Book On African Ancestral Heritage

AFRICAN ANCESTRAL HERITAGE
IN
CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATIONS
A comparative study of African and Christian ancestral heritages, coupled with a

chapter on the state of African Christian theology
THIRD REVISION
Originally published by Department of Religion and Human Values, University of Cape

Coast, Ghana
Pius Oyeniran Abioje
i
ABOUT THE BOOK
African Ancestral Heritage in Christian Interpretations discusses basic African ancestral
heritages, including religious, philosophical, ethical, moral, sociological, and scientific
values that Africans must cherish and preserve before they all get evaporated into the thin
air of denigration of African ancestors/ancestresses. A comparative study of ancestral
veneration in African indigenous religion and culture, with particular reference to
Yorubaland, and the Catholic Church that venerates canonized saints as Christian
ancestors/ancestresses is the focus in the first part of this book, which includes review of
literature. The second part discusses African heritages and reviews the current state of
African Christian theology in its origins and various forms. What are the heritages
bequeathed by the African ancestors/ancestresses? Who are the beneficiaries of the
denigration of African ancestors/ancestresses: is it Christo-Islamic clerics or common
Africans who constitute the “members”, “flock”, “congregation”, ummah? Who are the
losers? All of us lose when we lack knowledge of the African traditional heritages that
enhance human life, spiritually, philosophically, medically, sociologically, and otherwise.
The advocates and opponents of African Christian theology are discussed as well. The
book is good for students and teachers of African and Christian studies, comparative
religious studies, and general study of religion and culture.
The expressions “African heritage” and “African heritages” have become familiar
apparently since the 1950s. But it is rare to find a book detailing what African heritages
are, systematically speaking. Where such details are found, they are usually nuanced with
ulterior motives of prejudice and denigration, if not demonization, even in this twenty-
first century. By comparing ancestral veneration in traditional Africa with Christian
veneration of saints, with particular reference to the Catholic Church, the book
recommends itself to students and teachers of African and Christian beliefs and practices.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pius Oyeniran Abioje, a former General Secretary to the Nigerian Association for the
Study of Religions (NASR), and current editor-in-chief, Ilorin Journal of Religious
Studies (IJOURELS), Department of Religions, University of Ilorin (Unilorin), Nigeria,
is Professor of Christian Studies. His background is African Traditional Religion (ATR)
and culture, and he is always relating his researches and publications to that worldview.
His Ph. D thesis on theological inquiry into ancestral veneration in Yorubaland compared
with Catholic Church veneration of saints, which he revised and expanded, constitutes the
foundation of this book. He takes special interest in comparative religious studies, with
particular reference to ATR, Christianity, and Islam.
ii
DEDICATION
I dedicate this book to my late parents, Mr. Oyinlọlá Àlàbí Abíó ̣jè ̣ and Mrs. Babáyẹmí
Òkúgbésàbí Abíó ̣jè ̣, together with relatives and forebears who made me proud of African
Traditional Religion and culture.
iii
CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION ix
I. Justification for this Book x

II. Research Method xii
III. The Structure of this Book
Notes for the Introduction
Part One
African Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland
and Sainthood in Roman Catholic Perspectives
Chapter One: Ancestral Veneration in Theological Literature 2

1.1. Ancestral Veneration as a Phenomenon in Human Life 2
1.2. Ancestral Veneration vis-à-vis Cult of Saints 4
1.3. Identification of Jesus Christ as an Ancestor 5
Notes for Chapter One
Chapter Two: Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland 10

2.1. Veneration of Ancestors/Ancestresses in Yorubaland 10
2.2. Criteria for Ancestral Designation in Yorubaland 13
2.3. The Place of Ìwà in Yoruba Anthropology 14
2.4. The Yoruba Understanding of Reincarnation 16
2.4.1. Metempsychosis: Forms of Living in the World after Death 18
2.5. The Yoruba Approach to Ancestral Veneration 19
2.6. The Ancestral Status of the Yoruba Traditional Divinities 21
2.7. The Ancestral Cults of Egúngún and Orò 21
2.7.1. The Egúngún Cult 22
2.7.2. The Orò Cult 23
2.7.2.1. Women Who See Orò 23
2.8. Diviners vis-à-vis Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland 24
Notes for Chapter Two
Chapter Three: The Catholic Church Sainthood and Ancestral Veneration 29

3.1. The Catholic Cult of Saints 29
3.2. History of the Process of Attaining Sainthood 30
3.2.1. Sainthood in Contemporary Perspectives 33
3.3. Abuses Relating to the Cult of Saints 34
3.3.1. Mary the Mother of Jesus in Catholic Perspectives 34
3.3.2. Modernisation of the Cults of Mary and the Saints by
the Second Vatican Council 35
Notes for Chapter Three
iv
Chapter Four: Afro-Christian Theology and Ancestral Veneration 39
4.1. The Church’s Vocation to Holiness of Life 41
4.2. Prophecy in the Old and New Testaments 43
4.3. Diviners, Prophecy and Discernment 44
Notes for Chapter Four
Chapter Five: Observations, Recommendations, and Conclusion 50

5. 1. Forging Human Unity in a Religiously Pluralistic Society 51
5.2. Fear about Ancestral Veneration in Africa 51
5.3. Christian Ancestors/Ancestresses, Prophets and Diviners 52
5.4. Ancestral Veneration in Afro-Christian Theologies 54
5.5. The Future of Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland 54
5.6. Recommendations: Towards Appropriate Approach to Ancestral Veneration 56
5.7. Conclusion 57
Notes for Chapter Five
v
Part Two
African Ancestral Heritage and
African Christian Theology
vi
Chapter Six: The Divinity of African Ancestors/Ancestresses 60
Prologue: Recapitulation of a Centenarian 60
6.1. Definition of African Ancestors/Ancestresses 61
6.1.1. Categories of African Ancestors/Ancestresses 62
6.2. Canon for Ancestral Designation in Africa 63
6.3. The Relevance of African Ancestors/Ancestresses 65
6.3.1. Viewing African Ancestors/Ancestresses as Intermediaries 66
Notes for Chapter Six
Chapter Seven: The Content of African Heritage 69

7.1. African Traditional Religion 69
7.2. The Resilience of ATR 71
7.2.1. ATR, Human Sacrifice, Harmony and Resilience 72
7.2.2. Divination 73
7.2.3. Women Priesthood in African Traditional Religion 75
7.2.4. Interrogation of African Religiosity 76
7.2.5. Traditional Africans Build no Special House for God 77
7.2.6. Continual Demonization of ATR 77
7.3. African Magical Arts 78
7.4. Family and Social Cohesion in Traditional Africa 79
7.4.1. Christian Objection to Polygamy 79
7.4.2. The Value of African Extended Family System 81
7.5. Africa’s Philosophical Heritage 81
7.6. Africa’s Artistic Heritage 84
7.7. Traditional African Scientific Heritage 85
7.7.1. African Magic as Science 89
7.7.2. The Scientific Nature of African Traditional Medicine 89
7.7.3. Science and Technology in Traditional African 90
7.8. Africa’s Morality Heritage 91
7.8.1. The Vessels of African Morality 93
7.9. African Political Heritage 96
7.10. African Agricultural Heritage 97
Notes for Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight: African Heritage in Contemporary Perspectives 102

8.1. The Advocates of African Heritage 102
8.2. Denigrators of African Heritage 105
8.2.1 Neo-Colonialists 105
8.2.2. Christian and Muslim Missionaries 105
8.3. The Future of African Heritage 108
Notes for Chapter Eight
vii
Chapter Nine: The State of African Christian Theology 112
9.1. African Christian Theology: A Definition 112
9.2. Understanding the Concept of “Third World” 113
9.3. Types of African Christian Theology 114
9.4. The Advocates of African Christian Theology 115
9.5. African Christianity is not Westernized Christianity 116
9.6. The Authenticity of African Christian Theology 117
9.7. The Pioneers of African Christian Theology 118
9.8. Objections to African Christian Theology 119
9.8.1. Opposition to African Christian Theology of Inculturation 119
9.8.2. Opposition to African Liberation Theology 121
9.9. Feminist Liberation Theology 124
Notes for Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten: Religion in Contemporary African Perspectives 128

10.1. Sanctimonious Sanctity and Religious Triumphalism 128
10.2. Africa under Christian and Muslim Domination 130
10.3. Religion and Idolatry 131
10.4. Religion and Neighbour 132
10.5. The Concept of Religious Superiority 132
10.6. The Christian and Islamic Status of Africa 133
Concluding Remarks 134
Notes for Chapter Ten
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am eternally grateful to God for the African traditionalists who raised me during
my infancy and primary school years. What I learnt from them remains the foundational
blocks on which I have continued to build. I am grateful to all those who granted me
interview, many of them elders in the 1990s who by now have transited to the great
beyond. May God grant them eternal life.
I appreciate in a special way the previous writers whose books I learnt from, or
quoted and contended in this work. They provided me the necessary raw materials for
constructing this book.
I am grateful to God for my students who raised questions, and contributed to my
knowledge, through our learning together in class, at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Major
Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan, 1994-2000, and University of Ilorin, 2001 till date. I also
benefitted from their answering my examinations' questions.
The opportunity offered me for Sabbatical leave, by University of Cape Coast
(UCC), Ghana, in Department of Religion and Human Values, and supported by
University of Ilorin, afforded me the opportunity to revise and expand my PhD thesis into
a full fledged book. That Department gave me fullness of encouragement, special thanks
to Prof Eric Botey Anum, who read the book and wrote the Forword.
Rev. Fr. Dr. Nnamdi Anacletus Odoemene, who was the Supervisor of my M. Th.
dissertation, opened my eyes to research crafting. I was lucky to have Rev. Fr. Dr. Luke
Nnamdi Mbefo as my PhD thesis Supervisor. His openness of mind made a critical thesis
possible in a Roman Catholic setting. The contributions of each of the duo toward
making me a researcher still ring in my memory. They, along with my other past
teachers, laid the foundation on which I am building.
Rev. Fr. Dr. Justin S. Ukpong (of blessed memory) who died as a Professor of
Biblical Theology guided me to choose my PhD topic. Rev. Fr. Dr. Augustine Udeaja
Nebechukwu (of blessed memory) also made great impact on me, academically.
I thank my American friends, particularly Rosemary Curcio (formerly Caruso),
and the late Rev. Fr. Dr. Anthony Casey (of blessed memory), who together with
Rosemary fixed the interview that I had with Rabbi Jonas Javna. I appreciate my other
half, Florence Ọláté ̣jú Abíọ́ ̣jè ̣, for piloting the home front, while I was in Ghana. I know
she would say: To God be the glory.
Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Department of Religions, University of Ilorin, December 10, 2021.
INTRODUCTION
Thirdly, the eyes of African peoples, especially scholars,

are being opened to the fact that they have a certain God-
given heritage which has its own intrinsic values with
which is bound the destiny of their racial soul. These values
they are seeking to recover or refurbish. This is the
meaning of the philosophies of identity known as
‘négritude’, ‘African personality’, etc., with their
counterparts in Black Power, Black Religion, etc. (E.B.
Idowu)1.
ix
I. Justification for this Book
There is something fundamentally wrong with the assumption that everything that
can be known about African Traditional Religion (ATR) and culture has been written.
This book demonstrates that some of the things that have been written, even by some
respected scholars, are not all totally correct; that “everything” will never be written, and
that knowledge will remain a continual search, as long as human life is dynamic as a flux.
Only one example may suffice at this juncture. Lubbe assumes that:
No longer is African Religion subjected to foreign nomenclature, seen as a

peculiar remnant of African culture of yesteryear, or even passively
writing for its adherents to be proselytized by other religious traditions on
the African continent. It is presented as a religious tradition in its own
right with its own original contribution toward peace and stability in
African society at large.2
Of course, saying that “African Religion is no longer subjected to foreign nomenclature”

represents a goodwill assumption on the path of Lubbe, but that is only a holy wishful
thinking in many African countries dominated by Christians and Muslims. As Conteh
notes, “In sermons and songs, the Church continues to dismiss traditional practices as
heathenish, and in some places has refused to encourage any form of dialogue with
African traditionalists.”3 In Nigeria, to buttress Conteh’s point, the Nigeria Inter-religious
Council (NIREC) is composed of only Christian and Muslim representatives, from
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic
Affairs (NSCIA), glaringly excluding ATR. Consequently, different forms of
exclusiveness trail Nigeria, making her a non-cohesive nation, especially as diverse
Christian and Muslim denominations also indulge in mutual exclusion based on
majority/minority parameter. Moreover, dramas in Christian and Muslim schools portray
African traditional diviners and healers as “powerless powers” to promote Christo-
Islamic alternatives.
Beyond all of that, Christians and Muslims sometimes gang up to prevent ATR
adherents from celebrating some of their festivals, such as those that require women to
stay indoor for some hours, and those that forbid drumming and noise-making. Naturally,
confrontation and violence often ensue wherever the ATR adherents find themselves
strong enough to resist assaults. Conteh notes further that, “Unfortunately the staunchest
upholders of Euro-American Christian traditions are usually African church leaders and
scholars.”4 The same is true of African Muslim leaders and scholars who are promoting
Islamic/Arabic traditions. Thus, the need to provide update on African ancestral heritages
cannot be overemphasized. The present and future generations of Africa, at least those
who care would not want to lose sight of what the Africans’ forebears really bequeath,
even as Christianity and Islam have become overwhelming major religions, seeking to
x
exterminate the heritages. This book focuses on African and Christian traditions, but
mentions Islamic connections where applicable.
Many expert researchers have left behind much valuable literature. This research
adds some updates and engages some of the earlier researchers’ submissions found not to
emanate from the repositories of African cultural knowledge on some of the issues
discussed in this book. The reader will be the final judge, of course. An example is when
Awolalu terms Orò festival in Yorubaland as “an indigenous cult which for ages had
filled Yoruba women with fear.”5 Yet, that description only represents Awolalu’s own
prejudice against ATR, as a scholar who doubles as a Venerable in his (Anglican or
Methodist) Church. What Orò divinity signifies for the traditional Yoruba is amply
discussed in this book. Even as women are kept indoors during the festival, since they
must not see Orò, they chant his eulogies and sing his praises, because he is regarded as
father to everybody, male and female. It is therefore preposterous, a misinterpretation, to
claim that Orò fills Yoruba women with fear.
In 2014, my Ph. D thesis, “A Theological Enquiry into Ancestral Veneration in
Yoruba Land”, submitted to University of Calabar, Nigeria, in 1999, through the Catholic
Institute of West Africa, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, revised and expanded, with the title:
African Ancestral Heritage in Christian Interpretations was published by Department of
Religion and Human Values, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The book has now gone
through further revision and expansion to make this second edition a richer/better book
for religion and theology students, teachers, and others interested in Afro-Christian
studies. For instance, the chapter on the controversy surrounding ATR’s nomenclature is
new and concise. I have included some subheadings also, such as on women priesthood
in ATR, and another on how some African scholars (not just foreign missionaries) malign
ATR.
The title African Ancestral Heritage in Christian Interpretations remains apt. I
delved into ancestral heritage to complement my PhD thesis on ancestral veneration in
Yorubaland and in the Catholic Church. African ancestral heritage includes ATR and
other cultural elements, such as magic and medicine. I discuss some of what I find to be
the most important components of African heritage in this book. I did the work as a
Christian theologian highly interested in the African heritage, and the book thus contain
update in African Christian theologies, basically inculturation and liberation theological
perspectives.
A lot of encouragement came from the commendations that my PhD thesis
received from both the internal and external examiners. My students in SS Peter and Paul
Catholic Major Seminary , Bodija, Ibadan (1994-2000); University of Ilorin (2001 till
date), and University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana, where I spent my sabbatical leave,
2013/2014 session, also gave me a lot of encouragement to work hard and publish this
book. My UCC colleagues gave me moral and academic support. Some students'
questions, reactions, comments, and contributions in class aided my knowledge and
guided my thoughts. I am myself a life student, because I live on teaching, and I keep
learning from people, as well as from books.
xi
II. Research Method
This book is historical, not theoretical, in the sense that it discusses what took
place or was taking place within time and space. Of course, religion, which is the main
issue in this book, has to do with belief, which is theoretical in nature, but this study is
not based on any hypothesis and theory in the social science sense, rather what people
said or were saying; did or were doing. Lasisi notes that:
Theoretical or conceptual categorisation is possible in such disciplines as

Literature where such literary theories or models as American New
Criticism, Archetypalism, Feminism, Postcolonialism and Structuralism
exist. Here, the reviewer analyses the chosen theory in terms of its
elements and shortcomings. Analysis should also include previous
positions of earlier reviewers or critics. The same approach will be taken
in Language and Linguistics where theories or definitive models of
analysis can be applied, for instance, to different aspects of Grammar,
Graphology, Morphology, Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics. Such
method of analysis can also be applied to Archaeology where there are
such investigative themes as Origins of Iron Smelting, Ethnography and
Urbanization. In history, however, there does not exist a body of theories
that can be used as tools of analysis. Rather, there are perspectives,
general ideas and conclusions on several issues and topics.6
In the same vein, Idowu writes that “In our (religious – emphasis mine) field, there will
be many alluringly clamorous and fanciful things; but since our quest is the truth, we
must reject everything else, however tempting or sensational, which does not minister to
the truth”, such as “finding facts to fit in with certain theories.”7 Indeed, I don’t know any
theory propounded by Thomas Aquinas, Karl Barth, Avery Dulles, E. G. Parrinder,
Charles Nyamiti, John S. Mbiti, E. Bolaji Idowu, John S. Pobee, Albert Nolan, Dermot
Lane, among prominent theologians and religious scholars familiar to me. Miller, a social
scientist, writes that “When theory and data intertwine and research strengthens theory,
social study becomes social science.”8 That tends to confirm the fact that even though we
study society, scientifically in the sense of objectivity, what we are doing in the
humanities, such as in history and religious studies, is not social science in a conventional
sense. This book is theoretical only in the sense that it is philosophical or reflective, as it
reflects critically on its data. Kothari argues that academic research “does not rule out
creative thinking”, only it rejects “the use of guessing and intuition in arriving at
conclusion.”9 I agree wholly with Kothari’s point on “guessing”; only partially in respect
of “intuition”, since intuition can lead to a scientific/technological discovery.
The historical-critical approach, which is phenomenological characterises this
book. The materials were gathered through library consultation and field research
principally in Yorubaland; also in Brooklyn, New York, USA, where I spent every
summer, 1996 to 2001; including when I spent one month in Senegal under the auspices
of CODESRIA (Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa)’s
Democratic Institute, 2008; and one year Sabbatical leave in University of Cape Coast,
Ghana, 2013/2014 academic session.
xii
In verbatim quotation of materials, I stick to the original spellings and
expressions. The field research was in forms of interview, as well as participant
observation of African religious activities in Yorubaland, including festivals and cultural
elements, such as divination and testing of charms. I bring to bear some knowledge of
Yoruba traditional philosophical and theological sayings, songs and chants that I acquired
from infancy through adulthood. The interviews were formal and informal; formal in the
sense that written questions were formulated and appointments were fixed and purposeful
visitations were made; informal refers to occasions when I took advantage of chance
meetings to get people share their knowledge with me on any issue I discussed in this
book.
I could not collect the names of my informal interviewees, as it was not expedient.
I benefitted from my students-teacher interactions of more than two decades. In any
event, whether reading or listening, I applied critical reflection to my data. Of particular
comparative nature is the section on ancestral veneration in Yorubaland as corresponding
to Catholic veneration of saints who are regarded as Christian ancestors/ancestresses.
The language of this book is inclusive, as it was mandatory for my Ph. D thesis.
Anything found to the contrary would be a quotation, or an oversight on my part. Hence,
“ancestors/ancestresses”, rather than simply “ancestors”, for instance, where the inclusive
“ancestral” is not used. I am aware that nowadays, some academic journals and
publishers also insist on inclusive language, towards a more conscious equal recognition
for men and women. Although I use inclusive language, I do not subscribe to emphasis
on “equality”, but “complementarities” of men and women; the perception that man and
woman complement each other, and so, there should be mutual respect and appreciation
in marriage in particular. The Yoruba say, Àìfàgbà f’é ̣nìkan niò jáyé ó gún – the world is
chaotic where people refuse to submit to a leader.
III. The Structure of this Book
This book is in two parts. Part One discusses ancestral veneration in international
perspectives, in review of literature, which reveals what ancestral veneration represents
within and outside of Africa. That is followed by ancestral veneration in Yoruba
perspectives and as related to the Catholic cult of saints, since the saints are regarded as
Christian ancestors/ancestresses. Part One answers questions, such as: Is ancestral
veneration peculiar to traditional Africans? What values are embedded in ancestral
veneration? Do traditional Africans merely venerate or do they also worship their
ancestors/ancestresses? Does ancestral veneration not contradict Christian faith in God?
Are ancestorship and sainthood related; if so, how; if not, why? How are saints canonized
in the Catholic Church? Is it true, that a childless person cannot be recognized as an
ancestor or ancestress in traditional Africa? What are the criteria for designating
someone as an ancestor/ancestress in Yorubaland, for instance? Do the Yoruba believe in
reincarnation because of Babátúndé (the dead grandfather has returned) and Ìyábọ̀ (the
dead grandmother has returned), for instance? There is nothing better than for a reader to
keep open mind.
In Part Two, the discussion shifts from being centered on Yoruba veneration of
ancestors/ancestresses vis-à-vis the Roman Catholic veneration of saints to looking more
globally into veneration of ancestors/ancestresses in Africa. It discusses the controversies
xiii
surrounding ATR as a nomenclature, and examines the divinity of African
ancestors/ancestresses against the backdrop of the impression that traditional Africans
lack authentic knowledge of God. This part discusses some important African heritages,
some of which have been regarded as barbaric, superstitious, satanic or demonic, etc.,
which require a scholar to know what they represent for African forbears and how some
contemporary Africans and non-Africans appreciate them and avail themselves of them,
spiritually, medically, artistically, etc.
Some of the questions addressed in Part Two include: What is the appropriate
name for Africa’s primal religion; should it be ATR; ATRs; “African Religion”; “African
Religions”, or another name? Then: Who are African ancestors/ancestresses? What is the
content of African heritage? Are traditional Africans more religious than other peoples?
Is it really a sin for a Christian or anybody else to engage in occult practices? Are the
advocates of African Christian Theology of Inculturation not trying to promote
syncretism, distort and deface Christianity as we know it; what are the arguments? Is one
religion superior to all the others; or, are there superior religions? Why do some
Christians (and Muslims) continue to use derogatory names for ATR and culture? Etc.
Some old answers are challenged in this book.
Notes for the Introduction

1
Idowu, E. Bolaji, African Traditional Religion: A Definition. London: SCM Press Ltd.,
1973, reprinted 1978, p. x.
2
Lubbe, Gerrie, “Forward” to Prince S. Conteh, Essays in African Religion and
Christianity. Accra: CYNERGY: Media ENT, 2014, p. x.
3
Conteh, Prince S. Essays in African Religion and Christianity. Accra: CYNERGY:
Media ENT, 2014, p.131.
4
p. 148.
5
Awolalu, J. Omosade, “Traditional Religion in Nigeria: A Liturgico-Cultural
Viewpoint”, in J.A Atanda, Garba Ashiwaju, and Yaya Abubakar (eds.), Nigeria Since
Independence: The First 25 Years Volume IX: Religion. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational
Books (Nig.) Ltd., 1989, p. 32.
6
Lasisi, R.O., “Literature Review”, in H.A. Saliu, J.O. Oyebanji, and A. Jimoh (eds.),
Basic Issues in Research Methodology. Faculty of Business and Social Sciences,
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, 2005, pp. 42-43.
7
Idowu, E. Bolaji, Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief. Ikeja: Longman Nigeria Plc, 1996,
p. 1.
8
Miller, Delbert C., Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement (Fifth
Edition). London: Sage Publications, The International Professional Publishers, 1991,
p.5.
9
Kothari, C.R., Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (Second Revised
Edition). New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers, 2012, p. 20.
xiv
1
PART ONE
AFRICAN ANCESTRAL
VENERATION
AND
SAINTHOOD IN ROMAN
CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVES
1
CHAPTER ONE
ANCESTRAL VENERATION IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE
What scholars have written on the subject of ancestral veneration is studied under
three sub-headings: ancestral veneration as a human phenomenon; the Christian cult of
saints as related to ancestral veneration; and how scholars have identified the Lord, Jesus
Christ, as an Ancestor, and as a Proto-Ancestor. Through this brief survey, one had hoped
to gain ideas and vocabulary from theologians, which could help to shape this study to
arrive at its goal, as best as one could. This chapter emanates from my PhD thesis review
of literature. I was guided to indicate the books being reviewed. I have retained that
original format here. Somehow, indicating the books within the text has the advantage of
getting the reader to see a larger picture than otherwise possible when indicated only at
the end. The discourse opens with the scholars who argue that appreciative peoples
worldwide venerate their ancestors/ ancestresses.
1.1. Ancestral Veneration as a Phenomenon in Human Life
In a report: “Ancestor Worship Discussed at Synod” (the Synod of Catholic

Bishops for Asia, 1998), it is stated that two Vietnamese Bishops argued, in the papers
they delivered at the Synod, that “the Catholic church alienated most Vietnamese when
its missionaries insisted people stop venerating their ancestors as they had done for
centuries.” According to the report, Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu, the Apostolic
Administrator of Hue, observed that “the cult of the spirit, animism, is the oldest and
most widespread religion in Vietnam and... the ancestor cult is its most essential
element.” The Archbishop explains further that “even the communists worship their
ancestors.” Similarly, Bishop Barthelemy Nguyen Son Lam of Thamh Hoa is quoted as
maintaining, in the (same) report, that “In Vietnam, the ban against worship of ancestors
imposed on the Christians for centuries had the effect of estranging them from that which
is the very foundation of Vietnamese society.”1 That makes it obvious that it is not only
traditional Africans who are passionate about their ancestors/ancestresses, and the
Christian negative approach to traditional practices, such as ancestral veneration, appears
universal.
What the Vietnamese Bishops were emphasizing about the Vietnamese people,
may appear true of many peoples elsewhere. In the preface to the book: Fathers of the
Church, by Wuerl, John Cardinal Wright notes that "All men are bound to their ancestors
by the gratitude and reverence that is 'piety', the virtue that links us to our origins as does
family piety, patriotic piety, even the piety we owe to God...." 2 Speaking for Africans,
Fortes, in an essay titled: "Ancestor Worship in Africa", observes that "it has long been
recognised that ancestor worship is a conspicuous feature of African religious system."3
Yet another scholar, Gwembe, in his "Ancestors in African Culture" notes that:
In all the black-African societies, the relationship of the living with

the dead, and in particular with the ancestors is the aspect to which
the African is most devoted. It is without doubt the crucial point of
African culture, and because of this, the most important heritage."4
2
The implication of all that is that traditional Africans, like most other peoples elsewhere,
appreciate their indebtedness to their forebears, through whom God brought them into
life, and who nurtured them and served as their foremost primary teachers.
The issue of heritage has also been severally raised, regarding why people
venerate and worship their ancestors/ancestresses. That much could be deduced from
what a European theologian, Kasper, writes about heritage of tradition, in his: The
Method of Dogmatic Theology. He observes that "No one starts from scratch”, rather,
“The heritage of tradition situates us within a very definite horizon of truth." 5 That is
confirmed, from the African point of view, by Mbuy, in his: Understanding Witchcraft
Problems in the Life of an African: Case Studies from Cameroon, where he states that:
"Two pillars hold the African concept of life - a sense of community belonging and
reverence for tradition."6 Of course Africans, like other peoples, generally speaking, owe
their sense of community belonging (otherwise called civilization) and tradition to their
ancestors/ancestresses. Writing specifically about ancestral veneration, Onwubiko, in his
Echoes from the African Synod: The Future of the African Church from Present and Past
Experiences, notes that “The sense of community, communion, solidarity and
representation are among the things that make ancestor veneration central to the African
heritage.”7 Obviously, the recognition of common descent from the same
ancestors/ancestresses can elicit solidarity and mutuality, even though that recognition is
not always feasible in today’s individualistic world.
That is as far as one can go for now, on scholars and ancestral veneration as a
phenomenon in human life. It is pertinent to note how scholars use ancestral worship and
ancestral veneration as synonymous terms. Wright (above) tends to justify this practice
when he identifies family piety with religious piety, and the virtue of piety which one
owes to God. Similarly, most of the scholars identify ancestral veneration as a religious
act, or even as a religion in some contexts. Writing on Basotho (African) ancestral
veneration, Lapointe, in The Church and African Culture: Conference Papers, observes
that Catholics cannot have difficulty in accepting that Africans worship their ancestors,
because for them (Catholics) the word is used analogically. As he notes, the Catholic
Church distinguishes three types of worship:
1. Latria (a Latin word from the Greek "Latreia."): worship of adoration, used only
for God,
2. Dulia (Latin from the Greek "douleia," slavery or state of serving): worship or
veneration of saints,
3. And hyperdulia (again a Latin word from Greek "hyper" and "douleia"): worship
of Blessed Virgin or veneration of a higher degree than dulia.9
What Lapointe is saying matches what obtains in African Traditional Religion (ATR)
and, possibly, many other traditions, since Africans and many other peoples rarely equate
anybody or any other being with God. The Supreme Being (God) is absolutely unique
and enjoys the highest honour possible, apparently worldwide, if not in the estimation of
every individual person. In ATR context, Latria pertains to God, hyperdulia to the
divinities, and dulia to the ancestors/ancestresses. It seems that those who lack the
knowledge of this distinctions prefer to say that traditional Africans do not worship their
3
ancestors/ancestresses, and that they only venerate them, while the people themselves use
the word “worship” (e.g. bọ in Yoruba) to describe what they do.
1.2. Ancestral Veneration vis-à-vis Cult of Saints
The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), while addressing the
saints as Christian ancestors (in Lumen Gentium, no.51), already created an opening into
the discussion here. Wright does the same, when he refers to the Fathers of the Church as
ancestors, in the book earlier cited. Nevertheless, identifying saints as
ancestors/ancestresses is not limited to the Catholic Church. Ọṣọ notes in his book:
Lectures on West African Traditional Religion, for instance, that “what has been called
the ancestor worship is only a means of communion and communication with those
already departed from earth.”9 That is reminiscent of the Christian belief about
communion or cult of saints, and the union of the church militant with the church
triumphant. Imasogie also observes in his work, African Traditional Religion that "The
rationale behind ancestral worship is the belief in the continuity between the dead and the
living." He explains that Africans believe that as the earthly parents provide for and
protect their children, so they are expected to continue in greater measure in the spirit
world. This means in reality, according to Imasogie, that "the survivors are never cut off
from the protection of their deceased parents."10 Indeed traditional Africans are generally
known for paying homage to the ancestors/ancestresses.
The foregoing rhymes with Mbiti's concept of "the living dead," in his book:
African Religions and Philosophy. He describes the living dead as a "person who is
physically dead but alive in the memory of those who knew him or her in this life as well
as being alive in the spiritual world."11 The spiritual world, in African perspective, as
Healey and Sybertz note, in their book: Towards an African Narrative Theology, "is
populated with different spiritual beings: divinities, associates of God, ordinary spirits
and the living dead."12 Apparently, that is correct, but “associates of God” should not
mean that God has equals or that He is primus inter pares (first among equals), since that
would be a clear misrepresentation of ATR.
Awolalu, in his Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial Rites, expresses some reservation
about Mbiti's concept of “the living dead”, insisting that it implies an “apparent
contradiction.” He explains that what Mbiti means is clear enough and acceptable in
itself, but that that does not rule out what he (Awolalu) terms apparent contradiction in
“the living dead” expression. As a corrective, Awolalu prefers the expression of “Talbot”,
to the effect that for Africans, “the dead are not dead but living.” 13 Yet, one would think
that the “apparent contradiction” is still obvious in the latter formula as well, namely,
“the dead are not dead…..” There seems to be no difference between “the dead are not
dead but living” and Mbiti's “the living dead”, if indeed half a word is enough for the
wise. The difficulty portrays the limit of human language to say precisely everything that
we know or believe. What both Mbiti and Talbot are saying is that for Africans, and I do
not think it is limited to Africans; death is not the end of human beings, but a transition
into a spiritual realm where the dead can become transcendent, being both there in
heaven and here in the world, as applicable to spiritual beings.
With regard to the involvement of ancestors/ancestresses in the affairs of their
people who are in the world, Jacobs notes in his book: A Textbook on West African
4
Traditional Religion, that "the living dead are the best group of intermediaries between
God or the divinities and their own children." He refers also to the community aspect,
explaining that traditional Africans believe it is the duty of the ancestors to help ensure
peace of the community14. That is reminiscent of the Council of Trent, which teaches
that:
The saints, who reign together with Christ, offer up their own
Prayers to God for men; that it is good and useful suppliantly to
invoke them, and have recourse to their prayers, aid and help for
obtaining benefits from God, through His son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is our alone Redeemer and saviour.15
The Second Vatican Council re-emphasises the same point, elaborately in Lumen
Gentium, no. 50. Therein, the Fathers of the Council note that the saints, together with the
Blessed Virgin Mary and the holy angels, are closely united with the faithful in Christ,
with a special love. The Church has, therefore, asked piously for the help of their
intercession.
In view of the fact that scholars are already establishing similarities between
ancestral veneration and cult of saints, the Special Assembly of the (Catholic) Synod of
Bishops for Africa (Rome, 1994), far from legislating against ancestral veneration,
accorded it its blessing. That, however, was not without a cautionary note. As Onwubiko
reports in his book: Echoes from the African Synod: The Future of the African Church
from Present and Past Experiences, the Assembly expressed some reservation. In the
words of Onwubiko:
The final proposals of the Synod Fathers to the Pope defended

African traditional religious heritage, especially ancestor veneration.
This is a very big break-through for inculturation. Therefore,
according to the Brooklyn Tablet: On another inculturation topic,
one proposition recommended that as long as precautions are taken
not to diminish worship of God or veneration of saints, ancestor
veneration be permitted with proper liturgies.16
No such liturgy has been drafted to the best of my knowledge. What follows from here is
how theologians have identified the Lord Jesus Christ as an Ancestor, and as a Proto-
Ancestor, towards a Christian inculturation of ancestral veneration in Africa.
1.3. Identification of Jesus Christ As An Ancestor
The Nigerian Journal of Theology of May, 1991, carries a contribution,

"Christological Trends in Contemporary African Theology", by Onaiyekan. In that paper,
Onaiyekan presents what may pass for a historical summary of African ancestral
Christology. He explains that Jesus Christ is being viewed as an ancestor by some
African theologians, especially from East and Central Africa, possibly because, according
to him, ancestral veneration plays a key role in the traditional religious life of those
places. Christ is, therefore, presented by the theologians as the principal ancestor. 17 Be
5
that as it may, this review of literature has demonstrated (above) that veneration and
worship of ancestors/ancestresses is a universal practice, not only in Africa but globally,
insofar as people appreciate their ancestors/ancestresses and the heritages derived from
them. Throughout Africa, not just in “East and Central Africa”, homage is paid to God
Almighty and the ancestors/ancestresses at every important event, including during eating
and drinking when libation is poured on the ground.
Onaiyekan's historical survey starts with Nyamiti, who in 1984 published a book
with the significant title: Christ as Our Ancestor: Christology from an African
Perspective. It is discovered, however, as he (Onaiyekan) further notes, that Bujo had
earlier published an interesting study on the Bantu concept of ancestors, titled: "Nos
Ancetres, ces saints Inconnus" - meaning: Our Ancestors, Those Unknown Saints. Bujo
follows this up by describing Jesus Christ as le proto-ancetre (the Proto-Ancestor), in his
Pour une Ethique Africaine Christocentrique - Towards A Chrstocentric African Ethics.18
On a final note, Onaiyekan adds that the world famous healer, Emmanuel Milingo, the
former Archbishop of Lusaka, also has some beautiful things to say about "Jesus the
Ancestor." Unfortunately, his reference note to that is missed-out in the reference section
of his paper.19That in nutshell represents how Jesus Christ is viewed as Africa's Supreme
Ancestor.
As if taking a cue from Onaiyekan, Haeley and Sybertz, in their book, Towards
An African Narrative Theology, mention African theologians, such as Bujo, Kabasele,
Milingo, Nyamiti, Pobee and Sanon (in that order) who have written about:
Ancestral Christology, Ancestral Kinship and Christ's Brother-

Ancestorship. Jesus is the 'Ancestor of Christians,' 'Ancestor Par
Excellence,' 'Ancestor Who Is the Source of Life,' 'First Ancestor,'
'Founder of the Great Family,' 'Great Ancestor,' 'Great Ancestral
Spirit,' 'Great and Greatest Ancestor,' 'Highest Model of
Ancestorship,' 'Holy Ancestral Spirit,' 'Proto-Ancestor,' 'Supreme
Universal Ancestral Spirit' and 'Unique Ancestor,'20
Having catalogued the different titles emanating from the aforementioned African
theologians, Healey and Sybertz describe African Christology as "relational", to
emphasize that "a large part of African Christology has to do with relationships." They
then proceed by using African proverbs to demonstrate that human life, in African
perspective, is based on relationships. The key African proverb referred to is: “'I am
because we are; we are because I am.” 21 For African Christians then, at the foundation of
these relationships is the Proto-Ancestor, the Lord, Jesus Christ.
In a book he published in 1992, African Theology in Its social Context, Bujo has
enough room to be elaborate on what he understands by ancestor, and the meaning of the
concept of Jesus Christ as Proto-Ancestor. According to him, one should not take as the
starting point of an African ancestral Christology any so-called (bad) ancestor, whose
earthly life cannot serve to build up or edify the clan or tribal community. Neither should
one reckon with "ancestors whose activities after death spread fear and anxiety rather
than love among the living." More crucially,
6
When we say that we want to use the concept of ancestor as the
basis of Christology, we refer only to God-fearing forefathers who
exercise a good influence on their descendants by showing how the
force which is life is to be used as God wishes it to be used.22
The idea of “forefathers” evokes “foremothers” which makes inclusive language (e.g.
fore-parents) desirable in contemporary perspectives. That notwithstanding, Bujo, as in
the “old school”, uses “man” for men and women, humanity or humans in today’s
parlance. Be that as it may, Bujo has presented what seems classical, as far as the
definition of ancestors/ancestresses in Africa goes. But, in what sense is one to take Jesus
Christ as the (African Christian) Proto-Ancestor? In the work under review, Bujo states
that if one looks back on the historical Jesus of Nazareth, one can see in him, not only the
one who lived the African ancestor-ideal in the highest degree, but also the one who
brought that ideal to an altogether new fulfillment. By working miracles, such as healing
the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead to life and so on, Jesus Christ,
according to Bujo, practically brought life, and life force in its fullness, and crowns this
by emphasizing the law of love to his disciples. Thus, observes Bujo, Jesus, in his earthly
life, manifested precisely all those qualities and virtues which Africans like to attribute to
their ancestors and which lead them to invoke the ancestors in daily life. One can,
therefore, understand the importance of a Christology 'from below' for the African
context. 23That means that emphasis is laid on Jesus’ earthly life rather than on his
incarnation as God from above.
What about the “Proto-Ancestor” title? Bujo writes that Jesus Christ cannot be
looked at simply as an ancestor. The term 'ancestor' can only be applied to Jesus in an
analogical or eminent way, since to treat him otherwise would be to make of him only
one founding ancestor among many. Hence Bujo applies the title “Proto-Ancestor” to
Jesus. This signifies, according to Bujo, that Jesus did not only fulfill the authentic ideal
of the God-fearing African ancestors, but also infinitely transcends that ideal and brought
it to utmost completion.24 All sounds so romantic, rationalistic and idealistic; yet, it also
seems a commendable effort at Africanizing Christianity.
In his book: Christ, the African King, Ukachukwu observes that among the
African theologians who have tried to develop African ancestral Christology, "it is B.
Bujo (Zaire) and C. Nymiti (Tanzania) who are among the most prolific." 25 Obviously,
that is the impression one gets in most of the books consulted. It is interesting to note that
Nyamiti also quotes Bujo copiously in his book: Christ As Our Ancestor: Christology
from an African Perspective.26But that is not to say that no originality is to be found in
Nyamiti. One basic idea in the works of the two theologians is that the Lord, Jesus Christ,
displayed all that one would expect from good African ancestors in an eminent degree,
and so one can call him African Ancestor (Nyamiti), or the Proto-Ancestor (Bujo). Some
of the peculiarities found in Nyamiti seem represented in one of his summary paragraphs,
which reads:
Briefly, we may say that radically speaking, Jesus became our

Ancestor through the Incarnation at the moment of His conception
in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. But like His Incarnation, His
7
Ancestorship gradually grew and reached full maturity through His
death and exaltation.27
That seems to represent Nyamiti's peculiar expression of theological instinct on Jesus

Christ as the African Ancestor.
Gwembe would seem to corroborate Nyamiti, when he writes in his "Ancestors in
African Culture" that, “A more profound study of the ancestors would not bring us to a
better understanding of the communion of saints but to a better understanding of the
person of Jesus Christ; it would not lead us to a "Saintology," but to a "Christology" in an
African form.”28 That is Gwembe's reaction to the Instrumentum Laboris (working
instrument or document) for the 1994 Catholic Synod for Africa, which held that a more
profound study of the ancestors could bring Catholics to a better understanding of the
communion of saints. Gwembe, on the other hand, maintains that “Jesus Christ is the
first-born among creatures, the visible image of the invisible God, the Word through
which all things were created, the model of obedience to God's mission carried out to the
last consequence, and for this He was given a name above all names (Phil. 2:8), a name
outside which no salvation exists (Acts 4:12).” Jesus is, therefore, as Gwembe holds, “the
ultimate model, and the primal Ancestor.”29 In Gwembe’s opinion, "Many of the students
of TAR (sic) often omit to study the ancestors, and if they do it they do a study by itself
separate from religion."30 Indeed, this researcher discovered in Yorubaland that ancestral
veneration is an essential aspect of ATR. Homage is paid to the ancestors/ancestresses,
because the religion and the entire traditional culture are inherited from them. The
divinities and the ancestors/ancestresses belong to the same socio-religious system in
African worldview. To that extent, it should be said that no study of ATR can be
considered complete, without a chapter on ancestral veneration. One may also come to
appreciate that a good knowledge of ancestral veneration may help in imparting a down
to earth Christology to Africans, in a moral, rather than biological, sense. The following
chapters expatiate on the foregoing issues in various directions, with particular reference
to Yorubaland and sainthood in the Catholic Church and in Christianity, generally
speaking, by way of references.
Notes for Chapter One

