains give the guarantee of protection after necessary processes.

Professor Oyelami of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, who has done an extensive study on the disease, states in his book, ‘A Clinician’s Experience With Herbs That Heal’: “It is estimated that about four million Nigerians may be suffering from the disease; and given the increasing Westernized lifestyle, the number is bound to rise. More than two million people in the UK have the condition, and up to 750,000 are believed to have it without realizing that they do. More than three-quarters of people with diabetes have what is called Type2 diabetes mellitus. This used to be known as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or maturity onset diabetes mellitus. The others have Type 1 diabetes mellitus which used to be known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The difference is that in Type 1, the body is unable to produce any insulin. This usually starts in childhood or young adulthood. It is treated with diet control and insulin injections. In Type2, not enough insulin is produced or the insulin that is made by the body doesn’t work properly. This tends to affect people as they get older, and usually appears after the age of 40.

“Under normal circumstances, the hormone insulin, which is made by the pancreas, carefully regulates how much glucose is in the blood. Insulin stimulates cells to absorb enough glucose from the blood for the energy or fuel that they need. It also stimulates the liver to absorb and store any glucose that is left over. After taking food, the amount of blood glucose rises and this triggers the release of insulin. When the glucose level falls, for example during exercise, insulin levels fall, too. Another hormone manufactured by pancreas is glucagon. It stimulates the liver to release glucose when it is needed and this increases the level of glucose in the blood.”

The lady in the video goes to list as scientists are wont to do foods we should avoid such as refined grains, refined sugar, pasta, pizza, cakes, indeed also bread, foods that come under the umbrella of carbohydrates. These are what are predominant in the modern-day menu. In 1992 when this column delved into the subject, it drew attention to the warning of diabetics that Nigerians should soft-pedal on soft drinks thought at the time to be the main sources of refined sugar that is consumed.

As nothing has changed and indeed, the modern lifestyle that is the trigger, has gone worse, I have decided to point to the column again part of which  reads as follows, breaking it down to ordinary day language: “Diabetics, like soft drinks, today hardly requires any introduction. They are people whose bodies are unable to dispose of sugar in their blood. When the sugar becomes too much for their bodies to bear, they collapse and may even die. So, to prevent that, diabetics must inject themselves everyday with insulin which burns off the sugar but which their bodies, through disease, either can no longer produce or, when it does produce it, cannot pump into the blood stream at all or in an adequate measure or quantity. A daily routine of insulin injection is not funny; it is certainly not a life to joyfully look forward to. Not with those painful needle sores all over the body and that inevitable new prick at the sight of an old festering sore. It can cost a lot of money, too, stockpiling insulin injections against the rainy day, the day of shortages and price hikes. And unending test appointments, blood tests, sugar level tests and hypertension examination. Much money is tied down that could have been spent more beneficially, more so in these days when money has lost its reputation, and pull as hard as you may, the ends, as if by conspiracy, just refuse to meet. Perhaps the worst psychological torment for the diabetic is when he just cannot find insulin injection to buy, or it is beyond his reach, and friends and relations long overburdened, begin to keep safe distance.

It is the wish of the Nigerian diabetics that other people don’t go through their experiences which makes them deserve our gratitude, also for their timely warning as the Lagos wing of the Nigerian Diabetic Association. The same cannot be said of the Nigerian doctor of the mid-70s who appeared to look the other way when the Lagos water supply system was overrun by sea water and, for months, Lagos public water supply was heavily saline. The glass of tap of water then tasted so saline that hardly could it taste clean even after boiling and then cooling or cotton fabric filtration. Consequently, those dependent on public water supply looked for borehole water or took recourse to soft drinks. Many travelled in their cars beyond Lagos to the outskirts, neighbouring communities and towns to fetch water. At the time, soft drink market was booming and the argument of salesmen to those who were ill-at-ease and therefore tried to hold themselves in check was that all carbohydrate foods end up in the body as sugar. It was argued that there is sugar in orange, banana, pineapple, rice, gari, in fact, in any starchy food and that whoever would have diabetes cannot blame sugar for it. It must be enheartening, indeed, that research is being scaled up to determine where the verity lies for believers that sugar is an agent of diabetes or the doubting Thomases who say sugar, natural or denatured can kill or cause diabetes, howbeit  under certain circumstances.

