Olu of Warri (Photo: from the Guardian)
Christianity continues to bear the end-time wrath of a
desperate devil, as the Scriptures have fore-warned. On one hand are the constantly ongoing
unimaginable direct physical attacks, either as official state persecution in
the hand of repressive communist regimes
like North Korea, or dastard terror actions in
the hands of Islamic Jihadists, operating virtually all over the
world, However these attacks, though
terribly hurtful to individual Christians, only end up strengthening the
Christian faith in general. It is after
all quite true that the blood of the martyrs only goes on to fertilize faith!
Far
more detrimental to the faith, however, are the indirect assaults. In the western world, these are often in
forms of ideologies and practices stemming from the forces of secular humanism.
For instance, in Europe, America, Canada and elsewhere, ideas like atheism, evolution
theory, homosexuality and general immorality are dealing considerable blows to
Christianity. In the rest of the world
however, it is the religious forces of polytheism/paganism that is dealing much
havoc unto the Christian faith via the promotion of syncretism.
The secret behind the devastating effectiveness of
these indirect assaults is that they goad Christians to continue with their
faith, but only subtly demand “slight” modifications to the central tenets of
that faith. According to 1 John 4:4-5
however, nothing - not even the harshest direct persecution - could be more
fatal for a Christian than compromising on the faith! Instead of trying to endlessly appease these
forces by tampering with our core beliefs, (and thereby becoming Laodicean lukewarm),
what the Church ought to be doing is to highlight and speak boldly and clearly
against the multitude of profitless practices these forces promote.
The
latest demonstration of this kind of struggle in Nigeria comes from the city of
Warri. On Wednesday September 4, the
traditional king of the oil city (Olu of Warri) published “The New Order of
Iwere Kingdom” - a set of new rules to
govern religious practices in the palace.
The hottest point in the document was the King’s decision to renounce one
of his traditional titles, “Ogiame” –
which means ”King of the River.” In the
words of the royal father:
“I also repent for the name and title of Ogiame that
my ancestors and I have borne, as it connotes our allegiance to Umalokun
(goddess of the river) and other deities of the sea, all of which are false
gods.
“Today, I renounce our allegiance to Umalokun and other gods of the sea, land
and sky.
On behalf of the royal bloodline, the
throne, the people of Iwereland, I publicly enter into a new covenant with
God.”
The
outrage against the king’s declaration was momentous, and dominated national
news for days, Calls for his abdication
of the throne were freely made - even by professing Christians among his
courtiers!
The statement by The Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, summarises the position of
the opposition: “The part of the Olu’s statement which alleges that the
Itsekiri religion is fetish and that Itsekiris are non-Christians is a
misrepresentation of the well-known documented historical fact that
Christianity actually started in Warri/Benin region in the early 16th century
and about eight of the 19 Olus got baptised as Christians.
“Itsekiri
as a nation cannot be said to have covenant with Umalokun. There may be pockets
of Itsekiri people who do. Everyone has freedom of worship as it is done
everywhere. Religion is a personal matter.”
The reference to the 16th century kings who accepted Christianity but remained subservient to Umalokun is instructive. The King was able to maintain his position - until a protest march by an expected 5000 women was announced. (see details here: Peace returns to Warri as Olu embraces Ogiame title http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/national-news/132559-peace-returns-to-warri-as-olu-embraces-ogiame-title)
At
least the Olu of Warri has made his point, and hopefully, his subjects will
abide by the implied agreement that he will be personally free to worship God
the way he chooses. Furthermore, the public renunciation by the throne, (and
subsequent affirmation by the general citizenry) of any corporate allegiance to
the Umalogun is a positive development.
This
is a story that is constantly being played out in one location or the other all
over Africa. One of the first cases to gain national attention, at least in
recent times, was the celebrated case of the Obong of Calabar in March, 2001,
(see CA! Vol 7 No 3). One irony in these
stories is the contradictions inherent in the people insisting that their king
must accept he is a deity, while at the same time they insist he doesn’t know
enough to determine which other deities are worth the sacrifices and worship of
his people! If the people truly accept the king as deity, why can’t they also
accept he has more real insight, (not to talk of stakes) in these matters, than
them?
For
instance in Yorubaland, even though it is generally accepted that “any god that
does not justify the adoration given to it with tangible dividends should be
thrown to the bush” (royal fathers like the Ooni of Ile-Ife has had a constant
battle trying to put this to practice!), academic apologists of the dead gods
would insist that royal fathers (and as is even more common, high priests) who
take such decisions do not really know what is good for them or their people;
but must have been brainwashed. What
utter naivety!