1
Independent, Sunday, Ibadan, May 31, 1998, p. 3.
2
Wuerl, D.W. , Fathers of the Church. Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1974, p.8.
3
Fortes, M., Religion, Morality, and the Person: Essays on Taliens' Religion, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1975, p. 66.
4
Makobane, M., B. Sithole, and M. Shiya, eds., The Church and Culture: Conference
Papers, Germiston: Mazenod Institute, 1995, p.30
5
Kasper, W., The Methods of Dogmatic Theology, New York: Paulist Press, 1969, p. 7.
6
Mbuy, T.H. , Understanding Witchcraft Problems in the Life of an African: Case Studies
from Cameroon. Owerri: High Speed Printers, 1992, p. 12.
7
Onwubiko, A.O, Echoes from the African Synod: The Future of the Africain Church
from Present and Past Experiences. Enugu: SNAAP Press Ltd., 1994, p.141.
8
8
Lapointe, E., "Basotho's Ancestral Veneration and Christian Worship",Makobane M., B.
Sithole, and M. Shiya, eds., The Church and African Culture: Conference Papers,
Germiston: Mazenod Institute, Lumko, 1995, pp. 42-43.
9
0̣ṣò ̣ S.O., Lectures on West African Traditional Religion.Ado-Ekiti: Bamigboye & Co.
Press (Nig.) Ltd., 1979, p. 37.
10
Imasogie, O., African Traditional Religion.Ibadan: University Press Ltd., 1985, p. 39
11
Mbiti, J.S., African Religions and Philosophy, London: Heinnemann, 1980, p.25.
12
Healey, J. and D. Sybertz, Toward an African Narrative T'heology, Nairobi: Pauline
Publications Africa, 1996, p. 211.
13
Awolalu, J. Omosade, Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial Rites. Essesx: Longman Group
Ltd., 1979, p. 53.
14
Jacobs, A. B., A Textbook on West African Traditional Religion, Ibadan: Aromolaran
Publishing Co. Ltd., 1977, p. 257.
15
Dogmatic Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent and Vatican I Plus the Decree
on the Immaculate Conception and the Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX,.Rockford,
Illinois, no date, p. 167.
16
Onwubiko, A. O, pp.137-138
17
The Nigerian Journal of Theology, published by the Catholic Theological Association
of Nigeria, May 1991, pp. 19-20
18
Published also in the Bulletin de Theologie Africaine, Vol. Ill, Kinshasa, 1981,pp. 41-42
19
Ibid, p.20
20
Healey, J. and D. Sybertz, pp. 82-83
21
Pp. 82-83.
22
Bujo B., African Theology in its Social Context.Nairobi: St. Paul Publications - Africa,
1992, p. 79
23
P. 79.
24
P. 79.
25
Ukachukwu, C.M., Christ The African King: New Testament Christology, Frankfurt am
Main:Peter Lang, , 1993, p. 60
26
Nyamiti, C., Christ as our Ancestor. Gweru: Mambo Press, 1984, pp. 7-10, for instance.
27
P. 27.
28
Gwembe, E., "Ancestors in African Culture" in Makobane, M. , et . al. , p. 36
29
P. 37.
30
P. 30.
9
CHAPTER TWO
ANCESTRAL VENERATION IN YORUBA CULTURE
The Yoruba occupy, in the main, the southwest of Nigeria. They are located in
Ọyọ, Ọṣun, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, and Lagos states. As Atanda notes, however, pockets of
the Yoruba are found in some other parts of Nigeria, such as in Kwara, Kogi, and Edo
states. Likewise in some West African countries, such as Republic of Benin, Togo, and
Ghana, in the West Indies and South America, such as in Brazil and Cuba. 1The Yoruba in
Diaspora are, of course, many also in North America and Europe. In Brooklyn, New
York, I read on a building in one street, “Yoruba Òrìṣà Church”. The African divinities,
which Idowu already indicates are Ministers of Olódùmarè (God in Yoruba belief), are
called Òrìsà in Yoruba language. Both the people and their language are called Yoruba.
This chapter presents the people's view of, and approach to their ancestors/ancestresses.
The data was gathered through interviews and library consultation. Some Yoruba
elders, with particular reference to Babaláwo (Fathers of sacred mysteries) were
interviewed and some of the insights they offered contradict some assumptions by some
scholars. I became convinced that some scholars sometimes read their own meanings or
interpretations into traditional African beliefs and practices.
2.1. Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland
The funeral rites that the Yoruba perform when grand old people (and adults,
generally speaking) die clearly indicate their belief in life after death. The rites include
bathing of the corpse, laying the corpse in state in fine cloths, and telling the dead during
internment not to sleep in heaven but to keep making himself or herself available in
support of those left behind in the family. In the distant past, they would bury wives and
slaves with kings and some other dignitaries. Reading through the rites and religions of
the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons, I discovered that the practice of burying things with a
corpse was not peculiar to the Yoruba or Africans. Owen (an Anglo-Saxon scholar)
writes that things were buried along with the corpse, because the ancient people thought
"men and women would require their material possessions as appropriate to their ranks." 2
And so, the impression that African ancestors/ancestresses were intellectually inferior to
the Europeans is basically unfounded in that and several other respects. As the corpse lies
in state, as well as at internment, the Yoruba, as Jacobs rightly notes, will be making
entreaties, and sending messages through the deceased to those who have gone
before.3The dead will be verbally saluted with eulogies with which the family spirit is
usually evoked. If, for instance, an old man who is called Ogundeji dies, some of the
eulogy may run something like this:
Ogundeji, ọmọ ẹkùn

Àwọn baba a rẹ nii fo odò láìsí afárá
Àwọn nii dáná láìsí ìsáná, etc.
That means:
10
Ogundeji, son of lion
It is your fathers who used to cross a river
without bridge
They are the ones who would make fire without
matches, etc.
That implies that the dead are spoken-to without doubting that they hear. As people are
praying and eulogising the dead, so drummers will be beating their talking drums, saying,
inter alia: Kóríko, dìde! Èrùwà, dìde! (i.e. Weeds, get up! Grass, get up!), as if the dead
will rise up as they are saying that to him/her. The answer is, No. The Yoruba ultimately
say of a dead person:
Ó di gbére ò
Ó d'àrìnà kò, ó d'ojú àlá
Ó di b'eni baa jọni
O di b'èèyàn baa jọ̀òỵ àn
Òkú gbérí kò le dìde

Òkú jòwèrè kò lee paradà
Òrun dè ̣dè ̣è ̣dè ̣ kó dẹlè ̣ f'é ̣lé ̣dè ̣ funfun
Òrun dè ̣dè ̣è ̣dè ̣ kó dẹlè ̣ f'ẹni t' o jáde láyé
Meaning:
Adieu! Till eternity

Except you encounter him/her by accident as you
walk along the road or in a dream.
Except one person can resemble another person.
Except human beings do resemble.
The dead raises his/her head but cannot get up
The dead convulses, but cannot turn his/her body
May heaven soften the earth for white pig {an
emotional poetical jargon}
May heaven soften the earth for the departed.
That thus rules-out the concept of re-incarnation, which some scholars attribute to
Yoruba eschatology, but a discussion on the subject of reincarnation lies ahead. In
Yoruba ancestral culture, as one discovered in this research, more or less the same
ordinary and proper funeral rites are accorded both the good and devilish dead persons.
The difference is found in the enthusiasm or lukewarm approach with which the funeral
activities are carried out. As some of the Yoruba traditionalists explained, it is
indispensable to bury a corpse, if only because it can decompose and be hazardous,
health-wise. In other words, as one was told, even a suspected witch who is stoned to
death is given a “proper” funerary ritual by the children and relatives, unless she was
burnt to ashes by irate mob. Normally, then, a corpse is handled, as much as
circumstances permit, in accordance with the inherited traditional procedure for burying a
corpse, while the dead will face eternal judgment, based on his/her deeds while on earth.
11
A proverb that tends to summarise the general (Yoruba) attitude to human corpses
is: Àwọn to n gbé ̣'lè ̣ lo n sìnkú, àwọn to n sunkún, ariwo lásán ni wọ́n n pa (meaning:
Those who are digging the grave are the ones burying the dead; those who are weeping
are only making noise). That seems to be the truth. Traditionally speaking, in
Yorubaland, the people that are buried differently are those who died of contagious
diseases, such as leprosy and small pox. They are not buried in the home, for health
reasons, and their corpses are disposed-off by experts in leprosy or small pox affairs (as
the case may be) who are paid the laid down levies for doing the job.
Likewise, the corpse of a hunched-back person is taken care of by the devotees of
Orisa-nla. They take the corpse somewhere in the forest, with appropriate rituals.
Usually, the corpse is put in one pot and covered with another pot, and it is left there to
decompose. Later, the Orisa-nla devotees will go and pack the bones and bury them in
the ground, according to my informants.
Physically deformed persons are called: ẹni-Òrìṣà (i.e. Òrìṣà 's person), and the
Òrìṣà being referred to is no other than Òrìṣà-nla (the Archdivinity) who is believed to
be God's minister for molding the physical form of human beings, into which God puts
His breath. Since he (Òrìṣà-nla) is believed to be the one who decides to make a person
to be physically deformed, such persons are called eni-Òrìṣà. The important point to note,
however, is that basically, funeral rites in Yoruba belief do not depend on whether a
person is holy or sinful. That judgment is left to God to make. But the disposition or
enthusiasm of people regarding a dead person will depend on the extent of his or her
humaneness and popularity.
12
2.2. Criteria for Ancestral Designation in Yorubaland
While it is the case that good and bad persons enjoy basically the same type of
funeral rites in traditional Yorubaland, not all of them enjoy "the second burial", which is
a memorial ceremony, composed of prayer for both the dead and those he/she left behind,
and feast of food, drinks, and dancing. It is this second burial that shows who an
ancestor/ancestress is, because it demonstrates that the dead has people who celebrate
his/her time on earth, as a mark of a happy remembrance. Logically speaking, notoriously
bad and wicked persons will hardly find anybody to celebrate their memory, and so,
hardly will anybody call them ancestors/ancestresses. Many persons pass through history,
but, as it is said, only those that made history positively are remembered positively.
Moreover, I gathered that a deceased person who knows that he/she is entitled to a
second burial, and is not given, for no justifiable reason, would haunt the children and the
relatives concerned. The traditional Yoruba believe that the haunting would happen if the
dead had played his/her role for those who died before him/her. Thus, the haunting
cannot be said to be arbitrary.
It should be noted that dead infants and underage persons are buried without any
funfair, since their death imports greater sorrow than that of an adult who dies at a ripe
old age. No second burial is accorded dead infants and underage persons. A proverb that
throws light on that is: Kò nii burú burú ki baba ó sọ 'pe o d' ọwọ́ ọmọ oun I' ọ̀run. That
means, things cannot degenerate to the point where a father would invoke the power or
spirit of his dead child. That notwithstanding, a good child who dies is mourned and
remembered as an ọmọ dáa dáa - an amiable good child; and as an ọmọlúwàbí - i.e. a
child of God, meaning someone who is God-fearing. It is in that moral sense only that the
Yoruba regard “God as Father and themselves as his children” 4, and not in a biological
sense, such as attributed to Jesus Christ. Of course, every human being is believed to owe
his/her existence to God, in which case, the Yoruba refer to God as Ẹlé ̣da (the Creator),
and not Baba (Father), even though no right thinking person would object to calling God,
Father, anthropomorphically.
One should note also that, however young a person may be, he or she is given an
adult burial if married with at least a child. Nevertheless, as I discovered in the course of
this research, contrary to Awolalu's assertion 5, having children is not an indispensable
condition for someone to be designated an ancestor/ancestress among the Yoruba. Two
similar stories were related to me to illustrate this fact. Firstly, it was said that there was a
couple, and I was shown their graves, which had no children of their own. They,
however, played the role of responsible parents to two of the children of the husband's
brother, whom they adopted. At the funerals and burials of the couple, as the eyewitness
told me, the adopted children did more commitment than they did when their actual
parents died. They came to see their foster parents as their real parents. The old man (my
informant in Ibadan) concluded that the two beneficiaries celebrated the couple as their
ancestor and ancestress.
The second story, from another Yoruba community (Ìlà-Odò, in Osun state), is
that two elderly women died concurrently in the community. One had both male and
female children, while the other had no child of her own. It is amazing, as the story goes,
that the children of the woman whose womb was fruitful, killed cows, cooked plenty of
food, and bought a lot of drinks, but not many persons attended the funeral. On the other
13
hand, many relatives were fighting to claim the corpse of the woman who had no child of
her own. While one person wanted the woman buried in his or her own newly acquired
plot of land, another person wanted her buried at his or her own house. Each person was
telling stories aimed at claiming the dead woman as his or her own mother. The middle-
aged man who related the story said: "The two incidents served as an eye-opener to me
and everybody in our village." (Is it not true, as many theologians have observed, as
Podimattam also notes, that "God speaks to all men in general by the great events of
history", and "He speaks to every individual through what happens to them moment by
moment"6? Yet, apparently, it takes the eyes of faith to see the lessons as coming from
God. The lesson should not be lost that having children is not as important as being nice.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt. 5:7). The Yoruba also say
Ìkà á poníkà, rere á b'ẹni rere (Wickedness will kill the wicked; goodness will follow a
good person).
Indeed, having children is not regarded as a personal merit in Yoruba belief, but
as a free gift from God. That belief is coated in the expression, Ọlọ́run nii s’ọmọ (It is
God who creates and gives- children). There are persons who may have no children due
to no fault of theirs. Thus, as earlier hinted, it is not having children, but one's ìwà
(character, attitude, behavior, conduct) that ultimately determines who becomes an
ancestor or ancestress, and ìwà it is also that decides whether a person belongs to heaven
or hell here and hereafter, in Yoruba perspective. Of course ìwà, as character, attitude,
conduct or behavior, can be either good or bad ìwà. More often than not, people use the
word without qualifying it when they mean ìwà rere (good ìwà). The opposite is ìwà
búburú (which means evil or bad ìwà). They also speak of ìwà ìkà (wicked ìwà ). Very
often, when the word is used without qualification, it refers to good ìwà, except where the
context dictates otherwise, such as when a person is haunted by his/her ìwà.
After internment, people disperse, leaving the dead to be accompanied by his or
her ìwà to the great beyond, and the same ìwà is the major thing that the dead leaves
behind to determine whether he or she deserves a second burial, which will indicate that
he or she is recognised as an ancestor/ancestress. Ìwà is the Yoruba equivalence of the
Christian love, especially when St. Paul says: "So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but
the greatest of these is love" (l Cor. 13:13). Love is translated as ìfé ̣ in Yoruba, but it
would appear that ìwà (character, conduct, attitude, or behaviour) carries greater weight
than ìfé ̣ that is more theoretical, at least as a Yoruba expression. For instance, the Yoruba
do not say one's ìfé ̣ (love) follows one wherever one goes, but that one's ìwà (character,
conduct, attitude, or behaviour) follows one wherever one goes, up to hereafter.
2.3. The Place of Ìwà in Yoruba Anthropology
In Yoruba worldview, as in many other cultures, possibly, neither earthly wealth

nor personal beauty counts without ìwà rere, which means good character, conduct,
attitude, or behaviour. With regard to earthly wealth, the Yoruba would say: Owó fún, kò
tó ènìyàn - money is highly valuable, but not as valuable as (fellow) human beings. That
borders on good neighbourliness, which is driven by ìwà rere. To buttress the fact that
human beings surpass earthly wealth in importance, the traditional Yoruba would tell an
arrogant benefactor/benefactress: Ká ẹní ẹ k'Ọlọ́run ó té ̣ tiè ̣ - roll up your mat, and let
God spread His own. They would say: Olówó kii ṣe Ọlọ́run, àṣíríi rè ̣ ló bò - A wealthy
14
person is not God, he or she is only fortunate. That means ìwà rere encompasses
humility.
With regard to personal beauty, the Yoruba hold that: Ìwà 1'ẹwà ọmọ ènìyàn
(good conduct, behaviour, character, attitude is the beauty of a human being). Some
traditional Yoruba songs teach, for instance, that it is disastrous to marry a beautiful but
manner-less lady, while a beautiful and well-behaved lady constitutes an inestimable
jewel. Good conduct, behavior, attitude, character, meaning ìwà rere (sometimes referred
to simply as ìwà) relates to interpersonal relationships. Thus, human beings are both the
subjects and objects of ìwà. Ultimately, however, everything goes before the Adáké ̣dájọ́ -
the silent Judge, who is no other than the Creator Himself. He is the final judge of human
conduct, attitude, behaviour and character.
The Latin, Amor omnia vincit (love conquers all things), translates the Yoruba:
Ìwà ló borí ohun gbogbo (good conduct, character, behaviour, attitude surpasses every
other thing), or simply: Ìwà l'ohun gbogbo (everything depends on one’s character,
behaviour, attitude, conduct). On that basis, a traditional song retorts:
Máse m'òrìṣa kan mọ́nu:

Ọ̀ n bọ'gúngún, o ní kò gbà
Ìwà rẹ ni o kọ́kọ́ bọ ná
Meaning:
Do not accuse any divinity

You propitiate Egungun (Masquerade divinity) and you
say, it does not work.
First of all propitiate your ìwà
(Meaning: propitiating one divinity or the other will not
work without ìwà rere). Egúngún is abbreviated in the
song as 'gúngún)
Thus, everybody is expected to learn, cultivate, imbibe, and effect good conduct,
behavior, attitude, character (ìwà rere). Gutierrez, in an interview with Teofilo
Cabestrero, held that the greatest task of the Christian is to live the faith "as a praxis, as a
behaviour, as a love for fellow humans."7 Summarily, ìwà, more than anything else,
determines who becomes an ancestor/ancestress in Yoruba belief. Ìwà rere 1'ọ̀sọ́ ènìyàn -
Good conduct, behaviour, attitude, and character is humanity's greatest treasure. It is the
most precious stone for which a person should be ready to sacrifice everything that he or
she possesses. For whoever has good conduct, behaviour, character, and attitude has
everything, and will lack nothing for long. That is the place of ìwà in Yoruba
anthropology, along the line of what counts for an ancestor/ancestress in Yoruba belief.
One can now proceed by explaining how ancestral veneration is performed in Yoruba
culture. Yet, before doing so, it would be necessary to explain what the Yoruba believe
about re-incarnation. It appears to be an area fraught with a long-standing
misrepresentation. Do the traditional Yoruba believe in reincarnation?
15
2.4. The Yoruba Understanding of Reincarnation
Belief in reincarnation seems widespread. In Richardson's view, the belief in

reincarnation "has probably been held by the majority of human beings who have lived."8
It can be argued, for instance, that if the English people did not believe in reincarnation,
one way or another, the word would not have existed in their lexicon. Webster's
Encyclopaedic Unabridged Dictionary of The English Language defines reincarnation as
"the belief that the soul, upon death of the body, comes back to earth in another body or
form." Thus, reincarnation implies rebirth of the soul in another body.
In traditional Yorubaland, a male baby born soon after the death of a grandfather
is called Babátúndé - Father comes again; or Babáwálé - Father comes home; Babárìndé
-Father walks-in, or Babajide –Father wakes up. A female baby born soon after the death
of a grandmother is called either Ìyábọ̀ –Mother comes; Yétúndé –Mother comes again, or
Yejide - Mother wakes up. The usual assumption is that the Yoruba, therefore, believe in
reincarnation, and so, some scholars even generalize that African life is, eschatologically
cyclic. Awolalu can be said to have contributed to that misunderstanding when he writes
that:
Normally, when a child is born, the Yoruba consult the oracle to

find out which ancestor has been reincarnated. But, it is usually
assumed that if a child is born soon after the death of a father or
grandfather, it is the soul of the immediately deceased that is back,
and such a boy is automatically called Babátúndé (father has
returned). Similarly, a daughter born after the death of a mother or
grandmother is called Ìyábò or Yétúndé (mother has returned). It is
not the practice to give Babátúndé or Yétúndé to more than one child
after the death of a grandfather or mother. This means, therefore,
that the same father or mother is not reincarnated a number of times
or in a number of grandchildren, but only once and in a particular
child. It is to be noted, also, that only good ancestors are
reincarnated in their grandchildren.9
Awolalu is thus so sure and assertive about reincarnation in Yoruba belief. But, this
research contradicts his assumptions in some respects. The Yoruba traditionalists
(Babaláwo - Fathers of sacred secret) that I consulted around several Yoruba sub-ethnic
groups, including the Ọ̀ yọ́, Ìjè ̣bú, Èkìtìparapọ̀, Ẹ̀gbá, Ìgbómìnà, and Ìbọ̀lọ́ said nobody
could ever know whether it was the actual grandfather or the actual grandmother that
came back in form of a baby. According to my informants, the names imply a natural
reaction, saying a new baby represents (if not replaces) the lost grandmother or
grandfather. That means the names, which several scholars have interpreted as implying
Yoruba belief in reincarnation, are only consolatory names. Moreover, I found no
indication that the Yoruba preoccupy themselves with reincarnation, to the extent that
they “consult the oracle to find out which ancestor has been reincarnated”, each time a
baby is born, as Awolalu claims. The explanation given me by the informants on the so-
called reincarnational names (Babátúndé, Yétúndé, etc.) made it superfluous for me to
even ask them if indeed it is a Yoruba practice to consult the Oracle which ancestor or
16
ancestress comes back whenever a child is born, having explained that the names are
natural reactions to the situation at hand, namely, that our grandfather has just died, and
we give birth to a male child; vice versa a female child in relation to a grandmother who
has just died.
In Yorubaland, if not in entire Africa, generally speaking, the situation in which

parents find themselves dictates what name they give a new baby. Thus, babies born
during a festival are given such names as Abíọ́dun, Bọ́dúndé, Bọ́dúnrìn. (Abíọ́lá, if the
parents are in a wealthy condition at the time of the child's birth). Likewise, Abíórò, if a
child is born during the Orò festival; Abégúnrìn, Abégúndé, Abíọ́jè ̣, Ọ̀ jé ̣rìndé, etc if a
child is born during Masquerade (Egúngún), and so on, and so forth. In that wise, naming
reflects the mood or sitz im leben (life situation) of the parents, and should not be
interpreted out of context. In other words, it is inappropriate to isolate the apparently
reincarnational names from the general Yoruba approach to child naming, which is to
reflect the situation of the parents or the prevailing situation at the time of the baby's
birth; in this case grandfather or grandmother has just died. Indeed my own mother was
called Òkúgbésàbí, because her father was in the grave when she was born, and the name
means someone born by the dead in the grave.
The foregoing can throw some light on why Idowu expresses confusion that the
grandparents who are said to have come back in form of babies are still believed to exist
in the spirit world of the ancestors.10 Similarly, Opata quotes a scholar, Innocent
Onyewuenyi, who disagrees that reincarnation is the appropriate word for saying an
ancestor comes back in form of a baby.11 Even though Opata dismisses Onyewuenyi's
position, that position is in tandem with the findings of this research. Attributing
reincarnation belief to the Yoruba because of Babátúndé, Yétúndé, etc is literal
interpretation that has no basis in the eschatological beliefs of the people. In Yoruba
belief, dead people have transited permanently to the great beyond, hence they say, Ó di
gbéré, ó dàrìnàkò, ó dojú àlá (Until eternity, except you encounter him or her in dream).
The idea of partial reincarnation, suggested by Mbiti, also indicates that since a
deceased continues personal existence in the spirit world, one cannot regard his or her
reincarnational traits in a child as a full reincarnation of a dead person. In Yoruba
worldview, a baby may resemble a grandfather or grandmother, as the case may be, but
such resemblances are not associated with either full or partial reincarnation. It would
seem to be a global experience that a baby can resemble even a living person, such as any
of the actual parents, a close relative, or even somebody outside the ethnic group. 12 The
Yoruba refer to such a phenomenon with the expression, afàìkúyà (one who comes back
to life while still alive), again as a way of reacting to situations. Hence Awolalu himself
in the indented quotation (above) states that “such a boy is automatically called
Babátúndé (father has returned).” The word “automatically” can be replaced with
“spontaneously”, which justifies the idea of Babátúndé, Yétúndé, etc being consolatory
reactions to the prevailing situation, rather than belief in reincarnation.
A similar misinterpretation of reincarnation with regard to the Hindu belief is
noted by Coutts who writes that “The idea of samsara, or rebirth, is acceptable in the
East; yet no one can prove that it actually takes place.” He further quotes one Professor
Alan Watts as observing that “Zen Buddhists think of rebirth as taking place in man from
moment to moment, and not as returning to the world again and again in a different
17
body.”13 Yet, the prevalent interpretation of the Eastern re-incarnation belief is a literal
understanding of the “rebirth” tenet as a return to life in another body upon a person's
death. How a Westerner, Richardson, explains his understanding of reincarnation also
makes it far removed from the Yoruba perspective. According to him,
re-incarnation doubtless sprang from an ethical intuition that justice

must prevail in the world: a man who had done ill might be punished
by being re-born as a woman or even an animal. It may thus be held
to be an expression of the deeply human conviction that there is an
ultimate justice even in a world in which the wicked so often
prosper and the good so often suffer.14
That may seem a good idea, but it does not represent what the Yoruba intend when they
name their baby Babátúndé or Ìyábọ̀, as the case may be.
2.4.1. Metempsychosis: Forms of Living in the World after Death
While reincarnation refers to transmigration of a soul into another body, on the

death of a person, metempsychosis connotes resuscitation and rebirth of the same body
and soul. It applies to the belief of the Yoruba in àbíkú (literally: born to die babies,
meaning babies who die young, only to be reborn). The belief was strong because, as it
was explained, an àbíkú (a dead baby) whose one finger was cutoff before his or her
burial would be reborn by the same woman without the finger that was cutoff. Another
claim was that an àbíkú whose corpse was burnt upon death, would be reborn with the
charred body. Such stories imply that the àbíkú were coming back with the same previous
bodies. Hence the word metempsychosis is used, rather than reincarnation. 15That was a
form of mystery that this study could not unravel.
Apart from àbíkú, metempsychosis also applies to the Yoruba concept of àkúyà or
àkúyàádà - "the dead goes to" (it may be to Lagos, Kaduna, Onitsha, or any other place
where the dead person is not known). It is the belief of the Yoruba that when a person
dies pre-maturely, usually as an adult, he or she goes to live in another town where
nobody knows him or her. There the person lives as an àkúyà until death comes at the
appropriate time. All over Yoruba land, stories abound about young men and women who
died, went to work in another place, married to normal living persons and had children.
Here and there, one heard the story of one male àkúyà or another whose unsuspecting
wife pestered him to "take me and the children home to your people.” The àkúyà, who
would not disclose his identity to the wife nor prolong the resistance to his wife's
agitation to know his home town and people, would take the wife and the children to his
town or village. But as they arrived near the house, the àkúyà would vanish. Then the
relatives of the àkúyà would welcome the wife and the children, and try to hide, for some
time, the fact that the man was an àkúyà. The relatives would, meanwhile, try to explain
away the tactical/mystical disappearance of the man (the àkúyà), as they persuade the
wife and the children not to bother about the man's disappearance. That status quo would
prevail until the wife and children are strong enough to absorb the shock that they belong
to an àkúyà.
18
In the course of this research, one came to realise that many Yoruba were
convinced of the reality of àkúyà, as well as the àbíkú mystery. In addition to that, as
Idowu also notes, the Yoruba believe that dead persons do appear to people who have not
known that they were dead and that they do send home messages, at times. 16Some aspects
of a people's belief may not be questioned or challenged, since belief is mostly
metaphysical in nature. Yet in Yorubaland today, àbíkú does not seem to be such an
urgent and devastating reality as it used to be perceived and experienced. According to
some knowledgeable and open-minded traditionalists, àbíkú can be due to some killer
disease in the parent(s), or an evil machination by a witch or a wizard. Either way, a good
medicine and or charm may be of help. It would seem that with improved medical
service, the combined efforts of Western and Yoruba traditional medicines, the àbíkú
phenomenon has reduced drastically if not disappeared totally in Yorubaland.
2.5. The Yoruba Approach to Ancestral Veneration
The Yoruba, like many other peoples, venerate their ancestors/ancestresses. They
believe that the latter are alive and are watching how the descendants preserve their
families' ethical and fraternal traditions. The Yoruba would pray, bless, curse, and swear
in the name of Alájọbí, which may be roughly translated as "Common Descent" – the
source through which we came into being as a family and relatives It is difficult to
imagine a positively gentle Yoruba who will not feel obliged when petitioned in the name
of àwon Alájọbí (those from whom "we" descended, "our" forebears), whether the person
is a traditionalist or a Yoruba Christian or Muslim. Likewise, hardly will a positively
gentle Yoruba not be agitated if justly cursed in the name of the Alájọbí, or feel happy
and satisfied with himself or herself if blessed in the name of Alájọbí or àwọn tó bíwa
(those who gave birth to us). As it is said, blood is thicker than water; Alájọbí is more or
less as weighty as cursing or blessing in the name of God, after all, God is the ground of
Alájọbí or Common Descent; He is the Architect who designs who belongs to which
family, clan, community, and society by birth. So, a betrayal of Alájọbí or àwọn tó bíwa
is tantamount to a betrayal of God Himself in Yoruba understanding. In other words, God
is the power of the ancestors/ancestresses. Hence, the traditional Yoruba usually invoke
and pay homage to the Akọ́dá and Aṣè ̣dá (the First Cause and the Creator), before
invoking any other power(s), such as the divinities and the ancestors/ancestresses, who
are Ministers to the Supreme Being. Sometimes, they (the traditional Yoruba) would say,
as one repeats a motto: Ìbà Ọlọ́run, ìbà ènìyàn - Homage to God, homage to human
beings. In their worldview, God is almighty, but He has given some (limited) powers to
human beings also, in various forms and degrees.
The obligation to an ancestor/ancestress begins with a befitting burial, in
accordance with the funeral rites, and proper rites pertaining common people and
members of certain religious and cultic bodies, or some ranks in society, such as kings
and chiefs. Usually, there is no problem about finding money to meet the funerary ritual
obligations, because relatives would normally rally round for the immediate funeral
(internment) arrangements. Hence, the Yoruba say: Ìpé tí a pé sin òkú, tí a bá pé wo
aláìsàn bé ̣è ̣ yóó yè – that means, if people would rally round to attend to the sick as they
do for the dead, the sick would recover and not die. That notwithstanding, one discovered
that the traditional Yoruba are, generally speaking, very much concerned about their final
19
departure. They would like it to be glorious, and they understand that what one sows is
what one reaps.
In Yoruba worldview, ancestral veneration starts with what people say and do at
the departure and burial of the deceased. Putting all that one can afford into the funeral
rites and activities, in terms of money, cloths, energy, voice, and so on, is indicative of
love, affection, and respect for the departed. That is true also with regard to the second
burial, which is a memorial ceremony, as previously explained. Then, the worship aspect
takes place annually or occasionally. Persons who are committed to their
ancestors/ancestresses offer them sacrifices annually, usually during the festival of their
family divinity (or divinities) - some families are devotees of Ògún (the divinity for iron
and steel; patron of hunters and drivers), some other families are worshippers of Orò (the
divinity whose emblem must not be seen by women), Egúngún (the Masquerade
divinity), Ṣàngó (the thunder and lightning divinity), etc., depending on their heritage(s).
Other times of ancestral worship would be whenever a person or family members feel
like calling on their ancestors/ancestresses, if prescribed by a diviner, or occasioned by
some dream or vision.
At any rate, the ancestors are invoked whenever the male divinities are
worshipped, while the ancestresses are invoked whenever the female divinities are
worshipped. The ancestors and the ancestresses are regarded as the aláṣekù, which
means, those who did the invocation and worship of the divinities "before us", and from
whom "we" took-over, or who handed-over to “us”. They are paid homage, so that they
may join the present worshippers, in order that things may work as it used to work. The
traditional Yoruba believe that Àdáṣe níí hun'ni, ìbà kìí hùn'nìyàn – Doing things in one's
own name and capacity alone fails, paying homage does not fail.
It was said that after an annual festival worship of a divinity, anybody or any
group of persons who would want to offer sacrifice to a deceased parent would now
invite the family, and the relatives present at the shrine, to the grave, to propitiate the
parent(s). The priest or priestess at the occasion is usually a man or a woman (as the case
may be) who is at least younger than the person to be propitiated, since an older person
will not regard a younger person as his or her ancestor/ancestress. (The Yoruba are very
hierarchical, age wise - they have much regard for age and seniority). Kola-nut is usually
used to divine the parent's will and disposition, just as with the divinities. A fowl or goat
is usually offered in sacrifice to the ancestors/ancestresses. The animal victim may be a
male for an ancestor, and a female for an ancestress, but some traditionalists said that
male or female animal may not matter in some cases. It is noteworthy that praying,
blessing, cursing and swearing in the name of àwọn alájọbí is ipso facto veneration. It
shows how much the traditional Yoruba hallow their ancestors/ancestresses.
All the foregoing represents, in nutshell, how ancestors/ancestresses are venerated
and worshipped in Yorubaland, and how ancestral veneration is symbiotic with ATR in
Yoruba belief. Ancestral veneration and worship in Yorubaland do not neutralize or
diminish the absolute pre-eminent position of God as the Owner of all beings. Ideally, it
contributes to the people's ethical and fraternal consciousness and responsibilities.
20
2.6. The Ancestral Status of the Yoruba Traditional Divinities
There is a sense in which one can say that every religious cult (system of worship)
in Yoruba belief constitutes a form of ancestral cult. That is true to the extent that every
religious cult is inherited from the ancestors/ancestresses. Yet, as two brothers, each with
his own descendants, Egúngún and Orò are outstanding as far as ancestrology is
concerned. Egúngún (Masquerade) symbolizes the ancestors, and so is called Ará ọ̀run
kìnkin - the august visitor from heaven. It cannot be said that the divinities are ancestors
in the ordinary sense, since they are believed to have come directly from heaven to
populate the earth. And so, they may be regarded as primogenitor ancestors/ancestresses,
as the initial inhabitants of this world. They are, however, not usually referred to as
ancestors, but as òrìsà (divinities) sent down from heaven as God's agents (ministers).
Hence both Egúngún and Orò are here presented as representing ancestral cults, rather
than calling them ancestors/ancestresses. One should note also that, the fact that a family
worships Ògún (the iron and steel divinity), for instance, does not necessarily mean that
the family descended from Ògún. The latter is simply the divinity for all hunters, as well
as for all metal workers. Moreover, any interested person can embrace any of the
religious cults (Egúngún, Orò, Òṣun, Yemọja, or any other one), and the descendants of
such a person may inherit that divinity as what they worship as God’s agent in their
family. Then, at the annual festival, or as occasion demands, both the divinity and the
ancestors/ancestresses from whom the religious cult was inherited are invoked and
worshipped.
There is no difference in the way the divinities and the ancestors/ancestresses are
worshipped in Yorubaland. The word bọ (worship) is used in either case to describe what
is done. It can thus be said without any fear of contradiction that both the divinities and
the ancestors/ancestresses (with the former being inherited from the latter) belong to the
same African traditional religious system. No exaggerated separation between them can
be correct. One should re-emphasise that the worship of the Yoruba divinities and
ancestors/ancestresses is only analogical and not the same as their concept of the worship
of adoration (Latria) that they give to God, because Ọba bí Ọlọ́run ò sí – there is no king
as God.
2.7. The Ancestral Cults of Egúngún and Orò
The emphasis is apt that the word "cult" here refers to system of worship rather
than something clandestine or diabolical in itself. What one may call the myth of origin,
presents Egúngún and Orò as two brothers, who came from heaven into this world. Orò is
said to be the elder brother, while Egúngún was his younger brother. According to the
narrators, they (Egúngún and Orò) both went to work abroad as weavers. They had their
looms side by side. Egúngún spent his earnings buying clothes and cloths, while Orò
spent his own on womanising. After seventeen years, it was time to go back home.
Egúngún sent a seventeen days advance notice, and Orò did likewise, but Egúngún's
arrival was to be earlier than that of Orò. Egúngún sent the message that all his children,
men and women should come to welcome him, right from the suburb of the town, with
àkàrà and èkọ (fried bean rolls and corn paste food). On the definite day, men and
women, young and old went out to welcome Egúngún. Asked what he brought from his
21
seventeen years labour where he went, Egúngún presented the many clothes and cloths he
bought. With joy and gladness, Egúngún was welcomed with singing, drumming and
dancing with pomp and pageantry, surrounded by men and women.
Egúngún's elder brother, Orò had sent message to his children to prepare plenty of
pounded yam and chicken in vegetable soup, to welcome him back, right from the suburb
of the town like Egúngún. But, unlike Egúngún, Orò had no clothes to put on. What he
did was to tie a single tread on his genital and put the tread round his neck. As he
approached his people, when the women saw the nakedness of their father, they ran back
to their houses. From that day forward, it became forbidden for women to see and behold
Orò, otherwise, it is believed they would die. Some women are said to have died from
flouting the injunction. The prevalent saying is, Obìnrin kìí wo Orò (Women do not
behold Orò).
Since unlike Egúngún, Orò brought nothing back from his sojourn abroad, he was
asked what he did with the proceeds of his seventeen years labour where he went, and he
said he used it to play with women. Whenever Orò is displayed, such as during his
festivals, he howls, and the howling and wailing sound like: "I used it to play with them"
in Yoruba language. Egúngún and Orò would appear to represent ancestral divinities
because they are brothers who belonged to a family like Cain and Abel; Isaac and
Ishmael, Esau and Jacob. Like in those biblical stories, Egúngún, the younger brother,
became more blessed than his elder brother, Orò. The myth clearly states that both
Egúngún and Orò had their different descendants who welcomed them back into the town
(or village). On that basis, it seems proper to take a closer look at each of them.
2.7.1. The Egúngún Cult
There is the testimony of an old man, Chief Daniel Amokade Sópéjú, who
celebrated his centenary in January, 1998. He hailed from Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun
State. In an interview with Bisi Lawrence, he said the Egúngún worshippers "used to say
it was their father who died that had returned to life under the mask." 17 Likewise,
Gwembe from Tanzania notes that "the mask dramatises the presence of the ancestors
among the living."18 Indeed, another name by which Egúngún is called in Yorubaland, as
earlier noted is: Ará ọ̀run kìn kin - the august visitor from heaven. As far as the Yoruba
traditionalists are concerned, anybody who wears clothes cannot claim that he or she is
not an Egúngún's child; Egúngún is God’s Minister for cloths. Apparently, masquerading
is a universal religious practice, in one form or another. There is the Santa Claus (Father
Christmas) in Christian culture, while Muslim women in purdah are seen to cover up like
masquerades as well.
Egúngún is one of the popular Yoruba divinities worshipped annually, and
occasionally when recommended by a diviner or based on certain feelings or dreams.
Usually, Yoruba traditional festivals, including that of Egúngún, take place during the
harvest season, one after the other, when the people can afford to buy new cloths and
provide plenty of food and drinks. African traditionalists enjoy Egúngún festival also
when the masquerades go out on visitation, praying, singing, and dancing. Some
masquerades entertain people with fascinating magical displays. One should mention also
that when some persons, usually women, are visited by some masquerades, they begin to
weep, because the masquerades remind them of an ancestor who used to wear the mask.
22
Eventually, they would control their emotions and give money or whatever they could
afford to the visiting masquerade. Thus, beside gathering to worship and share meals,
Egúngún festival could be commemorative and entertaining.
There are instances, however, when some individuals hide under the mask to
commit crime against innocent persons, by caning such persons severely or harming them
through some diabolical means. In some communities, the festival can be very violent.
Yet, Egúngún festival is a delight in many Yoruba communities, even where visitors may
regard what is happening as violence, the traditionalists consider it as testing of will and
endurance.
2.7.2. The Orò Cult
The word orò is ambiguous, in that it is also used to mean a customary ritual or
tradition. An example is when someone says of certain persons: Orò ilé wọn ni- it is the
customary ritual or tradition of their compound, which refers to a whole clan. In the
context of this book, what is intended is the ancestral divinity called Orò, whose emblem
must not be seen by women. The centenarian, Chief Daniel Amokade Ṣopeju, testified in
the interview earlier quoted from the Vanguard: "During the Oro festival, women were
prevented from going outside the house, because women must never see it."19 The
explanation has been given while relating the story of Egúngún and Orò. Stories of how
one woman or the other died from disregarding the injunction that forbids women seeing
Orò abound throughout Yorubaland. When asked: "What real good was the worship of
Orò and its festival designed to achieve?" Chief Sopeju answered: "It was used to cleanse
the society of evil spirits and evil influences, and also to drive away epidemics, such as
influenza." On being asked whether he believed in it, he said: "Well, that was the belief in
those days, and I can tell you that when Orò came out the influenza would disappear in
no time at all."20 Chief Sopeju's point about cleansing “the society of evil spirits and evil
influences” rings a bell in my memory. An example of how Orò cleanses “the society of
evil spirits” is that if a tree is suspected to harbour an evil spirit(s) around a town or
village, as I witnessed it, it is the Orò worshippers who would be requested to go and
dislodge the spirit(s) and cut down the tree.
A section of the Orò cult plays a prophetic role of exposing and confronting evil
doers, whether a king, a chief, or an ordinary person is dysfunctional. In some Yoruba
communities, such as in my village, Iwereile, the Orò agents who perform the prophetic
function of exposing and lampooning evil doers (like in the Old Testament) are called
aláwíyé - exponents, who constitute a challenge to evil doers and serve as public
conscience. It is also believed that Orò worshippers serve as rain makers whenever they
are called upon to render that service for the good of the community during drought. Like
with all the other Yoruba divinities, it is also believed that Orò gives whatever a person
requests through propitiation, but the person must honour his or her pledge, based on the
prescription by Orò.
2.7.2.1. Women Who See Oro
Ordinarily, Orò is a divinity whose emblem must not be seen by a woman, since it
is generally believed that any woman who sees it will die, and some examples of some
23
women who died are usually given. Ironically, some insiders explained to this researcher
that some powerful women are the real powers behind Orò, and they do see and behold
Orò emblems and agents. So, paradoxically, the adage that behind every successful man
is a woman, applies also to Orò. In Yoruba traditional culture, actually, people and
individuals in the mystical business usually have one or the other Indomitable Mother
(Ìyá Òṣòròngà), to whom they pay homage before every public action or display. They
believe that nothing can go wrong, and no evil can befall them, as long as they are in
harmony with their Ìyá Òṣòròngà. The Ìyá Òṣòròngà is often referred to as a witch (àjé ̣),
but the concept would seem to express the belief of the Yoruba in a form of female
principality that is protective rather than diabolical. Male and female principalities are
called àwọn ayé.
The most interesting point to note here, however, is that some powerful women
are said to be the real powers behind the Orò that must not be seen by (ordinary) women.
The same thing probably applies to certain masquerades, apart from Eégún Orò - Orò
masquerade, such as the Olóòlù masquerade in Ibadan and Agemọ in Ijebuland that must
not be seen by (ordinary) women. One also learnt that there are some Orò emblems that
un-initiated persons (including men) must not see. On the negative side, any male
individual or a group of men may go behind a house during Orò festival, and speak into a
device that turns a voice guttural. He or they would thereby speak to one woman or
another from behind the walls, in the name of Orò, analyzing her problems which he or
they knew before hand, aimed at prescribing sacrifice of money and food which are to be
delivered in a fixed night through a male infant(s) to the charlatan(s). Yet Orò was not
designed for exploiting women. The genuine Orò devotees are always hunting the
charlatans to protect the integrity of the festival and women against exploitation. A more
difficult allegation is the belief that Orò is used for catching men and women for human
sacrifice in some communities. Certainly, situations vary from community to community,
but while the latter allegation may not be denied, out-rightly, it will be in extraordinary
cases.
2.8. Diviners vis-à-vis Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland
Diviners are popular around the world, and there are some men and women
everywhere who are perplexed and anxious, desperate to unravel predicaments, overcome
confusion or dilemma through divination. In that sense, Imasogie (a Baptist scholar)
describes divination as a kind of provision for coping with life uncertainties. 21 What is
more, Peschke writes that "Divination of occult knowledge is a more frequent
phenomenon”, and “It cannot simply be dismissed as irresponsible and sinful." 22 It is
interesting to note that Peschke (a Dutch Catholic theologian) does not even mention
Africa at all in his book. Apart from general use of divination, diviners and divination are
closely linked with ancestral veneration, generally in Africa, and not only in Yoruba
context. Ela, a Cameroonian Catholic theologian, writes, for instance, that “in various
African societies, sacrifices are offered to the ancestors, usually through the prescription
of a diviner."23 That conforms to the findings of this research in Yorubaland.
Indubitably, Yoruba traditional diviners sometimes indicate that Àwọn òkú-ọ̀run
(the dead in heaven, i.e. the ancestors/ancestresses) are unhappy with someone, and so
they should be propitiated. Arinze groups the various ends of sacrifice in ATR under four
24
headings: [a]expiation in regard of abominations committed, [b] sacrifice to ward-off evil
spirits, [c] petition for something desired, and [d] thanksgiving for favour(s)
received.24That is very catchy. One would think it is pre-emptive and prejudicial to
dismiss all traditional diviners as demonic, deceptive, and mischievous. It would not be
for nothing altogether that many Africans patronize the traditional diviners; it must be
that they find some of them helpful. Many Yoruba believe that there are gifted and God-
fearing traditional diviners.
It is interesting to note that Peschke (a Dutch Catholic priest) has something to
say on whether Christians may consult diviners. He observes that “there are
parapsychologically gifted persons even among priests and religious” and that “their
confreres do not find objections in consulting them in difficult situations, such as in order
to find lost objects or to gain information about missing persons.” What is more, he adds
that even divination of the occult type "seems admissible" if one is entitled to the
information, if there is no danger of harmful errors, and if the methods used are
inoffensive and harmless.” Both the medium and the consultants must be, according to
Peschke, “entitled to the information, and the general obligation to respect personal
secrets also bind them.”25 Still in favour of occult divination, one may quote Clifford who
refers to Jurgen Moltmann as saying that: "The visible part of creation accessible to
science is only a part of nature”, and that “An understanding of nature as God's creation
includes not only what is visible or known scientifically, but also the sector of the
invisible or not-yet-known."26 Can mystery then ever end? Mbiti notes that "It is possible
that diviners have a knowledge of how to use some of the unseen forces of the .universe”,
and “They also use their common sense and good imagination." 27 All of that seems
plausible and indubitable.
Moreover from African experience, Gwembe notes that in the past, the "man with
a penetrating look", because he "told fortunes", represented for the missionary, “the
incarnation of the superstitious world in which the African lived.” Yet, as he notes, even
if there are false fortunetellers, there are also true "men with a penetrating look", and “the
African tradition itself, through its long experience, has learnt to discern the spirits, or
distinguish the false from the true diviners.” Gwembe then wonders what happens if one
day a "man with a penetrating look converts to the word of God”, asking: “Could he or
she continue to exercise his or her function?” Gwembe asks further, what the answer of
the Catholic Church would be, if a religious or a priest, suddenly discovers in himself or
herself the talents of the "man with a penetrating look?" He believes that if these
questions are not positively answered, they might cause suffering to many persons. 28One
would think that theologians, such as Peschke and Gwembe, could contribute to positive
ecclesiastical decisions on this matter, as demonstrated above. The question of course is
whether the Church authorities will budge in a world in which everybody seems to be
hiding his or her head in fear of stigmatization and sentimental condemnation. Obviously,
ancestral worship as different from mere veneration in most, if not in all, African
communities depends so much on traditional diviners who call people's attention to it,
and tell them what to do, most of the time, in addition to their (diviners') other usefulness
to perplexed humanity.
What about the negative side of divination? On a general note, Peschke holds that
objections must be raised against regular consultation of mediums, even though it does
not give itself "any kind of pseudo-religious vanish." He believes, and one may share his
25
belief, that frequent indulgence in occult consultation constitutes a danger to genuine
faith in God and to a person's psychological balance. He concludes that experience has
shown that much involvement in extra-sensorial practices can lead to "mediumistic
psychoses, which in extreme cases may end in suicide attempts.” 29 Beside the vital points
raised by Peschke, and notwithstanding the fact that there are some good diviners, one
wonders why someone should wait for a diviner to tell him or her to venerate or worship
one's ancestors/ancestresses. Yet, it is not true, in the findings of this research, that
diviners always tell people to worship their ancestors/ancestresses. A genuine diviner is
expected to say exactly what the oracle reveals, usually thateople should uphold the type
of ìwà (attitude, behaviour, character, and conduct) that pleases God and the
ancestors/ancestresses.
26
Notes for Chapter Two
1
Atanda, J.A., An Introduction to Yoruba History. Ibadan: University Press, 1980, p. l.
2
Owen, G.R., Rites and Religion of the Anglo-Saxon. New York: Bar and Noble Books,
1981, p. 67.
3
Jacobs, A.B., A Textbook on West African Traditional Religion, Ibadan: Aromolaran
Publishing Co., 1977, pp. 21-22.
4
Mbiti, John S, Introduction to African Religion (Second Edition). Oxford: Heinemann
Educational Publishers, 1991, p. 53, writes that “A number of African peoples look upon
God as Father and themselves as his children.” Although there does not seem to be
anything wrong with looking “upon God as Father”, it is not clear whether Mbiti is
reading a Christian idea into African traditional theology. He neither explains nor
mentions any specific African people(s). In traditional Yorubaland, people look upon
God as the Creator, Owner of life, and Director General of heaven and earth, as Idowu
explains it in Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief, p. 46 in particular; more elaborately, pp.
46-53 (reference as in note 10, below).
5
Awolalu, J. Omosade, Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial Rites. Essex: Longman Group Ltd.,
1979, p. 54.
6
Podimattam, F., Holiness in the Third Millenium, Malleswaram: Claretian Publications
India, 1998, p. 17.
7
Cabestrero, T., Faith: Conversations with Contemporary Theologians. New York: Orbis
Books, 1981, P. 104.
8
Richardson, A., A Dictionary of Christian Theology. London: SCM Press, 1969, p. 228.
9
Awolalu, J. Omosade, p. 60.
10
Idowu, E.B. ,Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief. London: Longman Group, 1977, p.
194.
11
Opata, D. U., Essays On Igbo World View. Enugu: AP. Express Publishers, 1998, pp.
91-92.
12
Mbiti, J. S., African Religions and Philosophy. London: Heinemann, 1971, p. 164.
13
Coutts, John, Our Faith and Theirs. London: Challenge Books, 1990, pp. 41 &48.
14
Richardson, A., pp. 288-289.
15
See Idowu, E. B., 1977, p. 196, for further explanations.
16
Idowu, E. B., 1977, p. 191.
17
Sunday Vanguard, Lagos, January 8, 1998, p. 5.
18
Gwembe, E., "Ancestors in African Culture" in Makobane, M., Sithole, B. and Shiya,
M. (eds.), The Church and African Culture: Conference Papers, Germiston: Mazenod
Institute, 1995, , p. 31
19
SundayVanguard, Lagos, January 8, 1998, p. 5.
20
Ibid.
21
Imasogie, O., African Traditional Religion, Ibadan: University Press Ltd., 1985, pp. 67-
68
22
Peschke, C.H., Christian Ethics Volume II: A Presentation of Special Moral Theology
in the Light of Vatican II. Dublin: Goodlife Neale, 1981, p. 101.
23
Ela, J. M. 1988, My Faith As An African. New York: Orbis Books, 1988, p. 21.
24
Arinze, F.A., Sacrifice In Igbo Religion. Ibadan: University Press, 1970, p. 34
25
Peschke, C.H., pp. 101-102
27
26
Not quoted but attributed to Jurgen Moltmann, by Anne M. Clifford, in her "Creation",
in Fiorenza, F.S. and J.P. Galvin (eds.), Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic
Perspective. Dublin:Gill& Macillan Ltd., Dublin, 1992, p.244.
27
Mbiti, J. S., An Introduction to African Religion. London: Heinemann, 1975, p. 156
28
Gwembe, E., 1995, pp. 35-38.
29
Peschke, C. H., p. 102.
28
CHAPTER THREE
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAINTHOOD AND ANCESTRAL VENERATION
In most Churches in Africa, persons initiated into Christianity are usually asked to
adopt a saint's name, which, in the understanding of this research, is a form of ancestral
veneration. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) specifically refers to saints as
Christian ancestors (Lumen Gentium, no. 51). The inclusive nature of this research
necessitates that one joins the ancestresses, and there are female saints as well. I found
that the Catholic Church has the most elaborate canonization and veneration of saints.
3.1. The Catholic Cult of Saints
Due to proliferation of secret cults around the world, it seems apposite to

