Pastors & Imams Come To Consult Ifa – Ifayemi Elebuibon -

Prominent ifa priest, Chief Ifayemi
Elebuibon in this interview with FEMI
MAKINDE shares his experiences as
a traditional priest
Which schools did you attend?
I did not attend any formal school. I
had all my education at home. Many
people erroneously believe that you
can’t be educated until you go to
school. I did not step into any
classroom to be taught anything. I
learnt Ifa at home and I learnt
reading and writing also at home
How long did you spend to learn Ifa?
I started learning from my father at
the age of four. My father later gave
me out to another priest who taught
me. I stayed there for 10 years and
six months. After that, I started
learning from my father’s colleagues
at different locations. I moved from
Ilobu to Ede, Ibadan and Oyo to add
to my knowledge of Ifa. Ifa
knowledge is extended, so you
continue to learn until you are dead.
Why have you not renounced Ifa
worship in this age when many are
being converted to Christianity and
Islam?
Despite that many are being
converted to these foreign religions,
we still have some people who are
embracing Ifa here in Nigeria and
even abroad. This is because the
knowledge of Ifa is spreading wide.
Before, very many people didn’t
know what Ifa was all about. Those
who brought these foreign religions
tried hard to rubbish Ifa and they
painted it black to make our people
accept their religions. Many people
are afraid of traditional religion and
they were not proud to associate
with African Traditional Religion.
But now some of those who attend
churches and mosques are now
embracing African Traditional
Religion. More people are now being
initiated in this religion. Lots of
Europeans and Americans are
coming to be initiated into Ifa
worship. Some people came from
United Kingdom recently to be
initiated into it. This is what early
missionaries rubbished to have their
religions spread to us but I am
happy that their offsprings are now
coming to embrace it.
How do you feel when people
equate Ifa with evil?
The early missionaries started this.
They brought civilisation and started
calling Babalawo witchdoctor and
painted them black to scare away
people from them. But now, nobody
calls Babalawo a witch doctor
anymore. Babalawo is an Ifa priest,
just like you have priests in churches
and Muslim clerics in mosques.
People still link occurrence of bad
things to Babalawo, maybe due to
what is shown in home vidoes. How
do you feel when this happens?
This is an erroneous belief of
Babalawo and Ifa. Babalawos are
not responsible for evil happenings.
They are the ones who shed light on
things which are not right. It is
wrong to say that Babalawos are the
ones responsible for bad things. We
will continue to enlighten people
about it. They are the ones putting
right what the evil ones have made
crooked. For example, when there is
no rain or there is famine, people
consult Ifa through Babalawo and
these problems are always solved.
So, Ifa is not wicked like they want
many to believe. All those involved
in acts of wickedness are not
Babalawos because no Babalawo will
engage in any evil act.
Apart from Nigerians, do you have
foreigners consulting Ifa through
you?
As I said earlier, some of those who
consult me are based abroad. They
make telephone calls almost
everyday. They send e-mails to me
asking me to consult for them and to
prepare sacrifices and to do other
things for them. I have a lot of
clients abroad.
How do you react to negative things
associated with traditional religion,
especially in Nollywoood videos?
When you are talking about
Nollywoood, you will realise that a
good number of those who write
their scripts don’t have a good
knowledge of Yoruba culture. A lot
of them disappoint us because they
are misleading many who watch the
films. But take a look at the works of
Prof. Akinwumi Ishola, Prof. Wole
Soyinka, Adebayo Faleti and others,
you will discover that their works are
different from all these because they
know what Yoruba culture is about
and they promote this in their
works. But some of the Nollywood
script writers and producers don’t
know much about Yoruba culture.
Christianity and Islam do have
converts; do you have those you
have converted from other religions
to traditional religion?
Yes, we do have people who were
Muslims and Christians and were
converted to traditional religion.
They are now coming back to the
religion of their forefathers. You
remember that the early
missionaries converted our fathers
from traditional religion to
Christianity and Islam but some are
now retracing their steps. They are
coming back to the religion of their
forebears. All families in Yoruba
land have one orisa they worship or
another. Anyone who says anything
contrary is either telling lies or
doesn’t know.
What do you use to convert them?
Some who had one problem or
another which could not be solved
in the church or in the mosque get
automatically converted when they
find cure in the traditional way. They
do refer some to us from churches
and mosques. Some of them whose
cases have no solution even with
orthodox medicine or through
prayers in church or mosque are
advised to come back to their roots.
When those come and find
solutions, it is not difficult to convert
them. There are prophets who tell
their members to go back to their
families and appease the gods their
ancestors worshipped. They come
back, a lot of aladura (white garment
church ) have been doing that. A lot
of Muslim clerics have been doing
that also. Some of those Muslim
clerics use Koran to deceive their
followers while they practise
traditional religion in secret. They
know a lot of herbs and other things
we do. That is the way it is.