If we may give the floor to Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, authors of Fit for Life: From their research, “Over two hundred million soft drinks are consumed in this country (US) each year. Actually, they are anything but soft on your body, except for your teeth. Dr. Clive McKay of Cornell University showed that soft drinks can completely erode enamel and make teeth as soft as much within two days (as described in “The Poisoned Needle by Eleanor McBean). The ingredient that is the culprit here is a horrific concoction called phosphoric acid. These drinks also contain malic acid, carbonic acid and crythorbic acid among other things. The malic and citric acids to be found naturally in fruits and vegetables are of a nature that turns alkaline in the system. The ones to be found in soft drinks, Dr. McKay claims, remain acid because they are fractionated and usually extracted with heat. Your pH balance can be thrown into turmoil just by reading the label of a soft drink! There are other harmful ingredients in these drinks as well, plus refined white sugar about five teaspoons per eight-ounce serving. The only difference between regular and diet sodas is that instead of sugar, a substitute is used, so harmful that each container has to have a warning on the label just like cigarettes. Plus most sodas have as the old nemesis, caffeine. Some of the additives used are coal-tar derivatives, another carcinogen. When soft drinks are taken with food, it leads to fermentation instead of good digestion. Aside from tricking the body into thinking they taste good, there are no benefits.

The caffeine should be reason enough not to give the beverage to children. It is increasing that most parents won’t allow their children to drink coffee, but they condone caffeinated soft drinks. You may be wondering why caffeine is added to these drinks. According to Dr. Royal Lee of Foundation for Nutritional Research, Cola is loaded with habit forming caffeine so that once the victim becomes accustomed to the stimulant; he cannot very well get along without it. There is only one reason for putting caffeine in soft drink to make it habit forming.’

The researchers say If you can cut down on this non-nutritious, empty calorie conglomeration of acids and cancer causing chemicals , by all means do. There are many carbonated waters that although not ideal (because of high salt content and inorganic minerals) are far better.

“In the process of refining sugar, every vestige of life and nutrient is stripped from it. All the fibre, vitamins, minerals, everything is virtually removed, leaving only a deadly remnant. Sugar makes people fat because it supplies only empty, low calories and excessive carbohydrates that are converted to fat. This causes a person to over-eat to obtain needed nutrients.”

The manufacturers have shot back saying a meta-analysis has showed no link between soft drinks and other sweetened, sugary beverages and cancer as well as diabetes. A school of thought believes that they must have their own laboratory to determine what amount of ingredients goes into what. Also drinking must be done in moderation, anything taken in excess is harmful. The manufacturers have a boost, according to Reuters, from U.S. regulators that have said soft drinks from PepsiCo Inc and Coca-Cola Co posed no health risks. Consumers, themselves have said the soft drinks they buy are safe.

Typical of matters of this nature, the other party is saying that sugary soft drinks contain no vitamins, minerals or fibre and regular soda is full of calories. It shows that counter standpoint does not go away and it is that people who consume sugary drinks –one, two cans a day or more – have a 26 per cent greater risk of developing Type2 diabetes than people who rarely have such drinks. Harvey and Merilyn Diamond can go on and on. So can other researchers. One research finding has even linked sugar with hypertension. Another implicates it in dementia or loss of memory. In the case of dementia, the argument is that sugar does not contain thiamine or vitamin B1. Carbohydrates or starchy foods become glucose in the body. And glucose is the main food of the brain. But it cannot be useful in the absence of thiamine. When added with processed sugar as in soft drinks, the body borrows from its reserves kept in the muscles or the heart. These weaken the organs over time. When it becomes dangerous to borrow, the body stops borrowing and stops using glucose, as in the case of the brain. In this situation, the brain becomes malnourished in the midst of plenty, loses its vitality and may even die. Thus victims lose memory altogether, and forget how to do certain things, especially as muscle co-ordination may have been impaired.