emphasize that the word “cult” here refers to the system whereby saints are venerated and
worshiped in terms of dulia or hyperdulia (secondary category) rather than in terms of
latria which is the highest worship of honour due to God. The cult of saints is not
supposed to have anything dubious, demonic, or malevolent about it. In the words of a
Roman Catholic theologian, Hellwig,
Saints are venerated by the observance of feasts in their memory in

the calendar, by shrines, churches, and other institutions named after
and dedicated to them, by asking for their intercession with God,
and by having pictures and statues of them in homes, churches,
schools and elsewhere.1
The Catholic Church also treasures relics of saints, and so, apart from "building churches
over or near their graves, moving their bodies into more distinguished settings", Johnson
mentions also "distributing pieces of their bodies or their belongings as relics." 2 It is for
the latter that critics, such as Vigilantius denounced the cult of martyrs as superstition. He
is reported to have argued that when people die, they “remain asleep until the last
judgment, and so the martyrs are asleep and cannot hear prayers.” He holds that “special
attention to bits of bone or clothing is sheer superstition.” 3 Yet, it would seem that it is all
a matter of personal faith, for, as Johnson notes, "Saints were also considered as locus of
the breakthrough of divine power and, in contact with their holy places or relics,
blessings such as cures, exorcism, and other miracles were prayed for and experienced." 4
Naturally, such experiences would be impossible for people who do not have faith in
those practices.
What informs the Catholic cult of the saints is the doctrine of communio
sanctiorum, the belief that there is communion with the faithful departed. If those who
keep the words of Jesus will never see death, that means they will live-on in Christ (John
8:51). And if the heartfelt prayer of someone who is upright works very powerfully
(James 5:16; Job 42:8), one would think that communion of saints, expressed in the
Catholic cult of the saints is appropriate, under normal circumstances. As Woodward
observes:
29
Catholics are not alone in their veneration of saintly figures.
Buddhists venerate their arahants, their bodhisavattas, and (among
Tibetans) their lamas. Hindus revere a bewildering range of divinely
human and humanly divine figures, including their personal gurus or
spiritual teachers. Muslims have awaliya Allah (close friends of
God) and their revered Sufi masters.5
Moreover, Woodward notes that even in Judaism, whose rabbinic leaders have never
encouraged veneration of human beings, alive or dead, one finds popular devotion to
figures, such as Abraham and Moses, assorted martyrs, beloved rabbis, and other
tsaddikim ("just men").6 One would think it is not impossible, that there were other ways
by which the Jews venerated their ancestors that were not documented, and so not
included in the Bible. For the purpose of this work, I spoke with one Rabbi, Jonas Javna,
in Brooklyn, New York, USA, who said: "We have a history, and there is a chord in the
immortality of the soul that permeates Judaism”, and “That explains our ancestral
worship”, with the conclusion, “I hope that gives you an idea." In his experience as a
Judaic Minister, the synagogue is fuller for the annual memorial service than for any
other ceremony. (One can say, as Javna said for the Jews, that the Catholic Church, like
the traditional Yoruba, also cherish their history, and believe in the immortality of the
soul or life after death, and so, they continue to honour and worship, not as God, but as
heroes and heroines, their remarkable ancestors/ancestresses. That includes the fact that
every history usually has its glorious and dark sides).
It is largely true that since the Reformation, the cult of the saints has greatly
diminished, if not disappeared totally among the separated brethren (the Protestants). Yet,
"among the conservative Evangelicals", as Woodward notes, "special reverence is
attached to the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New." Writing
further, Woodward observes that something like the cult continues among Anglicans and
Lutherans, who maintain feast days and calendars of saints. Whereas the Anglicans have
no mechanism for recognising new saints, according to Woodward, the Lutherans from
time to time do informally recommend new names for thanksgiving and remembrance by
the faithful. He adds that “the recent additions by the Lutheran Church include Dag
Hammarskjod, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Pope John XXIII” , with the conclusion that,
"The saint, then, is a familiar figure in all world religions”, yet indicating: “But only the
Roman Catholic Church has a formal, continuous, and highly rationalised process for
'making' saints."7 His reservations about the system will be discussed as one presents a
short history of how the process of saint canonisation started.
3.2. History of the Process of Attaining Sainthood
Briefly, the story is that in the early Christian period, sainthood was conferred on
an individual by popular acclaim. That happened mostly with regard to martyrs, starting
with St. Stephen. According to Placher, "At least as early as the second century,
Christians had paid special honour to martyrs as heroes of the faith." Writing further,
Placher notes that some persons, such as the Monk Martin of Tours, who did not die as
martyr "still seemed to have the same kind of sanctity that the martyrs had had". Indeed,
Martin of Tours is said to be the first person pronounced a saint, without being a martyr.
30
Even in the days when martyrdom was very common, "it had been a problem that
heretics could also die for their faith", and so, there was need to find a way of
determining "the identity of those on whom Christians could call with the confidence that
they are with Christ", observes Placher. Yet, according to him, for many centuries, "saints
were proclaimed informally by local bishops or popular acclamation;
only in 993 did a candidate named Ulrich of Augsburg go through a

formal process of 'canonisation', in which papal officials studied his
life for evidence of piety and verified miracles produced by prayers
to him since his death. Then the Pope officially proclaimed him a
saint, subjecting the cult of the saints to a form of institutional
control.'8
In the same vein, Johnson notes that once the age of Roman persecution ceased and
martyrdom was no longer a prevalent occurrence in the Church, other holy men and
women whose lives had given remarkable witness in the Church were also venerated. The
list included, as Johnson further observes, confessors who had been tortured for the faith
but not killed; ascetics, especially those who lived a life of celibacy; wise teachers and
prudent Church leaders; and those who cared for the poor. "Mary of Nazareth was also
honoured because of her faith and discipleship in her relationship as mother of Jesus
Christ"9, concludes Johnson.
The church eventually considered it necessary to adopt a formal procedure,
known as canonisation. In the words of McGrath:
In ecclesiastical usage the term canonisation is the process, reserved

since the thirteenth century to the pope, by means of which a
deceased person is officially sanctioned and approved in the Roman
Catholic Church as a saint and is treated as illustrious, pre-eminent,
or sacred. The individual is authoritatively co-opted into the official
list of persons accepted and canonised by the church as a saint, as
one who has gone to heaven.10
Historically, it is said that the process began in earnest under the auspices of Pope
Celestine III in the 12th century and, within hundred years, under Pope Gregory IX, papal
approval, after intensive investigation, became the only legitimate means of
canonisation11, i.e. incorporation into the canon, or list of saints approved by the church.
In 1997, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony was reported to have written Pope John Paul
II "to suspend ordinary procedures of canonisation" so that Mother Teresa of Calcutta
could become a saint on or before the year 2000, which has been declared the Church's
year of the Great Jubilee. According to the report, even though the Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had earlier said he
foresaw a speedy process for Mother Teresa's canonisation, he is said to have emphasized
that the process should be carried out with respect for the Church's rules and timetables.
That notwithstanding Cardinal Mahony's letter that: "Already millions of people around
the world are proclaiming her a 'saint', and rightly they should”, since, according to him,
“All of our theological definitions for a saintly life are fulfilled in Mother Teresa in
31
unprecedented fashion.”12 Yet, for the Pope to declare and canonise somebody as a saint,
a number of bridges have to be crossed, so to say. In the distant past, as Fisher notes, the
evidence was tested in what resembled a courtroom battle, with the Pope as judge. While
the nominators argued the case for sainthood, a disinterested party, often one of the
Pope's staff, argued against, producing whatever evidence he could, to dispute the
claim.13 The purpose of the latter was to test the worthiness of the candidate, but, because
the opponent appeared to be trying to deny the candidate of the exalted position of a
saint, he was called the Devil's Advocate. Otherwise, he was officially the "Promoter of
the Faith"14, as Woodward notes.
Later, the court-like setting was abolished. Instead, evidence was to be presented
to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints. The officials of the congregation for
committee of Cardinals, together with some other persons, would weigh the nominator’s
claims against the counter claims of the Devil's Advocate. They would then send their
recommendations to the Pope.
In course of time, the office of the Devil’s Advocate became abrogated. What is
required currently is that every cause or position must include testimony from witnesses
who knew the candidate. As Woodward notes, advocates for the cause are required to
supply Church tribunals with the names of witnesses who support as well as who oppose
the candidate.15 That would require that those concerned avoid the temptation to simply
concoct a list of witnesses and opponents.
One should note that some voices decried, albeit posthumously, the abrogation of
the office of the Devil’s Advocate. They raised the fact of human tendency to manipulate
regulations for socio-political and economic reasons. Woodward, for instance, observes
that a powerful and influential group might manipulate the process, without the Devil’s
Advocate and his staff, and without any means of making the process public. Woodward
goes further to identify some lapses here and there, since the new regulation came into
force.16 But, irrespective of whether Woodward or any other objector is right or wrong,
one would suggest that the church should provide a suitable substitute if the office of the
Devil's Advocate must remain abrogated, since he is actually and officially supposed to
be the “Defender of the Faith”. Whatever would make tangible transparency the
watchword seems necessary.
Now, if the Pope eventually confirms the worthiness of a candidate for sainthood,
then the second phase begins. It consists in establishing that at least a miracle has taken
place through the intercession of the candidate. Once that is clearly proven, the candidate
is beatified, and adorned with the prefix "Blessed." He or she is also assigned a Feast
Day, usually the day the person died. This is because, as Johnson explains, "unlike pagan
custom", the day a holy person dies is considered the actual date of his or her birth.
Hence the anniversary of their death is celebrated yearly 17. The belief, then, is that a saint
is born into heaven the day he or she dies.
Fr. Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi was the first and, up until this moment (2018),
the only Nigerian ever considered by the Catholic Church for the position of a saint. It
was reported that the first miracle which led to his beatification on March 22, 1998, was
recorded in 1986. It is said that during one of the masses to welcome Tansi's remains
back to Nigeria from England, where he was a monk, a lady who had terminal cancer
touched the casket and was healed. The healing, according to the report, "was subjected
to rigorous test and found to be true." 18 After the beatification, the Pope declared the
32
venerable Father Tansi blessed, and enjoined the faithful to celebrate his anniversary
every January twentieth, since he died on January 20, 1964.
The third phase of the canonisation process is the sainthood which follows if at
least one other miracle is proven to have taken place through the candidate's intercession.
No wonder, the Most Rev. Dr. Albert Obiefuna, the Archbishop of Onitsha , was reported
to have invited "bishops and all faithful of the church to pray for divine healing for all
those among Catholics who are ill in the name of Tansi so that they could all return to
their pastoral duties, and hasten the canonisation of the Blessed Tansi”. 19 If another
miracle is thoroughly proven after beatification, a service is held in St. Peter's Basilica in
Rome, with the Pope officiating, surrounded by Cardinals and other persons. There the
Pope will solemnly declare that the beatified is a saint, and the person's name is inscribed
in the Church's list of saints. That concludes the canonisation process, in nutshell.
3.2.1. Sainthood in Contemporary Perspectives
It will not be proper to conclude this section without mentioning that there have
emerged some hermeneutical efforts to broaden the perspective on sainthood. Fatula
writes, for instance, that:
Vatican Council II affirmed that the Holy Spirit is at work wherever

people labour to make life more human (GS 38), and that the Spirit's gifts
'can be found outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church' (UR
3). These insights provide an entirely new context for understanding that,
in the Holy Spirit, the communion of saints extends beyond the bounds of
the church to all persons of truth and love.20
On a similar note, Hellwig writes that it is "generally acknowledged that many who have
not been canonised were probably more virtuous and dedicated than those who were."21
One can only hope that among the many are at least some African ancestors
/ancestresses. Murray would tend to share this sentiment, when he writes that "With all
mankind we search for moral truth and whatever may be the differences of practical
detail we find ourselves in agreement with non-Christians on the basic values of justice,
honesty, truth, respect for human life, and even love." 22 That is in conformity with
Rahner's principle of "anonymous Christians". Explaining the principle, Joseph Cardinal
Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) notes that "It is part of the Church's ancient,
traditional teaching that every man is called to salvation and so de facto can be saved if
he sincerely follows the precepts of his own conscience, even without being a visible
member of the Catholic Church."23 All of that can be summarized in the Yoruba concept
of ìwà rere (good conduct, behaviour, or character, attitude).
A basic concern of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council was that there
should be no exaggerations and distortions, with regard to the ecclesiastical cult of the
saints. Hence, as Johnson notes, “the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen
Gentium) stresses central Christological, ecclesiological, and eschatological themes
without which reflection on and veneration of the saints tend toward distortion.” 24 In the
final analysis, the Council enjoins:
33
Let us teach the faithful, therefore, that the authentic cult of the
saints does not consist so much in a multiplicity of external acts, but
rather in a more intense practice of our love, whereby, for our own
greater good and that of the church, we seek from the saints
‘example in their way of life, fellowship in their communion, and
the help of their intercession.’ (Lumen Gentium, no.51)
As the Second Vatican Council was concerned about abuses, distortions, and
exaggerations in the ecclesiastical cult of the saints, so am I concerned about abuses in
the ancestral cult in Yorubaland, and as may apply elsewhere. Ancestral veneration is a
religious activity that can be highly moralising and socialising, but abuses that can cause
pain and grief to many persons, and scare many other persons, have to be avoided or
condemned wherever and whenever found. From a Yoruba point of view, it should be
said, for instance, that nobody should hide behind the mask during the ancestral
Masquerade, Orò, or any other festival to harm people with cane or any other means.
3.3. Abuses Relating to the Cult of Saints
In the findings of this research, the cult of the saints was not always sacrosanct,
nor devoid of any abuse, otherwise, the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on it
would itself be baseless. Some scholars have noted that the Church in its public liturgy
has always honoured the saints soberly, praising God for their splendid and striking
witness for Christ, and exhorting the faithful to emulate their exemplary lives, for a
strengthened koinonia (Greek, communion), as the Church prays in the company of the
saints. Yet, particularly in the medieval times, up until the time of the Second Vatican
Council (1962-1965), as Fisher notes, "uncounted thousands of local saints were
honoured in popular piety, some of them even legendary”, to the extent that “Credulity
and superstition abounded, as evidenced by zeal for collecting relics, use of auguries and
incantations, innumerable reports of miracles, superheated hagiography, and the divorce
of piety from ethics."25
Fisher writes further that the details of the lives of the saints, which were much in
demand, were furnished either by first-hand accounts or from stories handed down from
generation to generation. Later, the thirst for information about the lives of the saints,
according to Fisher, produced accounts where just one or two facts were embellished
with a full life story, and "many of these were set down in the Golden Legend of James of
Voragin, the Archbishop of Genoa who died in 1298, and similar collections of lives of
the saints" were published.26 Obviously, human beings are, generally speaking, prone to
abuse and perversion of good ideas and practices.
3.3.1. Mary the Mother of Jesus in Catholic Perspectives
Part of the exaggerations happened to be a situation whereby, as Johnson notes,

"Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mother of God, assumed a magnified role in piety as beautiful
virgin, merciful mother, and powerful queen of heaven and earth who could command
even her son." All of that formed part of the late medieval distortion of the gospel
criticized by the Reformers in the sixteenth century. According to Johnson, the
34
theological leaders of the Reformation did not turn against the saints or Mary in
themselves, but enjoined thanking God for the lives of the saints only, and not praying to
them or invoking them. By contrast, as Johnson further notes, the Council of Trent (the
Counter Reformation council) declared that it was “good and useful” to thank God for the
saints as well as to invoke them. The Council then gave regulatory authority over the cult
of the saints to bishops to address abuses. 27 Unfortunately succeeding centuries witnessed
a polarity in which, as Johnson notes, "the reformation tradition developed a case of
amnesia about the saints and Mary, while in response Catholic piety and doctrine
concentrated more fixedly upon them." Writing further, Johnson notes that "Protestants
tended to fulfill Luther's prophecy that when the saints were no longer thought to be able
to give us benefits, they would be left to rest unmolested in their graves", while on the
other hand, Catholics "with egregious abuses held in check, continued to venerate the
saints through old and new practices."28 That seems to follow a natural law of rivalry, and
curtailing its excesses tends to be difficult.
By the nineteenth century, historically speaking, Marian devotion gained
heightened popularity. Pius IX is said to have declared in 1854 the dogma of the
immaculate conception, that the Blessed Virgin Mary from the first instance of her
conception (in her mother's womb) was preserved untouched by any taint of original sin,
by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in consideration of the merits of
Christ Jesus the Saviour of humankind. The Pope declared that the dogma was revealed
by God and therefore it is to be firmly and steadfastly believed by all the faithful. 29 Then
in 1950, the dogma of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was declared and
defined by Pius XII, as being revealed by God, that "the Immaculate Mother of God, ever
- Virgin Mary, on the completion of the course of her earthly life, has been taken up, in
body and soul, to the glory of heaven." 30 Johnson observes that "Piety and theology kept
pace with these official developments”, and “New 'true' devotions were advocated,
apparitions occurred, new places of pilgrimage attracted millions (Lourdes, Fatima), a
theology of Mary as mediatrix of grace and even co-redemptrix was developed." 31 That
means Mary the Mother of Jesus became portrayed by Catholic theologians as mediatress
of divine grace, and exalted with Jesus her Son as co-redeemer of humankind.
3.3.2. Modernisation of the Cults of Mary and the Saints by the Second Vatican
Council
Long before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), there had been
ecclesiastical councils that deliberated on checking abuses and exaggerations with regard
to the cult of the saints. The Second General Council of Nicaea in 787, for instance, apart
from justifying the use of icons and images against critics, saw the need to distinguish
between worship of God (latria, latreia) and the respectful veneration of the saints
(proskunesis, adoratio).32 The Second Vatican Council, however, is said to present the
most comprehensive, and most up to date teaching on the cult and communion of saints.
The Council Fathers are also said to remain faithful to the biblical and patristic roots, as
well as to the decrees of earlier councils, such as the Second General Council of Nicaea,
the Council of Florence, and the Council of Trent (Lumen Gentium, no. 51). The Council
has been severally credited for moderation. For instance, with regard to the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the Fathers teach that by her maternal charity Mary cares for "the brethren
35
of her son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties", therefore,
she "is invoked in the church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and
Mediatrix”, adding, “This, however, is so understood that it neither takes away anything
from, nor adds anything to the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator."
Otherwise, the Fathers explain, "The church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate
role of Mary, which it constantly experiences and recommends to the heartfelt attention
of the faithful, so that encouraged by this maternal help they may more closely adhere to
the Mediator and Redeemer"(Lumen Gentium, no. 62).
With that type of approach, it is clear that the Council Fathers were biblically,
traditionally, and ecumenically sensitive, as several theologians, such as Johnson 33, have
noted. I present here a systematic summary of the teaching of the Second Vatican
Council on the cult of the saints. The teaching starts with article forty-nine of the
Council's constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium, abbreviated as LG, and translated
as Light of the World), runs through to article sixty-eight, including, in the final part,
teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary (articles 52 -68). I limit my systematic summary to
articles forty-nine to fifty-one, which seems to say it all. The summary goes thus:
1. According to the constant faith of the church, there is a continuous 'union of the
wayfarers with the brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ... Being more closely
united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole church more firmly in
holiness', and they 'add to the nobility of the worship that the Church offers to
God here on earth... Through him and with him and in him they do not cease to
intercede with the Father for us'. (LG. no. 49).
2. From the very earliest days of the Christian religion, 'The Church in its pilgrim
members... has honoured with great respect the memory of the dead; and, 'because
it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed
from their sins' (2 Mac. 12:46), she offers her suffrages for them,' (LG. no. 50).
3. The church has always believed that the apostles and Christ's martyrs, who gave
the supreme witness of faith and charity by the shedding of their blood, are
closely united 'with us' in Christ; she has always venerated them, together with the
Blessed Virgin Mary and the holy angels, with a special love, and has asked
piously for the help of their intercession. Later, 'there were added to these others
who had chosen to imitate more closely the virginity and poverty of Christ, and
still others whom the outstanding practice of the Christian virtues and the
wonderful graces of God recommended to the pious devotion and imitation of the
faithful.' (LG. no. 50).
4. To look on the life of those who have faithfully followed Christ is to be inspired
with a new reason for seeking his kingdom. Beside the title of example, however,
it is most fitting 'we give due thanks to God' for the lives of the saints, while
'humbly invoking them, and having recourse to their prayers, their aid and help in
obtaining from God through his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, our only Redeemer
and saviour, the benefits we need.' (LG. no. 50).
5. It is especially in the sacred liturgy that 'our union with the heavenly church' is
best realised. When 'we celebrate the eucharistic sacrifice we are most closely
united to the worship of the heavenly church; when in the fellowship of
36
communion we honour and remember the glorious Mary ever virgin, St. Joseph,
the holy apostles and martyrs and all the saints.' (LG. no. 50).
6. The authentic cult of the saints does not consist so much in a multiplicity of
external acts, but rather in a more 'intense practice of our love', whereby, 'for our
own greater good and that of the church, we seek from saints, example in their
way of life, fellowship in their communion, and the help of their intercession'
(LG. no. 51).
7. Communion with those in heaven, if it is understood in the full light of faith, in no
way diminishes the worship of adoration (Latria) given to God the father, through
Christ, in the spirit; on the contrary, it greatly enriches it (LG. no. 51).
That, in nutshell, is the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on the cult and
communion of saints. It defines the current position of the Catholic Church on the cult of
saints who are regarded as Christian ancestors/ancestresses by the Fathers of the Council.
Notes for Chapter Three

1
Hellwig, M.K, "Saints" in Glazier, M., and M.K Hellwig, eds. 1994, The Modern
Catholic Encyclopaedia. Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1994, p.783.
2
Johnson, E. A., "Saints and Mary" in Fiorenza, F. S., and J.P. Galvin (eds.), Systematic
Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives, Dublin: Gill and Macmillam Ltd., 1992, p. 474.
3
See Placher, W.C., A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction. Philadelphia: The
Westminster Press, 1983, pp. 129 - 130
4
Fiorenza, F.S., and J.P. Galvin (eds.) Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic
Perspectives, Gill and Macmillam Ltd; Dublin, 1992, p. 474.
5
Woodward, K.L, Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Mho Becomes a
Saint, Who Doesn't, and Why. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996, pp.15-16.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Placher, W.C., pp. 129 - 130
9
Johnson, E.A., in Fiorenza, F.S., and G.P. Galvin, eds., p. 474.
10
In Glazier, M., and M.K Hellwig, p.123
11
See Fisher, E.B, Saints Alive! A Book of Patron Saints: Whom to Call Upon for Help
with Health, Love, Work and Finance. London: Fount Paperbacks, 1995, pp.3-4.
12
Independent, Ibadan, Sunday, October 5, 1997.
13
Fisher, E.B, p.4
14
Woodward, K.L, p. 3
15
Ibid, p.10.
16
Ibid, pp.4-12
17
Fiorenza, F.S., and J.P. Galvin, p. 473
18
The Guardian on Sunday, Lagos, November 1, 1998, pp.1 & 2
19
Ibid, p.2
20
In Glazier, M., and M.K Hellwig, p.187
21
Ibid, p.783
22
Murray, D., Jesus; is Lord: An Introduction to Christian Theology. Dublin: Veritas
Publications, 1975, p.13
37
23
Joseph Cardinal Razinger with V. Messori, The Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive
Interview on the_State of the Church. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985, p. 196 -197
24
Johnson, E.A, in Fiorenza, F.S., and J.P Galvin, eds.,p.479.
25
Johnson, E.A., in Fiorenza, F.S., and J.P. Galvin, eds., pp. 475 - 476.
26
Fisher, E. B., p. 3.
27
Johnson, E.A., in Fiorenze, F.S., and J.P. Galvin, eds., P. 476.
28
Ibid, p. 477.
29
Bettenson, H., Documents of the Christian Church (Second Edition), London: Oxford
University Press, 1967, p. 271.
30
Ibid, p. 280.
31
Johnson, E.A., in Fiorenza, F.S., and J.P. Galvin, eds., p. 477.
32
Cf., for instance, Dupuis, J., ed., The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the
Church. New York: Alba House, 1996, pp. 506 - 507.
33
Johnson, E.A., in Fiorenza, F.S., and J.P. Galvin, eds., p. 477.
38
CHAPTER FOUR
AFRO-CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AND ANCESTRAL VENERATION
The purpose of this chapter is to focus on ancestral veneration and worship as a

strictly theological subject. Several relevant points have been made of course that may
not be repeated here. Special references have been made to theologians, such as Bujo and
Nyamiti, on their contributions to ancestral Christology. Anselm presents a classical
definition of “theology” as Fides quaerens intellectum – Faith seeking understanding.
That is an academic understanding of theology, and so it is impossible in a dogmatic
setting in which beliefs are neither subjected to questioning nor alterable based on new
evidence or critical reflection. That means that if “faith is seeking understanding”, the
principle of Roma locuta causa finita (Rome has spoken no more debate) cannot stand, as
that is an obstruction to academic research and education.
Ancestral veneration in Africa, as hitherto explained, is based and depends on
virtuous living by the ancestors/ancestresses while they were alive in this world. If a
person did not live a virtuous and altruistic life, he or she is not likely to have anybody to
honour him or her as an ancestor/ancestress. Likewise, a true ancestor/ancestress is not
expected to tolerate vicious or inhumane life from those he or she left behind without
haunting such persons. The connection is that, in its own context, Christianity, from the
biblical point of view, prides itself on placing the highest emphasis on virtuous living.
Take for instance, the beatitudes (Mt. 5-7; Lk. 6) and the message about the last judgment
in Mt. 25: 31-46. The first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (13:13) states that love
surpasses faith and hope. The "golden rule" itself in Mt. 7:12 enjoins "always treat others
as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets.”
Moreover, ancestral veneration in Africa, like the Christian cult of saints, has to
do with belief in life after death and communion with good dead persons. Pope John Paul
II captures the import of this chapter when he writes about religions which emphasise
"ancestor worship", saying:
It seems that those who practice them are particularly close to

Christianity, and among them, the Church's missionaries also find it
easier to speak a common language. Is there perhaps, in this
veneration of ancestors a kind of preparation for the Christian faith
in the communion of saints, in which all believers -whether living or
dead - form a single community, a single body?1
The Pope’s answer to the question is in the affirmative, as he states further that: "There is
nothing strange, then, that the African and Asian animists would become believers in
Christ more easily than followers of the great religions of the Far East." 2 That is
reminiscent of Jesus Christ who admired “great faith” in some non-Jews. It is a different
ball game if the Pope is prejudicial against “the great religions of the Far East”, since as
noted in the review of literature, every appreciative people honour their ancestors and
ancestresses.
From the liturgical point of view, one can note that the invocation of the litany of
the saints at clerical ordinations and religious professions in the Catholic Church is, in
39
some sense, similar to the way traditional Africans invoke and pay homage to their
ancestors/ancestresses. That seems true at least in the sense that one and the other
represent invocation of and homage to some dead, but believed to be living persons. The
same is true of the way the Bible refers to God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ex. 3:6;
Mt. 22:23); the genealogies and the identification of Jesus with the royal house of David
(Mt. 1:1-17 and Lk. 3: 23-38). All these show the biblical recognition of the ancestral
factor. Indeed, the genealogical sections in both Matthew and Luke are titled "The
ancestry of Jesus" in The New Jerusalem Bible, published in 1985.
Then, there is an ethical interest which can link ATR to Christianity. In his work
earlier quoted, Pope John Paul II enjoins that instead of marveling at the fact that
Providence allows a great variety of religions in the world, one should be amazed at the
number of common elements found within them. Writing further, he states that: "As the
Council also noted, these [last] religions possess the characteristics of a system”, for
“They are systems of worship and ethical systems, with a strong emphasis on good and
evil." The words "last religions" refer to African and Asian religions which the Pope
mentioned earlier, and "Chinese Confucianism and Taoism." 3 It is indeed hardly
contestable that no authentic religion preaches evil. Sometimes, of course, evils, such as
conspiracy, marginalization, oppression, and extortion, are perpetrated in the name of
religion.
The Pope thus hits a relevant note about the fact that ATR, among many other
religious systems, lays much emphasis on good and evil. One can add that the ethical
system in ATR is maintained largely by reference to God, the divinities, and the
ancestors/ancestresses who are believed to continue to monitor the ethical behaviour of
those they left behind in the world. In Christianity, as Oduyoye notes, "there is nothing
more deadly than a theology devoid of the ethical imperative." 4 In the Yoruba context,
even some personal names testify to the belief of the traditional Yoruba in the ethical
probity of their divinities. The retired Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Ekiti, Most Rev.
Michael Fagun, explains that his own name is "Fagunleka, which is now known as Fagun
for short", and it means, according to the Bishop, "Ifa oracle does not preside over
wickedness, that is to say, God is my justice." 5 (Among the Oyo Yoruba, the name would
have been written as Faigunleka, with an “i” differential, without which the meaning is
the opposite of the Bishop's translation).
Similarly, the conviction of Ògún (the divinity for iron, metal, and steel)
worshippers that Ògún hates deceit is expressed in such names as Ògúnrínú (Ògún sees
the mind). Moreover, part of Ògún's praise names is: Ègbè lé ̣hìn ẹni à n dá lóró -
Defender of the persecuted. Then, there are other names, such as Shàngódáre - Shàngó
(the divinity for thunder and symbol of God's anger) vindicates, or Shàngó has
vindicated, and so on.
African traditional ancestral worship is ultimately about upholding the noble
moral tradition of the ancestors/ancestresses, while Christology without modeling Jesus is
indubitably defective. One would think that, to be a saint, a person must have behaved
saintly. Another correlation is that, as the Church considers the Lord Jesus Christ to be
the invisible Head of the Church, so do traditional Africans consider the
ancestors/ancestresses to be the invisible heads of their families. One would like to look
more closely at the bridges between ancestral veneration in traditional Africa, under three
40
subheadings: 1. The Church's Vocation to Holiness of Life; 2. Prophecy in the Old and
the New Testaments; 3. Diviners, Prophecy and Discernment.
4.1. The Church's Vocation to Holiness of Life
An initial objection may be raised against this subheading: If the Church is one,
holy, Catholic, and apostolic, why should what is holy be called again to become holy?
Schreck writes: "What do we mean when we profess the church is holy? Many people
think it means the church is perfect or without sin”, whereas “That cannot be true because
Christ came to call and save sinners; the church is full of sinners, us!" 6 Yet, the Apostle
Peter asserts:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's
own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who
called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were
no people but now you are God's people; once you had not received
mercy but now you have received mercy. (1Pt. 2:9-10).
What is one to make of that? It is not satisfactory to say: "Holy literally means 'set apart',
God is holy because he is 'set apart' from his creatures." As Schreck further notes, "The
church being set apart does not mean being separated from the world." 7 It is even
doubtful whether one can emphasise that the “transcendent” God is 'set apart' from his
creatures. At any rate, holiness here must mean being perfect as the heavenly Father is
perfect (Mt. 5:48), or something of that nature, since human beings are never expected to
be able to be as perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. So, there is some difficulty of
how to relate what the Apostle Peter says the Church is (a holy nation) to a Church that is
said to be “full of sinners”.
On the other hand, it will not be fair to Schreck if one does not acknowledge him
as saying also that although the Church is “full of sinners”, there are those who are holy
in the Church.8 Nevertheless, in the words of another theologian, Nolan, "The supreme
irony is that some of the things Christ opposed most strongly in the world of his time
were resurrected, preached, and spread more widely throughout the world - in his name."
The bottom line is Nolan's observation that it is very easy to use Jesus for one's own
purpose.9Amazingly, Jesus himself wonders whether he would meet genuine faith in the
world when he comes back (Luke 18:8). Along that line, Akinjide notes, for instance,
that:
The intention of the Europeans was to create in Africa, a gigantic

trading monopoly behind a smoke screen of philanthropy, altruism,
civilisation and Christianity! How neatly they fitted together -
Christianity, civilisation and commerce!10
Thus, the Church, as a pilgrim, has not arrived fully and entirely at the holy stage yet.
Likewise, Ehusani, quotes Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, as regretting that: "They brought
'the pie in the sky' religion (otherwise called 'spiritualism') which soothed the people as
they were being drained of their humanity."11 Some scholars quote some Papal Bulls
41
which supported the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade that enslaved Africans 12 while some
other intellectuals, such as Mbefo, wonder whether Christianity has made any ethical
improvement on Africans or on the world at large. Mbefo notes, for instance, that
“questions are arising about the salvific claims of Christianity.” The questions bother,
according to Mbefo, on the fact that “after nearly two thousand years of Christian history,
the world has remained unredeemed and unchanged.” That is the case, continues Mbefo,
to the extent that “people still behave and react to situations exactly as ancient human
documents narrate it since the dawn of written literature and as far as oral tradition can
remember.” It seems to be constant that: "There have always been good and bad guys",
concludes Mbefo.13 His argument seems unassailable. The statement “after nearly two
thousand years of Christian history” refers to the fact that Mbefo wrote his book in 1997,
about three years to the end of the second millennium that time.
Officially, it is recognised that "the tension between the church's holiness and the
sinfulness of her members can at times assume alarming proportions and - as in the late
Middle Ages, for instance - gravely distort the face of the church herself." 14 Indeed, the
Second Vatican Council would seem to have responded to all the difficulties raised, when
it states that:
the church is not blind to the discrepancy between the message it

proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has
been entrusted. Whatever is history's judgment on these
shortcomings, we cannot ignore them and we must combat them
earnestly, lest they hinder the spread of the Gospel. (Gaudium et
Spes, no.43)
The Church is deemed to be under the labour of responding to her call to holiness, and
she may have to be under that struggle until the Lord comes back, since absolute
perfection is humanly predictable only of God. To buttress this point, it may be apposite
to cite the Lord Jesus himself asking, when someone called him a good person: "Why do
you call me good? No one is good but God alone" (Luke 19:18-20). It may be argued that
the Lord was just being humble in the quoted passage, but the point should not be lost
that, as the Second Vatican Council notes, all Christians are called to aspire toward
holiness of life, whether they are laymen and women or clerics; or in a religious
community, whether they are married or unmarried (Lumen Gentium, nos. 39-42).
Udemezue quotes Archbishop Anthony Olubunmi Okogie (of Lagos) as saying that
“religious leaders should not be seen as perfect persons who are sinless”, since, “like
every other human being, religious leaders have their weaknesses and shortcomings, and
they require the prayers of the faithful to get along.”15Some newspaper stories about
reprehensible actions of some religious leaders testify to the transparent objectivity of
that remark.
In consonance with the foregoing, Placher writes that the first Christians "had
assumed that Christians should not, and usually would not, commit sins after baptism."
Therefore, as Placher notes,
Many began to postpone baptism to cover as many sins as possible.