Is there any rite to be performed on
anyone who wants to be converted
to traditional religion?
There are rites to be performed on
such persons. Such person will be
initiated. We will find out the Odu
that gave birth to him. We will find
out this through divination.
Have you killed anybody with your
charms before?
Why will I kill anybody? I don’t do
that, I have never killed anybody and
I will never kill. You see, Babalawo
don’t kill. Although Babalawo have
an immense power, they are capable
of doing so many things but killing is
against the rules in this religion.
There are things that are forbidden
here. It is wrong to blame killings on
the doorstep of Babalawo. Those
involved in killing may be oloogun-
ika (wicked people) Babalawo are
priests, just like you have Catholic
priests, Imams. We don’t use Ifa
divination and sacrifice to kill.
Sacrifices are offered for atonement,
for healing of diverse diseases and
ailments. But all the religions have
some parts they can use to do evil
things. There are portions like that
used by some wicked Muslims and
also the Seven Books of Moses are
used by some Christians to do evil.
All the religions have positive and
their negatives uses.
But will you kill if Ifa asks you to kill
anybody?
I have never killed and I am not
going to kill. Ifa will never ask you to
kill anybody. Some people want to
kill when they believe somebody is
blocking their progress. But there
are many ways to make yourself
unstoppable rather than seeking to
kill those blocking you. I have had a
lot of obstacles in life but what I do
is to consult Ifa and ask it to help me
to overcome such hindrances.
Have you ever snatched anybody’s
wife using your Ifa knowledge or
mysteries?
No. I have never done that. I
married all my wives the right way. I
know what you mean; it is called
‘ape’ or ‘ohunfa’. For example, if you
like a lady and want to marry her but
the lady does not want to marry you,
you use ‘ape’ to bring such lady to
your side but I have never done that
or snatched anybody’s wife.
Have you ever been attacked by
spirits or invincible forces?
I have enemies and there is no
doubt about that. There is nobody
who does not have enemies,
especially when one is successful.
There will be envy or jealousy and
other things but what you need to
do is to offer prayers and you will be
untouchable and unstoppable. That
is what I do. Back to your question,
demons or spirits have never
attacked me.
Traditional religion believers are not
always given recognition in public
functions, don’t you get annoyed
with this?
This happens from time to time but I
don’t like to argue in the public.
There are many functions I attend
and while they ask Christians and
Muslims to pray according to their
religions, traditional religion
believers are not recognised. I don’t
get annoyed. I just ignore it and
keep quiet. I know that raising such
issues could lead to crisis and I
don’t want that. I know that those
who do not recognise traditional
religion have limited knowledge.
Some people don’t want to hear
anything about traditional religion
and this shows how limited their
knowledge is. African traditional
religion believers are the most
peaceful people. We don’t fight the
Christians and Muslims who preach
against our religion. We know that
they are all descendants of the gods
and how do you expect a father to
be fighting against his children. That
is why we don’t fight them. They
come even to our houses and
preach against our religion and
abuse us but we don’t fight them.
They can’t take that because they are
not tolerant. But if anyone criticises
their religions, they cause a lot of
trouble. Have you ever seen any
traditional believer go to any church
and fight them there?
Do you think Ifa can assist in
curbing corruption that has become
endemic in Nigeria?
Corruption thrives in this country
because our people are afraid of the
truth. They are afraid of African
Traditional Religion. Let political
office holders and others in public
offices swear in the name of Ile
(earth). Some of them would say
they are Christians and Muslims and
would not swear in the name of
Ogun ( god of iron) or Sango ( gods
of thunder). I agree with them but
let everybody swear in the name of
Ile. We are all made from the soil
and we would return there. Let them
swear in this name and you would
see that corruption would stop. It
should be used in the private sector
as well. We will continue to live with
corruption unless we start doing
this. Corruption can’t stop with the
way we are fighting it. It will never
stop except somebody would just
descend from heaven and kill
everybody. We can’t see any change
going this way.
Can you recollect any occasion when
you were saved by Ifa?
There was a year I was invited to the
University of Ibadan for a
programme. On the day of the
programme, I was set to go and I
consulted Ifa to know how the
outing would turn out but it was
negative. I asked Ifa, “should I not
go for the programme? And it said,
no don’t go.” So, I cancelled the
outing and stayed back indoors. The
following day, somebody came and
brought a newspaper and I read
how those who attended the
programme were beaten and
molested. I couldn’t believe it; I had
to fetch the invitation card to
ascertain that the programme I was
invited to attend was the one
disrupted. I thanked Ifa because it
saved my life that day.
Do you have the power to
disappear?
I don’t have that power called
‘egbe.’ Anybody who has it can
disappear. But this is not to say that
I am not protected. I have maximum
protection, so I cannot be harmed.
Do you think that you could one day
be converted to Islam or
Christianity?