Though
he has not asked that the title of Oluaye (Lord of the world) be removed from
his appellations, the Ooni over and over has repeated that he is mere mortal,
like any other person. But the
livelihood and relevance of some ‘experts’
depend on the royal father being a deity; and it should not surprise
anyone that these people, like their predecessors in the Bible (see for
instance Acts 16:19 and 19:24-25), would leave no stone unturned until the
“backsliding deity” return to accept he is a deity. They, of course, remain the
chief priests and managers! In Acts
14:11-19, the same people who were ready to sacrifice to the apostles Barnabas
and Paul turned round, almost immediately, to stone them to apparent death when those apostles insisted
they were mere mortals like other people!
As already stated, Christians make themselves
susceptible to these traditional forces when we uncritically accept the fallacy
that our culture (which of course must be preserved and promoted) is the same
as worshipping some ‘ancient’ deities -
slave-masters that kept our forbears in slavery for centuries. One of
the outspoken advocates of this concept is Jacob Olupona, Professor of
Comparative Religion at Harvard University, who in 2011 published a book on the
201/401 gods of Ile-Ife. The book (and
this is not exactly a review) is laced with heavy criticism of the Ooni for
denouncing his deity, and in particular his attributing protection and
deliverance during a particular episode, to the Almighty God. The criticism of the born-again Christian Olori (queen) was even more vicious and
flagrant. The book ended with an entire chapter devoted to reporting on an
interview with the Olori, portraying
her as a fanatic bent on polluting the palace.
The concluding chapter of the book was actually titled: “Ancient Orisa
and New Evangelicals Vie for the City of 201 Gods.”
One of the shocking aspects of the
book would be the author’s obvious inability to hide his deep contempt for
Christians who, simpletons that they are, could not appreciate the culture of
human sacrifice that is copiously demanded by the Ile-Ife 201 gods! (see page
64-66 of the book, City Of 201 Gods). There is obviously a wide gap in
perspectives if one were the gagged slave/stranger to be beheaded to appease
the protection-racketeers that most of the local gods were; or a man enjoying
considerable popularity and fame as the expert scholar in the field, operating
in the safe comfort of a foreign land, 9,000 km away! It is particularly interesting to note that
Jacob Olupona‘s dad was a Christian clergy in that same Ile-Ife, and by his own
admission, the author actually rode on the good name and deeds of his devout
Christian father to gain access to the traditional religionists. No blames being apportioned here, but it is
ironic that Prof Olupona is accusing Christians of abandoning the gods their
fathers worshipped yesteryears without any apparent dividends, whilst he
himself is abandoning (if he agrees with that) the God of his own direct
biological father Who obviously has delivered considerable dividends to that
eminent man.
The whole point being emphasized
here is that the negative impacts of the “ancient gods” on the land are
actually well known, and Christians should not allow apologists of these gods
to gloss over these serious issues. From
time to time, we continue to hear stories of youths (not necessarily
Christian!) demanding an end to the servicing of these ancient gods, on account
of the heavy price they exert of the society (e.g. unending unnatural deaths,
calamities, socio-economic stagnation, strives etc) which every local person
well understands is attributable to the worship of the local gods. While some
may smile at our article on the damaging impact on the involvement of Sango
during the All African Games (COJA) hosted by Nigeria in 2003, most people are
dead serious that Nigeria’s hosting of FESTAC in 1977 brought so much curse on
our then very prosperous country, that we are yet to be fully cleared of the
influence. (for COJA see www.churcharise.org/archives/6_6.pdf; and for FESTAC, see
http://churcharise.blogspot.com/2008/12/ten-years-of-holy-ghost-congress-joy.html).
We close this article with just one example of the
latest fiasco in this unending saga – happening as we go to the press. With the headline titled Pagans, Christians clash in Awka North LG, the Nigerian Tribune
reports that: “A bloody clash between
pagan worshippers and Christians in Oba-Ofemili community, Awka North LGA of
Anambra state led to the hospitalization of
over 50 persons with varying degrees of injuries, in the weekend of
September 21”. According to the Tribune:
“Houses, motocycles, cars, buses and household property were burnt down ….. as
the pagan worshipers had threatened to deal with Christian adherents, who
refused to join them in the festivity.”
The
report continues: “When contacted, the Regent of the community, Chief Anaelo
Nwanelo, said that the clash used to be an annual problem due to the festival
of the pagan worhsippers, as the pagans tried to force Christians to join them
amd regretted that peace efforts over the years by the leaders of the community
over the issue had proved abortive.” Tribune Wednesday 25 sept, 2013, pg 43. Coming
into national prominence in May was the notorious Ombatse cult in Nassarawa state,
with an agenda of drafting every Eggon tribesman into membership. (For further
reading, please see chapters 18 and 26 of Behold I come Quickly, Book 3).