As Augustine and others realized, however, as long as we 'remain in
42
this life ... if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us.' But what were Christians to do?16
The solution came in the form of the sacrament of penance, which has evolved down the
ages in the Catholic Church. But the details go beyond the scope of this book. St. Paul
already notes that the treasures of God's word and grace which are in Christians are as in
weak earthen vessels (2Cor. 4:7). It has to be registered that "It is God's will that you
grow in holiness" (1Thess. 4:3). The Church has, of course, moved from the age of the
Inquisition and the Crusades, to this age of religious freedom and tolerance, human
rights, and socio-political and economic justice. Concern for the poor, such as the world
witnessed in the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, is very much appreciated as a good
criterion for sainthood. There seems to be much talk today than ever before about the
need to embrace fundamental option for promoting the interests of the poor and the
marginalized, as a primary concern of Christians. In both the Old and New Testaments,
certain agents of God called prophets help to reawaken God's people to their vocation to
holiness of life, by continually rebuking them whenever they violated God's
commandments.
4.2. Prophecy in the Old and New Testaments
The injunction to be holy as the Lord your God is holy (Lev. 1:44- 45) is often
forgotten, neglected, and violated by the Israelites, as may be predicable of many
Christians and non-Christians today. The prophet is the one who confronts the people
collectively and individually to warn them of the consequences of unholy and sinful lives.
In the words of McBrien, "The prophet is one who, literally, is called to speak on behalf
of another, in this case on behalf of God (Hebrew, nabi')."17 It is usually said that the
authentic biblical prophet is not a fortune- or future teller as an oracle or a clairvoyant,
except that in interpreting events, he or she could predict some consequences of one form
of action or another, and of a failure to act. As Bishop E. B. Gbonigi of the Anglican
Communion, Akure, observes: "We have to tell the mind of God”, and “That is what
prophecy really means; it is not telling what will happen in future.” According to the
Bishop, fortune- or future-telling “is not the most important aspect of prophecy; the most
important is declaring the will of God."18 Of course, the expression, “not the most
important”, means that fortune- or future-telling is not totally ruled out. The Catechism of
the Catholic Church teaches that "Through the prophets, God forms his people in the
hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting covenant intended for all,
to be written in their hearts."19 It does not seem possible, however, that any divine law
can surpass that of love of God and neighbour, in which one's reward depends on what
one does to one's neighbour.
One can argue that the New Testament's prophetic connection is established, since
the Lord Jesus has not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them (Mt.
5:17). Bergant observes that "the early Christians took great pains to show that most of
the major prophetic traditions of Israel were brought to completion in Jesus." 20 Beyond
that, the Lord Jesus is himself identified as a prophet (Luke 24:19). I believe it is in that
light that the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council teach that all validly baptised
43
Christians participate in one way or another in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly offices
of Christ (Lumen Gentium, no.31).
With regard to the early Church, Bergant notes that prophecy performed the
function of teaching. Ancient Israelite tradition, according to Bergant, was interpreted "in
light of the event of Christ and utterances were considered prophetic if they showed an
understanding of the mysteries of that event (1 Cor. 13:2)." Continuing, he states that
early Christian prophecy "focused more on understanding Christ than on dealing with
broader social reality." That "served to establish a firm Christian identity so that the
challenges of a changing world might be met with a steadfast commitment to the essence
of the religious tradition", concludes Bergant.21But the number of persons clamouring for
a broader use of prophecy seems to be growing. It is felt in certain theological quarters,
particularly among liberation theologians, that the church should look beyond herself and
contribute to sociopolitical and economic justice. Gifford, for instance, writes that "The
incarnation means that God involved himself with our world; a Christian today should
imitate this involvement." Moreover, in the words of Gifford:
In history there have always been Christians who retreated from the
world, turned in on themselves, formed a ghetto. They saw that their
only duty to the world was to convert others, or to bring others from
the world into the church. The church thus became an alternative
society. It was within this special society that God was supposedly
found, that God acted. This turning in on themselves seems to affect
Christians in times of crisis particularly, and in Africa today the
crisis is enormous.22
It may be that many Christians are misled by such passages that indicate that Christians
are in the world but not of the world (e.g. John 15:19). One would think, however, that
when the Lord Jesus speaks negatively about the world, he is referring only to the
diabolical elements in the world, and not the world as created good by God. No wonder
Jesus petitions God the Father to protect his disciples "from the Evil One" (John 17:15).
The Second Vatican Council also teaches that "One of the gravest errors of our time is
the dichotomy between the faith which many profess and the practice of their daily lives."
Beyond that, the Council adds that "The Christian who shirks his temporal duties shirks
his duties towards his neighbour, neglects God himself, and endangers his eternal
salvation" (Gaudium et Spes, no. 43). Thus, as the African ancestors/ancestresses are said
to be concerned about the moral integrity of their descendants, so also the Church
considers her primary vocation to be fundamentally a call to holiness of life, as
epitomized in the lives of saints, who are conceived as Christian ancestors/ancestresses.
4.3. Diviners, Prophecy and Discernment
There is hardly any doubt that there are sincere persons who are endowed with
divinatory talents or clairvoyance. Indubitably, at the same time, there are many charlatan
diviners also who exploit people, taking money, property, people's wives, and may be
even people's husbands, and reducing their victims to miserable wretches. Yet, the
exploitation occurs, usually not when a diviner is asked to divine who stole a property or
44
who committed a crime, but when the diviners make recourse to the invisible divinities,
ancestors/ancestresses, or witches and wizards who they may say need appeasement
sacrifice, so as to avert evil or attain something desired, e. g. fruit of the womb, healing,
or some breakthrough desires. Among possible victims are the sick, the barren, the
wretched, or persons suffering from one form of misfortune or another. It is particularly
in those areas that people fall into the stratagem of devilish diviners. Yet, diviners are not
necessarily indispensable with regard to ancestral veneration. As with Christian saints,
the greatest act of veneration that one can accord memorable ancestors/ancestresses, is
emulation of their humane qualities and exemplary contributions to advancement of life
in general. Prophets/prophetesses are often needed to sensitize people about their
obligation to divine injunctions. Those who play the prophetic role in traditional Africa,
as Idowu notes, are “priests and diviners whom they believe to be the interpreters of the
will of the Deity.”23 Thus, God does not seem to have ever left any people without
spiritual guides, which the prophets represent in Judaism. I have had cause elsewhere to
argue that what prophets do when they consult the Lord in the Jewish Scripture is nothing
else but divination, an art of deciphering God’s will.
Biblically speaking, even though many Israelites may not always be comfortable
with the prophetic message, they don't appear to be at ease, whenever there is dearth of
prophets. Mbefo refers to this when he writes that: "One recalls the lament of the
psalmist: 'We see no signs, no prophet any more, and none of us knows how long it will
last' (Psalm 74:9)."24 On the other hand, one of the worse challenges facing Christianity in
Africa today is that of false prophets masquerading as seers and fortune tellers, deceiving
and exploiting simple but gullible persons, in the name of Jesus Christ. In Nigeria, for
instance, hardly any week passes without one horrid report or another about false
prophets who dupe, injure, and even murder their victims. If one does not read "How
Cele Prophetess Burnt My Fingers"25, one may read "Pastor in Police Net Over Ritual
Murder".26 "Cele" is the abbreviation for the Celestial Church of Christ -CCC-, with its
headquarters in Ketu, Lagos.
In the understanding of many African Christians, a prophet/prophetess is one who
performs miracles for healing and for obtaining wealth, in God's name. He or she is
hardly seen as one who confronts perpetrators of socio-political, economic, and religious
injustices and exploitations. When God does not dance to the miraculous tune of a
prophet/prophetess, he or she resorts to deception and all sorts of diabolical means, in an
attempt to convince the audience that God answers his or her prayers (or commands, at
times). Uzoatu writes:
Some claim to command the Holy Spirit. These fellows insist they
can make God appear and disappear at short notice ... The vintage
truism runs thus: If all else fails, try Jah Lord. And they are indeed
trying Jah Lord with all the guiles and deceptions at their disposal.27
Apparently, what is happening is that African Christians expect from their Christian
religious leaders, what traditional Africans expect from their traditional diviners, namely
practical solution to problems. Yet, the African traditional diviners and their clients are
not usually as desperate as their Christian counterparts. It is like the Christian spiritual
leader must prove that God can and will necessarily solve every problem. Consequently,
45
it may be realised that there is hardly crisis in the traditional setting, compared with the
modern day Christian "prophets" and "prophetesses" and the "God must surely do it"
clients that they have created in Africa, such as in Yorubaland. A traditional Yoruba
would visit a diviner, for instance, because he or she believes that Olọ́run kò kọ aájò
(God does not object to efforts at finding solution), rather than on the basis of absolute
confidence in human expertise. Indeed, the traditional Yoruba would say: Ẹni tó m'ọ̀ràn
tán di Olódùmarè - He who knows everything (and can do everything) becomes God.
That means, only God can know and is able to do everything. And when the Yoruba call
God Asèyí tó wùú - One who does what He likes (as also in the opinion of Psalm 115:3),
it means God cannot be conditioned or manipulated by any human being, in the
traditional opinion of the Yoruba. So, every well-cultured Yoruba understands that one
may endeavour, but the final disposition lies with God. There is no provision that "God
will and must surely do it", as one hears some desperate Christian ministers preach these
days. St. Paul states that no effort can yield any positive result without God's blessing (1
Cor. 3:6-8), and nobody can decide for God what He will or will not do (Mt. 26:39-44;
Mark 14:35-39; Luke 22:41).
Newspaper stories abound linking Christian pastors, prophets, and prophetesses
with ritual murder, as earlier quoted. The scenario should send one back to the Old
Testament, where Prophet Jeremiah is reputed to have outlined the principles for
distinguishing good prophets from the bad ones. In the interpretation by McBrien, the
criteria include: (1) the fulfillment of the word of the prophet, i.e. what the prophet says
will happen, happens (Jer. 28:9; 32:6-8; Deut. 18:21-22); (2) the prophecy's fidelity to
Yahweh and to the traditional religion (Jer. 23:13-32); and (3) the often heroic witness of
the prophet himself (1:4-6; 26:12-15) .28 McKenzie similarly has it thus:
Because he lacks the prophetic insight into the moral will of

Yahweh and the reality of gin, the false prophet sees no evil where it
is and prophesies that all is well when it is not. He easily identifies
Israel and its cause with Yahweh and his will and predicts victories;
he has no conception of the sweeping and rigorous justice with
which Yahweh governs.29
The implication is that, as there are good and bad persons, so are there genuine and false
prophets. Godwin observes that "churches, as well as families, contain people with very
real shortcomings”, and “Dysfunctions inherent within a family eventually surface in the
body of Christ."30 It all goes to emphasise that one should watch for discernment all the
time, in dealing even with pastors, prophets and prophetesses, and with all other human
beings also.
In many parts of Africa today, such as in Yorubaland, a Christian may just wake
up one day and announce that he or she has seen a vision in which God has called him or
her to become a prophet/prophetess, and the person would begin to function immediately.
The vision is usually in form of a dream or something private. Some theologians actually
think one should always take dreams and visions serious. Riffel, for instance, writes that:
The language of dreams and visions is one which God used often to
speak to man. Why, then, have we ignored this language? Because
46
we have been influenced by the Aristotelian philosophy of the
Western world that says knowledge can be obtained only through
the five senses and reason; all other knowledge is suspect. This
philosophy has caused us to disregard great portions of the
scriptures, including the indirect language of God speaking through
dreams and visions.31
In support of Riffel and theologians who are of identical persuasion with him, one may
refer to biblical dream and vision experts, such as Joseph son of Jacob (Gen. 37:5 to
chapter 50) and Prophet Daniel (from the second chapter of the book, Daniel, to the end).
Then, in the New Testament, God spoke to Joseph (the husband of Mary) in a dream, at
least on two occasions (Mat. 1:18-21; 2:13-15), and to the wise men from the East (Mat.
2:12). Nevertheless, one must not overlook the equally serious biblical objections to
taking dreams and visions serious. For instance, in Job 20:8, it reads: "He will fly away
like a dream, and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night." (Other
examples indicating vanity of dreams include Psalm 73:20; Isaiah 29:8; Jer. 23:28; 21:9).
The Yoruba have some traditional formulas for interpreting dreams. It is believed,
for instance, that if one sees an elderly person turn to a baby or an infant in a dream, it
means the person has died. Likewise, if a person is seen in a dream wearing a mask, it is
believed that the omen is that the person has died. The personal experience of this writer
is that sometimes it happens, at other times it does not happen as predicted. A child who
wets his or her bed finds himself or herself swimming in the ocean in a dream. Is he or
she not actually swimming in his or her own urine? Or someone who eats the eyes of a
he-goat, dreams that he or she is being pursued by a he-goat. One would think the
relationship is established. That is not to say that God does not or cannot speak to people
in dreams and visions (the two terms are synonymously used by scholars, such as Riffel
in his book cited above).The conclusion one can deduce from the foregoing is that
dreams, visions, feelings, and premonitions are not always reliable and predictable. That
notwithstanding, this writer is sometimes amazed by the accurate interpretation of dreams
by some talented dream interpreters, in a way reminiscent of the biblical Joseph son of
Jacob and Daniel the Prophet. As O'Doherty warns, however, one should beware of
schizophrenia, as well as visionary and auditory hallucinations. The classic symptoms,
according to O'Doherty, are “loss of identity ('depersonalization' - a person may now see
himself or herself as a prophet/prophetess, for example); loss of a sense of reality (living
in a world of fantasy); and hearing voices.”32 The tendency towards hallucination seems
high with heightened religious/spiritual activities around the world, with particular
reference to Christianity and Islam.
In essence, a prophet/prophetess who can help people to venerate their
ancestors/ancestresses, by reminding them of the Godly and humane aspects of the
tradition of their ancestors/ancestresses, does not have to be miraculous in nature or
appearance. It is sufficient if he or she has enough grace to tell people what promotes
divine and human values in the people's actions and inactions, and what is contrary to
God's will. Some African traditional priests and diviners also perceive their services to
humanity as vocation owed to God and His Ministers, i.e. the divinities and the
ancestors/ancestresses. As God's spokespersons, they guide and call sinners to
repentance.
47
Notes for Chapter Four
1
John Paul II, edited by Messori, V. Crossing the Threshold of Hope. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 1994, p. 82.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
4
Kemdirim, P., and M.A Oduyoye, eds., Women, Culture, and Theological Education:
Proceedings of West African Association of Theological Institutions (WAft.1I)
Conference, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria, 28 July -- 3 August, 1996. Enugu: SNAAP Press,
1998, p. 31.
5
Fagun, M. O., The Story of My Life: An Autobiography. Ado-Ekiti: Hope Paper Mills,
1995, p. 8.
6
Schreck, A., The Compact History of the Church. Michigan: Servant Books, 1987, p. 10.
7
Ibid, pp. 10 & 11.
8
Ibid, p. 11.
9
Nolan, A., Jesus Before Christianity. New York: Orbis Books, 1978, p. 3.
10
Akinjide, R., "Need for Afro-Asian Co-operation", Ibadan: Sunday Sketch, February 11,
1996, p. 6.
11
See Ehusani, G. O, An Afro-Christian Vision, "Ozovehe": Toward a More Humanized
World. Iperu-Remo: The Ambassador Publications, 1992, p. 21.
12
See, for instance, Oguogho, M. J, "The Nigerian Church and Human Rights," in Ngozi,
J. P, and E. O. Edigheji, eds., The Church and Human Rights, The Human Rights
Committee, Justice and Peace Commission, Ijebu-Ode Catholic Diocese, 1993, pp. 51-52.
13
Mbefo, L. N., The Liturgigal Year in Action. Onitsha: Spiritan Publications, 1997, p. 9.
14
A Catholic Catechism for Adults: The Church's Confession of Faith(Originally
published by the German Bishops' Conference, translated byStephen Wentworth Arndt,
and edited by Mark Jordan). San Francisco:Communio Books, 1987, p. 235.
15
Udemezue, U., "We Are Not Saints, Says Okogie," in The Guardian On Sunday, Lagos,
October 4, 1998, p. 2.
16
Placher, W. C., A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction. The Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1983, p. 132.
17
McBrien, R.P., Catholicism, New ed., Harper San Francisco, 1994, p. 260.
18
In a "Special Interview" with Yemi Owolabi, in Tel1 no.21, Lagos, May 25, 1998, p.19.
19
The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Nairobi: Paulines Publications - Africa, 1994, p.
47 (no.64).
20
Bergant, D., "Prophecy," in J. A. Komonchak, M. Collins, and D.A Lane, eds., The New
Dictionary of Theology. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 1996, p. 811.
21
Ibid.
22
Gifford, P., Christianity: To Save or Enslave. Jos: Institute of Pastoral Affairs (of the
Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province), 1990, pp. 23-24.
23
Idowu, E. B. Olódùmarè: God in Yorùbá Belief. Ikeja: Longman Nigeria Plc., 1996, p.5.
24
Mbefo, L. N. 1997, p. VIII.
25
Daily Sketch, Ibadan, Friday, March 1, 1996, p. 6.
26
The Leader Vol. XLI No. I, Owerri, January 24, 1999, pp. 1 & 3 (It is written that the
story was taken from The Guardian of January 9, 1999, page not given).
48
27
The Leader Vol. XLI No. 1, Owerri, January 24, 1999, p. 14.(This article is indicated as
culled from The Guardian of Oct. 4, 1998, page not given).
28
McBrien, R. P. 1994, p. 230
29
McKenzie, J. L., Dictionary of the Bible. London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1978, p. 697.
30
Godwin, R., Exposing Witchcraft _in the Church. Benin City: Joint Heirs Publications
Nig. Ltd., 1997, p. 19.
31
Riffel, H. H., Voice of God: The Significance of Dreams, Visions, Revelations. Illinois:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1978, p. 75.
32
0'Doherty, E. F. Helping the Disturbed Religious. Bombay: St. Paul Publications, no
publication date, p. 40.
49
CHAPTER FIVE
OBSERVATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSION
5. 1. Forging Human Unity in a Religiously Pluralistic Society
Decline in kinship solidarity due to problems associated with religious divisions

(Christian/Muslim, Catholic/Protestant, innumerable Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches,
divided Islamic organizations, etc.), urbanization, socio-political, and economic
destabilization, upheaval, marginalization, oppression and exploitation, together with
attendant misery, makes it very urgent to draw attention to whatever can re-unite people
positively, such as celebration of ancestors/ancestresses. Life seems to be better with
family solidarity, not only for financial, but also for social and psychological support, as
much as possible. It would appear foolish for somebody to assume that human beings can
survive on bread alone. What happens to the difficulties that are associated with
loneliness and nostalgia, or the joy of good friendship and family reunion? Mozia notes
that “one of the most important aspects of the Christian revelation is the universal
solidarity of all men and women in Christ, which should be modeled after the life of the
Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.” 1 Yet, while persons, such as Arius, Muslims, and
peoples of other faiths may not subscribe to the Trinity doctrine, nobody in his or her
right minds will deny coming into the world through a line of ancestors/ancestresses.
Barrett writes that:
I have a vivid memory of such quarrels from my experiences as a

protestant teaching in a Catholic secondary school near Umuahia in
the 1960s. The general attitude of the Catholic priests was that the
protestant missionaries were the enemy. My survival in the school
was partly dependent on displays of loyalty to the Catholics. Of
course, comparable hostility, and sometimes ethnic slurs about the
Irish Catholic priests, flowed from the Protestant camp.2
Hence, the adage is apt that love unites, while faith divides. Ancestral veneration can
serve as a civil religious activity to unite people. Explaining the concept of “civil
religion”, Barrett writes:
The thesis, dating back to Rousseau and revived by Bellah in the

American context (emphasis mine), is that 'an invisible faith or civil
religion,' a sort of national religion distinct from but co-existing with
conventional religions, reflected in the use of 'God-language' in the
public statement of the country's leaders, and providing 'unity and
cohesion to an otherwise divided people.'3
An ancestor/ancestress, as defined by scholars earlier referred, represents a Godly person,

who lived a good moral life, that was beneficial to people, and, therefore, worthy of
remembrance and emulation by kits and kin, including Christians, Muslims, et al. The
cult of the ancestors/ancestresses brings family members together, and strengthens the
50
links among them. It involves a real communion of life,-vertically with the
ancestors/ancestresses, and horizontally with relations. All of that fits into the image of
the Church as God's family, chosen by the African Catholic Fathers, at the African
Synod, held in the Vatican in 1994.4 Bishop Lucius Ugorji of Umuahia Catholic Diocese
writes that the image of the Church as God's family "stresses love, care, concern for
others, solidarity, warmth in relationships, acceptance, dialogue, trust and outreach." 5
Yet, “the Church as Family of God” refers only to the Catholic Church, since “the
Church of Christ” is still very far from being single; it is not only numerous in
denomination, it seems to divide and/or multiply daily. Olupona and Hackett observe
“clear evidence of a multiplication and diversification of religious bodies” in Nigeria,
which “includes indigenous religious initiatives as well as the bewildering myriad of
imported religious groups and movements, many of them Pentecostalist and/or
evangelical in orientation or associated with the spiritual sciences.”6 That means, of
course, diversity of loyalties and divided interests.
5.2. Fear about Ancestral Veneration in Africa
Some scholars have expressed the fear that ancestral veneration will promote
xenophobia and hostility toward foreigners. Yet, must ancestral veneration necessarily
promote and encourage sectionalism or sectarianism? Charity should begin at home, as
they say, and since nemo dat quod non habet (nobody gives what he or she does not
have), one would think it is advantageous to humanity as a whole, when families raise
children that start by having consideration for their brothers and sisters in the family.
Consideration for neighbour can thereby become the children’s second nature. Beyond
that, traditional Africans, generally speaking, believe that all human beings belong to
God, and that one should be good to strangers, since all human beings are strangers in the
world. The Yoruba say: Gbogbo wa 1' àlejò ayé - we are all strangers (wayfarers) in the
world. One of their proverbs also reads: Bí a bá soore f'éèyàn dúdú, a ó gbàá 1'ara èèyàn
funfun, meaning: A favour done to a black person may be repaid by a white person (vice
versa). That emphasizes that one should be good to fellow human beings, irrespective of
skin colour and place of origin.
It sometimes happens that a person's worst enemies are some members of his or
her family, while his or her best friends are some outsiders or even foreigners. Beyond
that, there is what the Yoruba call ogun ìdílé (family war or hostility), which can be borne
out of natural hatred or envy, such as resulted in the killing of Abel by his brother, Cain;
or the selling of Joseph as slave to some Egyptians. It is hoped that positive cultural
elements, such as ancestral veneration, can mitigate, not necessarily eradicate inhumanity
of family members to family members. Hence, Jesus also enjoins love of God and
neighbour, even though that has not eradicated hostility of some Christians to some other
Christians.
Historically, traditional Africans, generally speaking, were not hostile to those
who introduced Christianity and Islam to them. Crises started to arise after the adherents
of the two imported religions multiplied in many countries in Africa. Writing on the
Nigerian traditional festivals that attain international interest and audience, Ofulue gives
the examples of the Argungu fishing festival in Argungu, Kebbi state; the Osun Osogbo
festival in Osogbo, Osun state, and the Mmanwu festival in Enugu state. 7 There are many
51
other internationally popular festivals in Nigeria, including Ọlọ́jọ́ in Ilé-Ifè ̣, Osun state,
and Èyọ̀ in Lagos.
There is no doubt that like most other African cultures, the Yoruba cultural reality
has suffered a lot of set-back, due to continual Christo-Islamic onslaughts. What I found
in Nigeria and Ghana, for instance, is the Christo-Islamic strategy to persistently refer to
anything related to ATR and culture as “fetish”. The online Encarta Dictionaries define
“fetish” as a “magical object” or an “object of obsession”. Virtue is said to lie in the
golden mean between blind negative self-image, and an overblown self-image. Okure
notes, for instance, that “in the study of culture for effective evangelization, priority
should be given to the cultures of today's men and women who live in an ever growing
and changing culture, over and above any obsolete cultural practice.” One of the
problems with that advice is that Okure does not give any example of what constitutes an
“obsolete cultural practice.” Secondly, if, as she quotes Peter Sarpong, the former
Archbishop of Kumasi, Ghana, as saying, “inculturation is primarily for positive
transformation of people”,8 then anything that can contribute to the advancement of
human life in general should be highlighted in both the ancient and modern cultures, vice
versa with negative values. If the past is not properly settled, so to say, it may haunt the
present.
5.3. Christian Ancestors/Ancestresses, Prophets and Diviners
I found that the Church has always been concerned about the need to check
abuses in the ecclesiastical cult of the saints. Hence, this work has not only presented a
history, canonisation, and the importance of the cult of the saints, but also the abuses in it
that are addressed by Church councils and theologians down the ages, as much as one
could illustrate them. The study also points to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council
on the cult and communion of saints, as the most up to date, very profound and sound to
serve as guide for ancestral veneration. That is considered apt, particularly since the
Fathers of the Council refer to the saints as Christian ancestors, and the sound approach
to the saints that they enjoin can, and should be applied, as much as possible, to ancestral
veneration, generally speaking.
While not dismissing divination, and while recognising that there may exist
talented and God-fearing diviners, this thesis has joined some scholars in cautioning
against the danger of frequent recourse to divination, and the need to beware of charlatan
diviners. The work has also quoted some scholars to support the observation that not only
are there dubious traditional diviners and Islamic occultists, many false Christian
prophets and prophetesses also exist, masquerading as men and women of God, who see
vision, foretell, and provide miraculous solution to every imaginable problem, in God's
name. The latter hardly mention Christ's injunction that His own true followers are those
who carry their crosses daily with faith in God, as He Himself did. The posture of many a
Christian prophet appears to be: "It is my will and not thy will be done, Lord". Cabestrero
notes that “people's sense of insecurity makes them to invent false relations with God and
false images of God.” In the same book (of interviews), when Moltmann was asked
whether his book: The Crucified God is not a denial of his earlier work: Theology of
Hope, his answer is that he now believes that The Crucified God has more hope than
52
Theology of Hope.9 His concern is that nobody should expect to go through life without
encountering and experiencing pain and sorrow, in spite of the Christian hope.
The Christian understanding, which this book has tried to promote, is that it is
prophets who can lead individuals and peoples to be faithful to their noble ancestral
traditions. Yet, every Godly person, within and outside Christianity, is supposed to be a
prophet, in the general sense of the word. The Spirit of the Lord is believed to act
indiscriminately in all men and women of good will. In the Old Testament, there is the
case of the non-Jewish prophet Balaam, for instance, in Numbers, chapters 22 - 24. Then
in the Gospels, several times the Lord Jesus is quoted as exclaiming: “Not even in Israel
have I found such a great faith!” (Cf. for instance, Mat. 8: 6-10; Luke 7:1-10). Similarly,
there are stories, such as the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), indicating
that God has no favorite nation or people, but whoever is God-fearing, worldwide. One
would think then that genuine prophecy and prophetic utterances may not be limited only
to the baptised and registered Christians or professional prophets/prophetesses, since any
person of goodwill can speak for God, unprofessionally. At any rate, every human being
is expected to adopt a discerning and cautious approach to people and issues, and pray to
God for guidance and support.
53
5.4. Ancestral Veneration in Afro-Christian Theologies
Most of the scholars who have written on ATR and culture are Christians,
including John S. Mbiti and Emmanuel B. Idowu. Sometimes, but not always, they
confuse some Christian ideas with those of traditional Africa, even though their works are
highly commendable, and remain indispensable reference materials on many issues
related to ATR and culture, agreeable or disagreeable. They have helped, tremendously,
to document many positive ideas about ATR and culture. Mbiti writes, and he might have
borrowed some ideas from that great religious scholar, E. G. Parrinder 10, that African
religious leaders are, generally speaking, “wise, intelligent and talented people, often
with outstanding abilities and personalities.” The leaders include, according to Mbiti,
“medicine men and women, diviners, mediums, seers, priests, ritual elders, rainmakers,
and rulers.”11 He observes further that “the discoveries of African traditional societies,
including their religion, which are the fruit of many and long experiences of life
throughout the centuries, have satisfied people's search for explanations and solutions of
their problems, and are still valid for many people, particularly in the villages.” Yet, he
concludes that "They need not remain or prove to be valid explanations and solutions to
the same problems for some of us and for those yet to be born”, and that “we ourselves
may have to supply our own, and perhaps different explanations and solutions in facing
the same or similar problems."12
That conclusion is understandable not only in view of Mbiti's Christian faith, but
also in view of the dynamism of human spirit to be creative and innovative. Yet, it
appears that very many Africans, including many African Christians and Muslims, still
resort to many African traditional “explanations and solutions” that have withstood the
test of time beyond village life. Many Africans still appreciate, for instance, highly
talented, painstakingly trained and honest diviners, as well as medicine men and women.
5.5. The Future of Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland
There is a pertinent question regarding the future of ATR, with implication for
ancestral veneration. Placher writes, for instance, that the cult of martyrs (and of the
saints generally) partially served to "wean people away from the worship of pagan gods"
in Roman Empire. In a quotation to support the point, he notes how Pope Gregory I
advised a missionary to England in A.D. 601:
The temple of the idols... should not be destroyed, but.... .Altars

constructed, and relics deposited...... And, since they are wont to kill
many oxen in sacrifice to demons, they should have also some
solemnity of this kind in a changed form ... on the anniversaries of
the holy martyrs whose relics are deposited there... . For it is
undoubtedly impossible to cut away everything at once from hard
hearts, since one who strives to ascend to the highest place must
needs rise by step; or paces, and not by leaps.13
The Pope's advice might have been based on the need to protect the Judaeo-Christian
monotheism, rooted in such biblical passages as Exodus 20:3-4:
54
You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for
yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water
under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them..
Nevertheless, many scholars have observed that ATR is monotheistic with only one God,
surrounded by ministers, including divinities, spirits, ancestors/ancestresses. African
traditional monotheism is the kernel of Idowu's Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief. 14What
is usually added (to the four spiritual entities: God; divinities; spirits;
ancestors/ancestresses) as the fifth component of ATR is “the practice of magic and
medicine”15, which is a global practice, and is not religious in any strict sense of the
word. Summarily speaking, traditional Africans recognize only one Supreme Being, and
there are no small supreme beings. There is Olodumare, but no “olodumare(s)”, in
Yorubaland, for instance, as there is no small Chineke or Chukwu in Igboland, etc.
Beyond that, it seems that the prospects for transforming the Yoruba traditional religious
shrines into altars are not feasible in all cases, for it does not appear that ATR is about to
die in every place.
Talking (in an interview) about the resilience of ATR in Yorubaland, Wenger
remarked that "There are still now quite a number of Yoruba who are serious about their
tradition", and "the Yoruba culture is more or less not dying out." 16 One can note also that
the Fathers of the Synod for Africa (Rome, 1994), and Pope John Paul II, as earlier
quoted, have several positive things to say about ATR. On his visit to Nigeria for the
beatification of the Venerable (now Blessed) Rev. Father Iwene Tansi, in1998, Pope John
Paul II said, inter alia, as he was departing: "I offer a special word of appreciation to the
followers of African Traditional Religion, and I assure them that the Catholic Church, by
her efforts aimed at inculturating the Gospel, seeks to highlight and build on the positive
elements of Africa's religious and cultural heritage.”17 That is indicative of the fact that
ATR and culture, owed to African ancestors/ancestresses are still alive, and continue to
enjoy national and internation recognition, however dim.
With particular reference to Yorubaland, where this research was based, one can
note that apart from winning some non-Yoruba converts, such as Wenger, who was a
European from Austria, this writer met a good number of young men and women who
were still adherents of the traditional religion. Is it not amazing that in spite of the
enormous grounds gained by Christianity and Islam, and the unrelenting Christo-Islamic
smearing of ATR and culture, there are still many Yoruba youths who would pray, bless,
curse and swear in the name of Yoruba traditional divinities? They demonstrate, vividly,
the resilience of ATR and culture, including ancestral veneration and African spiritual
heritage in general. Many African Christians and Muslims are also said to resort to
swearing through African traditional means, for efficacy, regarding critical issues of
personal or corporate interest. Some countries, such as Botswana, Togo, and Republique
de Benin, are said to have large percentages of adherents of ATR. The implication is that
there are still many Africans who are not likely to replace African ancestors/ancestresses
with some non-African ones. In Yoruba ancestral view, only a bastard (ọmọ àlè) will
disclaim his or her parents, ancestors/ancestresses, and violate family norms.
55
5.6. Recommendations: Towards Appropriate Approach to Ancestral Veneration
One would think that any approach to ancestral veneration that conforms to
human civilization is acceptable. The online Encarta Dictionaries define civilization as
referring, inter alia, to “an advanced level of development in society that is marked by
complex social and political organization, and material, scientific, and artistic progress.”
That seems more acceptable than some other definitions that link civilization to fashion. I
conceive civilization as the art of living together in peace and progress, such that an
uncivilized person is one who cannot or does not live in peace and harmony with
neighbour. Beside the need to behave oneself and keep the good names of one's
forebears, however, individuals, families, clans, communities, and societies should decide
what else is possible and necessary for them to do to promote human values, in the name
of ancestral veneration. Among acceptable approaches to ancestral veneration are the
following:
1. Choosing a day for annual commemoration. This may involve family re-union.
Memorable gifts may be presented, in the name of an ancestor/ancestress, to some
needy individuals or organizations.
2. Naming new babies, hospitals, schools, streets, and so on, after an
ancestor/ancestress.
3. Holding family meetings from time to time, towards helping and showing concern
for the other members of one's family (clan or community).
4. Composing and singing virtuous songs in honour of the ancestors/ancestresses.
5. Writing books about them, if possible.
6. Plays may also be written and acted in honour of the ancestors/ancestresses.
7. Establishing endowment funds for worthy causes, such as granting of scholarships
in memory of one's forebears.
8. Donating trophies in their honour.
9. Establishing prizes in memory of the ancestors/ancestresses.
10. Statues and images of the ancestors/ancestresses may be made. As the Second
General Council of Nicaea (787), whose teaching is endorsed by the Second
Vatican Council (Lumen Gentium. n. 51) observes, “honour is not given to an icon
or image, but to the person it represents.”18
In sum, any worthy cause may be pursued and executed in memory and honour of
ancestors/ancestresses, to promote appreciation of human and divine values. Appreciation
is enjoined when Jesus commended one of the ten healed lepers (Luke 17:12-18). The
Yoruba also say: Ẹni táa ṣe ló ore tí ò dúpé ̣, bí ọlọ́ṣà kóni lé ̣rù lọ ni- an ingrate is akin to
a robber. Human beings owe much gratitude to God and their ancestors/ancestresses
through whom God gave them life and heritages of arts and science, and there is no better
way of pleasing God and the ancestors/ancestresses than through charity, mercy, and
compassion.
56
5.7. Conclusion
Ancestral veneration signifies a celebration of the altruistic lives the

ancestors/ancestresses lived, and the values that they promoted while on earth. In a daily
newspaper memorial, a family writes, inter alia, about "our dearly beloved husband,
father, grandfather, and great-grandfather", by name, “Chief Dr. Joseph Akanni
Doherty”, who died ten years ago that time. They pledged to him in the memorial:
We shall always cherish those sterling qualities which endeared you

to all. Your life of selfless service, transparent honesty, simplicity,
kindness, indeed great generosity inspires us the more to follow your
example."19
That is the type of experience and feeling that should move someone to venerate an
ancestor/ancestress, even as one gives thanks to the Maker of humankind, for all the
graces He had given to the departed. From this point of view, ancestral veneration devoid
of deception should be acceptable to Christians and non-Christians alike, as a form of
ecumenical piety that is indifferent to any sectarian confession as such. Striving to live a
memorable life of love, and emulating the type of ìwà (character, conduct, attitude, or
behaviour) that can make one a memorable person, becomes imperative. (“The LORD
rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he
recompensed me” - Psalm 18:20). Of course, a well-behaved person needs people and
individuals who are equally of good will, to find things easy in life. Otherwise, things
may be very difficult. Yet, it is rightly believed that individuals and peoples reap
whatever they sow, in terms of their conduct, character, attitude, or behaviour.
How does one evaluate this work? One should state that it is not exhaustive but
substantial. And if the endeavour contributes even a little bit to human understanding and
appreciation of ancestral veneration and Christian cult of saints, the research's objective
would have been achieved. Then, some future researchers can find some things to adopt,
criticise, critique, and improve upon.
Notes for Chapter Five

1
Mozia, M. I., Solidarity in the Church, and Solidarity among the Igbos of Nigeria
(Second Edition). Ibadan: Claverianum Press, 1987, p. 37.
2
Barrett, Stanley B. “Issues and Perspectives on Religion and Society”, in Jacob K.
Olupona and Toyin Falola (eds.), Religion and Society in Nigeria: Historical and
Sociological Perspectives. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd., 1991, p. 25, note 9; pp. 3-27.
3
Ibid, p. 25, note 4.
4
John Paul II , Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa, 1995, nos. 6 & 43.
5
In the preface he wrote for Iroegbu, P.O., Appropriate Ecclesiology Through Narrative
Theology to an African Church. Owerri: International University Press Ltd., 1996, p. V.
6
Olupona, Jacob K. and Rosalind I. J. Hackett, “Civil Religion”, in Jacob K. Olupona and
Toyin Falola (eds.), Religion and Society in Nigeria: Historical and Sociological
Perspectives. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd., 1991, p. 265; pp.265-281.
7
Saturday Punch, Lagos, April 24, 1999, P. 21
57
8
Okure, T., "Inculturation in the New Testament: Its Relevance for the Nigerian Church",
in Inculturation in Nigeria: Proceedings of Catholic Bishops' study Session. Lagos:
Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, 1988, p. 51.
9
Cabestrero, T., ed., Faith: Conversations with Contemporary Theologians. New York:
Orbis Books, 1981, pp. 160 and 124.
10
Parrinder, E. G., African Traditional Religion (Third Edition). London: Sheldon Press,
1974, p. 104, writes, for instance, that “Many diviners are shrewd people, with a great
store of common sense and ability to judge people and situations.” That is much similar
to how Mbiti describes African religious leaders in the quotation under consideration.
11
Mbiti, J.S., Introduction to African Religion. London: Heinemann, 1977, p. 150.
12
Ibid., p. 174.
13
Placher, W.C., A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction. Philadelphia: The
14
Idowu, E. Bolaji, Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief (Revised and Enlarged). Ikeja:
Longman Nigeria Plc., 1996, as specifically stated on pp. ix and 46.
15
Idowu, E. Bolaji, African Traditional Religion: A Definition. London: SCM Press Ltd.,
1978, p. 139.
16
Nigerian Tribune, Ibadan, Tuesday, 24 November, 1998, p. 6.
17
In Nigeria: Be Reconciled! Exhortation of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, on the
Occasion of His Second Visit to Nigeria, for the Beatification of Blessed Cyprian
Michael Iwene Tansi, March 21 23. Lagos: Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, 1998, p. 36.
18
Dupuis, J., ed. 1996, The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Church.
New York: Alba House, 1996, pp. 506-507.
19
The Guardian, Lagos, Thursday, February 18, 1999, p. 43.
58
PART TWO:
AFRICAN ANCESTRAL
HERITAGE
AND
AFRICAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
59
CHAPTER SIX
THE DIVINITY OF AFRICAN ANCESTORS / ANCESTRESSES
Prologue: Recapitulation of A Centenarian
An Igbo centenarian, His Royal Highness, Eze Patrick Acholonu, of Orlu,

lamented in a paper he presented at his centenary, on Saturday, November 13, 1999:
For most of us elderly fathers of this country, the ever deteriorating

situation of Nigeria has been a very terrible experience. In the
ancient times, our fathers maintained a considerable just and clean
society on the belief that anybody who does evil will be followed by
evil. Indeed our ancestors were raw and rigid but it was a strong
foundation for righteousness. In those days, rarely will a man do evil
to his friend. Every man filled his position in life with dignity. The
poor need not fear oppression by the rich and mighty. Disputes were
easily settled because it was general belief that anybody who spoke
lie will die. Those were the so-called days of idol worship and
primitivity.1
Writing further, the monarch notes that “today, with modernity, a million and more
churches, mosques and other religions that teach the law of God with copious quotations
and stories, alas our country is sinking under corruption, high immorality, injustice,
insecurity and poverty.” He was concerned about how “armed robbers, assassins and
bombers are making life unsafe, while the irrelevant system is rather becoming the 'Red
Sea' with the people trapped in between.” What is more, “The protectors are now the
obstacles”, and “We do not know who will catch who as all of us become 419ers
(defrauders and tricksters).” Still on fraudsters, Pa Acholonu contends:
Those who hide files to retrieve them for a price are bad 419ers. The
people who collect the salary of ghost workers are scary 419ers. The
officials who divert public funds into their private accounts and
cause strikes are notorious 419ers.2
Indeed, it is generally believed in Yorubaland that ancestors/ancestresses and elders,

generally speaking, symbolize wisdom, strength, ethics and morality, mutuality and
continuity of the extended family life. Pa Acholonu has demonstrated those virtues in his
words that are quoted above. And what is the value of academic education? If Pa
Acholonu were speaking today (2018), he would have remarked that people study not in
order to be a blessing to their countries or humanity at large, but to commit boko haram
(literary fraud that can include financial and other misappropriations).
6.1. Definition of African Ancestors/Ancestresses
Definition is sometimes said to be an absolute necessity in scientific work and

research. I reserve it for only elimination of ambiguity and misunderstanding. Mbuy
60
writes, for instance, that "when a Bokassi man hears of witchcraft, his first thoughts are
directed to the evil use of witchcraft," whereas "in the Bamenda Grassfields, it is
unthinkable to have a traditional ruler who has no witchcraft." According to Mbuy,
witchcraft, in the latter context, aims at displaying mystical powers over others. "It
bestows one with deeper insight and telekinetic powers which one can use for either good
or bad."3 That illustrates why a researcher should define ambiguous concepts. One is
aware of the distinction between Black and White witches; the former is supposed to be
evil while the latter is supposed to be for good use.
What, then, do we mean precisely by “African ancestors/ancestresses”; who is an
ancestor/ancestress in African perspective? The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current
English defines ancestor as "Any person from whom one's father or mother is descended,
forefather; hence ancestress." This definition is no doubt correct dictionary-wise, but it
falls short of what is intended by an ancestor/ancestress in this research. Bujo defines
ancestors as “Godfearing forefathers who exercise a good influence on their descendants
by showing how the force which is life is to be used." 4 That is correct, even though, I
would include all males and females who left behind good heroic memories. In the words
of another scholar, Nyamiti, "No one can be regarded as ancestor unless he led a morally
good life on earth; for an ancestor is also a model of behaviour for the living." 5 That is
also correct. But here again, the impression should not be created that only males can be
in the ancestral fold, hence I write of ancestors/ancestresses. In tandem with Bujo,
Nyamiti, and similar scholars, acknowledgeable ancestors/ancestresses must be humane,
compassionate, and altruistic in character while they were in this world. They must
neither be a scandal nor a disgrace, but of Godly character. At least their good deeds must
supersede their evil deeds, as the prayer goes among the Yoruba, Kí ’ṣé ̣ rere wa pọ̀ ju isé ̣
búburú wa lọ (May our good deeds surpass our evil deeds). That is because of the truism
that human beings are born and bred in sin and subject to sin, even though called to rise
above sinfulness and the struggle lasts “till death do us part”. A Yoruba traditional singer,
Ayanyemi (alias Atokowágbowónílé - one who comes from the farm to earn money at
home - through his talking drum), obviously one of the best talking drummers (of blessed
memory) in Yorubaland, and one who qualifies as an African traditional philosopher,
notes through one of his talking drum records that:
Ọ̀ rọ̀ méjì nii gbénú ẹni (2ce)