The bottom line of the message of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria unarguably is: “Let’s be natural.” Therein lie health and greatness. Out of Nature has the human body emerged. And out of Nature has the nourishment it requires come. Nature gives the body the nourishment homogenous with its make-up not only in component texture but in healthy balance as well. Man disarranges the texture and balance of nutrients. As the Revised edition Chambers 21st Century Dictionary puts it: Being natural means “relating to Nature, or parts of the physical world not made or altered by man.”But the earlier edition, 20th Century Chambers Dictionary, puts it, in my view, more comprehensively and better: Being natural means “pertaining to, produced by, or according to Nature, not miraculous; not the work of man; not interfered with by man.”

ABIODUN’S LAME EXCUSE

The deplorable state of the road linking Abeokuta township with Wole Soyinka Train Station was brought to the attention of Ogun State Government last year. The road is said to connect about 40 committees, among them Idi-Aba renowned for its age-long educational institution and not too long ago, playing host to Federal Medical Centre, as their main link to the railway station.

From the 20s, with the peak in the 50s and 60s, owned by the Baptist Mission, Idi-Aba founded in 1910, provided secondary school opportunity to girls. The State Government is aware of the horrible and shameful condition of the road and the law-abiding governor, His Excellency, the one and only Prince, not wanting to gate-crash into a property that is not his, and incur the wrath of the Villa in Abuja, asked for permission to fix the road. He has just gotten the nod to go ahead fixing Lagos-Ojokoro- Sango Otta, Ifo- Ewekoro-Abeokuta two-carriage Road –an exceedingly strategic road, economically, politically, historically and socially. It is the main road linking Lagos with Abeokuta. But it was allowed to degenerate into hell of a road.

The importance of the road is hinted at by the mere linking of iconic Professor Wole Soyinka, a citizen of the universe, to the train station. The Federal Government named the train station in Wole Soyinka’s name. It ought not be a case of a prophet that is without honour among his own people. Here is also an axis that promises to be booming economically. It will awaken entrepreneurship instinct inherent in Ogun State people and bring prosperity to the state capital and by extension to the state once it gets the necessary infrastructure.

The State Government says of the road in its official post: “This is a matter close to our hearts. Enhancing this route holds promise of rendering train travel more enjoyable. Yet we tread cautiously, refraining from vocalizing our concerns, lest it be misconstrued as making excuses. Debates ensue, tangled in bureaucratic intricacies, as this particular stretch, albeit short, falls under the purview of the Federal Government, responsible for its upkeep. To embark on reconstruction, the state government requires permission from the Minister. However, obtaining such authorization proves a sluggish ordeal, hindered by bureaucratic inertia. It is note-worthy that the station complex was conceptualized to coincide with the development of its surrounding arteries, an integral part of the overarching scheme.”

Methinks that once there is foot dragging in receiving approval, all the state government need do is to notify the Minister in writing that further to the government request on the road project, you would like to go ahead with it waving the cover of anticipatory approval. The reconstruction is urgent.

I wonder if it is being suggested that if the state government had embarked on fixing the road, Bola Tinubu was going to dispatch Kayode Egbetokun, the IG accompanied by fierce-looking men, armed to the teeth, to halt the work and bring the insolent Dapo Abiodun, the Governor to Abuja for discipline! It is a lame excuse.

t is a lame excuse, Your Excellency, with due respect.

Let us be categorical from the outset. There is no constitutional or statutory significance to the first 100 days of a governor or president’s term, which, nevertheless, seems to have become a tradition. In fact, the origins of the concept is hazy and its import remains a subject of debate.

Some historians trace its origins to the second reign of French Emperor Napoleon I, beginning on March 20, 1815, when he retook his throne after his exile to Elba. However, that triumphant return ended July 8, 1815, when King Louis XVIII was restored to the French throne, a total of 110 days. Within five days of Napoleon’s return, the European powers at the Congress of Vienna declared him an outlaw and committed to increasing military troops on the ground in order to end his rule once and for all, a decision that led to a series of battles fought between the French Army of the North and the Anglo-Allied and Prussian armies, which culminated in the decisive Battle of Waterloo (June 15 – July 8, 1815) and the ultimate vanquishing of Napoleon.