That one cannot happen. I have a
deep understanding of the Bible and
Quran and I also have a good
understanding of Ifa but I cannot
renounce Ifa. Christians and
Muslims scare people with hell fire
but I want you to listen to my CD on
who will go to hell fire. They say that
you will go to hell fire if you are not
a Christian or a Muslim, but I am not
afraid of hell fire because I am not a
wicked person. I know what you can
do that will take you to hell fire and I
don’t do such things. What will now
pursue me to be converted to
Christianity or Islam? There is no
problem that Ifa cannot solve. A lot
of Christians, even pastors and
Imams come to consult Ifa and use
Ifa to solve their problems. But
because we believe in fidelity, it is
forbidden for me to start mentioning
their names. It is confidential just
like medical doctors don’t disclose
the ailments of their patients to just
anybody. Pastors and imams come
to me and I prepare a lot of things
for them. I use my Ifa knowledge to
solve their problems. So, how am I
supposed to go to them? Just this
afternoon, a leader of a church came
here wearing a native dress, you
can’t know that he is a pastor but I
know.
Do you take orthodox drugs ?
You don’t know me. I take hot pap
with ‘agunmu’ (powdery dry herbs).
I spent the last three weeks in
Europe and I missed my agunmu so
much. I use ‘agbo’ (concoction of
herbs). I am almost 67 years old now
and I have never slept in any
hospital. I only undergo medical
checks and take vaccines whenever I
want to travel out of the country
because it is mandatory.
You travel abroad with your totems;
have you ever been embarrassed by
security agents at the point of entry
into any country?
I travel often to the United States
with my ‘opele’ and I have never
been troubled by anybody. They
respect your religious beliefs in
America. They would ask you if any
strange object is found on you and it
is your duty to explain to them. A lot
of white people come here and I
prepare ‘elegbara’ for them. They
declare it to security officials at
airports and they allow them to pass
with the objects. One of my clients, a
white man called Obakunle Akinlana,
came and I made elegbara for him
but they seized it from him at JFK
Airport and destroyed it. He sued
them and he claimed damages and
he was paid. I have never been
molested because of my religious
items but the only people who give
us serious headache are the animal
rights people. They don’t want you
to kill animals even for sacrifice.
Anytime we want to kill animals for
sacrifice abroad, we would go to the
basement and hide the animals from
people. There was an occasion in
New York about 12 years ago when
we wanted to prepare a sacrifice for
a lady and she came with the animal
we wanted to use. I was staying on
the third floor and we went to the
basement but the people on the
street saw her bring the animal into
the house: they called the police and
informed the animal rights
advocates. They came and asked us
about the animal but we denied
having any animal in our
possession. They searched
everywhere and found the animal at
the basement and took it away.
While they were searching, people
started gathering in front of our
house. There was a huge crowd and
journalists from various media
organisations were also there. I
don’t know what they would have
done to me if we had slaughtered
that animal before they arrived.
Despite the enforcement of animal
rights, a lot of African Traditional
Religion believers go to court to take
permission to kill animals based on
their religious beliefs. Even Muslims
in the United States go to a certain
place before they slaughter rams for
Eid-el-Kabir festivals. You can’t just
slaughter animals in the public.
But how would you feel if a law is
made stopping killing of animals?
That cannot happen here in Nigeria
because it is wrong. Killing animals
for sacrifice, for entertainment and
others is part of our culture. Killing
of animals cannot be stopped here;
such law would not work. Killing of
animals is not a sin.
How many of your children share
the same religious beliefs with you?
Maybe some of my daughters who
are married to Christians or Muslims
may be following their husbands in
whatever they believe. But they all
respect traditional religion and we
live harmoniously. But this happens
because wives must obey their
husbands. But there is nothing you
can get from the church or mosque
that you can’t get from Ifa. Talk
about healing or anything, you get it.
Many believe that Ifa divination is an
art of deceit. Do you agree with this?
That is what the missionary made
our people to believe. They use
everything to scare our people away
from the religion of their ancestors.
They say that traditional religion
believers use human beings for
sacrifice but they have forgotten that
there is no religion without sacrifice.
Jesus Christ used his blood as
sacrifice for Christians. Just last
week, Muslims slaughtered millions
of animals to replace Ismail that
Ibrahim was supposed to kill. These
foreigners use blackmail and fear to
lure away our people from their
religion to spread their own
religions.
How do you react to the Isese Day
declaration as a public holiday in
Osun State?
It is a very good decision. It is first
of its kind. I give kudos to the
governor for doing that despite that
he is a staunch Muslim. I implore
other governors in Kwara, Oyo, Ekiti,
Ondo, Lagos, Ogun to also emulate
Aregbesola and declare Isese Day in
their states.
Source: www.punchng.com/feature/life-
times/many-pastors-and-imams-secretly-
come-to-me-to-consult-ifa-ifayemi-
elebuibon-traditional-priest/

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