Ẹni to n ronú ire láti ṣe,
Ó sì tún n ronú ibi láti ṣe.
Ọ̀ rọ̀ méjì nii gbénú ẹni
(Two thoughts reside in a person (2ce)

A person who is thinking of doing some good deeds
Is, at the same time, thinking of doing some evil deeds
Two thoughts reside in a person).
That seems to be the reality of life rather than what is desirable. No wonder the Psalmist
laments, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me”
(Ps 51:5). The awareness of that tendency to sin that is ingrained in human beings,
notwithstanding the desire and effort to do good, may help a person to be cautious, but
61
not necessarily eradicate altogether evil thought, the tendency and potentiality that are
responsible for human imperfection. There seems to be no sense in thinking that a human
being can be as perfect as God, rather human beings would remain human beings, but
reasonable persons know what it means to say someone has tried and that he or she is or
was nice. Although there is no written canon, such as drawn up by the Catholic Church,
but spontaneous recognition of an ancestor/ancestress, one can still speak of some criteria
for ancestral identification in African context, later below.
6.1.1. Categories of African Ancestors/Ancestresses
Some scholars, such as Imasogie, identify two categories of ancestors. In the first
category are apotheosised ancestors, which means departed persons who, by virtue of
their extraordinary exploits and prowess, have been elevated to the status of divinities.
Among these are founders of communities, in which case there exist ancestral community
shrines.6One example I can give is the Babaọjà shrine in Ìwéré-ilé, my village, north of
Ọ̀yó ̣ territory, Yorubaland. Babaọjà is not said to be the founder of Ìwéré-ilé, but he
volunteered himself as an elderly man to be sacrificed when the Oracle said human
sacrifice was necessary if the village was to survive. Where he was buried became a
community shrine, and the village has survived to the extent that it has never been
conquered in war or displaced in any way. A historian, Abíó ̣lá, notes how the attempt to
attack “Ìwéré” (abbreviation of Ìwéré-ilé) by Aláàfin Aólè ̣ is one of the reasons for the
fall of Ọ̀yó ̣ Empire. In Abíó ̣lá's words:
Aólè ̣, in a fruitless bid to get rid of his powerful Kakanfò (military

Generalissimo) Àfò ̣njá, who was then living at his father's town of
Ilorin, ordered him (that is, Àfò ̣njá) to launch an attack on the
nearby town of Ìwéré. Unfortunately, Ìwéré at the time was very
powerful and almost impregnable. Àfò ̣njá therefore refused to attack
it.7
Ìwéré-ilé people have continued to link the survival of their village to the sacrifice made
by Babaọjà, and so, they celebrate his memory in the shrine, annually and occasionally as
circumstances demand. Not infrequently, Babaọjà’s spirit is invoked for communal
sanity, unity and solidarity. It can be noted in biblical terms that there can be no greater
love than a person lays down his or her own life for friends (John 15:3). While Jesus
Christ is said to have sacrificed his life for all human beings, Babaọjà died for his Ìwéré-
ilé people. This type of analogy appears apposite for inculturation. It tends to indicate
Afro-Christian similarity and compatibility, even though there is no evidence in real life
that humanity was or is safe.
In the second category, according to Imasogie, are ancestors and ancestresses who
represent departed members of a family or community. 8 They are people whose memories
are cherished by those who valued them or have benefitted from their altruism and/or
exemplariness. The distinction about the two categories of ancestors/ancestresses
notwithstanding, this research regards as ancestors/ancestresses, only those forebears who
had led exemplary/altruistic lives in tangible holiness, while they were in this world.
62
6.2. Canon for Ancestral Designation in Africa
Many scholars, such as Parrinder and Idowu9, have written elaborately on

ancestral veneration in Africa, without discussing what qualifies a person to be an
ancestor/ancestress in African worldview, concentrating on such issues as the importance
of the “ancestors”, the activities of the “ancestors”, ancestral rituals, etc. Likewise Etuk
discusses ancestral veneration in relation to “Reincarnation and the Transmigration of
Souls”10. One of those who address the issue of what qualifies a person to be an ancestor
or ancestress is Awolalu. In his view:
It is not every dead person that comes in for consideration. To

qualify, such men and women must have lived well, attained an
enviable age before dying, must have left behind good children and
good memory. Children and youths who die a premature death,
barren women, and all who die a 'bad' death e.g. killed by Ayélála or
Sàngó or Ṣànpò ̣nnó ̣ are excluded from this respectable group.11
To be “killed by Ayélála or Sàngó or Ṣànpò ̣nnó ̣” (three of Yoruba divinities) implies that
the person committed an abomination, such as inappropriate adultery, theft, or a wicked
act. At least in the case of Ṣànpò ̣nnó ̣, some Yoruba elders explained that smallpox with
which the divinity kills was manipulated by some wicked devotees to kill some people
because of the benefit of taking possession of all the clothes left behind by whoever died
by that means. And so, the colonial administration outlawed that cult in Yorubaland. I
stated in the chapter on ancestral veneration in Yorubaland that it is not age or having
children that determine who becomes an ancestor/ancestress but memorable deeds which
keep a dead person in the memory of some people on earth. Thus, a young and childless
person can be heroic; a childless adult can adopt a child or children, as in the examples
given me by some Yoruba elders. Life is not all about age or possession, but what a
person sows to be reaped here and hereafter. Manner of death is not always within the
purview of an individual, and so, unless a particular death is connected with evil deeds
committed by the dead, it will not stand on the way of him or her becoming an
ancestor/ancestress.
Nyamiti is another scholar who discusses the criteria for ancestral designation in
Africa. He affirms that “There is no uniform system of beliefs and practices of this
{ancestral} cult in black Africa”, since, according to him, “one finds differences of detail
even in the same ethnic group”. He later adds that “notwithstanding the differences
referred to above, there are many elements shared in common by many ethnic
societies.”12 Sometimes, some scholars misrepresent what the people actually believe and
do. A scholar may base himself or herself on mere assumption without caring to find out
the real beliefs of the people. Such assumptions and misrepresentations do not allow us to
know where the difference actually lies among African peoples. Nyamiti is himself
suspect in some of his interpretations of African traditional theology. What on earth does
he mean, for instance, stating that for traditional Africans God “dwells far away in the
sky, or in some important places such as mountains”? 13 Does that mean that traditional
Africans don't see God as personal and close to them, and, at the same time omnipresent
63
and transcendent? With reference to what qualifies a person to be an ancestor/ancestress,
Nyamiti is, however, apt that:
No one can attain ancestral status without having led a morally good
life, according to traditional African moral standards. For an
ancestor is regarded as a model or exemplar of conduct in the
community, and as source of tribal tradition and its stability. In some
tribes, proper burial with appropriate funeral rites is another
necessary condition for the ancestral mode of existence.14
What may be problematic about “proper burial” is if circumstances (such as a war

situation) do not permit such a luxury. And Nyamiti also raises another controversial
point in his assertion that “African ancestral relationship includes the idea of kinship as
an indispensable factor”, and that, “No one can be an ancestor of an individual who is not
kinly related to him.”15 What about an adopted child or a baby picked-up in a gutter and
raised as one's child? Nyamiti himself notes that “In some (but by no means all –
emphasis his) communities, a person without offspring cannot become an ancestor.” 16
The implication of “but by no means all” is that not all Africans believe that having
offspring is indispensable to becoming an ancestor/ancestress. My Yoruba informants
explained that having no offspring is not an obstacle to becoming an ancestor or
ancestress. According to Pa Olumide Falẹyẹ, altruism, such as being a parent(s) to an
orphan(s), surpasses having offspring while lacking human feeling. Sometimes one can
see that some researchers base themselves on mere rationalization or they were wrongly
informed.
I also question what Nyamiti (same place) describes as the “ambivalent features”
of the ancestors/ancestresses, to the effect that they can be benevolent to their earthly kin
or harm them “if they are forgotten” by the latter. Although Afeke and Verster quote
Nyamiti approvingly on that point,17 ancestors/ancestresses would punish people for evil
done to one's kin and negligence of family tradition, and not if “they are forgotten”, as if
they, as spiritual beings, need personal attention from those they left behind. In another
presumptuous statement, Nyamiti asserts that “when recourse to the ancestors fails to
procure the desired effects, the living normally turn to the Supreme Being as a last
resort.”18 The question begs for answer whether traditional Africans create such a gulf
between God and the ancestors/ancestresses, and procedurally go to the former if the
latter fail, as a modus operandi. Some African traditionalists may react by asking whether
Christians also go to God if Jesus Christ fails; or whether they oppose the saints who are
(Christian) ancestors/ancestresses to God, as Nyamiti posits of traditional Africans in
relation to their ancestors/ancestresses.
64
6.3. The Relevance of African Ancestors/Ancesstresses
Notwithstanding some questionable assertions made by Nyamiti (above), he is apt

that “the ideal of African culture is coexistence” and “strengthening this ideal is one of
the basic motivations of ancestral cult.” 19Ancestral veneration certainly unites Africans to
a great extent. Faiths notes that:
In Black South African culture a sense of identity is inextricably

intertwined with the sense of community. When these structures
collapsed with urbanisation, black South Africans in the cities were
forced to find another way to establish that same sense of identity
and community. Chidester (1992:13) suggests that it is entirely
possible that the ancestors provided that frame of reference in a
strange and alien world which seemed to be particularly hostile to
anything African. One can therefore argue that ancestor worship
served a unifying function and in a sense constituted a form of
defiance against white oppression which frowned upon the
traditional practices and marginalised Black South Africans.20
Beyond that fact, Faiths also notes that “some African scholars themselves advocated the
reinstatement of ancestor worship while others attempted to establish a form of
Africanised Christianity by referring to Christ as the Supreme Ancestor in their
churches.”21 The implication is that those who advocate ancestral veneration view it
positively, but is it not possible that imaging Christ as the Supreme Ancestor can
obliterate the memory of African ancestors/ancestresses and relegate the heritage they
bequeath to Africans? What that heritage consists-of is discussed in the next chapter,
below.
Another curious reference made by Faiths is to “Hunter (1961:486-487)” who
“predicted an inevitable decline in the practice of ancestor worship in urban areas
because it would be near impossible to adhere to the traditional practices like animal
sacrifice associated with it.” Faiths quotes Hunter as averring that “the fact that the
people did not suffer retribution from the ancestors for not practising these rituals
undermined the hold it had on the people because their fear appeared unfounded.” But, as
Faiths notes, “In reality, this has not happened”, rather, “Ancestor worship and the
practices associated with it have proven to be more resilient and adaptable than
expected.” He (Faiths) compares the situation to Japan and Korea where in spite of
modernisation and scientific worldview, ancestral worship is still practised albeit “in a
more modernised form which is essentially an adaptation of the traditional beliefs and
practices” to suit “the modern milieu.”22 The relevant question at this juncture is: Why
should a people forget their ancestors/ancestresses through whom God gave them life,
otherwise called the vital force?
65
6.3.1. Viewing African Ancestors/Ancestresses as Intermediaries
The debate on whether traditional Africans regard their ancestors/ancestresses as

“intermediaries” or “mediators” also catches one's attention. Afeke and Verster remark
that:
Differences exist in Africa regarding the role of ancestors.

Nyirongo's (1997:51) perspective is that ancestors act as
intermediaries. Azaenya (1969:42), however, is of the opinion that
they are self-sufficient and therefore receive gifts from the supreme
God in order to distribute these to humans.23
The point is well structured starting with the indication that “differences exist” in the
understanding of the role of African ancestors/ancestresses. The question ensues whether
the conception of African ancestors/ancestresses as “intermediaries” belongs to
traditional Africans or the scholars' own assumption. Before addressing the question, one
would like to present a similar quotation by Afeke and Verster (same place) on the role of
African ancestors:
In Turaki (1999:178), Gehman summarises the function of ancestors

as guardians of the family's traditions and life, and rectifiers of their
errors. Ancestors also serve as the owners of the land, receiving
requests and offerings from the living. Gehman is of the opinion that
ancestors may also serve as intermediaries between people and God.
They become a source of comfort to the living. They are called the
living dead because the living are conscious of their presence and
they communicate with the living by revelations and other means.24
The content of the quotation seems acceptable almost entirely, except the controversial
issue of whether the ancestors serve as “intermediaries”. Afeke and Vester resolve the
matter from their own Christian perspective this way: “If ancestors function as
intermediaries in that they receive prayers, libation, or invocation, then dealing with them
becomes idolatry as they take the place of Christ who is the only mediator between God
and man.”25 A non-Christian may ask: Who ordained Jesus Christ as “the only mediator
between God and man”? And what happens to the huge percentages of non-Christians,
particularly in the Middle East and Asia generally speaking? These types of questions
cannot but arise in the face of absolutisation of religious doctrines and principles.
The reaction of Nyamiti on the intermediary issue is different. He holds that
“although mediation is ascribed to the dead in many African societies, it is not an
indispensable factor of ancestral status”, and that “It is indeed absent from the ancestral
cult of some communities, and some anthropologists believe that it is a later comer into
that cult, probably due to Christian influence.” 26 One wonders what becomes of this
mediation or intermediary debate if the ancestors/ancestresses are conceived as forming a
divine communion with God as the Head, Director and Supreme Executive Officer! That
is my understanding of the God-ancestral relationship. After all, the ancestors were
66
human beings created by God, and who were supposed to have done the will of God
while on earth. They are not conceived by traditional Africans as an opposition,
exogenous or counter-force to God. One would echo Idowu 27, but rather than calling the
ancestors/ancestresses “ministers”, I would describe them simply as servants of God, to
further simplify what he (Idowu) means while referring to African divinities. The
ancestors/ancestresses are those who did God's will while on earth, and so correspond to
Christian saints. When a devilish person dies, he or she is cursed by traditional Africans;
the Yoruba would say Àkútúnkú è ̣ lọ́nà ọ̀run (May he or she die again and again on the
way to hell). The definition of African ancestors/ancestresses, offered by African
traditionalists and reported by researchers in this book and elsewhere permits one to call
them African traditional saints. And so, the ancestors/ancestresses can be called whatever
Christians call their saints. The common denominator is that they are all supposed to be
dead godly persons, untainted by untoward memory.
Notes for Chapter Six

1
The Guardian on Saturday, November 20, 1999, p. 20.
2
P. 20.
3
Mbuy,T. H. 1992, Understanding witchcraft Problems in the Life of An African: Case
Studies From Cameroon, High Speed Printers, Owerri, p.19.
4
Bujo, B. 1992, African Theology In Its Social Context, St. Paul Publications, Nairobi,
p.79.
5
Nyamiti, C. 1984, Christ As Our Ancestor, Mambo Press, Gweru, p. 15.
6
Imasogie, O. 1985, African Traditional Religion, Second Edition. University Press Ltd.,
Ibadan, pp. 35-36.
7
Abiola, E. Ola. 1984. A Textbook of West African History (A.D. 1000 to the Present
Day). Ado-Ekiti: Omolayo Standard Press & Bookshops Co. (Nig.) Ltd.
8
Imasogie O., pp. 35-36.
9
E. G. Parrinder, according to S.U. Erivwo, was the first person to use the expression
African Traditional Religion (ATR), in place of derogatory terms, such as “animism” and
“idolatry”, as the title of a book he first published in 1954. Scholars of ATR seem to owe
a lot to him in terms of expressions, and possibly methodology, even though some still
disagree with ATR, among them those who think it should be pluralized as ATRs, since,
according to them, Africans don't have only one religion. B. Afeke and P. Verster
(Skriflig 38(1) 2004:47-61) are among such objectors; they conveniently ignore the fact
that Christianity is not pluralized in nomenclature notwithstanding its diversity Catholic,
Orthodox, Protestant, innumerable forms of Pentecostal Christianity, as well as
indigenous varieties worldwide. Parrinder devotes a chapter to “The Ancestors” in his
seminal book, but has nothing on what qualifies a person to become an ancestor. Ditto
E.B. Idowu, in spite of his Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief (first published in 1962,
latest edition 1996) and classical in my estimation, as well as his African Traditional
Religion: A Definition (first published in 1973, I have the “Ninth impression” version,
1978); he does not discuss the conditions for becoming an ancestor/ancestress. Erivwo's
article, “Alternative Captions for African Traditional Religion”, is in Religions: A
Journal of the Nigerian Association for the Study of Religions, Vols. 6 &7, December,
1982.
67
10
Udo Etuk, Religion and Cultural Identity (Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2002), pp. 102-
129
11
Awolalu, J. Omosade, Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial Rites (Essex: Longman Group
Ltd., 1981), p.54.
12
Nyamiti Charles, “Ancestor Veneration in Africa”, PDF, accessed on the internet April
13 ,2014 http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/nyamiti.htm.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
15
Ibid
16
Ibid
17
Afeke B and Verster P. (Skriflig 38(1) 2004:47-61 47)
18
19
20
Faiths C., “The Challenge of Ancestor Worship in Africa”, accessed on the internet,
April 13, 2014.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Afeke B. and Verster P. (Skriflig 38(1) 2004:47-61 47)
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid.
26
13, 2014 http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/nyamiti.htm.
27
Idowu E. B., Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief. Ikeja: Longman Nigeria Plc, 1996
edition, pp. 54-107.
68
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE CONTENT OF AFRICAN HERITAGE
Obviously, African indigenous heritage originated from African indigenous

ancestors/ancestresses. Many scholars refer to African heritage and make statements
about it, without discussing the subject in any elaborate or systematic way. What is
heritage? I picked the answer from the website of the “South African Heritage Day”. The
website defines heritage as applicable to peoples and individuals, such as “the practices
and traditions that are passed on from parents to children”, or “what has been passed on
from the family, community and place where people have been raised.” It identifies
different types of heritage, indicating that “a country's natural heritage is its beautiful
environment and natural resources like gold and water.” This study focuses on “cultural
heritage”, which, according to the website, “is formed by those things or expressions that
show the creativity of people”, and “these can be special monuments, like a building,
sculpture, painting, a cave dwelling or anything important because of its history, artistic
or scientific value.”1 This book dwells on things that are of cultural, spiritual,
philosophical, artistic, scientific and technological values.
Along that line, Sófọlá states that the “cultural characteristics constituting our
African heritage are those things that make us distinguishingly respected African selves
and they should be systematically documented, propagated, maintained and preserved.”
He defines culture as “a learned pattern of behaviour, ideas, beliefs, and the artifacts,
shared by a people and socially transmitted by them from one generation to another.” 2
One would agree with him, and share also his view that the non-material aspects of
culture, the ideas, beliefs and worldview of traditional Africans that are often forgotten or
overlooked, may well be Africa's best contributions to world civilizations, and are still
very relevant today. That is not to say, of course, that everything inherited by Africans is
good; there can be no such impeccable people in the human world. Other than that, no
one can exhaust African heritage. Some important aspects of it are discussed in this
chapter.
7.1. African Traditional Religion
For many Christians and Muslims, even today, African Traditional Religion
(ATR) is a demonic religion of idolaters. But, several theologians have come to believe
otherwise. For instance, the attributes of Olódùmarè (God in Yoruba Belief), as explained
by Idowu are not different from that of the Supreme Being in which Judaisers, Christians,
Muslims, and other peoples believe, except that He is not a Trinity. 3 Etuk rightly notes
that ATR and African culture are inseparable, and that the religion addresses human
problems realistically through divination and non-objection to use of charm. In the words
of Etuk:
Whereas it is quite possible for one to belong to the world of the

church and Christianity strictly on Sundays, and turn to diviners and
medicine-men to manage one's affairs for the rest of the week and,
69
thus, live one's life in two disparate worlds, the traditionalist lives
his religion every day, from birth until death. When things go well
with him, he thanks his god and the ancestors; and if things go
wrong, the medicine-men are readily at hand for him to turn to.4
That is but one example of how some or many Africans have started to reevaluate ATR in
contemporary times, even though Etuk creates the wrong impression that Africans call
only on gods seemingly not on God. He has certainly betrayed Christian and Muslim
prejudice held against adherents of ATR. I note that no African people have “god” as
diminutive of God in the vernacular and that all African names for God are reserved
absolutely for Him (the Supreme Being) alone. Hence, for instance in Yoruba language,
there is no ọlọ́run (that starts with small letter), but Ọló ̣run (that starts with capital letter);
ditto other African names for God. It is Christians who speak of ọló ̣run èké (false god),
which is absurd to a traditional African, since God is unique and nothing else is called by
His unique name and position; all other beings have their own names; no small or big
God; there is just God. The divinities (holy beings who derived their existence from, and
are subject to God, in the service of human beings) are called òrìṣà, and not ọlọ́run.
Be that as it may, African Indigenous Churches (AICs) started to factor-in the
points raised by Etuk about magic, medicine and divination, and people began to flood
into them. As Peet (a Catholic priest) also notes, “So many of our members go shopping
around Sects, Independent Churches, fellowships and what have you”, and “is it not
because there was little, if any, inculturation in our Church that our members go
elsewhere?”5 Inculturation means integration of one culture into another, vice versa. Peet
is referring to a situation in which the AICs started to attract members by showing or
claiming that they have medicinal, magical, or miraculous solutions to people’s problems.
There seems to be no doubt that many individuals and peoples everywhere seek hic et
nunc solutions, such as divination, charm or magic found in traditional Africa. Of course,
every authentic religion has its own values. Fuller notes, for instance, that “In each
[African] tribe, there is usually some god who enforces oaths”, and “This helps people in
traditional societies to be truthful.”6 That touches on the prevalence of deception in
contemporary society, even though dishonesty has always existed.
It is alarming how all sorts of corrupt practices are creating very wide gaps
between the haves and the have-nots, to the extent that the Nigerian society, for instance,
is grossly underdeveloped, and mass abject poverty is growing worse, yet the common
people are mostly helpless, unlike in the past when corrupt people were trapped through
spiritual or metaphysical means. Bidmos, on his own part, points to the fact that unlike
Christianity and Islam which engage in rivalry and squabble, ATR is peaceful. 7However,
being an Islamic theologian, he (Bidmos) attributes ATR's peaceful nature to non-
proselytization8, which would warrant conflicts. But, beyond that fact, the religion is
fundamentally harmonious, since the belief is that all the divinities descended from the
same Supreme Being, with different portfolios assigned to them for common good of
humanity. As Idowu notes, the diverse divinities are all serving the Supreme Being as His
Ministers, and so, there is no space for opposition to arise. 9 For instance in Yorubaland,
all hunters worship Ògún, and people travelling in vehicles also invoke his name for safe
journey, while Egúngún and Orò represent the ancestors; Ifà Òrúnmìlà is open to
everybody who needs divination; any aggrieved person could (and can) invoke Ṣàngó,
70
etc, depending on the portfolio of a divinity. ATR is also not as financially attractive as
Christianity and Islam where the size of congregation and followership determine the size
of the wealth of the church, mosque, or buoyancy of the clerics. Beyond sacrificial
offerings that are shared by the worshippers, the priest or priestess has no financial
entitlement. There is no landed property, bank account, or something of that nature. Of
course a masquerade or agent of some divinities could go out to pray, sing, and dance for
people and get gifts, including money, usually during annual festivals.
7.2. The Resilience of ATR
In an article he published in 2014, Amanze re-states a long-standing realisation

that “The missionary zeal of the first generation of missionaries motivated them to call
for the total eradication of Africa's religious heritage.” The expression “call for the total
eradication” indicates the felt need, on the part of the missionaries, to malign ATR, in
order to replace it with Christianity. Amanze reacts that “And yet at the same time
missionaries have been aware that African culture has much that is positive that can be
used in the service of disseminating the good news of salvation.” 10 Indeed a lot has been
used and is still being used (in terms of linguistic expressions, proverbs, axioms, wisdom
stories, songs, music, etc.) to drive “Christianity in matters of theology, worship, church
practice, religious symbols and spirituality”, toward producing “a church which is
authentically African and genuinely Christian.”11 But that has not stopped many
Christians and Muslims from maligning ATR, so as to annihilate the religion to the
absolute elevation of Christianity and Islam. The discernible pattern of approach is to
appreciate certain good things in ATR and then turn round to condemn it to promote
either Christianity or Islam, as the case may be. I will give two Christian examples to
illustrate my observation. Ilupeju, as a Yoruba Baptist theologian, asks Christians to
“Acknowledge the beliefs of ATR that are in line with Christian teachings”, which,
according to him, “include:
i. All are sinners,

ii. There is a true relationship between God and men that has been
destroyed by sin,
iii. Sin must be atoned for,
iv. God's judgment is on the sinner; he cannot inherit eternal life.
All of that are very apt and commendable. However, Ilupeju proceeds by enjoining a
Christian to “show” an ATR adherent “from the scripture” that “There is no mediator
between man and God apart from Jesus Christ (1Tim. 2:15).” Beyond that, according to
Ilupeju, the Christian should ask the ATR adherents “to renounce the devil and his
works”, because, “However sincere they may think they are, they are ignorantly
worshipping the devil.”12 It remains to be seen how Ilupeju can pass a test of objectivity if
confronted with Idowu's Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief, or some other scholars, such
as Balogun, an Islamic scholar, who notes that “African Traditional Religion has been
proved beyond doubt that God is its ultimate goal”, and “Its adherents must, therefore, be
accepted for what they are, if only for the overall benefit of our common heritage,
Nigeria.”13 All of that marks the difference between the pastoral mind of Ilupeju and the
71
genuinely scholarly minds of Idowu and Balogun. It should also be noted that Ilupeju’s
conclusion contradicts his statement about what ATR adherents share in common with
Christians, with the implication that he might be under ecclesiastical censorship of some
sort, since survival and expansion of Christianity, as of Islam, depends on denigration of
ATR.
In a similar vein like Ilupeju, Fuller writes many good points for ATR, but
towards the end of his book, he states that “If people can be converted, to turn away from
the other ways of help and go to Jesus only, they can find 'this' true way to God,”
because, according to him:
There is a difference between a Christian and other people. Other

people decide what it is they want, and go and tell the human
mediators or the spirits. Thus, the people are the ones trying to get
their own desires and will. But Christians try to find out the will of
God.14
The expression “other people” refers to all non-Christians, including Judaisers and
Muslims, even though the book is squarely on ATR. Going by Fuller's words and logic,
traditional Africans become Christians every time they resign themselves to the will of
God, since they do resign themselves to God's will, even when they believe in the
principle of nothing ventured nothing gained, and that there is no harm in trying available
solutions bestowed on humanity by God, such as divination, medicine, and magic. At the
same time, it is not impossible that there may be very few “Christians” going by that
definition of who Christians are by Fuller (above). The number of Christians who always
abide by the will of God cannot be determined, but many things done by many Christians
cannot be reasonably attributed to the will of God. Beyond this fact, Fuller, like Ilupeju,
want people to be “converted” and “to turn away from the other ways of help and go to
Jesus only”.15With that motive and mindset, a Christian theologian who is at the same
time pastorally engaged can always fault other religions, including Judaism and Islam, to
promote Christianity. Hillman is thus justified in his assertion that “Religious activity,
aimed at displacing Africa's traditional religious symbol systems, and replacing them
with foreign imports, was the greatest threat to the survival of African cultures” that are
“intimately bound up with the people's traditional religious experiences, perceptions and
articulations.”16 Thus, in Yorubaland, for instance, Oduduwa ceases to be the “Father in
Faith” of many Yoruba, but Abraham; and only Jesus, and not the divinities that African
ancestors and ancestresses said descended from God to populate and rule the world under
His divine authority. Even the African ancestors/ancestresses become, for many African
Christians and Muslims, demonic idols.
7.2.1. ATR, Human Sacrifice, Harmony and Resilience
Arising from the above, it is not disputable that some Christian theologians,
including Ilupeju and Fuller themselves recognize some of ATR's strong values that
constitute African religious heritage, such as effective oath-taking that discouraged
criminal activities, to a large extent. It can even be argued that all authentic African
72
values, including what Sofola refers-to as “the moral philosophy of live-and-let live” 17 are
in contrast with the contemporary culture of individualism, egocentricism, rivalry, and
self-aggrandizement that are impoverishing the overwhelming majority of Africans,
including in Yorubaland. One can add that African traditional priests and priestesses did
not live on their priesthood but on their own handiwork, generally speaking. In some
isolated places, of course, there was human sacrifice like with most primitive religions,
which explains why Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac to God (Gen. 22: 7-14), while
Jephthah (Judges 11:30-40) actually sacrificed his only daughter to God. I observe that
Christianity and Islam are not exempted from human sacrifice, with particular reference
to those killed in the name of heretics, desecration of holy book, and things like that, of
people sacrificed on the altars of Christianity and Islam. Christians and Muslims
committed human sacrifice in the crusades and jihads (religious wars) that involved
massive killing and displacement of thousands of people, looting and booty-taking in the
name of God/religion. The Islamized Arabs and Christianized Westerners incited African
kings and chiefs to wage wars to promote the Slave Trade, thereby committing massive
human sacrifice on the altar of materialism. In contemporary times, many African
Christians and Muslims have been accused of money-making rituals that involved
homicide in Nigeria, for instance.
Traditional Africa's peace and harmony were intact, from religious perspective,
until divisions came through Christo-Islamic rivalries. ATR is not as financially attractive
as to lead to large scale fracas, compared with the historical religions of Christianity and
Islam. The religion is a primal (not historical) religion, as its origin is traced to God in
mythological terms like Judaism (which started with “the call” of Abraham), and not
attributed to any human founder. Of course, there is no human relationship, such as in
religion, politics, business, even family, that is not both sweet and sour, so to say. Certain
levels of exploitation and abuse can, therefore, not be ruled-out even in ATR, but the
structure is not money-based. ATR is not capital intensive. Unlike Islam and Christianity,
ATR is not struggling for money and power that come from large congregations. It is not
politicized, and so it is both open and critical of devilish social actions, even though no
system is perfect. ATR agents, like good Biblical prophets, lampoon evil doers, including
the ruling class, such as through some Egúngún (Masquerade), as well as Orò and Ògún
(divine) exponents in Yoruba context. Such positive values for human and social sanity
account for the resilience of ATR, and it is not about to die in some places, including Oyo
town, Ile-Ife, Illa Ọ̀ràngún, etc in southwest Nigeria.
7.2.2. Divination
Divination is one of the most important religious heritages of Africa, but one may
not know it unless one benefits or is aware of its potency and efficacy. Human condition
is such that a person sometimes gets to a junction with several roads, metaphorically
speaking, not knowing which way to go. It is at that point, or before getting there that a
person consults a diviner. As a Yoruba born into ATR, I believe Idowu exaggerates a
little bit when he writes that “the Yoruba are generally incapable of beginning any
venture without consulting the oracle; and the oracle usually directs that one divinity or
another, or an ancestor, should be worshipped or propitiated.” 18 In my view and
73
experience, diviners prescribe alms-giving, and sometimes nothing is prescribed,
depending on the situation and circumstance. If, for instance, a person just wants to know
which of two or more women to marry, that would rarely warrant any sacrifice. Diviners
are still consulted today, because human condition has not changed, and some good
diviners are still around. Some diviners hand-on the art to their children as a family
heritage, apart from those who get initiated into the Ifa or any other form of divinatory
cult.
Some Churches, Christian clerics and laity alike, on the other hand, quote biblical
passages, such as Deuteronomy 18:10, to condemn divination. They do not consider it a
form of divination when the Apostles prayed and cast lot (Acts 1:24-26) to decide who
would take the place of Judas Iscariot. In addition to prayer, traditional Africans also
have some occult (hidden) ways of inquiring from Deity, which way to go or what to do.
And there is no doubt that divination is a universal practice. Hillman notes that:
In the face of the vast unknown enveloping so much of human

experience, past, present and future, every sociocultural community
finds ways to explain and to cope with the mystery of evil and the
ominous signs encountered in the course of life. Even the
perplexities and anxieties arising from the ordinary sufferings, pains
and ambiguities met at every stage of the human sojourn need
plausible explanations and remedies that are at least hopeful, if not
always effective.19
If that is the view of a Catholic priest/theologian (Hillman), who has neither wife nor a
child, what is one to say of married people and parents with multiple and diverse
concerns? Yes, a person can entrust all to God, but that may not rule-out multiple
junctions, requiring decision on which direction to take. The Yoruba say Ọlọ́run ò kọ
aájò (God does not object to venturing; the English say “Nothing ventured nothing
gained”; heaven helps those who help themselves; seek and you shall find, etc.), and the
Yoruba say, Tó bá rú'ni lójú k'a bi'lè ̣ léèrè (If you are confused, make divine
consultation). Awuah-Nyamekye, writing about his Berekum people of Ghana, notes that,
“one will not be far from right to opine that, divination in traditional Berekum society, is
comparable to the modern day regular medical check-ups that we undertake to ensure
total health”, and that the phenomenon of divination remains “one of the key elements in
the life and thought of the people.”20Obviously, hardly is anything in human life perfect,
but, Africans would have abandoned divination particularly in contemporary times, if it
has not been of any help at all. With specific reference to charlatan diviners, one can
quote Hillman to the effect that:
Among the Massai, as everywhere else in the world, there are some
professional practitioners who are greedy, impostors, quacks and
charlatans, using their positions for their own enrichment by
exploiting the ignorance of those who consult them. In general,
however, and for the most part, the iloibonok may be seen as a
positive institution serving real human needs.21
74
That seems to say it all. One can add that a person should find out who to consult,
because authentic diviners in Yorubaland, for instance, are under oath of non-
exploitation, with very sound and reliable professional ethics of pro-life. Consultation
should also not be a regular practice, to avoid becoming a divination-addict. Although
diviners cannot see things as clearly as God would see it, they can be amazingly helpful.
7.2.3. Women Priesthood in African Traditional Religion

Indeed, the study of the role of Nigerian women, as of other
African women, has become urgent; for in spite of the significant
strides highlighted above, women still seem not to be playing a
crucial role in the development process. The African continent has
undergone many historical experiences, each of which has left its
mark on the position of African women in their societies and on
their ability to contribute to these societies. In the process, women
have become increasingly marginalised (Bolanle Awe).22
Unlike in some Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church, and in Islam,
priestesses have always existed in ATR as we know it. With specific reference to
Yorubaland, Awolalu and Dopamu note, for instance, that “most water spirits or deities in
Yoruba land are female deities”, and “they include Osun, Oya, Olokun and Olosa”, in
which “the worship leaders are mostly women.” They write further that “in all cases of
fertility worship, most devotees and leaders of worship are women and young ladies.”
They give example of Ilawe-Ekiti town where “the devotees of Orinlase are all women –
the priestesses, the chanters, the singers, the instrumentalists and the dancers.” 23
Conversely, men are usually the leaders (priests) in the worship of male divinities, such
as Ọbàtálá, Ọ̀rúnmìlà, Ògún, Orò, Egúngún, etc. On a general note, Mbiti is apt that:
“women have a clear place in African religion, like other members of society in which
that religion is lived, practised, discussed and celebrated.” 24 In other words, women are
not looked-down or considered incapable of being religious leaders. Even where women
are excluded generally, such as in the Orò cult, some women are still consulted for
spiritual reasons. Women are kept indoors during Orò festival, but they participate in
singing and chanting Orò eulogies, in addition to preparing the festival meals.
With particular reference to women and divination, Gemmeke relates how a male
diviner, Aliou, who was using “Qur’anic verses to prepare grisgris: amulets and potions”
got less patronage than a woman using African traditional means, both of them in the
same area of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. In Gemmeke’s words:
This woman, Marie, originates from the Casamance and offers cowry-
shell divination sessions and plant-based treatments. She could not receive
us immediately, as her waiting room is filled with at least ten clients; most
of them women, and we wait for more than two hours until the last client
had gone.25
There was no client with Aliou at the moment Gemmeke and her research assistant,
Boubacar, got to him, which set Gemmeke wondering whether it was because Marie was
“good at her job” that made her to get so much patronage. Beyond that speculation, the
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scenario indicates that many Senegalese still have confidence in the traditional divinatory
system, and they do not discriminate against women diviners. That reflects the general
African spiritual disposition to equality of men and women. Divination through use of
cowry-shell is also done by some men and women in Yorubaland, possibly in some other
parts of Africa as well. It is called Ẹ̀rìndínlógún in Yoruba language (literally – Four less
twenty, since sixteen cowry-shells are used).
7.2.4. Interrogation of African Religiosity
There is a myth that “Africans are incurably religious”. Idowu reflects that
assumption when he writes that for the Yoruba, “The keynote of their life is their
religion”, and that “In all things, they are religious.” 26 But, at that point, Idowu does not
define what he means by “religion” or “being religious”. In my understanding, religion is
associated with rituals, while spirituality is identified with being in harmony with the
spiritual world. Very many Africans have abandoned ATR and today they neither go to
church nor mosque. Is that what it means to be incurably religious, or that “religion is the
keynote of their life”? I was born into ATR, and I saw that not everybody was equally
keen in strictly religious affairs. But one thing seems indisputable, that reference is
always made to God or any of the divinities whom Idowu rightly describes as God's
Ministers. Traditional Africans are fond of praying to God, and invoking the divinities
and the ancestors/ancestresses. Beyond that, they not infrequently swear in their various
daily interactions, using God or any of His divinities as witness that they are sincere, or
that they would not betray any trust reposed in them. But all of that, strictly speaking, is
not religion by definition but faith in God and His divine Ministers. Religion has to do
with ritual cum prayer, and things like that which surpass expression of faith in God and
other spiritual beings. Kayode writes that:
Revelation is an act of God and to the understanding of African
peoples, divine message can be obtained through the situation of
things in their environment. Man has consciousness or self-
awareness of the Divine Order. Without any hesitation, the African
affirms that God has put this awareness in man.27
That explains the African understanding of God which goes beyond religion as such.
How religious are traditional Africans? Are they as religious as Christians who are
enjoined to attend morning mass or daily devotion, and by obligation attend church
service every Sunday? Or, the Muslims who have to pray formally five times daily, apart
from the weekly (Friday) special day of prayer? I note that after an annual festival, most
traditional Africans go back to their places of work until another festival, except a person
is asked to offer special sacrifice prescribed through divination, which happens only
occasionally. The individual’s discretion to call on God and the divinities is not time-
bound, and it borders on personal spirituality not a religious exercise, strictly speaking,
except in respect of certain priests and priestesses who have daily devotion meant for
them alone, and not communal in any way.
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7.2.5. Traditional Africans Build no Special House for God
Indubitably, one of the issues that seem to portray ATR as an inferior religion to
Christianity and Islam is that it builds no “House of God”. Dopamu is typical of African
scholars who explain why traditional African peoples do not have images of God nor
dedicate temples to Him, saying “the Supreme Being is not represented in any image
because He is unique and incomparable”, and so cannot be likened to anything. Secondly,
as Dopamu further notes, most traditional Africans do not build temples for God's
worship because of their conviction that He is omnipresent, and “since He is everywhere,
He cannot be localized.” Dopamu buttresses the point by making reference to the Yoruba
who “describe God as Até ̣rẹrẹ káyé - He who spreads over the whole extent of the earth”,
which means “Deity is so great, and so majestic that He cannot be confined within a
space.”28 And so, worshipping God as a concrete object of worship in a particular place or
location is, at least to a large extent, un-African.
7.2.6. Continual Demonization of ATR
One of the very serious ways by which ATR is continually demonized in