The phrase les Cent Jours (the hundred days) was said to have been first used by the prefect of Paris, Gaspard comte de Chabrol, in his speech welcoming King Louis XVIII back to Paris on July 8, 1815.

But like most political concepts, the idea was popularised with the coming to power of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In fact, in the first 144 years of America’s democracy, no one made a big deal about the 100-day mark. But elected in the heat of the Great Depression and inaugurated on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt in his first 100 days in office took breathtaking actions, both legislative and regulatory, that Americans hailed as setting the governance bar very high.

For instance, it is on record that in those 100 days, his administration unfurled its New Deal agenda by declaring a bank holiday which stopped the disastrous run on the U.S. banks, took America off the gold standard, passed groundbreaking legislation for farmers, homeowners and the unemployed and also passed amendments to the hated Volstead Act which had created prohibition – actions promoting economic recovery and putting Americans back to work through federal activism in the face of the severe global economic downturn that affected many countries across the world.

So, while the concept is an artificial milestone with lots of attention but no significance in some quarters, it has increasingly become popular since the FDR era and in many countries, including Nigeria, it has become a standard fare to do leadership assessment after 100 days in office.

While one school of thought believes that 100 days is too short a time to gauge the performance of a governor or president who has four years – 1461 days – as it is the case for instance in Nigeria, to stay in office, those who believe in the old saying that morning shows the day aver that the first 100 days in office could actually be a pointer as to which direction an administration is headed.

So, while 100 days may be a short time to make an assessment, yet, to any chief executive who prepared to hit the ground running, it is enough time to make a loud statement. Abia State governor Dr. Alex Otti has validated that point with his performance in 100 days and beyond. Emeka Ihedioha also made the point in Imo State with his stellar performance before the Supreme Court threw a spanner in the works.

So when Kogi State governor, Usman Ododo, did a self-appraisal of his stewardship in 100 days, that ordinarily shouldn’t have raised any eyebrows.

But it did.

Why? If anyone is still in doubt whether the quality of leadership in Nigeria has gone to the dogs, Ododo’s self-appraisal erases such doubt. It is a proof that the country is in dire leadership straits.

Ododo was sworn in as governor on January 27, 2024 after winning the November 2023 offseason Kogi State governorship poll and on May 5, 2024, he clocked 100 days in the office.

To commemorate the milestone, the 42-year-old governor in a flyer shared across his social media handles, with a banal caption: “We will continue to do more for the good people of Kogi State. God Bless Kogi State. God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” listed meeting with Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, NSA, as his star achievement in his first 100 days in office.

Those who think that was ridiculous may have cause to change their minds after reading what amounted to a drivel, because the achievements’ which are in five major categories – governance, agriculture, education, health care, and general information – also included a reception organised for him in Okene, his home town, participation in the meeting of Progressive Governors Forum in Abuja, first courtesy visit by Ife-Olukotun Community in Yagba East Local Government Area, and participation in a joint meeting of the governors of Kogi, Ondo and Taraba with the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari.

Now, how on earth could these perfunctory duties be termed as achievements? What manner of low self-esteem would make an elected governor consider a meeting with an appointee of the president a privilege? That is sheer neurosis because even a meeting with the president cannot be considered an achievement for a governor. In the same vein, how can his participation in a meeting of fellow governors be celebrated as a big achievement in his first 100 days in office? To say the least, Ododo’s self-advertised achievements is a scandal. It is a sign of low self-esteem for someone to consider a parley with peers an achievement worth celebrating and every well-meaning indigene of Kogi State should be worried.

Aside being mortified by such pedestrian outing in the name of celebrating a non-existent milestone, the question that should concentrate their minds is: What kind of transformative vision can a governor who records first courtesy visit of a community as an achievement have for their state?