Yorubaland, for instance, is that when some Islamic or Christian clerics are caught with
human parts and ritual murder cases, they are called Babaláwo (Ifá Ọ̀rúnmìlà priest),
which is a clear case of maliciously demonizing ATR. Ọ̀rúnmìlà is the divinity for
divination. He is the one God Almighty assigned the task of unraveling mysteries when a
person or people encounter perplexity or confusion. The divinatory instrument is Ifá.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà is represented in Babaláwo (custodian of sacred mysteries), and Ifá divination
works, whether a person is a believer or not, according to the findings of this research and
personal experience of the researcher. Yet, when some Christian Prophets or Islamic
spiritualists are caught with ritual murder case, they are called deliberately called
Babaláwo in the media, including on radio, thereby using demonization of ATR to
protect Christian and Islamic clerics that are looking for money through diabolical means
to build extravagant churches and mosques, and to be among the richest people in this
world.
At the same time, it cannot be ruled-out that some people ignorantly perceive
Babaláwo as doubling as a magical expert (olóògùn), which is scarcely the case,
according to the findings of this research, except a Babaláwo learnt magic as a plus.
When I was doing my M.A. research on belief in magic, my maternal uncle, a first class
Babaláwo, Daddy Ìrókò (aka Kékeréawo), told me he could not offer much information
and that I should go to magical experts, mostly hunters who use magical amulets during
hunting and warfare.
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7.3. African Magical Arts
This is another heritage to which many Churches, Christian clerics and laity alike
object, quoting biblical passages, such as Deut 18:9-14, but which traditional Africans
see as divine endowment to humanity. Magic or charm is a mystical art, but my
informants (some Yoruba elders, Ifá priests who are custodians of sacred mysteries) said
it is not an element of ATR. They explained that neither the divinities nor the ancestors
operate with charm, and that it exists independently of religion, even though a religious
functionary may use charm in his or her own personal volition. The Bible Reader's
Encyclopaedia and Concordance seems to agree with that view, when it states that magic
is “hard to distinguish from religion”, indicating that they are both based on “belief in
supernatural powers”29, meaning one is different from the other.
The Bible testifies to the efficacy of charm when the Egyptian wise men turned
their rods into serpents, just as Moses did ((Ex 7:11-12). Like the wise Egyptians (Ex
8:19) traditional Africans do not think that charm is superior or equal to God, but derives
and made possible by God. There are both good and evil charms, depending on the user
and the intention or disposition. A charm can be used to harm or kill a fellow human
being, but the positive use seems overwhelming for healing, protection, and to overcome
danger. Charm is employed to arrest thieves, and as an antidote to the effect of evil
charm, etc.
Some theologians think that what the Church should condemn is evil use of
charm, and not its positive use. Adeola and Ayuba have a quotation that seems to
summarise the situation in Africa, generally speaking, in this passage:
Harriet Hill's study of the Adioukrou people of Cote D'Ivoire gives a

fitting example. He notes that, many people in Cote D'Ivoire became
Christians and openly burnt their fetishes hoping that they got rid of
all mystical powers in their lives. Seventy years later, they find
themselves practicing witchcraft because, in their opinion,
Christianity did not solve their everyday problems and fears
associated with the spirit beings, ambiguities and uncertainties of
life.30
One would not agree with Hill in his loose use of the word “witchcraft”, but he is apt in
getting us to realize that many Africans were led by certain overzealous Christian
missionaries (White and Black) to burn or throwaway their magical elements
indiscriminately, and many shunned the chance to acquire magical knowledge from their
parents, elders, relatives, and acquaintances who had such knowledge. Today, in different
African countries, there are some people searching for efficacious charm, and charlatans
abound claiming to have acquired the knowledge. Too many Africans were misled in the
name of the same God that traditional Africans believe provides for charm. A lot has
been lost forever, and even now, most parents and their children pursue literary
achievements that leave little or no time for magical knowledge acquisition. Hence those
who still have the knowledge are sometimes encouraged to impart it to their children, if
to no other persons. Some consultants told me, and corroborated by my uncle, Pa
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Adeosin, that God who makes dove and snake is responsible also for good and evil
charms, while the user is also answerable to Him for good or evil use of charm.
7.4. Family and Social Cohesion in Traditional Africa
Serious division set into African life with the advent of Islam and Christianity, not
only in their being two different religions, but worse still in their various denominations
and rivalries. The situation is further compounded and worsened for the extended family
system by the new economic order introduced by the colonial masters, based on money,
salary, wages, and then the issues of urbanization and survival in the cities. All of that
have, and are tugging at and eroding the extended family system. Ablade sums it all up
when he notes that:
Nothing else has done more to destroy African socio-cultural values

than did Christianity and capitalism those well-known allies of
imperialism. The extended family system has almost broken down
and everybody is concerned only with himself. Africans are being
corrupted by Western European capitalist ethics.31
Any wonder, as Sofola notes, “the world”, and not only Africa, is “now plagued by greed,
aggression, man's inhumanity-to-man, and cultural intolerance.” One could add
egocentricism and self-aggrandizement. But the negative impact of Islam on ATR and
culture must not be overlooked in places where Jihad wars were prosecuted to conquer
peoples to impose Islam out-rightly or surreptitiously. Yet, the Western world has largely
overcome inter- and intra-religious squabbles by adopting Church-state separation,
otherwise called secularization. In Nigeria, Christian and Muslim elites who dominate the
political space resist such a move, in spite of the secularity clause inserted into the
nation's constitution, so they can continue to spend public funds on their pilgrimages and
other projects, such as church and mosque-building, festivals, etc. Politicization of
religion is unarguably the worse bane of some African countries, such as Nigeria. The
Christo-Islamic elites call secularization “secularism”, thus calling the dog a bad name so
as to have it hanged. Secularization or state secularity refers to separation of religion
from state, so that religion becomes a private rather than state affair, while secularism
represents total objection to religion. In an ideal secular state, religion is not politicized,
and there is no religious discrimination in public offices, but that ideal of social harmony
has been largely obstructed in Nigeria by Islamic and Christian imperialisms.
7.4.1. Christian Objection to Polygamy
Christian objection to polygamy has also seriously eroded the African extended
family system, social unity and cohesion. Yet, as Eyiyere notes, not even the Bible
condemns polygamy. In the words of Eyiyere:
The protagonists of monogamy doctrine admit that polygamy was

allowed by God in the Old Testament but claim that it has been
abolished in the New Testament. There is nothing in the New
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Testament to show that polygamy has been abolished. Instead there
is abundant evidence in the New Testament that polygamy was
allowed and practiced in the early Christian church. The first
evidence we are to consider is that in 1Timothy 3:2 and 12. The fact
that Paul advised Timothy to appoint those with one wife as bishops
and deacons shows that monogamy was not the general accepted
practice of the Christians.32
Obviously, there is no biblical passage that condemns polygamy beyond being bishop or
deacon. Those who argue that God created only one wife for Adam forget that, that story
is a myth of creation. It is also not true in African experience that polygamy is always a
failure while monogamy is always a success; it depends on the wisdom, temperament,
morality and magnanimity of those involved. At any rate, God has no doubt given human
beings the potentiality for personal decision and responsibility on number of wives. There
is unity and harmony in some African polygamous homes; step mothers and step brothers
and sisters take care of one another, where polygamy is what it is supposed to be, “the
more the merrier”. Hence it is said that the extended family is Africa's social security.
Sometimes, of course, it is a disaster. The Yoruba is often quoted as saying Òrìṣà jé ̣ n
péméjì obìrin ò dénú (No woman prays to be two, rather the only wife of her own
husband), yet, it is also true that some wives look for and marry more women for their
husbands, as Mama Adéjọbí, the wife of the late Oyin Adéjọbí, of the Kóòtù Asípa
(Asipa's Court) drama fame, said she married three wives for her husband, and she was
the mother of everybody in the family, for instance.
Christian objection to polygamy does not seem to help matters, with particular
reference to widows. Ehusani quotes Bernadette Kunambi, a Tanzanian female member
of parliament and activist, as commenting that:
While Christianity and a Western type of education gave the African

woman the feeling of independence and the ability to stand on her
own to make decisions both in the family and in society, it robbed
her of the traditional protection of the extended family system and of
the society which, in the past, was the cornerstone of stability in
married life.33
What readily comes to mind after reading the quotation is the provision which polygamy
system makes possible for a widow. Such a woman, unless she chooses otherwise, was to
be taken care of by one of the brothers of the deceased or any man that she prefers in the
(extended) family, with mutual consent. Monogamy doctrine makes no room for such
provision, and many Christians use it as an excuse to dodge all responsibilities for a
widow and (where applicable) her children. I know it because one of such children, now
a lawyer, related his experience to me and questioned the rationale behind the Church's
objection to polygamy, even though he was himself a monogamist. Polygamy in
traditional Africa does not mean, of course, that everybody is, nor was a polygamist.
As of today, the economic situation of many countries in Africa is not helping
polygamy or the extended family practices, but the religious divisions and Christian
monogamy doctrine are the “original sin”. Of course, dehumanizing practices, such as
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asking a widow to drink the water used to bathe her dead husband, not found in
Yorubaland, but said to be practiced in some culture(s), is nothing but reprehensible. Yet
one should not throwaway both the bathwater and the baby in it; rather to separate the
wheat from the chaff. Since fingers are not created equal, men and women who have the
capacity and are disposed to polygamy should not be discouraged unduly. Polygamy is
still practiced in one form or another even in the Western world where husband of “one
wife” may keep a mistress that has no other man in her life and can bear children for
another woman’s husband, so to say.
7.4.2. The Value of African Extended Family System
Some scholars have picked holes in the value of Africa's extended family system.
Onyibor quotes one “Molema” as saying that:
Africans have prided themselves in their communal social order

wherewith 'I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am'
(Mbiti: 1969: 108-109). Some scholars have however criticized this
African Communalism as limited only to the members and confines
of the tribe. And so such scholars have labeled this social order as
tribal communalism.34
Onyibor certainly agrees with Molema, by stating that “This notion of human
brotherhood has faced and caused crisis for the African in the interaction with global
brotherhood of all men as preached by such religions as Christianity and generally in
confrontation with the expanding frontiers of world consciousness.”35 They (Onyibor and
those he is siding with) miss it in my perception. Extended family system has nothing to
do with xenophobia. Unless charity begins at home, it cannot extend outside; unless a
person learns to share, he or she will never know how to share, whether with relatives or
strangers. Anybody who finds himself or herself in a foreign land is ipso facto a
foreigner, and Africans do travel; they know what it means to be a stranger. Pobee quotes
Kwame Nkrumah as expressing delight in traditional Africa's hospitality. 36 Hence the
entire world, and not just one religion or another speaks of hospitality, even though there
are always some people worldwide who would want to take undue advantage of strangers
and foreigners alike. Beyond all of that, to whatever extent the African extended family
system collapses, the African social security of being one another’s keeper collapses. It is
no wonder individualism and self-aggrandizement are creating lamentable misery in
many African countries where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
7.5. Africa's Philosophical Heritage
There are scholars who think that traditional Africans do not have “philosophy” as
a discipline. They say so in the same way that some invading Westerners and Arabs
claimed that Africans lacked a genuine concept of God. In the words of Ogundele: “It is
very painful to note that despite the obvious significance of ancient Egypt for the rest of
Africa, most scholars of philosophy who are Africans still write and argue that there is
nothing called African philosophy.”37 Such scholars tend to be either narrow-minded of
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what philosophy means, prejudicial or contemptuous of African personality as a whole.
Yet, while it may be true, as Ogundele further notes, that “Pythagorean mathematics,
Platonic idealism, Judaism and modern science are deeply rooted in Egyptian cosmogony
and science”38,the question must be asked whether it is normal for rational beings not to
philosophize, and not just the assumption that philosophy originated in Egypt, which
even if it is in Africa, is close to the Middle East, and may be rightly or wrongly grouped
with Asia Minor.
What is philosophy? The Microsoft Encarta Dictionaries define philosophy as an
“examination of basic concepts: the branch of knowledge or academic study devoted to
the systematic examination of basic concepts as truth, existence, reality, causality, and
freedom.”39 It then goes without saying that what African philosophers need to do is to
inquire into what traditional Africans think about the ultimate and existential realities of
life, and not to claim that they (traditional Africans) lack capacity for complex ideas
comparable to fellow human beings in Europe, America, or elsewhere. The same was
said of theology, until some theologians started to demythologize the term theology
analytically, and to draw correspondences from African theology of God and His agents
in relation to Christian theology. With particular reference to philosophy, Okoro quotes
C. S. Momoh as saying that the African philosophers who claim that traditional Africans
do not have philosophy are those who are “schooled in the letter, but not in the spirit of
Western philosophy.” That would mean that such scholars are not well-grounded in what
philosophy means. To buttress the point, Okoro quotes C. K. Anyanwu as stating that one
must not evaluate African philosophy on Western paradigm.40 I venture to posit that
whatever is logical and reasonable in Western philosophy would have correspondences in
traditional African philosophy in one oral form or another, and so all that is required is to
find them out through research, particularly through interviews, if not together with
library consultation. In other words, African philosophers must “come home” and
conduct research. Traditional Africans expect a person to apply his or her reasoning
faculty to situations and events, not less than any other known people worldwide, in the
perception of this writer. Hence the Yoruba say Ọgbọ́n la fi n ṣe’lé ayé, ìwà la fi n ṣe òde
òrun (wisdom applies in this world; good character applies in heaven).
Philosophy is regarded as the handmaid of theology, because the latter has to do
with reflection (philosophizing and discussing) about God in relation to life. Ukpong
notes how Placide Tempels, a Belgian Catholic Franciscan missionary to Zaire (the
former Congo) in the 1930s, was a promoter of African philosophy in his Bantu
Philosophy.”41 That tends to buttress one's point that Africa, and many reasoning peoples
for that matter, cannot be said not to have philosophical aptitude and materials; one only
needs to find out the materials. Mbiti writes that his own book, “African religions and
philosophy deals almost exclusively with traditional concepts and practices in those
societies which have not been either Christian or Muslim in any deep way, before the
colonial period in Africa.”42 That means “traditional concepts and practices” of societies
whose philosophies have not been syncretised with those of Christianity and Islam. Yet,
even Christianized and Islamized African societies often have remnants of ATR and
culture. I know African traditional priests who attend church or mosque but remain
committed to the traditional religion. Some of them (e.g. an elderly man whom I knew
simply as Baba Lé ̣gbè ̣jí, in Ipata-Oloje, Ilorin, in the 1990s) told me he became initiated
into Islam to avoid isolation, but he was convinced that there was no better way than
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ATR. Since the philosophical and theological concepts come to us through oral tradition,
mostly, one must gather and document them academically.
In contemporary times, it is remarkable how Healey and Sybertz demonstrate,
with a book that spans 397 pages, that a holistic Afro-Christian theology can be
constructed based on a comparative study of the Biblical content and the numerous
"proverbs, sayings, riddles, stories, myths, legends, folk-tales, plays and songs", as well
as "cultural symbols and real life experiences" that obtain in African societies. 43 Oduyoye
is no less positive about how "Christian theology might benefit from knowledge of
African traditional statements concerning God, nature, and human nature".44 Such
“African traditional statements” are usually philosophical-theological in nature in oral
forms. I give but an example of a philosophic-theological song in Yoruba, by Ayinla
Adegoke of blessed memory (an illiterate but brilliant traditional composer and singer,
popularly called Adegator, corrupted from his name, Adegoke):
B’Ọlọ́run ba’p’àrànṣe ti dé, è ̣gbọ́n ò lè dínà mábúrò, b'Ọlọ́run ba

'p'àrànṣe ti dé. B'Ọlọ́run ba 'p'àrànṣe ti dé, ọkọ ò lè dínà máya è ̣,
b'Ọlọ́run ba 'p'àrànṣe ti dé. B'Ọlọ́run ba 'p'àrànṣe ti dé, ẹnìkan ò lè
dínà mékejì, b'Ọlọ́run ba 'p'àrànṣe ti dé.
(When God’s time comes, an elder cannot block the fortune of

his/her younger brother -or sister-, when God’s time comes (he sang
it vice versa)
When God’s time comes, a husband cannot block the fortune of his
wife, when God’s time comes (he sang it vice versa)
When God’s time comes, nobody can block another person’s
fortune, when God’s time comes.)
Moreover, philosophy also relates to ATR in specific terms, such as when some Ògún
(the divinity in charge of iron and metal in Yoruba worldview) praise singers, who are
usually hunters, sing to the effect that:
Tá a bá wọ̀lú o, ta à bá l'ẹnìkan,,
Refrain: Ìwà l'àání.
Ọdẹ, tá a bá wọ̀lú o, ta à bá l'ẹnìkan,
Ọ̀ré ̣ mi, tá a bá wọ̀lú o, ta à bá l'ẹnìkan,
(Meaning:
If we enter a town in which we have nobody,
Refrain: Have good character. (i.e. behave nicely; portray
good conduct).
Hunters, if we enter a town in which we have
nobody,
Refrain: Have good character.
My friends, if we enter a town in which we have
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nobody,
Refrain: Have good character.).
There is hardly any issue or aspect of human life and death (eschatology) for which there
are no "proverbs, sayings, riddles, stories, myths, legends, folktales, plays and songs".
With particular reference to eschatology, Ogundare Foyanmu, Ògún (Yoruba divinity in
charge of iron and steel) praise singer/philosopher, asks his singing group:
Ẹgbọ́, kínni nnkan marun tó yẹ k'Ọlọrun o fi hanwa, to fi 'kanṣoṣo

hanwa, to wa fi mé ̣rin 'yoku pamọ́ fun wa?
(Listen, what are the five things God should have told us (human
beings), out of which He has told us only one, and hides the
remaining four from us?)
Nobody in the group knew the answer, and so Ogundare gives it himself. The five things
God should have told human beings are: we shall die; when we shall die; where we shall
die; how we shall die; who is the next person to die. But, of the five, as Foyanmu notes,
God has revealed only one, namely, “we shall die”, and hides the remaining information
from us. The implication, as the song goes, is that everybody should do good always,
since nobody knows how and when death will come. That philosophical piece constitutes
a lamp for human steps; a lamp that is no less powerful than any other known to
humanity. One easy way to African philosophical heritages is African traditional songs
that have been waxed into records, and they abound in the market. Books on such things
as "proverbs, sayings, riddles, stories, myths, legends, folktales, plays and songs" are also
available in the market, and, to some extent on the internet. Akpan and Umoren, for
instance, have an article in which they translated one hundred Ibibio proverbs, a few
riddles, and twenty of what they term “proverb-riddles”. 45 Of course, African wise
sayings are inexhaustible. They exist in diverse genre, including pithy sayings, maxims,
etc as listed above.
7.6. Africa’s Artistic Heritage
The word “arts” covers many areas of human intellectual and physical activities,
such as composing and singing songs, rhythms, making and beating drums, dancing,
sculpture, poetry, pottery, building, farming, dress-making, linguistic formulations, etc.
Writing on the Yoruba people, Idowu makes an important point to the effect that:
As there are no written records of the ancient past of the people, all
that has been preserved of their myths, philosophy, liturgies, songs
and sayings, has come down to us by word of mouth from
generation to generation. And all this together we shall call 'Oral
Traditions'. These oral traditions are our only means of knowing
anything at all of their theogony and cosmogony and what they think
and believe about the relationship between heaven and earth.46
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Idowu first published those words in 1962, and they have much implication for oral and
literary arts. One must note that with writers like him having done a lot of work, it can no
longer be said that “oral traditions” are the only means of knowing about African past,
even though oral traditions still loom large, and very many things have not been
documented, if at all it is possible to document everything, exhaustively, and some of the
ideas are incorrectly documented.
With particular reference to art works which involve physical skills, such as
farming, dress-making, blacksmithing, drumming, dancing, and carving, “oral traditions”
have less role to play as such, but apprenticeship. Ṣofọla makes reference to the world-
renowned “artworks of intricate nature as the Ifè ̣ and Benin bronzes and terra-cottas”,
found also in “the Nok civilization of the North.” 47 Make no mistake about it, although
there is mechanized farming facility today (2018), for instance, it is unavailable or
unaffordable to many Africans who still use the methods inherited from our
ancestors/ancestresses, and no one knows how long that would last.
Obviously, many Africans continue to benefit from many artistic heritages in
various forms that are relevant to contemporary African life – music, songs, drumming,
poetry, etc. Some elderly drama experts, such as the late Hubert Ogunde, are wont to say
that they learnt drama from plays by masquerades during Masquerade festivals and those
using masquerades for professional singing and dancing, such as eégún alárìnjó and
eégún aláré in Yorubaland. Some of those who have the traditional skills and are
displaying/marketing them are still around. One needs to know the extensive roles
divination and magical arts continue to play in giving people consolation and hope, even
though no condition is perfect. African traditional hunters still use magical arts to tame
wild animals and arrest armed robbers, for instance. People do say to such experts, “I
hope you hand it-on to your children?” That is because those skills and knowledge are
still valued, and people would not want them to die with the experts.
Using the Bible alone as the “lamp for our steps” is one way by which people
forget that African ancestors/ancestresses also left a wealth of experiences in their
sayings that could play that role, sometimes much better. I would not be surprised to see
some people denying, without even knowing what they are talking about, the observation
that Africa's epistemological corpus is second to none. Yet, as Akpan and Umoren note,
“The African Discourse is spiced, decorated and enhanced by proverbs, riddles, adages,
and proverb-riddles.”48 I would include maxims, pithy sayings, folktales, songs, and
anecdotes in that list. How many of such do many Africans know today? What Akpan
and Umoren are saying in their article is that Africans should make hay while the sun
shines, to learn and document as much as possible, to salvage the highly priced oral
heritages that are eclipsing, simply because English or French is our lingua franca in
Africa. I am calling for appreciation and appropriation of African heritage as a whole;
including the artistic heritages.
7.7. Traditional African Scientific Heritage
The impression seems rife that scientific knowledge is limited to the developed
Western and Asian countries, since those are the places whence technological devices
come to many parts of Africa in contemporary times. The basic question here is whether
African ancestors/ancestresses left any scientific and technological devices and technical
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know-how as heritages. Too many Africans would a priori answer in the negative.
Ehusani writes, for instance, that:
I looked back with nostalgia at the traditional African humanistic

world view which is encapsulated in the Ebira name 'Ozovehe',
meaning 'the human person is life'. This world view which is
expressed in the traditional African's love for children, for the
family, for harmony or wholesome personal relations, for
community and for hospitality, gave meaning and purpose to
traditional life, and characterized the African as 'humanistic'. But
alas, I could see that in their bid to 'catch up' with the West, today's
Africans are poised to abandon whatever remains of this humanism
in favor of the accumulation of goods and techniques.49
That humanistic sentiment is shared by several African scholars, including theologians

and philosophers. Sofola, a philosopher, notes, for instance, in a language similar to
Ehusani's that, “It is in their African philosophies of wholesome human relations and
world-view, and such-like moralizing and essentially humanistic cultural characteristic
which are ideational rather than technological that they would fulfill the hopes of
mankind which is now helplessly groping for peace, togetherness and tolerance in God's
glory on this our planet.”50 I would think that driving a wedge between being humane and
technology does not help, because human beings need both wholesome human
relationship and technology which provides amenities for comfortable life on earth. Other
than that, my experiences in Europe and America led me to the conclusion that Africa has
no monopoly of being humane. I was privileged to interact with European families in
Europe and America, and I was amazed the way some still maintain the extended family
system, even today in the twenty-first century!
Africa suffered from arrested progress, scientifically, technologically, and
otherwise when the Arabs and the Europeans invaded her lands and used all manners of
pre-meditated tricks and stratagems to confuse, divide, and rule the inhabitants. Beyond
that, it should be noted that today's level of technological advancement never existed
anywhere in the world but as a gradual development based on continual research. For
instance, telephone handset that is now affordable to common people started to emerge
only as from the late 1990s; whereas Africa was invaded as from the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, and the influence of the colonizers is still overwhelming because
they continue to have African accomplices through the politico-economic and religious
institutions that they established in Africa. Only as from the second half of the twentieth
century African countries started to gain “independence” one after the other, starting with
Ghana in 1957. Within the invading period, African ethnic groups were played against
one another to engage in war and capture slaves to be sold to the Arabs and Europeans
who set the ball rolling. As scholars, such as Ogundele, note, African leaders who
resisted the foreign imperialism were overpowered by the European high-tech
weaponry.51There is no doubt that the African leaders were caught unawares by
formidable European forces, using both pre-planned methods of deception and armed
struggle wherever they met resistance. That was how the Maji Maji uprising of Tanzania
collapsed, and the Kenyan Mau Mau revolution was aborted.
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When Western humanitarians succeeded in stopping the inhuman Slave Trade,
Western authorities introduced colonial rule all over Africa, except Ethiopia. All of
Africa came under Christian and Islamic indoctrinations, which perpetrated and are still
perpetrating the division and disunity of Africans at all levels, including the family level.
In the words of Ablade:
Slave trade exerted a staggering psychological impact; the ever-

present fear of slave traders' raids, uncertainty of the future and loss
of relatives all these depressed the people and deprived them of all
creative stimuli. Africa became very truly a Dark Continent, but its
darkness was one the invaders brought with them, the somber
shadow of the white man.52
Since then till now, Africa has remained in “the somber shadow” of the Whiteman
(European and Arab), spiritually in terms of Christianity and Islam that they planted, and
economically as they contrived the plan to perpetuate exploitation of Africa through some
Africans. It is still a large loss of African personality and pride. African warriors became
African heroes, due to internecine wars encouraged by the invaders, etc. But, what
happened before that loss of self-esteem? Prior to the Arab-European invasions, there
was no major religious crisis, and there was family harmony comparable to anywhere
else in the world. The advent of the colonizers, together with Islam and Christianity
changed that equation. The Christo-Islamic clerics and leaders who are now feeding fat
from the status quo keep saying things would have been worse in Africa without Islam
and Christianity. What would one expect them to say, since although Africa is riddled
with mass abject poverty, they themselves are affluent.
History testifies to the fact that scientifically and technologically speaking, Africa
was experiencing gradual development in various spheres of life before the intrusion and
interruption by the Arabs and the Europeans. Scholars, such as Ogundele, have noted
how the Nok valley area of Nigeria had left the stages of hunting and food gathering
economy, and arrived at iron working and implements-making since about the 5th
century B.C., and progress was being made in several parts of Africa. 53 But, all of a
sudden: “Africans were taught to hate their cultures with regard to such traits as modes of
dressing, eating patterns, language, music, farming practices, religious beliefs, health care
systems, building, architectural practices and socio-political organization.” 54 Any
gainsaying that Africa has lost her identity, and is living mostly a borrowed life, religion-
wise, spiritually, economically, socio-politically, scientific-technologically, and
otherwise, since then till now?
Human beings can, of course, always share knowledge and experiences, but it is
absurd for Africans to be so brainwashed as to shed their identity almost totally as things
stand now. The greater part of the young generation knows next to nothing about the
African heritages. For most of them, there is no knowledge in Africa but in the foreign
scriptures alone. Amewowo cries out: “There is an urgent need for us to go back and
retrieve our cultural heritage and correct our attitude to the environment.” 55 Yes, because
traditional Africans had their own ways of managing and subduing the environment, the
atmosphere, and the stars, scientifically and technologically before the invasions by
foreign religio-political interests.
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7.7. 1. African Magic as Science
There is a prevalent notion emanating from the Old Testament/Christian circles

that magic or mystical charm is a demonic power. But traditional Africans believe that it
is a divine endowment to human beings. There is no doubt that magic is a universal
phenomenon. Indeed there are scholars who believe that science developed from magic in
human experience, and Africa is well imbued with magical epistemology that might have
over time, like elsewhere, advanced into science and technology, if the disruption by
foreign forces had not occurred. Onibonoje notes, with particular reference to the Yoruba,
but certainly true of other African peoples, that:
In Yoruba indigenous science, it is a common belief that every

aspect of nature and creature has its primordial and authentic name
which constitutes its very essence. Every time a Yoruba man is in
confrontation with nature or creature, he overpowers and conquers it
by pronouncing its primordial and authentic name. Even the most
poisonous serpents, the dangers and fears of dark and dangerous
night are confronted and tamed in this manner, at least in the
consciousness of the Yoruba man.56
One can corroborate that point, based on participant observation, that some traditional
Africans used magic to do such things as communication with people at a long distance,
recover missing persons, and reduce distances of long journeys, even though it can also
be used to attain evil ends. Based on Christian opposition, Africa has lost much of her
magical heritage. While many Christians demonize occult magic, traditional Africans
compare good magic to dove, and evil magic to snake and scorpion that are also made by
God. Much more importantly, Africans do not think that magic is independent of God,
but God's gift to humanity, just like He provides for food and medicine that are also
extracted from nature. Beyond that, however, the Yoruba would say inú mímọ́ jé ̣ j'òògùn
lọ (purity of heart works better than magic – purity is of course a divine attribute, which
further confirms that traditional Africans do not juxtapose or oppose God to magic).
7.7.2. The Scientific Nature of African Traditional Medicine
Expediency would seem to have helped to preserve much of African traditional

medicine, because in spite of the fact of its denigration by many Christian and Western-
trained doctors, the medicine is still very much around, in fake and genuine forms as with
most things in human life. Its efficacy in respect of certain diseases, such as rheumatism,
pile, malaria, and many tropical diseases is not in doubt. Who in his or her right minds
would doubt or deny that discovering the medicinal properties of herbs, roots, barks, and
other materials is not of scientific knowledge and insight? It is wrongly assumed in some
academic quarters that medicine and magic are part and parcel of ATR, but inquiry has
proven otherwise. Magic and medicine are, like ATR, part and parcel of African
traditional culture, but the two categories are in different departments of African life, like
elsewhere in the world. Thus in traditional Africa, there are professional medical doctors
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and magicians who may not have anything to do with religion other than knowing the
remedies and the necessary non-religious rituals.
Denigrators of everything African, and some Western-trained medical doctors and
pharmacists who want to promote their own trade and profession, malign African
traditional medicine as demonic, as lacking dosage, and produced in unhygienic
environment. It is all basically untrue. Makinde wonders why such people want to
annihilate “the traditional medicine by which many of them were safely delivered,
nurtured, and successfully treated until they grew up.” He quotes a Westerner, Benjamin
Walker, as stating that:
Although most orthodox physicians have tended to scorn the

methods used by primitive healers as so much superstition, there is
today a growing appreciation of the genuine value of some of these
methods. Centuries of experience have gone into the evolution of
formative healing, and their cures, both psychological and
medicinal, have often been very remarkable.57
Walker’s point buttresses the claim that if Africa’s evolution was not arrested, she would
not have become as backward as she currently is, and as I noted earlier, it must have been
expediency that saved African medicine. Today, African medicine is reckoned-with
internationally, because it works magically in some cases, to the extent that even the
World Health Organisation (WHO) is said to be working for its rehabilitation.
Experienced and trained traditional African physicians and medical experts alike know
the dosage, and they mostly don't live on dung-heaps, as to be saying their medicines are
prepared in unhygienic environment. Participant observation revealed to me that a good
traditional doctor knows the import of each ingredient in the medicine he or she prepares.
Of course, there are no absolute systems that cannot improve in the world.
7.7.3. Science and Technology in Traditional Africa
Much of African traditional wisdom and experience is lost to us because of lack

of written records, but above all the fact that for a long time we are practically taught and
even monitored to shun the traditional life by foreign religious agents. Right from the
early nineteenth century, following the end of the Slave Trade, Christian missionaries and
their agents have been using both the schools and their pulpits to recreate Africans.
Muslim missionaries also use Qur'anic schools and their homilies to attain the same end.
It was a situation in which Africa was turned into a pun in the Christo-Islamic chesses,
confronted with a double-barreled gun of indoctrination. Some scholars recapitulate on
the scientific nature of traditional Africans. In Amewowo's words, for instance:
In the olden days, our culture and religion (African Traditional

Religion) protected water sources, rivers, lakes and their banks. The
entire hydrosphere was sacred. Now in the name of civilization and
in the name of Christ who died for the salvation of the whole
creation (cf. Rom 8: 19-23), the measures protecting the
hydrosphere have been rejected as taboos. We have lost our cultural
90
heritage and tradition which respects the environment. We have lost
or rejected with impunity, falsely in the name of Christianity, our
scientific culture, science and technology that sustains and protects
the creation.58
That seems to say it all. Yet, today's Africans should not just lament and feel helpless, but
try to salvage whatever can be salvaged, and re-educate their children about the reality of
African historical past that remains relevant to the present, and stop making our lives
miserable, environmentally, ecologically, and otherwise. Today's Africans should, in a
sense, try to remember whose children they are, and use their intellectual and physical
resources to restore African personality. African scientific-technological heritage is in
those things, including the so-called taboos and superstitions that used to make living in
Africa possible and a delight.
7.8. Africa’s Morality Heritage
Two terms are often used synonymously: morality and ethics. Gyekye notes that
“The term 'ethics' is technically used by philosophers to mean a philosophical study of
morality”, that is “morality understood as a set of social rules, principles, norms that
guide or are intended to guide the conduct of people in a society, and as beliefs about
right and wrong conduct as well as good or bad character”, and that “Even though
morality is the subject matter of ethics, it is most often used interchangeably with
'ethics'.”59 That seems to say it well; hence, for instance, one can read of Christian Moral
Theology or Christian Ethics, synonymously. Morality is usually said to include ethical
rules, customs and taboos. Etymologically speaking, Agulanna notes that the word
“moral” derives from the Latin word “mores”, meaning that which concerns character,
behaviour, or actions, considered or judged as being good or evil, right or wrong, etc. 60
Of course every people have the word “moral” or “morality” expressed in their own
vernacular. With specific reference to traditional Africa, Pobee quotes Kwame Nkrumah
as speaking with pride about traditional Africa's “highly developed code of morals”. 61
One cannot but share in that pride, even though no people are perfect.
With specific reference to Africa, there is an area of contention among scholars,
on whether traditional African morality is humanity-based or religion-based. Gyekye
avers that probably because it has been noted that “Africans are a very even a notoriously
religious people, that religion so deeply permeates all spheres of their lives that it cannot
be distinguished from nonreligious aspects of life, that in the African traditional life there
are no atheists, and that the African cultural heritage is intensely and pervasively
religious”, African morality is, therefore, said to derive from ATR. One can quickly react
that nobody, in my perception, has carried out an inquiry to find out whether atheists
existed among traditional Africans or not. I would think there might have been some
atheists for the same or similar reasons (whatever those reasons are) for which some
people are atheists or profess to be atheists in contemporary times, if indeed there is
nothing new under heavens. Gyekye quotes those who make the claim that traditional
African morality is religion-based to include “Opoku (1978: 152), Danquah (1944: 3),
Sarpong (1972: 41), Busia (1967: 16), Parrinder (1969: 289), Idowu (1962: 146).”
Moreover, he notes the other side of the coin, in these words:
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However, there are other scholars, such as Godfrey Wilson, Monica
Wilson, Maquet, Wiredu, who deny the religious basis of the moral
systems of the societies they studied. Kwasi Wiredu observed that
'the Akan moral outlook is thus logically independent of religion'
(Kwasi Wiredu in H. Odera Oruka and D. A. Masolo, 1983: 13).
Godfrey Wilson wrote that 'Among the Nyakyusa the ideas of social
behaviour are not connected with religion, nonetheless they exist'
and, after mentioning the moral virtues of the Nyakyusa, he added
that 'But the positive, ideal statement of these virtues is not made in
religious terms' (Godfrey Wilson in Ottenberg and Ottenberg eds.,
1960: 348). On the morality of the Rwanda, Maquet wrote that 'Thus
the ethics of the Banyarwanda are not integrated on a religious basis
such as the will of God' (J. J. Maquet in Forde, 1954:184). In Mende
ethics, 'Wrong behavior is regarded as a breaking of some specific
rule of conduct, not as the flouting of some divine or absolute law of
the universe' (Kenneth Little, in Forde, 1954:134). These are
unambiguous statements of the nonreligious foundation of the
morality of at least some African societies.62
Before commenting on the quotation, it seems apposite to note that Gyekye himself
opposes the view that African traditional ethics is religion-based. His argument is that
morality refers to social principles and norms that guide the conduct of people in a
society, and that “unlike Islam or Christianity, the traditional, that is, indigenous, African
religion is not a revealed religion whereby divine truth is revealed to a single individual
who becomes the founder.” He emphasizes that “Humanism the doctrine that takes
human welfare, interests, and needs as fundamental constitutes the foundation of African
ethics.” But, who says that ATR is not a revealed religion; are there peoples to whom the
Creator does not reveal His will, both directly and indirectly through certain persons,
events and incidences? Gyekye has, however, been very articulate, and he is not alone in
his school of thought. Apart from the authorities that he has cited (above), confer also
Ṣofọla, 1978, p. xiii, and Ehusani, 1992, p. 19, among the scholars already cited in this
work, emphasizing African humanism. Yet, one thing seems to cut across those who deny
that morality is religion-based; they are hardly able to separate morality from religion
totally. Gyekye himself notes, for instance:
With all this said, however, it cannot be denied that religion plays
some role in the moral lives of people, such as African people, who
are said to be 'incurably religious'. Because God is held by the
African people not only to be the overlord of the human society but
also to have a superbly moral character, and because the ancestors
(ancestral spirits) are also supposed to be interested in the welfare of
the society they left behind, including the moral life of the
individual, religion constitutes part of the sanctions that are in play
in matters of moral practice. Thus, religion cannot be totally
banished from the domain of moral practice, notwithstanding the
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fact that the moral values and principles of the African society do
not derive from religion.63
One may not be far from being right to say that the tendency to deny the religious origin
of morality is a Western influence, and the experience of evil deeds that are associated
with many religious persons. A Westerner, Sinnott-Armstrong, trying to explain that
morality is independent of religion writes: “Our government needs a separation between
church and state but not a separation between morality and state.” Secondly, according to
Sinnott-Armstrong, “We all know people who do not believe in any God or religion, and
it will be very hard to get along with them if we assume that they do not believe in
morality.”64 Those are his concerns, so to say, and he concludes that, unless the
distinction between morality and religion is understood, “our theories will be confused,
and our lives will be contentious.” But, has Sinnott-Armstrong said anything that
conclusively establishes that God is not the Designer or Architect and Founder of human
morality? Even the moral atheist that he refers-to has not created himself or herself, and
has limited control over his/her destiny, as far as human limitation goes. I nevertheless
see problem in equating God with religion, and the assumption that religious persons are
(always) Godly persons; atheists are (always) un-Godly persons, etc. Does God
discriminate between religious and irreligious persons? Is it impossible for an atheist to
be Godly and moral, and a religious person to be un-Godly and immoral? In the first part
of this book, in chapter four, under the subheading of “The Church’s Vocation to
Holiness of Life”, some scholars are quoted as saying that the holy God wants His people
to be holy. I would agree and conclude that the Creator, rather than religion per se is the
source of human morality, and that is why African divinities, ancestors and ancestresses
are morally-concerned.
7.8.1. The Vessels of African Morality
African moral heritage no doubt derives from the wisdom of the African
ancestors/ancestresses, as endowed them by God, and it is about social harmony and
equilibrium. The morality can be said to be rooted in ATR, in which fear of God, the
Divinities, and the Ancestors feature, but ultimately, God, the Author of human
conscience, and not religion per se is the source of human morality. Some scholars with
Christian background still write pejoratively that traditional Africans have only “gods”
and not God. I give the example of Etuk who writes that when things go wrong with a
traditional African, “he thanks his god and the ancestors; and if things go wrong, the
medicine-men are readily at hand for him to turn-to.” 65 Etuk’s submission is basically
understood, saying that the traditional African is very pragmatic-existential, but he did
not formulate his idea carefully. He uses non-inclusive language, and portrays the
traditional African as having only “god” and “medicine-men.” I know, as a matter of fact
that when a traditional African is perplexed, the first port of call is spontaneous or
impulsive recourse to God before thinking of measures. The idea of taking measures is
based on the conviction that heaven helps those who help themselves, and life is nothing
ventured nothing gained; unless a person sows, he or she may not reap. An African prays
to God, and seeks solution through consultation with experts, including diviners,
traditional medical doctors, and magical experts.
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There seems to be no doubt that traditional African life and morality inclusive is
Theo-centric. As Ogundare Foyanmu, a Yoruba traditional poet-singer, notes in one of
his records, Àyè àpíìlì ò sí fé ̣ni t'Olódùmarè bá dá lé ̣jọ́ (There is no room for appealing
God's judgment by anybody - but to accept whatever happens as a form of fate, destiny,
or predestination which cannot be altered – emphasis mine). The Yoruba also say Orí
lẹlé ̣jọ́ (God is the judge). And in the face of irrepressible injustice, they would say
Olọ́run á dá a (God will judge). Traditional Africans, as I came to know them through
participant observation, do swear to God, a divinity, or the ancestors/ancestresses, to
claim or establish truthfulness. But when they really mean to establish or attain certainty
on a very serious issue, they apply formal ritual-swearing in the name of one divinity or
another; or in the name of the ancestors/ancestresses, which they attribute to divine
Providence. Swearing and oath-taking have the potentiality to accentuate African
morality, towards inculcating honesty and propriety. Jesus personalizes Himself as the
Truth, which is the way to genuine life in God. Even though He is quoted as opposing
swearing, it is done internationally to establish truthfulness.
African morality is enshrined in proverbs, songs, fables, and historical narratives.
God, the divinities, and the ancestors/ancestresses are conceived as moral Beings that
demand morality and punish people for wicked acts. Note that traditional Africans do not
put any gulf between God and His Agents, as the detractors of ATR claim. From moral
point of view, Mumuni and Asare-Danso note that:
Prior to the introduction of Western education, Western religions

and modernization, Ghanaian indigenous moral values were
inculcated among children and young people using indigenous
stories. For example, within the traditional society nearly all aspects
of education for children were directed towards character training.
Ghanaian parents prefer their children to be upright, honest, humble,
considerate, persevering, truthful and well-behaved at all times. For
this reason, they will spare no effort to inculcate these values in
children.66
That spells what one may call the basic content of African morality, which correspond to
humane yearning, internationally speaking. However, one would not swallow it hook-
line-and sinker, when Mumuni and Asare-Danso write that “children were not allowed to
join in the conversation of elders, and they were taught to consent to parental or adult
decisions without questioning the rationality of such decisions (McWilliams &
Kwamena-Poh, 1975; Pecku, 1998).”67 Mumuni and Asare-Danso quote the authorities
approvingly, without critiquing them, meaning they agree totally with the point, whereas,
while obedience to parents is in principle regarded as a virtue, blind obedience is
considered to be stupidity, and no wise parent would put himself or herself in the position
of the Omniscient. The Yoruba would ask, Ṣé ti wọ́n bá sọ pé ko tọwọ́ bọ’ná wà á tọ wọ́
bọ̀ ọ́? (If you are asked to put your hand inside fire, will you do that?), just to emphasise
that traditional Africans do not expect children or anybody to succumb to blind
obedience. A Yoruba traditional philosopher-singer, Alabi Ogundepo, sang to the effect
that Bọ́mọ bá pé ogún ọdún láyé tí ò bá gbọ́n, inú baba rè ̣ ò níí dùn (If a child is not wise
at the age of twenty, his father will not be happy). The implication is that,
94
notwithstanding the fact that children are not, generally speaking, allowed to join in the
conversation or discussion among elders, their opinions are sometimes sought. Hence, the
Yoruba also say Ọmọdé gbọ́n, àgbà gbọ́n, lafi dálè ̣ Ifè ̣ (Ifè ̣ land was created through the
wisdom of both the young and the old). Mumuni and Asare-Danso are however apt that
“Telling stories and legends to children contributed to character formation of children, as
these stories expose them to good moral behavior.” 68 Today, many of the stories told to
children from foreign scriptures do not always have the same effect, because they are not
always as pungent and direct.
Some African names also convey moral imperatives. For instance in Yoruba,
Ọ̀ tépọlá (Conspiracy kills affluence/advancement) is the name of a former King of
Inisha, Osun state, Nigeria; Ìjàòdọlà (Fighting does not import affluence) is a personal
name in Offa, Kwara state, likewise Márìndọ̀tí (walk clean; or avoid walking in
impurity); Ìwàloyè (chieftaincy is about good character), and sùúrù lérè (patience can be
rewarding). All of that indicates how traditional Africans are morally conscious, even
though human beings are conceived in sin and subject to a sinful state of life; yet called
to aspire toward perfection. Being perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect is impossible
for human beings in their earthly state, since God is the only infallible being.
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7.9. African Political Heritage
The general impression in some quarters seems to be that Africa had no sound
political system before colonialism. Yet, Africa's political systems were similar to what
obtained in the world of those days, but the world keeps evolving. Pobee quotes Kwame
Nkrumah as eulogizing Africa's “socialist conception of society, the efficiency and
validity of our traditional statecraft”.69As elsewhere in the past there were empires and
hegemonies in Africa with checks and balances before colonialism. Yorubaland, for
instance, was ruled by kings. Although the King was called Kabiyesi (“Who dares ask
him”, which implies absolute power), the Council of Chiefs of various ranks in the
hierarchy could query, dethrone, or get him killed. The Council of Chiefs could force him
to commit suicide, as in Ọ̀yó ̣ Empire where the Council of King Makers, called Ọ̀ yọ́
Mèsì, could throne the Emperor (Aláàfin). The King was usually not as powerful as
Nigeria's President of today who could bribe the Legislature and the Judiciary with
money so as to be as powerful as he wants. But it is basically true that human beings are
hardly predictable, and there is no perfect system anywhere, yesterday and today. More
often than not some human beings become power hungry and by trick or by force they
upturn the system. That was the story of Bashò ̣run Gáà in the history of the defunct Ọ̀yó ̣
Empire. Yet, just like Gáà, evil people suffer the consequences of their evil actions. The
Yoruba say Ìkà á poníkà, ire á béni rere (Wickedness will kill the wicked, goodness will
follow a good person); what a person sows, that he or she reaps. Unfortunately, as the
Yoruba also note, Kílè ̣ tó pa òṣìkà ohun rere á ti bàjé ̣ (Before the earth kills an evil
perpetrator, havoc must have been wreaked). Abiola notes, for instance, how Bashorun
Gáà got to power through treachery, “mounted up and became more powerful than the
Alafin {Labisi}who appointed him”, and that “Hardly was his appointment as the
Bashorun confirmed when he murdered two of the king's closest friends.” Consequently,
“The Alafin was so downcast by this incident that he committed suicide.” But, how did
Gaha's life end? Abiola writes:
Immediately after his ascension, Alafin Abiodun decided to kill

Gaha. But he wanted to do this gradually at first. But at last, he
made up his mind to do this by plotting secretly with the head of
Akala and the then Kakanfo, Oyabi. Abiodun and his co-plotter
succeeded in arousing the people's anger against Gaha.
Consequently, Gaha, who had now become terribly weak and
unpopular as a result of his paralysis, had his 'palace' surrounded by
thousands of angry people who eventually succeeded in pulling it
down on all the members of his household. Gaha himself was
dragged out and burnt publicly.70
Note how Gáà is said to have used treachery to attain power; he abused the power and
died miserably through conspiracy and incitement. The Yoruba say, therefore, Bóo láyà o
ṣèkà, bóo rántí ikúu Gáà ko sòótọ́ (If you are courageous and capable, be wicked; if you
remember how Gáà died, be fair in your dealings). What Ehusani quotes Ngugi Wa
Thiong'o as saying about Africa's heritage of unity and struggle 71is also demonstrated as
the people united against Gáà. Politically, African societies and communities were
96
usually well-ordered and thriving, basically, until the invasions by Arabs and Europeans.
A Yoruba traditional singer from Ado-Awaye via Iseyin, Ọ̀yó ̣ state, who I know simply
as Moté ̣wó ̣ọlá sang to the effect that:
Ọba tó jẹ tí’gboro n dá a, kò dájú pé a ó le ṣègbàgbé ẹ láyé láyé (A

King whose reign is characterized by societal advancement; it is
doubtful we shall ever forget you, forever - referring to the late
Adebowale, the Asé ̣yìn of Ìsé ̣yìn).
That is acknowledging the fact that a king is in the position to use his offices kindly or
wickedly, irrespective of checks and balances that can be circumvented, and knowing, as
stated above that Kílè ̣ tó pa òṣìkà ohun rere á ti bàjé ̣ (Before the earth kills an evil
perpetrator, havoc must have been wreaked).What is desired is that a king rules well, and
not how to punish him or get rid of him, which may not be too easy. Hence traditional
Africans sing in praise of Kings who rule well and castigate and or kill bad rulers. The
question is, to what extent do people of today respect checks and balance; do they even
want to have societal order or they prefer to thrive in confusion, using divide and rule
tactics? The rotational presidency that was adopted gentlemanly (i.e. without legal-
backing) in Nigeria in 1999, towards peace and stability, was truncated in 2011 by Dr.
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, using his power of incumbency, as the Acting President after
the demise of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, which aggravated the Boko Haram
terrorism.
Kingship is usually rotated among a small number of (usually three or four)
houses (called ruling houses), in Yoruba towns and villages, and it is still respected to a
large extent, even though the influence of money is not always helping propriety
regarding the monarchical institution. It seems imperative for Nigeria to revert to
rotational presidency, to rotate north-south, zone by zone, for order and justice, to
minimize social crisis arising from a feeling of social disequilibrium.
ATR is also largely not politicized, if only because it has minimal financial and
material benefits. Barrett quotes “Laitin (1986:x)” as stressing “the remarkable religious
tolerance among the Yoruba, especially with regard to political matters”, arguing that “A
Yoruba's religious affiliation has minimal political significance”, and that, that is “a
conclusion supported by Peel’s study, Ijeshas and Nigerians (1983).”72 Indeed for the
Yoruba, and Africans generally speaking, Ọkàn ẹni laafa ẹni (a person’s mind/conscience
- is his or her spiritual director). That was the principle that guided and protected
religious freedom in relation to social peace. Therefore, the idea of state secularity is in
tandem with traditional African beliefs and practices, and a lesson for the Christians and
Muslims who oppose it, thereby endangering security of life and property in a religiously
pluralistic Nigeria.
7.10. African Agricultural Heritage
Mechanized farming is much better than cutlass and hoe used by African
forebears, but the good thing is that they manufactured those implements by themselves,
and could have built on it if, as earlier noted, their progress was not arrested, and Africa
reduced to a country of importers, since then till now. Having said that, many African
97
farmers who can afford mechanized farming, such as in the use of tractors and harvesters,
still use the agricultural experience gained from African forebears to plant and nurture the
crops. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of African farmers still live on traditional
farming methods and implements. It is regrettable that some highly nutritious crops,
including some types of beans and vegetables are disappearing or have disappeared in
many places. For instance in Yorubaland, such vegetables as ọ̀sùn, láfàkálè ̣, òdú, gbàgbá
etc. are rarely found anymore. Ditto beans, such as gbọ́mọdégungi, pòpòndó, and òtíílí
have become rare to come by.
That is how Africa continues to impoverish herself, allowing her heritages to get
lost in many respects. Before colonialism, Africa made her own clothes from cotton
produced by her farmers. To what extent is that still true; are Africans promoting and
building on their agricultural heritages? Ogundele writes that the early peoples of Africa
changed “from a hunting and gathering mode of subsistence to food production
(agriculture)”, and “from this level to metallurgy”, quoting “Sinclair et al. 1993” 73 Why
then, should post-colonial Africans accept a state of arrested growth, rather than
developing their creative talents and ingenuity to advance their agricultural and other
heritages? I guess the answer lies in corruption and self-aggrandizement that result in the
lack of incentives for actualization of talents and initiatives.
Notes for Chapter Seven

1
“South African Heritage Day”, http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/definingculture-
heritage-and-identity, Accessed April 16, 2014.
2
Sofola J.A., African Culture and the African Perssonality (what makes an African
person African). Ibadan: African Resources Publishers Co., 1978, p. ix.
3
Idowu, E. B., Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief. Ikeja: Longman Nigeria plc., 1996, pp.
17-107.
4
Etuk,Udo, Religion and Cultural Identity. Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2002, p37.
5
Van der Peet, G., 20 Essays on Inculturation. Iperu-Remo: The Ambassador
Publications, p. 19.
6
Fuller, Lois, A Missionary Handbook on African Traditional Religion. Bukuru: African
Christian Textbooks, 2001, p.42.
7
Bidmos, M.A., Inter-Religious Dialogue: The Nigerian Experience. Abuja: Panaf
Publishing, Inc., 2006, p.6.
8
Ibid.
9
Idowu, E. Bolaji, Olódùmaré: God in Yoruba Belief. Ikeja: Longman Nigeria Plc., 1996,
pp. 17-107.
10
Amanze, James, p.303.
11
Ibid, p. 281
12
Ilupeju, Kayode, “Chapter Two: African Traditional Religion”, in Emiola Nihinloòla
and Mojisola Olaniyan (eds.), Discovering the Other Side:Challenges of Other Religions.
Ibadan: Flourish Books Ltd., 2004, pp.33-34; pp27-34.
13
Balogun, I.A.B., “Religious Tolerance is A Prerequisite for Peace, Unity and Progress
in Nigeria”, in I.A.B. Balogun (ed.), Religious Understanding and Co-Operation in
Nigeria (Proceedings of a Seminar Organized by the Department of Religions, University
98
of Ilorin, Nigeria, 7th-11th August, 1978). Department of Religions, University of Ilorin,
2012, p.8; pp.1-9.
14
Fuller, Lois, p. 159.
15
Ibid.
16
Hillman, Eugene, Inculturation: Toward An African Christianity. New York: Paulist
Press, 1993, p.8.
17
Sófolá, J.A., p. xiv.
18
Idowu, 1996, p. 113.
19
Hillman, Eugene, p.63
20
Awuah-Nyamekye, Samuel, “Divination as a Means of Discovering the Unknown in the
Traditional Berekum Society”, in Orita: Ibadan Journal ofReligious Studies, XLIII/2,
December, 2011, p. 201; pp.201-218.
21
Hillman, Eugene, p.64.
22
Awe, Bolanle, “Introduction”, in Bolanle Awe (ed.), Nigerian Women: A Historical
Perspective. Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd., 2001, pp. x-xi.
23
Awolalu, J. Omosade and Dopamu, P. Adelumo, West African Traditional Religion.
Ibadan: Macmillan Nigeria publishers Ltd., 2005, p. 292.
24
Mbiti, John S., African Religions and Philosophy. Oxford: Heinemann Educational
Publishers, 1997, p. xiii.
25
Gemmeke, Amber B., Marabout Women in Dakar: Creating Trust in a Rural Urban
Space. Leiden: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, 2008, p. 7.
26
Idowu, 1996, p. 5.
27
Kayode, J. O., Understanding African Traditional Religion. Ile-Ife: University of Ife
Press, 1984, p. 2.
28
Dopamu, P. A., “Towards Understanding African Traditional Religion”, in I. A. B.
Balogun (ed.), Religious Understanding and Co-Operation inNigeria: Proceedings of a
Seminar Organized by Department of Religions,University of Ilorin, Nigeria, 7th-11th
August, 1978, reprinted 2012, p. 46; pp. 39-58.
29
The Bible Reader's Encyclopaedia and Concordance, Based on The Bible Reader's
Manual by Rev. C.H. Wright under One Alphabetical Arrangement. London: Collins'
Clear-Type Press, 1977.
30
Adeola, Kehinde Adedayo and Ayuba, Yusuf Larry Sanda, “Mystical Powers of
Witchcraft Among the Gbagyis”, in Ilorin Journal of Religious Studies (IJOURELS),
Vol. 1, No.1,June 2011, pp.79-80; pp. 77-92.
31
Ablade, N.A.K., “Racism the Ideological Weapon of Imperialism”, in G.O. Onibonoje,
Kole Omotoso, and O.A. Lawal (eds.), The Indigenousfor National Development. Ibadan:
Onibonoje Press and Book Industries (Nig.) Ltd., p. 28.
32
Eyiyere, David O, One-Man One-Wife Doctrine: From God or From Man? Benin City:
DoeSun Publishers, 1994, p.48.
33
Ehusani, George Omaku, An Afro-Christian Vision, “Ozovehe” Toward A More
Humanized World. Iperu-Remo: The Ambassador Publications, 1992,pp.21-22.
34
Onyibor, Marcel I.S., “Crisis of African Personhood and Politics of Statehood in Africa:
An Enquiry into the Roots of African Political Crisis”, in Drumspeak:International
Journal of Research in the Humanities, New Series Vol. 4 2011. A Journal of the Faculty
of Arts, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, p. 227; pp.215-232.
35
Ibid.
99
36
Pobee, John S., Kwame Nkrumah and The Church in Ghana: 1949-1966. Accra:
Asempa Publishers Christian Council of Ghana, 1988, sp. 31.
37
Ogundele, S. Oluwole, “Quest for Our Ancestors: Some Reflections on Ancient African
Heritages and Contemporary Politics”, in Dapo Adelugba, Dan Izevbaye, and J. Egbe Ifie
(eds.), Wole Soyinka at 70 Festschrift. LACE Occasional Publications &Dat & Partners
Logistics Ltd., Nigeria (no town indicated), 2006, p. 722.
38
Ibid, p. 732
39
Encarta Dictionaries (internet), 2009.
40
Okoro, Chiedozie, “Philosophy and the Recultivation of African Culture”, in
Drumspeak: International Journal of Research in the Humanities, New SeriesVol. 4
2011. A Journal of the Faculty of Arts, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, p. 248; pp. 233-
251.
41
Ukpong, Justin S., African Theologies Now: A Profile, as SPEARHEAD No.80. Eldoret:
Garba Publications, AMECEA Pastoral Institute, February, 1984,p. 31.
42
Mbiti, John S., 1997, p. x.
43
Healey, Joseph and Sybertz, Donald, Towards An African Narrative Theology. Nairobi:
Paulines Publication Africa, 1996, p. 13
44
Oduyoye, Mercy Amba, "Doing Theology in Nigeria: An Agenda", in Oduyoye, Mercy
(ed). Christian Theology in Nigeria 1980-81. Ibadan: Day Star, 1986, Pp. 61-62.
45
Akpan, Inimbom James and Umoren, Anthonia Inyang, “On the Documentation of
Ibibiod Proverbs, Riddles, and Proverb-Riddles”, in Drumspeak: International Journal of
Research in the Humanities, New Series Vol. 4 2011. A Journal of the Faculty of Arts,
University of Cape Coast, Ghana, pp. 180-201.
46
Idowu, E. B., 1996, p.5.
47
Sofola, J.A., 1978, p. x.
48
Akpan, Inimbom James and Umoren, Anthonia Inyang, p. 180.
49
Ehusani, George Omaku, p. 2.
50
Ṣofọla, J.A., p. xiii.
51
Ogundele, S. Oluwole, p. 711.
52
Ablade, N. A. K., “Great Glories and Great Memories”, in G.O. Onibonoje, Kole
Ọmọtọṣọ, and O.A. Lawal (eds.), The Indigenous for NationalDevelopment. Ibadan:
Onibonoje Press and Book Industries (Nig.) Ltd., p. 2
53
Ogundele, S. Oluwole, p. 702-703.
54
Ibid, p. 711.
55
Amewowo, Wynnand, “The Bible and Ecology”, in Journal of African Biblical Studies
(JABS) Vol. 4. A publication of the Ghana Association of Biblical Exegetes (GABES),
October 2012, p. 9; pp. 1-24
56
Onibonoje, G. O., “The Concept of the Indigenous for National Development and the
Urgent Need for A Cultural Revolution”, in G.O. Onibonoje, Kole Ọmọtọṣọ, and O.A.
Lawal (eds.), The Indigenous for NationalDevelopment. Ibadan: Onibonoje Press and
Book Industries (Nig.) Ltd, pp. 155-156; pp. 155-163.
57
Makinde, M. Akin, African Philosophy, Culture, and Traditional Medicine. Athens:
Ohio University Center for International Studies Monographs in International Studies,
1988, p. 106.
58
Amewowo, Wynnand, p. 9.
100
59
Kwame, Gyekye, "African Ethics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fa l l 2 0
11 E d i t i o n ) , E d w a r d N . Z a l t a ( e d . ) , U R L =
=<http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2011/entries/african-ethics/>.
60
Agulanna, Christopher, “Moral Thinking in Traditional African Society: A R e
constructive Interpretation ” , f o u n d o n http://agulanna.blogspot.com/2008/06/hh.html,
April 27, 2014, said to be published in Prajna Vihara: Journal of Philosphy and Religion
(Assumption University, Thailand). Vol. 8, No. 1, January-June 2007.
61
Pobee, John S., p. 31.
62
Kwame, Gyekye, "African Ethics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fa l l 2 0
11 E d i t i o n ) , E d w a r d N . Z a l t a ( e d . ) , U R L =
<http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2011/entries/african-ethics/>.
63
Ibid.
64
Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter, Morality without God?New York: Oxford University Press,
Inc., 2009, p. xii.
65
Etuk, Udo, p. 37.
66
Mumuni, Thompson and Asare-Danso, Seth, “Reactions of Senior High Students to
Indigenous Moral Values: A Survey of Students in Central Region, Ghana”, in
Drumspeak: International Journal of Research in the Humanities, New Series Vol. 4,
2011. A Journal of the Faculty of Arts, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, p. 115-116; pp.
114-136.
67
Ibid. p. 116
68
Ibid. p. 116
69
Pobee, John S., p. 31.
70
Abiola, E. Ola, A Textbook of West African History (A. D. 1000 to the Present Day).
Ado-Ekiti: 1984.
71
72
Barrett, Stanley R., “Issues and Perspectives on Religion and Society”, in Olupona,
Jacob K. and Falola, Toyin (eds.), Religion and Society in Nigeria:Historical and
Sociological Perspectives. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd., 1991, pp. 16-17; pp. 3-27.
73
Heritages and Contemporary Politics”, in Dapo Adelugba, Dan Izevbaye, and J. Egbe Ifie
(eds.), Wole Soyinka at 70 Festschrift. LACE Occasional Publications and Dat and
Partners Logistics Ltd., No place of publication indicated, 2006, p. 699.
101
CHAPTER EIGHT
AFRICAN HERITAGE IN CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES
8.1. The Advocates of African Heritage
Denigration and demonization by detractors have not annihilated, though eroded

African indigenous culture, including ATR. Some scholars came to discover the values in
African traditional culture, and started to contradict obnoxious claims about African
indigenous religion and culture. Some of such Western and African intellectuals are
quoted under this subheading. Parratt notes that the rediscovery of the value of traditional
African culture received a great impetus from the literary movement in French-speaking
Africa known as Negritude, which was especially associated with Leopold Senghor. And,
in the same way, as Parratt further writes:
The value of African traditional religions was coming to be more

and more appreciated, not only through the monographs of trained
anthropologists, but even more through the more popular surveys of
Geoffrey Parrinder, a former missionary and later lecturer at the
University of Ibadan. In South Africa the Black Consciousness
Movement, which appeared in the early 1970s mainly as a result of
the activity of Steve Biko, stressed the dignity of 'blackness' in the
face of exploitation by a white-controlled government. For many
African Christians all this led to the conviction that the African
heritage and present situation could no longer be dismissed as
'pagan', but needed to be taken seriously and somehow related to the
truth of the Christian faith.1
Pluralization of ATR as Parratt has done in his choice of the expression “African
traditional religions” is, as earlier noted, offensive to African harmony, particularly since
hardly anybody (not even Parratt) writes “Christianities”, in spite of innumerable
denominations of Christianity. However, his basic points are well taken.
Some Africans appreciate African heritage, and desire what Etuk calls “cultural
resuscitation”.2 One fundamental reason seems to be that life under the control of
Christians and Muslims who dominate Africa currently, seems worse, politically and
economically. Ayandele writes that “by and large, the Crescent and the Cross have
produced irredeemable hypocrites, that is baptized 'pagans' and counterfeit Muslims”, for,
as he sees it, “only a few Muslims and Christians have assimilated the moral values of
their religions”, and what is more, “with very few exceptions, they contribute more to
crimes than any other religious group.”3 Obviously in many African countries, such as
Nigeria, where Ayandele comes from, Christians and Muslims are in the overwhelming
majority, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is extremely wide. Ayandele
recapitulates, stating that “There was no place for plutocrats (i.e. a money-rich class
whose power and influence derived from material wealth)” in traditional African culture
in which “communalism makes the individual his or her brother's keeper.”4 Of course no
human condition is perfect, but there is no doubt that a country like Nigeria that is
supplying petroleum to the international market, and is very rich in human, mineral, and
102
other material resources, has scanty infrastructure, and most of her citizens are suffering
from hyper-inflation, and the country parades an ocean of beggars. Yet, the privileged
few who are Christians and Muslims by religious profession, keep misappropriating the
nation's enormous wealth.
Consequently, it is not impossible that past and current histories are working
against Christian and Islamic fortunes in Africa, and accentuating the desire for return to
traditional Africa. Turaki notes that:
Arab and European slave-raiding and slave-trade and their

subsequent colonization of Africa and the inter-tribal and racial wars
are historical testimonies of human sufferings in Africa. New forms
of human sufferings, degradation and dehumanization have engulfed
modern Africa. We see these in many socio-political and economic
problems, corrupt and inept leadership and devastating ethnic, racial
and tribal tensions, violence and conflicts.5
It is sometimes forgotten that the inter- and intra-tribal wars happened on the incitement
by the Arabs and Europeans who wanted to buy slaves, and some Africans think, in
general parlance, that it was the barbarity of African forebears that was at play, as if
barbarity were an African monopoly. For instance, a Yoruba traditional poet-singer,
Ogundare Foyanmu, in one of his records, said before colonialism came, Africans used to
wage wars rather than paying tax, even though he notes also that the tax exerted under
colonialism was burdensome. Afolabi also notes that “The Adubi uprising, otherwise
called Egba uprising of 1918 was one of the several civil revolts by which grassroots or
micro communities expressed disdain for distasteful British colonial policies, especially
its burdensome taxation system.”6How does one explain a turbulent Christo-Islamic
Africa, given the genocide between the Christian dominated ethnic groups of Hutu and
Tutsi of Rwanda, and terrorism in places like Somalia and Nigeria; coupled with mass
abject poverty in most of Africa, due to abuse of power? That is the challenge to
Christianity and Islam, and is a concern to many African scholars, including Ehusani. 7
One way to the solution is to adopt state secularity, so as to free the state from religious
favoritism, but it is being rejected by Chrito-Islamic elites as “secularism” (which is anti-
religion), whereas secularity only separates public offices from religious bigotry.
Literature has grown on appreciation for African heritage. Parratt notes how some
African Christian theologians frown at “the tendency of missionary Christianity to
devalue traditional African culture and especially to dismiss traditional religion as
heathenism or pagan”, and “This attitude left no room for a sympathetic appreciation of
all that was good in African culture, nor for the assimilation of traditional ideas and
rituals into Christianity.”8 One would advise opponents to identify un-Christian African
rituals and practices rather than a blanket condemnation. For instance, Yoruba
traditionalists use bitter cola to pray that a person will not die prematurely, because the
Yoruba word gbó (get old) resonates with the Yoruba word for bitter cola (orógbó). They
use honey to pray that a person's life will have sweetness like honey. Pobee quotes
Kwame Nkrumah as stating that: “By the African genius, I mean something positive, our
socialist conception of society, the efficiency and validity of our traditional statecraft, our
highly developed code of morals, our hospitality and our purposeful energy.” 9 Those
103
words have been reechoed in recent time by Ayandele who writes that, “It is, indeed,
presumptuous and unscientific to dismiss with levity our cultural heritage as ossified
reactionary traditionalism irrelevant to evolution of Nigeria as a nation.” In Ayandele's
view, to which I subscribe, “what we need NOW is decolonization of the mind by a
Mental Adjustment Programme in Government, in universities, in all walks of life.” He
states that there is no area of human need in which African heritage has nothing to offer,
in “Moral Philosophy, Health, Nutrition, Technology, Participatory Democracy, Social
Engineering” etc.10 I have noted that research can unearth the scientific, philosophical and
any other area of traditional African epistemology. It is apposite here to recall a
Westerner, Hillman, who appreciates mystical arts of divination and magic as being
among practical ways of approaching earthly perplexities. 11 The Yoruba say, Tó bá
rúnilójú ká bilè ̣ léèrè (When you are confused and upset, consult the Oracle). Etuk
observes that many Africans still resort to magical and divinatory aspects of African
heritage.12 That, and all the foregoing, indicate that many Africans (past and present)
appreciate and patronize African heritage.
104
8.2. Denigrators of African Heritage
The fact of the derogation of African cultural heritages, including, and indeed
above all, ATR, is much spoken about by the advocates of African heritage, because
denigration has persisted even in this twenty-first century. This section is a critical review
of the arguments against the resuscitation of African heritage. The opponents include:
8.2.1. Neo-Colonialists
Both the Trans-Atlantic slave-traders and the colonialists had their African
collaborators and opponents as well. At the end of the primordial colonialism, colonial
mentality and imperialism have refused to disappear, because many Africans had imbibed
them, and Western imperial forces have continued to seek like-minded collaborators with
whom they perpetuate exploitation of Africa. Some scholars, such as Ogundele, believe
that the Western world cannot leave Africa alone, because, as he explains, “the European
and American economies cannot survive without tapping very heavily available African
resources.”13 But, neither can Africa be tapped without collusion with some Africans who
would show the way and, where applicable, front for the external predators. In that
respect, Ogundele writes that:
It is a deceit to claim that today's Africa is free. The battle for

freedom is, however, a difficult exercise. Attaining economic
sovereignty for Africa means that the local collaborators (political
leaders, business persons, etc) will lose their current material
comfort and privileges. Indeed, such Africans will certainly go to
any extent to frustrate all progressive steps being taken.14
I think that if many Africans see the problem created by religio-political exploiters and
economic pillagers, and confront them as revolutionaries do, there might be some respite,
if not total liberation. Hillman seems right when he notes that relative to the masses of
disadvantaged and dispossessed Africans, “the advantaged elite are numerically much
less significant than they appear to be”, and “their demise is even predictable in some
countries, and a fact of history in some others.”15 The usual obstacle, however, seems to
be that of lack of progressive leaders. Even then, well-meaning Africans must find a way
of securing Africa for the present and future generations of Africans, without overlooking
the issue of human interdependence in respect of non-Africans. In other words, the idea
of global village (i.e. the effort at human unification) seems good in itself, because no
people have everything, but there must be fairness rather than exploitative tendencies in
national and international relations. At any rate, neo-colonialists (indigenous cum foreign
ones) denigrate African heritages, including altruism as enshrined in the practice of
extended family culture. Today, many Africans are no longer their neighbours' keepers.
8.2.2. Christian and Muslim Missionaries
Within the block of the successors of the initial Christian missionaries to Africa,
two strands are identifiable, both of them opposed to resuscitation and appropriation of
105
African heritage. The first strand is seen in those who present Jesus Christ as the only real
way, and nothing Godly can be found outside of Him (Jesus Christ). While Fuller writes,
for instance, that “If people can be converted to turn away from the other ways of help
and go to Jesus only, they can find this true way to God”, Ilupeju emphasizes that
“However sincere” adherents of ATR “may think they are, they are ignorantly
worshipping the devil.”16 ATR is the subject discussed by both Fuller and Ilupeju in their
different essays from which the two quotations were picked. The common denominator is
that they both double as Christian (Evangelical) theologians and missionaries. A Church
historian, who doubles as a Priest in the Anglican Church, Omotoye, is however of a
different mould of mind in his own submission that: “African traditional religion is a
heritage given to the African by God, the Supreme Being.” 17 One would agree and argue
that ATR is the guiding light of African culture, and to denigrate it is to rubbish the pillar
on which traditional Africa rests. For instance, swearing in the name of traditional
African divinities, a practice that is known to be very effective, dissuade people from
committing evil, to a great extent.
The second strand of opposition from Christian missionaries is much more subtle
and cannot be easily suspected as a Christian ploy to annihilate everything African.
Ehusani quotes two representatives of this strand that are worthy of note. First on the list
is Jean-Mark Ela who is quoted as writing that the call for the rediscovery of African
traditional values today “constitutes an obstacle to the liberation of Africa”, and that “in
our confrontation with the great empires of finance and industry, those impregnable
fortresses of capital, we need something more than music and dance, mask and smile.”
Ela betrays his own ignorance as he indicates that all he knows about African traditional
values are “music and dance, mask and smile”. Secondly, he seems to have inadvertently
over-mystified what he refers-to as “the great empires of finance and industry”, by
describing them as “impregnable fortresses”.18Is there anything human-made that is
impregnable forever? I would respond that where there is wisdom for discernment,
sincerity of purpose, and determination, there is hardly anything human-made that is
impregnable. If Africans can reinstate the extended family heritage, diminished by the
Slave Trade, colonialism, Christo-Islamic polarisations, and begin to care for one another
again harmoniously, no external force will exploit Africa easily.
Second on Ehusani's list (page twenty-six) is Luke Mbefo, who happened to be
the Supervisor of my Ph. D thesis, and was credited by the external examiners for a job
well done. He is quoted as raising some issues against recovery of African heritage. In
the first instance, he is cited as stating that “even though it is theoretically feasible and
romantically desirable, returning to African values is not only unrealistic, but practically
impossible.” One would agree that returning to African values holistically may not be
feasible; neither is that desirable, if only because culture and value are dynamic realities.
The second point attributed to Mbefo is however unreservedly disagreeable, that “African
past is characterized by such social habits and loyalties that are suspicious of innovation
and hardened against change.” One would think Ayandele (another Nigerian) was
reacting to Mbefo or scholars of that mould, when he notes that it is “preposterous and
unscientific to dismiss with levity our cultural heritage as ossified reactionary
traditionalism”.19 I would think that Ayandele is right that Africans should not reject their
cultural heritages holistically and a priori.
106
Today's Africans, according to the opinion associated with Mbefo, should be
preoccupied with how to acquire scientific knowledge and catch up with developed
countries, rather than being obsessed with Africa's past. That is what Ehusani terms
“catch-up syndrome”20. I will not object to trying to catch up, because nobody should
want to lag behind. But, what Ela and Mbefo seem to miss is that even when money is
made available either from internal resources or borrowed from external sources for
scientific/technological acquisition; it is more often than not misappropriated for self-
aggrandizement, because the traditional concern for neighbour has almost totally
evaporated. The starting point was, in my view, when Arabs and Europeans encouraged
large-scale slave trade, and introduced divergent religions, which divided Africans along
religious and denominational lines. That is why scholars, such as Ehusani in his cited
work, emphasise African humanism, and I agree, even though I do not believe that only
Africans are humane; there are humane and inhumane persons everywhere, globally.
Mbefo is quoted further (same page) as unhappy with the extended family system,
because the strong and industrious spend their hard earned money to cater for the weak
and indolent. Comparatively speaking, isn't the past better than today when many
hardworking farmers are paupers, because of the prevailing market situations created by
internal and external forces, and unemployment is biting harder and harder? The winners
take all, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer; survival of the fittest seems to be at its
worse, able-bodied persons become humiliated/shameful beggars, even when they work
as employed or self-employed, the income is grossly inadequate, etc. As the extended
family culture disintegrates, many orphans, widows and their children are left to be on
their own.
Ehusani, Ela, and Mbefo are Catholic priest-theologians. The Anglican
Archbishop Desmond Tutu expresses the view that “Too many of us have been
brainwashed effectively into thinking that the Westerners' value system and categories
are of universal validity” 21. The natural tendency for many Christo-Islamic elites who
profit from the disappearance of African culture is to seek ways of annihilating the
culture. There seems to be no better approach to demolishing that pillar than by
maligning and derogating ATR. In practical terms, what lurks in the subconscious of
many Christian and Muslim lords appears to be how to exterminate African heritage,
toward the triumph of Christianity and Islam. Hence Ehusani writes that the denigrators
do it “deliberately or out of pious ignorance”.22One would think it is largely deliberate on
the part of the Christo-Islamic clerics and the neo-colonialists who feed from the
misfortune of ATR and culture. They portray what the Yoruba call owú òwò (trade envy).
As Ayandele observes:
Since missionaries were trying to convert to new religion they could

not escape condemning many practices as 'heathenish'. What else
could they do but attack the traditional culture, which represented
the rival religion they were trying to supplant?23
That seems to be an unassailable point. One may not be exaggerating to say that the
bigger the church or mosque, the bigger the income for the officials. I remember a
Nigerian Catholic Bishop who said if he was asked to choose between Rome and Nigeria,
he would choose Rome. Understandably, he was made and empowered by Rome to be
107
the shepherd of his Nigerian flock/domain. Yet, many churches and mosques have
profited from integrating some aspects of ATR and culture into their theologies and
praxis. A congregation becomes hilarious whenever a Christian or Muslim preacher
delivers a homily in the people's vernacular, using traditional African proverbs, songs, or
stories as a vehicle to convey his or her message.
8.3. The Future of African Heritage
A cursory look into the horizon may suggest that ATR and culture, generally
speaking, have disappeared, and that there is no more need to speak about African
heritages. I discovered that even in Europe, which became converted to Christianity many
centuries before coming to Black Africa, there are those who still cherish many values in
their pre-Christian heritages. In a book as recent as 1980, a Westerner, Needleman, who
does not mention Africa anywhere in his book, expresses that concern, when he notes
that:
Compared with Christianity, the pagan religions seem out of date

and distorted. Still, they contain some worthwhile elements. Would
not their disappearance then be an impoverishment? Simone Weil
feared that it would: 'If the other traditions disappear from the
surface of the earth', she wrote, 'it would be an irreparable loss. As it
is, the missionaries have already caused too many to disappear'.24
It thus appears that it is not only in Africa that there are those who cherish their pre-
Christian and pre-Islamic heritages, and that ancient cultures contain certain
divine/human values which continue to endear themselves to many of today's men and
women. In Africa, it is not only Christians who want African culture annihilated; many
Muslim clerics are also involved for the obvious reason of profiting from its elimination
in terms of getting large followership. African culture is, however, resilient due to
heritages, such as the extended family system, medicine, divination, magic, and so on,
discussed here in Chapter Two. Polygamy is demonized by today's Christianity, whereas
as Eyiyere rightly notes, Paul advises against it only for bishops and deacons (1Timothy
3:2 and 12).25 The Christian objection to polygamy has contributed in no small measure
to the erosion of Africa's extended family system and its mutual support values. The
consequence is biting harder and harder on the weak, including orphans, widows and
(where applicable) their children. Individualism as the order of the day is looming larger
and larger. However, polygamy and many other aspects of traditional African culture are
still there, either in miniature or largely esoteric (hidden) forms in some instances.
Given the foregoing, one can say without mincing words that African heritage is
imbued with enduring future. What is more, this study has shown that several scholars are
advocating resuscitation (rediscovery, retrieval, renaissance) of African values that
promote equilibrium, compassion, brotherly and sisterly concerns, otherwise called
African humanism, which includes African hospitality to strangers. Some governments in
Africa now promote African traditional festivals, seeing the enthusiasm with which
people attend such festivals, including Osun Oshogbo in Osun state, Nigeria. Kalu
recently notes that:
108
Most of the inhabitants of the towns carry medicine made in the
villages to empower their successful foraying in the towns. As Ellis
and ter-Haar observed, 'many Africans today who continue to hold
beliefs derived from the traditional cosmologies apply these to
everyday life even when they live in cities and work in the civil
service or business sector. Religious worldviews do not necessarily
diminish with formal education.' Among Muslims, mallams and
seriki provide such services for a fee. The syncretism in their rituals
has been noted. The sacralization of political order and ethics in
primal society informs the political culture in the modern public
space. The political elite tap the resources of primal religion in their
competitions in the modern space.26
Everything in the quotation seems acceptable, except saying that “The sacralization of
political order and ethics in primal society informs the political culture in the modern
public space.” The type of competition Kalu refers-to in the last sentence, which would
mean election by campaigns and ballot-struggle, did not exist in traditional Africa where
people attain succession through rotation among some ruling houses, and the King is
decided through divination, generally speaking, and so the situation cannot be said to be
the same. Of course, some of today's politicians in their private capacities are known to
resort to divination and magic. But, trying to link traditional African heritage to political
violence in today's Africa is unjust in my perception. Although Kalu’s observation is
generally illuminating in respect of the concern of this study about the future of African
heritage, lack of “political order and ethics” is the bane of many African countries today,
and cannot be attributed to African heritage. The politicians struggle to attain power by
all means. More often than not, their inordinate ambitions are responsible for violence
and instability.
I conclude that the more Africans feel dissatisfied with the present religio-
political and socio-economic orders, the more they would feel nostalgia for Africa's past,
particularly elders who know what life used to be, compared to the present situation. The
Yoruba say Bí ebi bá pa àlejò a maa rántí ilé (When a visitor is hungry, he or she
remembers home). With specific reference to the Pentecostal Movement, but also true of
the Church, generally speaking, Ojo writes of “public perception of deep-rooted
corruption within the constituency as a result of reported cases of theft, embezzlement
and sexual sins among its hierarchy.”27All of that may scandalize traditional Africans, if
only because ATR has no elaborate financial obligations warranting collection in various
forms or the tithe system; no expensive construction projects or acquisition of landed and
other properties. African traditional priests and priestesses live in their own houses, and
on their own professions as farmers, hunters, weavers, carvers, etc.
Notes for Chapter Eight