But is anyone surprised? How did Ododo become governor? His political ascendancy speaks to the faulty leadership recruitment process that has bedeviled the country since 1999. Ours is a democracy where power does not belong to the people. Ododo is Kogi State governor today because his predecessor, the fugitive Yahaya Bello, wanted him to be, the same way the Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike made Sim Fubara governor of Rivers State.

The faulty recruitment process is responsible for the gross delinquency we are celebrating in the name of governance across the country.

But there are more pertinent questions. Where are the Nigerian people in all this mess? Why are the people still cutting these misfits in positions of authority some slacks? Why are there no popular revolts against the prevalent idiocy in high places?

Sadly, this is a country that used to have leaders as Dr. Michael Okpara, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Dennis Osadebey as regional premiers. Even in the Second Republic, we had governors like Sam Mbakwe, Jim Nwobodo, Balarabe Musa, Abubakar Rimi, Lateef Jakande, Bisi Onabanjo, Michael Ajasin, etc. Can anyone imagine any of these great statesmen and tested leaders listing a meeting with President Shehu Shagari’s NSA as achievement?

While it is true that 100 days may not be long enough time to appreciably evaluate the capacity of a governor or president and while it is also true that some leaders are slow starters who end up finding their rhythm with time, the truth is that any governor who consciously listed those frivolities as achievements and who believes same to be true as Ododo obviously does, will end up a spectacular failure. Ododo, without any iota of doubt, will prove that truism four years hence.

IN a tumbling world with shifty and shifting alliances, the European Union, EU, met with its Nigerian and West African partners on Wednesday for a possible reset.

The twin meetings at the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Abuja, held under the shadows of France and United States losing military bases in the region to Russia and, claims that the two-some are in search of new bases. There are also other challenging developments such as a spike in coups, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso exiting the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, and supposed democracies, like Togo, subverting the democratic system.

The theme was about “Reducing vulnerabilities through partnerships”. A session was a stakeholders engagement on “Nigeria’s defence and security perspectives” and the second, on “Regional defence and security perspectives.”

These meetings are coming on the back of a High-Level African Counter Terrorism Meeting in Abuja a few weeks ago and on-going “Strategic Dialogue” between the EU and the Tinubu administration.

Ambassador Samuela Isopi, the Italian diplomat who is Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS told the May 15, 2024 meeting in Abuja: “We live in a single security theatre. What happens in one region of the world directly affects another…Crises or conflicts that emerge locally can quickly become global, with more far-reaching consequences than ever before.”

Ms Isopi who has had diplomatic experiences in Russia, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina posited that: “Threats are transnational, more complex and diverse, but the nature of the threats we face is increasingly similar. Hybrid, cyber and information manipulation are now the norm everywhere.”

Major General Adamu Luka, National Coordinator of the Nigerian National Counter Terrorism Centre, NCTC, lamented that while West Africa, with diamond in Sierra Leone, gold in Ghana and oil in Nigeria, is a rich region, its people are very poor with 70 per cent below the poverty line. He said democracy demands certain expressions such as good governance and children at school. He added that while it is true that Africa has a huge youth population, the large number of out-of-school-children, constitutes a future problem. General Laka added sarcastically: “They say two heads are better than one, but two empty heads, are not.” He said there are talks about resilience but wondered if it is possible to be resilient on an empty stomach.

He traced the worsening security challenges such as that in Mali, to the overthrow of President Muamar Ghadaffi in Libya. He asked rhetorically how the EU is assisting in the fight against corruption and for good governance, adding that such challenges are recipes for terrorism.

Ambassador Pieter Leenknght, whose country, Belgium holds the rotating EU Presidency was more focused on misinformation, disinformation and the power of the press. He said the press can make threats look much bigger than they actually are, so some attention should be focused on these.

Ambassador Kalilou Traore of Cote d’Ivoire presented what he called the worst and best case scenarios. In the first, he said the coup epidemic continues; Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic finalise their withdrawal from ECOWAS with some other countries joining them; terrorism continues and ECOWAS collapsing. In the best case scenario, coups stop, democratic elections are strengthened and ECOWAS strengthens. The meeting he said, provides an opportunity to examine why things have not worked out well and how the situation can be changed. The 68-year-old diplomat advocated for the stabilisation of ECOWAS, and the polity in member countries. He added that although democracy is a process, the costs, including elections which sometimes take lives, is too high and should be checked.

Dr Cyriaque Pawomothom Agnekethom, ECOWAS Director of Peacekeeping and Regional Security, in commenting on the three countries exiting ECOWAS, said the security threat we are facing is transnational, hence no single country can succeed in fighting them off. So, ECOWAS should continue to play the central role as it is best suited to check the threats. He said those who partner with the region should favour regional leadership. Such leadership, he counselled, should be locally owned so that it does not appear it is being teleguided.

Colonel Ademola Lawal of the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, SCDDD, made an interjection to which there was no coherent response. In noting the issue of military coups in the region, he asked: what about civilian coups? He described such coups as those executed by the civilian leadership of some countries who apart from capturing executive power, also exercise legislative and judicial powers and perpetuate themselves in office.

Dr Paul Andrew Gwaza of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution argued that the trigger of insecurity are local so there is the need to localise initiatives and the ECOWAS. He said it is imperative to return to the vision of the ECOWAS of the People with focus on economic empowerment.

Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security submitted that: “It is not just ECOWAS, but the world that lacks leadership.” He said the body’s vision to move from the ECOWAS of States to the ECOWAS of the People, has stuck in “the ECOWAS of States.”

He said ECOAWS wanted to institutionalise two terms in office for the Heads of State in the region but some wanted more dialogue, so the dialogue is on-going. He added: “You are as strong as your weakest link.”

The leadership problem in member states, from his perspective, is not ECOWAS as an institution, but the people. He cited the cases of Burkina Faso and Gambia where the people rose to change their circumstances. In response to the ECOWAS silence on Togo where President Faure Gnassingbe is perpetuating himself in power by changing the constitution into a so-called parliamentary system that would ensure his continuation in power, Musah asked rhetorically: “You talk about Togo, where are the forces in Togo?”

He regretted that apart from the big powers, “medium forces”, especially from the Middle East, are beginning to interfere in Africa.

Mr Paul Ejime, former war correspondent disagreed with Mr Musah on subversion of the constitutional process such as in Togo, saying nothing stops ECOWAS from taking a position in such a case.

Ambassador Juan Ignacio Sell of Spain, in giving a summary of the twin meetings, said the EU wants to get things right and is ready to review its past work. The meetings, he said, feed into the Schuman Security and Defence Forum of the EU and over 60 partner countries scheduled to hold from May 28-29, 2024 in Brussels.

As the Brussels Forum approaches, the question remains: For how long would African countries remain recipients of EU generosity especially when ‘there is no free lunch anywhere, not even in Freetown’?

‘For the modern Yoruba intelligentsia, Ifa is the index of Yoruba wisdom and cultural excellence”-Robin Horton 

Epega classifies into three groups, those interested in Ifa. 1) Professionals (Ifa priests and diviners. 2) Ifa Devotees-Worshipers. 3) Philosophers-wisdom and knowledge seekers 

‘Founded on the beliefs of the earliest Yoruba, Ifa was systematised during the Oduduwa Era. It is regarded as the repository of Yoruba traditional body of knowledge embracing history, philosophy, medicine and folklore”, So says Jacob Olupona ( Professor of divinity at Havard University). Wande Abimbọla added, It is our own encyclopaedia which is held orally. It is a testimony to the fact that the human brain can retain a lot of information without having to write anything. It was no surprise to learn about the severity and the protracted nature of the training required to get certified as Ifa priest. It consists of a pre initiation training which takes anything between ten and twenty years and another five years of post initiation training. But without olodumare, from whom all else emanated, there would have been no Orunmila and Ifa.

Olodumare is the unique, omnipotent and omniscient creator. Directly ranking under him is the Trinity of Qrunmila-Obatala-Exu. ‘Below this trinity are the other Orixa representing natural forces or spiritual ideas. Some are wrathful like Ogun, Xọngo, Xopono, A won Iyami (witches) says Abosede Emmanuel. Obatala is said to be at the top of this trinity symbolising the Yoruba adage that a tripod ensures stability and order (adiro meta kii da obe nu). In order to acquire this philosophical stability ‘man is taught by Ifa to observe the ethical rectitude of Obatala, to allow for the unpredictable element in life, represented by Esu and to approach problems with the wisdom of Orunmila’. It is from Obatala that the Yoruba derived the role ideation and perception of themselves as urbane, mature, gentled-natured people. (Bolaji Idowu).

Ifa is a victim, first and foremost, of colonialism and its inherent requirement to delegitimize the precolonial history of Africa. Jean-Paul Sartre calls it ‘the sinister strategy of erasing native identities in which the aim is to supplant Indigenous culture with the colonisers own, leaving the population in a vacuum of identity’. It is a measure of the success of this delegitimization that it was with considerable reluctance that I ultimately decided to enter it as a fit and proper subject of public communication beyond the rarefied precincts of academe. 

Now let us proceed with the most contentious of the lot, Esu. Orunmila is his closest friend and confidante who is distinguished for his habit to routinely mock himself and his friend. In a broadside at his friend, he said those of you going to request Esu to bless you with a house, have you forgotten that Esu himself has no house and lives permanently on the streets?.

The original damage to the reputation and locus standi of Esu was inflicted by the mischaracterization of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther in his mistranslation of the Bible to Yoruba language. In his relative ignorance and religious fervour, he wrongly equated the Biblical Satan with Esu.The tragedy of Crowther’s life was the racist refusal of the Anglican communion religious establishment to accept his elevation to the Bishopric. If Christianity was all virtue as he believes, he would not have suffered this rude awakening. 

That said, you have to understand the  context within which Crowther was operating. First, unless he was an initiate, his knowledge and understanding of  Esu was essentially limited. It is in the nature of those days that premium is placed on opacity and secrecy in contraposition to the universality of knowledge and information culture that we subsequently  inherited. Esu”is the neutral locus between good and evil as moral categories” and finds metaphorical analogy as ‘Inspector General of police who reports regularly to olodumare on the deeds of the divinities and men, everyone lives in dread of him lest he takes bad reports to Olodumare”.(Idowu). 

Èṣù láàlú does not have an English name just the way Ṣàngó, Ògún, Ọbàtálá, Ọ̀ṣun and others don’t have an English name. Èṣù is Èṣù! He is only a Messenger who delivers whatever messages he is sent,  be it positive or negative. Eṣù láàlú does not have all those bad features ascribed to the Biblical Satan. People should therefore stop judging Yorùbá Traditions, Customs, Beliefs and Spirituality as “Sinful”, in the Judeo-Christian  biblical sense. 

A subject-matter I bandy around a lot is the concept of autochthony. (Autochthony is the belief or claim that a group of people are indigenous to a particular land or region). So when we commend autochthony, we are saying that a state should derive from the indigenous society and that to the extent it does not, is the extent to which it will likely fail. For instance there was not a prior Nigerian society from which the Nigerian state originated and that it is the extent of this deviation that Nigeria has failed. On the other hand, a potential Yoruba state would have fulfilled the sociological requirement of autochthony because there is a prior indigenous Yoruba society from which it has evolved. It is in this respect that we talk of continuity and discontinuity. So there is state-society continuity in a potential Yoruba state which is lacking in the Nigerian state. To put it in the words of Chief Obafemi Awolowo “Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression. There are no ‘Nigerians’ in the same sense as there are ‘English,’ ‘Welsh,’ or ‘French.’ The word ‘Nigerian’ is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria and those who do not”

It is with regard to the Nigerian state-society discontinuity that I theorised that there is a psycho-cultural disconnect between the governing mores of the indigenous societies comprising Nigeria (on one hand) and the British-begotten values of the colonial legacy baby- the Nigerian state (on another). In many respects, you can no more psychically separate a European from Christianity than separate a Yoruba from the Yoruba cosmological order.This notion taps from Carl Jung’s analytical concept of the collective unconscious and the subconscious retention and transfer of collective institutional memory. Alexander Roob describes the phenomenon as “accumulated wisdom of the past” “a rich world of images which has etched itself into the memory of modern man, despite the fact that it is not available in public collections”

Flowing from the above is, as deterrence, for the Yoruba, the consequences of breaching his oath of office is more effectively conveyed by Ogun, the implacable Yoruba god of restitution than the Bible and Koran. To quote a Nigerian correspondent “They say when (It is said that if) you want an African to tell the truth, make the African swear to an indigenous divinity—not to the Bible or the Quran”. Pastor Tunde Bakare recalls, ‘To bring conclusiveness to the allegation, they called an ailala priest, with esoteric insight into how to catch a thief. He recited some incantations over a cup of water and asked everyone to drink from it. “Anyone who drinks this water and has stolen the money will die from a gunshot wound ” he warned. They all drank…Years later, Bayo, my nephew, who had stolen the money,  had gotten married and was a successful auto repair technician. One day, while testing one of the vehicles he had repaired, assassins who had been sent after the owner of the car, shot at him, mistaking him for the owner. Unfortunately, Bayo died..”.

The bad and good news is that while Ifa has travelled all over the world, Yoruba people, who are the real owners are ignorant about it because somebody brainwashed them.’There are white people who are now Babalawo and some of them have private jets from the practice.“ In New York, there are more than 2000 Babalawos and in Miami, there are more than 100,000. Some of them own banks and function in the legislative house. There are thousands of them in Cuba and other countries.”

The irony is that as African indigenous religion was steadily losing legitimacy and acceptance at home, a contrary trend ensued in the diaspora especially in South America where ‘African descendants in Brazil adopted the Yoruba religious culture (as Afro-Brazilian) and built an all embracing African identity around its universal character’. Could this be what Orunmila meant when he declared that ‘Ifa o le parun. Atelewo la ba ila, a o mo eniti o ko” (Ifa cannot lapse into extinction. The marks we bear on our palms, do we know how it got there?)

The trademark of Orunmila is a self-deprecating acknowledgement of his fallibility. We find a lot of this in his deference to Ori, the God of destiny. Here we go. “Ko si Orisha ti dani gbe lehin Ori eni ( no orisha can bless you without the concurrence and consent of your Ori). When his never-do-well, ward (Akapo) reported him to olodumare for not helping him to succeed in life. Orunmila explained to God that he had done all he could for Akapo but his Ori did not concur hence the futility of his intercession. On another occasion, he taunted “nigbati Ori n gbe ni, nibo ni orisha wa, e ba je ka fi orisha sile, ka bọ Ori eni ( when Ori was blessing you, where were the orishas, you had better forgo the orisha and worship your Ori). In their collective dread of Sango and self-mockery he said “orisha ti Sango o ba le mu, ere lo mo sa (whichever orisha that Sango cannot deal with, must be a good sprinter). Ipin ja ju oogun, ori je ju ewe lo (Ori supersedes any other spiritual intervention) Oogun lo ni ojo iponju, Ori loni ojo gbogbo (ifa may help alleviate momentary adversities, ori is the eternal guarantor of a fulfilled existence)

If the responsibility is accepted, the task is cut out for the Yoruba intelligentsia to take up the inevitable challenge of fostering the widening of the boundaries of ifa ownership through a programmatic iteration of its thematic and pedagogical emphasis on morality. Rationality demands that you need to understand precisely what is it you are running away from before taking to your heels otherwise you will ab initio be running blind. Let me now leave you with a prayer from Orunmila. Ihoho larin wa aiye, edumare ma je rin Ihoho pada sorun. Ekun lasun wa aiye, edumare ma je ki asunkun pada sorun. Inu eje la to waiye, edumare ma je ka to inu eje pada sorun (we were born naked, may we not return to heaven in nakedness. We were crying on arrival at earth, may we not return to heaven crying. We were delivered in blood, may it please edumare that we do not return in the midst of blood)