1
Parratt, John, “Introduction” to John Parratt (ed.), A Reader in African Christian
Theology. London: SPCK, 1987, p. 2, pp. 1-11.
109
2
Etuk, Udo, Religion and Cultural Identity. Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2002, p.37.
3
Ayandele, E.A., “Chapter Three: Using Nigerian Culture for Nation Building”, in
Perspectives in Nigeria's Cultural Diplomacy”. The National Institute for Cultural
Orientation (NICO), 2006, pp. 90-91
4
Ibid, p. 104.
5
Turaki, Yusufu, Tribal Gods of Africa: Ethnicity, Racism, and the Gospel of Christ.
Nairobi: Ethics, Peace and Justice Commission of the Association ofEvangelicals in
Africa, 1997, p. 2.
6
Afolabi, Abiodun S., “Reconsidering Grassroots Resistance Movements Against British
Colonial Policy in Nigeria: The Example of the Adubi Uprising of 1918”, in Ilorin
Journal of History and International Studies, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2014, p. 173, pp.173-194.
7
Ehusani, George Omaku, An Afro-Christian Vision: “Ozovehe!” Toward A More
Humanized World. Iperu-Remo: The Ambassador Publications, 1992,p. 19.
8
Parratt, John, pp. 3-4. Onwubiko also quotes Francis Cardinal Arinze as stating that a
sympathetic study of ATR is “very necessary for the deepening of evangelization, so that
the elements which are good, noble, or true, which Christianity could assume, or ennoble,
or accept and retouch, can be identified and also the elements which Christianity has to
reject.” (Onwubiko, Oliver Alozie, Echoes from the African Synod: The Future of the
African Church fromPresent and Past Experiences. Enugu: SNAAP Press Ltd., 1994, p.
129).But no element is identified as acceptable or rejectable, and Christianity is presented
as a perfect religion, with the overall aim of eradicating ATR and culture.Of course, no
institution run by human beings can be said to be perfect.
9
Pobee, John S., Kwame Nkrumah and The Church in Ghana: 1949-1966.Accra: Asempa
Publishers, Christian Council of Ghana, p. 31.
10
Ayandele, E. A., p. 109.
11
Hillman, Eugene, Inculturation Applied: Toward An African Christianity. New York:
Paulist Press, 1993, p. 63.
12
Etuk, Udo, p. 37.
13
Heritages and Contemporary Politics”, in Dapo Adelugba, Dan Izevbaye, and J. Egbe Ife
(eds.), Wole Soyinka at 70 Festschrift. LACE Occasional Publications & Dat & Partners
Logistics Ltd., no town mentioned, Nigeria, 2006, p. 717.
14
Ibid, p. 716.
15
Hillman, Eugene, p. 46.
16
Fuller, Lois, A Missionary Handbook on African Traditional Religion. Bukuru: Nigerian
Evangelical Missionary Institute and African Christian Textbooks, 2001, p. 159; and
Kayode Ilupeju, “Chapter Two: African Traditional Religion”, in Emiola Nihinlola and
Mojisola Olaniyan (eds.), Discovering the Other Side: Challenges of Other Religions.
Ibadan: Flourish Books Ltd., 2004, p. 34; pp. 27-34.
17
Omotoye, Rotimi Williams, “The Study of African Traditional Religion and Its
Challenges in Contemporary Times” in Ilorin Journal of Religious Studies (IJOURELS)
Vol. 1, No. 2, December 2011, p. 30; pp. 19-36.
18
Ehusani, George Omaku, pp. 25-26.
19
Ayandele, E. A., p. 109.
20
Ehusani, George Omaku, p. 19
110
21
Tutu, Desmond M., “Black Theology and African Theology”, in John Parratt (ed.), A
Reader in African Christian Theology. London: SPCK, 1987, p. 55; pp. 46-57.
22
23
Ayandele, E. A., The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria 1842-1914: A Political
and Social Analysis. London: Longman Group Ltd., 1991, p. 242.
24
Needleman, Jacob, Lost Christianity. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1980, p. 51.
25
Eyiyere, David O., One-Man One-Wife Doctrine: From God or From Man? Benin City:
DoeSun Publishers, 1994, pp. 39-48.
26
Kalu, Ogbu U., “Tangled Roots in the Mangrove Forest: The Cultural Landscape of
Political Violence in Africa”, in Cephas N. Omenyo and Eric B. Anum (eds.),
Trajectories of Religion in Africa: Essays in Honour of John S. Pobee. Amsterdam:
Rodopi B. V., 2014, p. 151-152; pp. 145-164.
27
Ojo, Matthews A., “Pentecostalism, Public Accountability and Governance in Nigeria”,
in Ogbomoso Journal of Theology: Pentecostalism, the Charismaticsand African
Initiatives in Christianity,Vol. XIII (1) 2008, p. 131; pp. 110-131.
111
CHAPTER NINE
THE STATE OF AFRICAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
9.1. African Christian Theology: A Definition
Theology is a composite of two Greek words, theos (god, if it starts with a small
letter; God if capital “T”) and logos (which means word or study). Thus, theology is the
study of God and or god(s), which can otherwise be described simply as God discourse or
God-talk. That means that when God discourse is done from a Christian perspective, it is
Christian theology; if from ATR world view, it is African traditional theology. It can thus
be Hindu or Islamic theology, etc. Some theologians describe “African Christian
theology” simply as “African theology”, e.g. Gwamna. 1Some other theologians entitle
their own books as African Christian Theology; they are much more specific. Parratt is an
example of such theologians.2
The issue of context comes-in because Christian theology exists in itself as an
abstract entity until it is applied to a particular context, meaning the situation or
circumstance of a specific community or society. African Christian Theology is thus a
contextual theology, which implies Christian theology in African context. Theologians,
such as Nebechukwu, outline three elements that should characterize a Christian
contextual theology, including African Christian theology. Accordingly, with specific
reference to the Third World, including Africa of course, the theologian must take into
serious consideration, “the socio-economic-political and religio-cultural” contexts of the
Third World. In contemporary understanding, the “Third World” refers to
underdeveloped nations and ghetto peoples in the developed nations, including in Europe
and America. Secondly, a contextual theology must be biblically based, and (thirdly) aim
at the liberation of the Third World from all forms of marginalization, oppression, and
exploitation.3 Of course, being biblically based should not mean a subjective or
prejudicial use of the Bible. Academically speaking, expert opinions and human
experience must also come into reckoning, toward objectivity. For instance, one notes the
tendency to use the Bible to condemn homosexuals, while many homosexuals are at pain
to explain that homosexuality is their own natural sexual orientation, and some scientists
seem to attribute it to certain gene in some persons. Robinson explains that:
The psychological construct of a homosexual orientation was not

posited until the late nineteenth century the notion that a certain
minority of humankind is affectionally oriented toward people of the
same gender, rather than the opposite gender. For people so
oriented, intimate physical contact with people of the opposite
gender would be 'against their nature'. There was no question that
same-gender intimate behavior existed (and was therefore
prohibited), but there was no understanding that such same gender
attraction might be ‘in the nature' of a certain minority of people.
Such a possibility was simply never contemplated by the ancient
mind.4
112
Could the Biblical writer(s) not have been guided by the prevalent prejudice against the
homosexual minority? That is a pertinent question to avoid a fundamentalistic use of the
Bible, based on the simplistic assumption of revelation, inspiration, and Biblical
inerrancy. Hence, academically speaking, a researcher is expected to interrogate the Bible
and related texts from anthropologists, sociologists, scientists, etc., and use interview, as
well as other field research instruments, including participant observation and
questionnaire, where necessary and applicable. That way, scholars (including
theologians) would justify their calling to be light of the world and not propagators of un-
scientific propaganda.
The attempt here is neither to justify nor necessarily condemn homosexuality, but
to analyze by way of example, how, based on the Biblical content, God (the Mysterium
Tremendum - Tremendous Mystery) is portrayed to be as predictable as to be sure that he
could not have created some people as homosexuals. The Yoruba call God, Asèyítówùú
(One who does things as He likes, and so, unpredictable). Consider the case of people
with six fingers and six toes, hermaphrodites, and some women with three breasts. If then
we go from the known to the unknown, the question remains how predictable God is in
His creation. Granted that human beings are expected to procreate, but some men are
born impotent, while some women are born incapable of conception! Yet, by our
understanding, the same God created them, and the general understanding is that there are
no people among whom there are no homosexuals, since time immemorial. And so, the
homosexuality case calls for caution and sympathetic understanding than mere Biblical or
Quranic condemnation. The parameter for deciding what is natural is globality, and
homosexuality falls in that category.
By way of another example, the extent to which the Trinity doctrine, which is
considered central to Christianity, is biblical is highly debatable, and a simple way of
explaining that fact is that Greek terms (homoouisios, homoiousios, and hypostasis)
rather than biblical terms or quotations were used to propound the doctrine. Hence there
is no Trinitarian definition of “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit” in
the Bible. It is thus highly contestable that theology cannot be done without express
recourse to the Bible, as claimed by some theologians, such as Nebechukwu.
Theologising is done in some instances by making references to Christian beliefs,
ecclesiastical doctrines, and Christian theological opinions that may or may not be based
on the Bible.
9.2. Understanding the Concept of “Third World”
As earlier hinted, the expression “Third World” has come to acquire implications
for the marginalized, underprivileged, exploited, and oppressed peoples worldwide.
Nebechukwu quotes Virginia Fabella and Sergio Torres as stating that:
'Third World' (as a concept –emphasis mine) has acquired layers of

meaning which vary from the purely geographic ('the south') to the
socio-economic ('poor', ‘under-developed') to the political ('non-
aligned') and even the theological ('from the underside of history').5
113
Fabella and Torres are liberation theologians, and the emphasis of liberation theology is
on how to free oppressed and exploited peoples from their dehumanizing conditions,
wherever they may be, even in Europe and America. The expression “Third World”
applies to all disadvantaged classes of people. Hence, for instance, feminist theology of
liberation is a Third World theology. Third World Theologies arose as a reaction to
theologia perenis (theology as usual), whose sole aim is to serve the interest of the
church, and not necessarily the interest of truth and objectivity. Unlike theologia perenis,
contextual theologies are not expected to be close, but open-ended, and not dogmatic-
apologetic, but explorative and systematic. Scholarly opinions must be reckoned-with in
scholarly works, beyond Roma locuta causa finita (Rome has spoken, no more debate).
9.3. Types of African Christian Theology
There are two principal forms of African Christian theology: African Christian
Theology of Inculturation and African Christian Liberation Theology, even though some
theologians (e.g. Ukpong6 have a longer list, such as by distinguishing between Black
Theology and African Liberation Theology; whereas in my view, all other forms
constitute a branch of one of the two principal forms that I identify. For instance, Black
Christian Theology and African Christian Liberation Theology should be perceived as
branches of Liberation Theology, and not presented as different species.
Inculturation theology happens when two cultures (such as African and Christian
cultures) are integrated into one-another. Several theologians, including Ukpong, have
noted that African Christian Inculturation Theology was not spoken about “until 1955
and did not gain currency until the 1960s”, even though “the reality it represents goes
back much longer”.7 The period, 1955 to 1960s, was the time when many African
countries were clamouring-for and achieving independence. The talk about African
Christian Inculturation Theology would then mean that many African Christians were at
the same time conscious of who they were as cultural beings. But in actual fact, the
clamour for inculturation dates far back before 1955, as Sawyerr is quoted as saying
(below), it dates back to the nineteenth century.
Black Christian Theology, which was the first form of African Christian Theology
of Liberation, properly so called, started in reaction to the oppression and exploitation of
the Blacks in America and South Africa (hence the name, Black Theology), but it seems
to have eclipsed, since the status quo changed in both countries. Tutu notes that both
“African Theology and Black Theology”, as Christian activities “have arisen as reaction
against an unacceptable state of affairs”.8African Christian Theology of Liberation in its
current form embraces a holistic human liberation, like in Latin America, to include
political theology, economic theology, feminist theology of liberation, etc. Whatever
harms human rights and dignity in different contexts is of concern to liberation theology.
Non-political issues, such as divorce, are also important. Divorce, for instance, can
import misery. And so, if there are prevalent cases of divorce in a society or community,
it should be investigated to know why and what should be done to mitigate the situation.
Indeed, any theology done in Africa and the world at large today is expected to
have liberation purpose. In addition to the aim of Africanizing Christianity, the
fundamental objective of African Christian Theology of Inculturation was and remains
liberation of African culture (whatever is noble and of value in the culture) from the
114
denigration visited on the whole culture by those, such as Christo-Islamic clerics, who
benefit from the annihilation of the culture. African Christian inculturation theology
reverses blanket demonization of African culture, towards appropriating whatever is
divine in the culture.
9.4. The Advocates of African Christian Theology
Some theologians, including Parratt, link the emergence of African Christian

Theology, which is basically ecclesiastical (Church-centered), to the nationalist struggle
for the independence of African countries, which was basically political. Yet, the
nationalist struggles, as Parratt himself notes, date back to the 1950s and 1960s 9, while
the struggle to Africanize Christianity started much earlier than that. The link seems
deliberate by Parrat to honour African nationalists, such as Kenneth Kaunda, Julius
Nyerere, and Leopold Senghor, who were Christians and became the first Presidents of
their countries, were pro-people, and desired Africanisation of Christianity. But, that
should not justify relegation of the spontaneous reactions of some African Christians to
what they considered un-African in the Christianity presented to them, and refused to
abandon African beliefs and practices that they did not see as opposed to God, long
before the struggle for independence started. Parratt acknowledges the contributions of
some European missionaries, such as “Fr Tempels” who published his Bantu Philosophy
in 1947.10 According to Ukpong, Tempels started writing on Christianity in Africa since
the 1930s, and wrote the Bantu Philosophy as a “handmaid” of African theology.11 Not
long after Tempels published his Bantu Philosophy, as Parratt notes, “Parrinder began his
serious and sympathetic study of African religion.” He (Parratt) makes reference also to
“Bishop Sunkler” who, “in 1960, wrote a penetrating examination of The Christian
Ministry in Africa, and he and others (notably Dr. Harold Turner) began to examine the
independent Churches with great sympathy and insight.”12 The implication is that the
African Independent Churches were among the real pioneers of African Christian
Theology in practical (not necessarily theoretical) terms. Naturally, their existence and
activities must have predated the researches carried out on them.
Beyond the foregoing, although Ukpong asserts that “Placide Tempels, a Belgian
Franciscan missionary in the Congo (present Zaire) in the 1930s, was the champion in all
Africa of what is today known as African theology”,13 that may be true only in terms of
popular writings. Sawyerr notes how James Johnson, a Sierra Leonean clergyman who
had gone as a missionary to Nigeria in 1877, warned that “the Church should be 'not an
exotic but a plant become indigenous to the soil”, and “advocated 'a reform of the liturgy
to suit local conditions.” And “in 1886 Bishop Adjayi (sic) Crowther also reported on the
use of ‘native airs’ at Otta in Yorubaland attributed to the immigrant catechist, James
White, who had served in Otta from 1854 to 1890.”14 The implication of all this is that
African Christian Theology started in the Church in Africa, even if, as Parratt holds, the
nationalist struggles might have “helped to produce a climate in which African theology
could begin to grow.”15 Moreover, Parratt opines that the second factor that led to the
emergence of African Christian theology was “the discovery of the value of traditional
African culture.” That was true only to some extent, since, as Parratt himself notes, not
all African Christians abandon their African heritage, but some others “break completely”
with it.16Even till today, many Africans do not seem to have discovered “the value of
115
traditional African culture,” and African Christian Theology is only struggling to survive.
Many beneficiaries of African heritage openly denigrate African culture, even when they
resort to it clandestinely.
9.5. African Christianity is not Westernized Christianity
When Christianity arrived in Africa from Europe and North America, the
missionaries catechized the people in the usual Christian way, which for a long time was
mistaken for “Western categories”. I discovered that Christianity did not adopt or blend
with Western culture but introduced new ways of living which the Westerners had to
adopt in place of their original culture which was not different from pre-Christian
cultures around the world, generally speaking. For instance, a Westerner, Hillman notes
that: “Many of the church's doctrinal formulas, laws, social structures, styles and
religious ceremonies borrowed initially from Mediterranean cultures no longer speak to
the minds and hearts of people even in Europe and North America.” 17 Thus, while many
Africans thought that the Christianity introduced in Africa by the Westerners was dressed
in Western garb, many Westerners also thought that the Christianity introduced to them
was dressed in Mediterranean garb. Yet, there is no Mediterranean culture that forbids
polygamy, for instance. And, as another Westerner, Robinson, notes, “In earlier times”
among Westerners, “one man and as many women as he could afford” was the order of
the day.18 As such, it is appropriate to conclude that Christianity is neither Western nor
identifiable with any preceding cultural category, and that its culture was crafted by the
theologians who formulated the religion. As Kraft notes, “the pattern is the same; the
group in power gets to define orthodoxy and to impose it on less powerful groups”, and
that “it is characteristic of groups in power whether the power is political or
theological.”19 Kraft knowledgeably mentions “the imposition on Africans of theology
that has been 'made in Euromerica' by those in power on the assumption that that
theology is absolute.”20 He is highly knowledgeable in the sense that he refers to “those in
power”, and not ordinary Europeans and Americans. It is “those in power” that defined
and constructed the theology. As Garver notes, the “ecumenical councils” which
preceded the divisions within Christendom shaped the “basic theological dogmas of
Christendom”.20Beyond that, we must remember the influence of some powerful North
Africans, such as St. Augustine of Hippo, on the Western Christian theology. In the
words of Placher:
More than anyone else, Augustine shaped Western theology and

made it different from the traditions of the East. For the western half
of the church throughout the Middle Ages his authority stood second
only to that of Scripture. Historians have with some justice
described the reformation as a struggle between two sides of
Augustine: Protestantism began with his doctrine of grace, and the
Roman Catholic response grew out of his doctrine of the church.21
That requires no further explanation. But the question must be asked, arising from Kraft's
observation, whether anything human can be “absolute” as such.
116
9.6. The Authenticity of African Christian Theology
African Christian Theology is a contextual theology, otherwise called “theology

in context”. The concept of contextual theology or theology in context refers to the fact
that God addresses Himself to peoples worldwide in their diverse circumstances (sitz im
leben -life situation in German language). While the circumstances may not be the same,
whatever is sinful or inhuman in any situation can be said to be reprehensible to Godly
persons everywhere. Yet, we need to determine what is sinful. Are magic and divination
which traditional Africans consider to be divine providence unless abused, sinful? If
polygamy is sinful, who in the Bible does God condemn for it? Idowu indicates that what
traditional African priests and diviners do is what the prophets do in biblical Judaism,
when he writes that the Yoruba know what God wants “through the priests and diviners
whom they believe to be the interpreters of the will of the Deity.” 22 I have elsewhere
pointed to the fact that the Biblical Saul, as he explains to Prophet Samuel, went to the
witch at Endor, because he was under stress and needed divine guidance, which Samuel
denied him (1 Sam. 28:15). And of course, human beings always seek solution internally
and externally; naturally and supernaturally.
Many Africans started to find it difficult to be faithful Christians in the form in
which the religion was introduced to them. For a long time, what was done was theology
of adaptation, which refers to how liturgical and other religious approaches used by the
pioneering missionaries were appropriated for apostolic work in Africa. But, that did not
go down well with all the African converts, and some theologians saw that Christianity is
adaptable to all cultures, and that Africans can have their own form(s) of the religion, and
still be authentic Christians and, at the same time, authentic Africans. Hillman quotes
Dulles (another Catholic theologian like himself) as stating that “New doctrines,
institutions, and ceremonies must be devised, not in order to replace the gospel, but to
keep it alive and bring it to bear on the problems of the present age.” 23 Much of such
innovation is reflecting in the African Instituted Churches; to a much limited extent in the
mainline Churches (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist), and in today's
Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches, even though the authenticity, orthodoxy, or value of
any innovation is open to debate.
Much limited newness is found in the mainline Churches in Africa, because they
are still tied to the aprons of their Western origins. Yet, on the whole, the agitation for
inculturation is unabated, if only because, as Amanze notes in respect of Botswana, for
instance, the people “continue to believe deeply in their traditional ancestral spirits
(badimo)”, noting further that “Africans do not want to abandon their culture”, and so,
“there is a need to take African norms and beliefs to the Church”, where it is not contrary
to the spirit of the Bible.24 There are many things that are not contrary to the
biblical/Christian spirit in African culture, including many proverbs, prayers, songs, etc.
Objecting churches and Christians may also need to review their perceptions on African
medicine, magic, divination, etc to distinguish between what is beneficial and un-sinful
versus what is against divine and human laws.
The example of the Apostle Paul in his Areopagus address in Acts of the Apostles
is usually quoted as a model for Christian inculturation with diverse cultures in their own
contexts. Kissi explains that what Paul endeavoured to do, so as to gain attention, was to
117
appeal to the people on their own philosophical terms, “thereby sounding more stoic than
Christian as some have observed”, but by that, “Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman
named Damaris believed, unlike his earlier attempt when no one believed as he preached
from the Jewish scriptures.” Saint Paul had quoted “from Epimenides and Aratus,
respectively, 'In him we live and move and have our being', and 'For we are indeed his
offspring'.” That is found in Acts 17:28. As Kissi further notes, one gets “the Stoic idea
of a god who is infused into all creation in which human beings live.” 25 If, then, God is in
all creation (I don't know why Kissi has used the lower case for God), Africans could not
have been left-out.
9.7. The Pioneers of African Christian Theology
A brief history of African Christian Theology as a nomenclature is apposite.

According to Ukpong, the expression Theologia Africana was first used by John S. Mbiti
in 1963 (in that Latin form); while the expression “African Christian theology” was first
proposed by John Agbeti in 1972, as an alternative to African theology.” Ukpong
explains that although “African theology”, strictly speaking should mean theology of
African Traditional Religion (ATR), it is understood in Christian theological circles as a
reflection on both Christianity and ATR, since those doing the reflection are Christians. 26
Yet, one would insist that the expression African Christian Theology should be adopted
as the nomenclature, to avoid confusion, particularly now that ATR is studied as an
academic discipline in many universities.
Who are the pioneers of African Christian Theology? Here the reader will endure
a slight contextual repetition. The pioneers no doubt include Father Placide Tempels, the
author of the Bantu Philosophy27, who is said to have been writing on issues related to
Afro-Christian theology since the 1930s. As earlier noted philosophy (or philosophising)
is rightly perceived as the “handmaid of theology”, and that is what Tempel's Bantu
Philosophy represents for African Christian Theology among the Bantu. Parratt also
acknowledges the contribution of E. G. Parrinder, who, as he notes, did “serious and
sympathetic study of African religion.”28Indeed, Parrinder is said to be the first person to
use the expression, African Traditional Religion, as the title of a book he published in
1954. With that, Parrinder replaced forever in authentic academic circles, the derogatory
names, such as fetishism, heathenism, and animism, given to the African religious
heritage.
Those who came on the heels of Tempels and Parrinder, according to Ukpong,
include J. S. Mbiti, E. B. Idowu, Charles Nyamiti, John S. Pobee, and Alyward Shorter 29,
to mention but a few. It is doubtful that anybody can exhaust the list of advocates of
African Christian Theology. Interestingly, Sawyerr recalls how William Vincent Lucas,
the Bishop of Masasi (1926-1944 as Bishop) deplored a situation in which “tribal life in
some parts of Africa was disintegrating in favour of European ways of life”, and he
envisaged that it portended future suffering. The future predicted by Lucas is already
here, as many Africans are living individualistic, self-centered, and brutal lives devoid of
mercy and compassion. Similarly, according to Sawyerr, “Dr. Edward Blyden in a speech
delivered in 1876 refers approvingly to the remark made by James Johnson to the effect
that ‘as the African Church failed in North Africa in days gone by, so it will fail again,
unless we read the Bible in our own native Tongue'.” That touches on the struggle to
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translate the Bible into African languages, which is in itself a theological exercise. Yet,
what is tugging at Christianity is excessive demand for money in some quarters, and
criminal/immoral activities by some clerics.
Another noteworthy reference in Sawyerr's recapitulations is the information that
“In 1886 Bishop Ajayi Crowther [also] reported on the use of 'native airs' at Otta in
Yorubaland attributed to the immigrant catechist, James White, who had served in Otta
from 1854 to 1890.” Sawyerr concludes hilariously with “Indeed, Professor J. F. Ajayi
records a report by the Reverend Henry Townsend on the Otta native airs in 1857.” 30 That
explains how gradual efforts were made to indigenize Church hymns in African context,
obviously because the people were not feeling at home with the imported versions, and of
course, African creativity could not be stifled. Sawyerr thus indicates that the effort at
Africanizing Christianity dates far back beyond the 1930s mentioned by Ukpong. Such
efforts become historical materials on which theologians operate.
9.8. Objections to African Christian Theology
Hardly can everybody in a community or society think or feel alike. The Yoruba
say Èyí ó wùmí ò wù ọ́ ni ò jé ̣ k'á pawọ́pọ̀ fé ̣'bìnrin (What appeals to me may not appeal
to you; that is why we do not marry the same woman). For various reasons, African
Christian Theology has its objectors, in both African Christian Theology of Inculturation
and African Christian Liberation Theology. We shall discuss them one after the other.
9.8.1. Opposition to African Christian Theology of Inculturation
While the colonial masters' struggle was to possess Africa, politico-economically,

the Christo-Islamic missionaries struggled to gain the cultural soul of Africa, through
processes of Christianisation and Islamisation, respectively. And so, there are
intellectuals who do not make any distinction between the colonialists and the
missionaries, thinking (and they may be right) that the missionaries' aim was spiritual
colonization, dressed in the garb of salus animarum (salvation of souls). Having
conquered the people spiritually, church leaders milk them daily, or at least once a week
(every Sunday), and the Islamic clerics also milk the people for their own affluence.
Ehusani quotes Ngugi Wa Thiong'o as writing that “the cumulative effect of the
experience of slavery and colonialism tantamount to a cultural bomb”, which was aimed
at annihilating “a people's belief in their names, in their language, in their heritage of
struggle, in their unity, in their capacities and ultimately in themselves.” 31 Unfortunately,
the truism of that statement is with Africa to a very large extent even today.
Ecclesiastically speaking, Hillman regrets that “Stripped naked and taught, in schools and
churches, to be ashamed of themselves, their 'primitive' and 'pagan' ways”, many
Africans “came to believe that 'progress' consists not in being themselves, but in imitating
foreign ways.” He holds, and I agree with him, that “Religious activity, aimed at
displacing Africa's traditional religious symbol systems, and replacing them with foreign
imports, was the greatest threat to the survival of African cultures.” 32 Writing in a similar
vein, Ehusani quotes David Lamb as remarking that:
119
The colonialists left behind some schools and roads, some post
offices and bureaucrats. But their cruelest legacy on the African
continent was a lingering inferiority complex, a confused sense of
identity. After all, when people are told for a century that they're not
as clever or capable as their masters, they eventually start to believe
it.33
Christo-Islamic missionaries have continued to prop the “lingering inferiority complex”,

by always finding ways of derogating and maligning ATR and culture. On individual
basis, I have quoted Fuller and Ilupeju (under “The Denigrators of African Heritage”) to
illustrate that point. Gwamna notes that Byang Kato raised “the most critical voice
against African theology”, criticizing “the emphasis of Mbiti and Idowu on African
culture as providing the basis for contextualization of the Biblical message in Africa,”
adding, however, that Kato himself has been criticized for “being too negative and hard
on African culture.”34 Beyond the individual level, Peet notes how the Catholic Church
“heaps caution upon caution to make sure that in the process of inculturation the message
of the Gospel does not get lost”, and that “communion between the local Church and
Rome and between the local Church and the universal Church must always be
maintained.”35 There can be no better way of tying the Catholic Church in Africa to the
apron of the Vatican City than warnings about inculturation. Omenyo and Kwakye also
note that “the Ghanaian Anglican church” as currently constituted “often presents an
impression of a church with great English tendencies and little African contribution.” 36 In
his own capacity as an Anglican theologian and Bishop, Asaju (a Nigerian) is quoted by
Gwamna as issuing cautions against inculturation so that it is not “taken too far.” Who
defines the “too far” boundary, and how far is “too far” is not stated.
All of that explains why I did not mention any mainline Church as an advocate of
African Christian Theology of any type, even though some theologians of the mainline
extraction, such as Peter Sarpong, are strong advocates of the theology. Solarin quotes E.
B. Idowu as noting that “the Baptists” in Nigeria “still have to discover whether they
have any soul at all which can live and will not suffer extinction if it comes out of the
incubator afforded by the Mission Board of the American Southern Baptist Convention”,
while “the Roman Catholic authorities do not disguise their claim that their church in
Nigeria must either remain an outreach of the Vatican or it cannot be a church at all.” 37
There is no evidence that the paradigm has shifted, since then till now, the purpose being
to maintain uniformity. Waliggo writes that:
This stress on uniformity was not new in the Church. If there is

something the Apostles and the Apostolic Fathers and their
successors had insisted on, it was unity of doctrine, the acceptance
by all churches of the Rule of Faith and faithfulness to the apostolic
and Father's traditions. But all that did not resolve the tensions
brought about by inculturation. The Greek or Oriental Church
gradually developed its own liturgy, theology, spirituality and it
found itself excommunicated in 1054. All efforts for unification of
the Latin and Greek Churches proved fruitless mainly because each
120
church had inculturated itself so deeply in the cultures of its
people.38
The African scenario likewise indicates that some African Instituted Churches have
inculturated irreversibly. The fear of inculturation is sometimes expressed as fear of
syncretism, so as not to reintroduce, as Waliggo further notes, “superstitions long
condemned, and elements of 'paganism' long forgotten”.39But, how many “superstitions”
and “elements of paganism” are long forgotten? Divination and magic, for instance,
probably reduced only to some extent. In the words of Hillman, there was the “facile
assertion that African cultures are archaic and vanishing under the impact of westernizing
modernity.”40 Quite on the contrary, many people are still yearning for African traditional
heritage, medically, magically, and otherwise, even now in the twenty-first century.
There is a fairly popular acknowledgement that African traditional heritage is too rich
and valuable to disappear, and Schroer reminds us that even the biblical texts contain
syncretism in respect of many issues, “whether over anthropology or pictures of the
world, the image of the king or the image of God, the origin of mythical narrative
material or the genres and contents of love songs, collections of instructions for living or
proverbs, or legal corpora”, and that “Even a glance at the specialist literature will show
that there is little that was not influenced in a complex way by Ugarit, Egypt, Syria,
Assyria or Babylonia.”41 What indeed is syncretism if not a human thing which consists
in sharing of ideas, which is found among literate and illiterate intellectuals, creative
thinkers, song composers, drummers, dancers, other artists and scientists?
9.8.2. Opposition to African Liberation Theology
Black Theology is a form of Christian liberation theology traced to North

America and South Africa where it battled racism (in both countries). The expression,
Black Theology, is said to have been coined by a Black American, James Cone. No
government or church supported Black Theology; the advocates were indeed threatened
and hunted. The name and praxis of liberation theology are traced to the Roman Catholic
Church in Latin America. In the words of Ukpong:
The expression, 'liberation theology', came into Africa from Latin

America. Its popularity was boosted by the holding of the first
conference of the third-world theologians in Dar-es-Salam,
Tanzania, in 1976, where Latin American theologians played a
major role. The poor socio-economic conditions in Africa has led
Africans to the search for this theology which is committed to the
cause of the poor in their struggle for a better humanity and a better
society.42
Indeed, the politico-economic disequilibrium in Latin America led the people to the
consciousness to engage in liberation theology. The continent was dominated by
Catholics, and yet the rich-poor gap was not only too wide, mass abject poverty was the
order of the day, even as most of the people worshiped in the same Catholic Church.
Sadly, like Black Theology, Liberation Theology was not welcome by any church; they
121
thrived as a theology of some radical elements within some churches. The “third-world
theologians” to whom Ukpong refers came from diverse academic institutions.
Liberation theology with its praxis orientation seems to be novel in ecclesiastical
tradition. The Church was used to a situation in which some persons or communities
suffer persecution for trying to live and propagate the Christian faith as known and taught
by the Church, but not struggling for a just socio-political order, as enjoined by liberation
theologies. Due to harrowing opposition, liberation theology as a discipline and
movement is now comatose, generally speaking, because the Church is not officially
favorable to it, despite the ideals it seeks to champion. Wikipedia (accessed January 23,
2014) notes that:
The influence of liberation theology diminished after proponents

were accused of using 'Marxist concepts' leading to admonishment
by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in
1984 and 1986. The Vatican criticized certain strains of liberation
theology for focusing on institutionalized or systemic sin, apparently
to the exclusion of individual offenders and offences; and for
identifying Catholic Church hierarchy in South America as members
of the same privileged class that had long been oppressing
indigenous populations since the arrival of Pizarro onward.43
The condemnation and rejection of Karl Marx by ecclesiastical authorities were akin to
what happened to Jesus Christ Himself. Marx had accused the Christian leaders of his
own time of making the religion (i.e. Christianity) opium of the people, giving people
hope in the name of Jesus and preventing them from seeing the need to fight for justice
and social responsibility by the ruling class. In Latin America, where the nomenclature of
Liberation Theology originated, thanks to Gustavo Gutierrez, like in the French
Revolution, also accused the Catholic Church of supporting the oppressors and exploiters
of the people; indeed of being an accomplice. In America and South Africa, the Blacks
had to hold their own destinies in their own hands, and some Christians made some
impact through Black Theology. The issue of the Church's objection then becomes knotty
and difficult to understand.
Karl Marx is viewed by liberation theologians as having for the oppressed and
exploited majority, empathy that was not un-similar to that of Jesus; the only exception
being that Jesus never advocated confrontation with the oppressors, even though
sometimes confrontation is inevitable. It must be noted that it is not just the Church as an
institution that opposes liberation theology. Some individual theologians also criticize it
for various reasons. Wikipedia (accessed January 23, 2014) notes, for instance, how:
Andrew Greeley, a Roman Catholic priest and author, also criticized

liberation theology in his 2009 fictional book Irish Tweed. In
Greeley's book, a Chicago Catholic school is taken over by a
principal and priest practicing liberation theology, and its ideas, as
Greeley saw them, are applied in the school environment. For
instance, basketball team members are chosen based on their
family's economic status rather than on their ability.44
122
That sounds like a mockery of liberation theology; giving the dog a bad name in order to
get it hanged. Whoever carries the “preferential option for the poor”, advocated by
liberation theologians, to the level implied by Greeley misunderstands the issues that
brought about the dictum. As the same Wikipedia source explains, “In Latin America,
liberation theologians specifically target the severe disparities between rich and poor in
the existing social and economic orders within the nations' political and corporate
structures.”45 One sees no justifiable reason to play down or trivialize that serious issue,
even if some zealots misunderstood and misapplied the theories of liberation theology.
One should not throwaway the baby with the bathwater. Politicaltheology.com (06 Dec,
2013) corroborates Wikipedia when it notes that “The difficulty was that in Roman
circles liberation theology was held in suspicion”, and so, “basically, many bishops
hoped that it would simply fade away”, consequent upon which, “many theologians,
priests, nuns, and pastoral agents were afraid to use the term for fear of being accused of
being Marxists or leftist sympathizers.”46 Eventually, liberation theology is at best
moribund, in many parts of the world, while inhumanity of human beings to human
beings persists, and social disequilibrium is unabated.
There is no Church supporting liberation theology, if only because, as Pobee (an
Anglican/African theologian) observes, “In the history of the church, there is ample
evidence that time and again it sided with mighty and powerful and the rich against the
disadvantaged, the excluded, the marginalized.”47 The Church's support for the Slave
Trade, Apartheid in South Africa, and racial oppression in America easily come to mind
as examples. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) sided with Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan (GEJ) in his truncation of rotational presidency that compounded the Boko
Haram terrorism in the country, and that type of support was un-imaginable without
bribery and corruption. CAN joined GEJ to propagate the falsehood that Boko Haram
was simply an Islamic fundamentalist group, and too many ordinary Christians who did
not think of the political circumstances surrounding the saga sentimentally believed it.
The members of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) also
supported GEJ for the same financial inducement. The Muslim sultanates and emirates
are explicitly political, and political leadership intertwines with politico-economic
control. Similarly, the Christian dioceses and parishes are powerful, influential, and they
milk their members financially. And so, the Church's objection to liberation theology is
not illogical, since the Church also lives on collecting money from the people. However,
while the Church's objection may pass logicality test, it is certainly unspiritual and
immoral to indulge in, or condone human exploitation. It is part of what liberation
theologians call “structural sin”. Structural or organisational sin is in-built (within the
system), and so different from a sin committed by a person or group of persons based
purely only on personal volition. Prohibitive tax, for instance, is not the fault of the
person collecting it.
Mention has been made of how writing with specific reference to “the Pentecostal
constituency”, Ojo strongly feels that it must redress “the public perception of deep-
rooted corruption within the constituency as a result of reported cases of theft,
embezzlement and sexual sins among its hierarchy.” 48 None of that is systemic, but
money-collection is part and parcel of the system. I am aware of cases in which some
people do not go to church on Sunday, when they have no money. In many churches,
123
people are expected to pay tithe, other contributions, and do various thanksgivings that
are encouraged by the clerics, through appeal to “giving to God”. Unbridled
multiplication of thanksgiving, as avenue for milking church members, may affect the
fortune of Christianity in Africa, negatively. It is instructive how, from the Muslim point
of view, fewer and fewer people are said to buy ram to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir, due to
dwindling income.49 There is no doubt also that the amorphous church-state alliance that
is preventing the Church from chastising the political ruling class in many African
countries, such as Nigeria, is stifling her prophetic role of speaking the truth to those in
authority, and that is a concern of liberation theology, ecclesiastically speaking.
9.9. Feminist Liberation Theology
Something should be said on the feminist theology of liberation. The feminists

have achieved so much for women. The agitation has been on what they perceive as
patriarchal domination over women. Dube describes it as “marginalization of women
from power of leadership, decision making and property ownership.”50 One would have
thought that under a normal situation, no woman should agitate to have personal but
family property. Yet, situations are not always normal. I am aware that in Ghana, most of
the mainline Churches, including the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Anglican Churches
now ordain women as full-fledged ministers, and can, in principle, aspire to the highest
level of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Up until now, there is no sign that the Catholic
Church will ever endorse women ordination. However, because of feminist agitation, the
use of inclusive language is growing and enforced in some quarters. For instance, it is
now unfashionable, and in certain places unacceptable, to use the word “man” to mean
“men and women” or humankind. “Mankind” is jettisoned in favour of “humankind”, and
one is expected to use “his or her”; “he or she”; “him or her”; “people”; humanity,
human(s), male and female, men and women, etc, to ensure inclusivity.
Aside from the issue of marginalisation or subordination, women are also said to
be visited with dehumanizing treatment in some cultures, such as indiscriminately
accusing a widow of being the killer of her dead husband, and subjecting her to drinking
the water used to wash the corpse of the dead husband or forcing her to spend a night
sleep beside the corpse. Exposition and condemnation of such treatments of widows
could not but change the paradigm over time. It should be noted, however, that subjecting
a widow to obscene practices is not done all over Africa, but among some peoples only. It
is wrong, therefore, to use such practices to demonize the entire traditional Africa. Wife-
beating and maltreatment of women, generally, is known to be obscene among some
Europeans even with centuries of Christianity behind them. There is hardly any culture
that is sacrosanct; human beings are generally under gradual evolvement,
epistemologically and morally.
In many countries today, women percentage of political appointees is a big issue.
Unfortunately in Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan put some women
in charge of the country's economy: one as Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and
another as Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke, and neither could account for
the unbridled corruption in the system. Indeed, Allison is undergoing interrogations in
London and wanted in Nigeria over billions of dollar said to be misappropriated by her.
124
Every social unit requires a leader to create and maintain order, and in most parts
of the world, a husband is the head of family. The Yoruba say, Àìfàgbà f'é ̣nìkan ni ò jáyé
ó gún (The world cannot be stable when we refuse to submit to one person to be the
leader). That calls for mutuality and humility, not rivalry, egocentric arrogance and
triumphalism. The mentality that women are created to serve men should be eschewed, to
engender mutual appreciation and responsibility. Neither men nor women should over-
rate themselves, or indulge in superiority complex, if a holistic feminist theology of
liberation is to be achieved. Otherwise, matriarchal domination may replace the alleged
patriarchal chauvinism, and we end up in a vicious circle of male-female squabble. I
conclude that men and women should see themselves as complementary, rather than
hammering on equality, particularly within marriage.
Notes for Chapter Nine

1
E.g., Gwamna, Je'adayibe Dogara, Perspectives in African Theology. Bukuru: African
Christian Textbooks, 2008, is an example of theologians who use the expression “African
Theology” for “African Christian Theology”.
2
Parratt, John (ed.), A Reader in African Christian Theology. London: SPCK, 1987, is an
example of theologians who use the more specific expression, “African Christian
Theology”, rather than “African Theology”.
3
Nebechukwu, Augustine U., “Third World Theology”, in Journal of Inculturation
Theology.Vol. 2 No. 1, April, 1995. Faculty of Theology, Catholic Institute of West
Africa, p. 21; pp. 17-27.
4
Robinson, Gene.God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 2012, pp. 72-73
5
Nebechukwu, pp. 20-21
6
Ukpong, Justin S., Essays in Contextual Theology.Lagos: Campbell publishers, 1995, p.
33; and Je'adayibe Dogara Gwamna, Perspectives in African Theology. Bukuru: African
Christian Textbooks, 2008, pp. 203-214.
7
Ukpong, Justin S., 1995, p. 40.
8
Tutu, Desmond S., “Black Theology and African Theology: Soulmates or Antagonists?”,
in John Parratt (ed.), A Reader in African Christian Theology. London: SPCK, 1987, p.
49; pp.46-57.
9
Parratt, 1987, p. 2.
10
Ibid, p. p. 3.
11
Ukpong, 1995, p.48.
12
13
Ukpong, 1995, p. 48.
14
Sawyerr, Harry, “What is African Theology”, in John Parratt (ed.), A Reader in African
Christian Theology. London: SPCK, 1987, p. 13; pp. 12-28.
15
16
Ibid, p. 4.
17
Hillman, Eugene, Inculturation Applied: Toward An African Christianity. New York:
Paulist Press, 1993, p. 42.
18
Robinson, Gene, p.33.
125
19
Kraft, Charles H. “Foreword”, to Osadolor Imasogie, Guidelines for Christian Theology
in Africa (Theological Perspectives in Africa: No. 5).Achimota: Africa Christian Press,
1993; pp. 7-10.
20
Ibid, p. 9.
21
Garver, Stuart P., Watch Your Teaching: A Comparative Study of Roman Catholic and
Protestant Teaching Since Vatican II. San Diego: Mission toCatholics International Inc.,
1973, p. 9.
22
Placher, William C., A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction.Philadelphia: the
23
Idowu, E. Bolaji.Olódùmarè: God in Yorùbá Belief. Ikeja: Longman Nigeria Plc., 1996.
24
Hillman, Eugene, 1993, p. 42.
25
Amanze, James, “Conflict and Cooperation: The Interplay Between Christianity and
African Traditional Religions” in Cephas N. Omenyo and Eric B. Anum (eds.),
Rodopi, 2014, p. 300; pp. 281-304.
26
Kissi, Seth, “Promoting the Use of Traditional Concepts and Practices for the
Conservation of the Environment in the light of the Areopagus Address of Paul (Acts 17:
22-34)”, in JABS:Journal of African Biblical Studies Vol. 4, October2012. Ghana
Association of Biblical Exegetes (GABES) Publication, pp. 51-52.
27
Ukpong, Justin S., African Theologies Now - A Profile, Spearhead No. 80, February
1984. Eldoret: Gaba Publications, p. 7.
28
29
Parratt, John, “Introduction” to John Parratt (ed.), A Reader in African Christian
Theology. London: SPCK, 1987, p. 3.; pp. 1-11.
30
Ukpong, Justin S., 1995, p. 48-50.
31
Sawyerr, Harry, pp. 13-14.
32
Ehusani, George Omaku, An Afro-Christian Vision: “Ozovehe”: Toward A More
Humanized World. Iperu-Remo: The Ambassador Publications, 1992,p. 35.
33
34
Ehusani, George Omaku, p. 19
35
Gwamna, Je'adayibe Dogara, p. 213.
36
van der Peet, G., 20 Essays on Inculturation. Iperu-Remo: The Ambassador
Publications, 1992, p. 5
37
Omenyo, Cephas N. and Kwakye, Abraham N. O., “Authentically African,
Authentically Anglican”, in Cephas N. Omenyo and Eric B. Anum (eds.), Trajectories of
Religion in Africa: Essays in Honour of John S. Pobee. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2014, p.
128; pp. 127-141
38
Solarin, Tai, “The God of Nigeria is not Christian”, in G. O. Onibonoje, Kole Ọmọtọṣọ,
and A. O. Lawal (eds.), The Indigenous for NationalDevelopment. Ibadan: Onibonoje
publishers, 1976, p. 40; pp. 33-43.
39
Waliggo, J.M., 1986. "Making A Church that is Truly African", in Waliggo, J.M..
Crollius, A Roest, Nkeramihigo, T, and Mutiso-Mbinda, J. (eds.), Inculturation: Its
Meaning and Urgency. Nairobi: St. Paul Publications. Pp.1:1-30. York: Ballantine
Books, 1988, p. 17; pp. 11-30.
40
Ibid, p. 13.
41
126
42
43
Schroer, Silvia, 1994."Transformations of faith: Documents of Intercultural Learning in
the Bible", in Greinacher. N. and Mette, N. (eds), Christianity and Cultures. London:
SCM Press, 1994, p. 4; Pp. 3-14.
44
Wikipedia,accessed January23,2014: ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology.
45
Ibid.
46
Politicaltheology.com (06 Dec. 2013): http://www.politicaltheology.com/ blog/pope-
francis-and-liberation-theology-jeffrey-klaiber-s-j/
47
Pobee, John S. Celebrating the Jubilee of the World Council of Churches: A Christian
Council of Ghana Contribution to the World Council of Churches '8' assembly in
Harare, Zimbabwe. Accra: Asempa Publishers, Christian Councilof Ghana, 1998, p. 79.
48
Ojo, Matthews A, “Pentecostalism, Public Accountability and Governance in Nigeria”,
in Ogbomosho Journal of Theology: Pentecostalism, theCharismatics and African
Initiatives in Christianity, Vol. XIII (1), 2008, p. 131; pp. 110-133.
49
Daily Trust, Tuesday, 30 September, 2014, in its “City News” page.
50
Dube, Musa W, 'God Never Opened the Bible to Me’: Women Church Leaders in
Botswana”, in Cephas N. Omenyo and Eric B. Anum (eds.), Trajectories ofReligion in
Africa. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2014, p.319; pp.317-340.
127
CHAPTER TEN
RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES
In this chapter, I share reflections on religion in society with some intellectuals. I

see a world in which religion seems to be very large, while mercy and compassion are
very lean. The year 2013 and early part of 2014 witnessed a situation in which in Nigeria
and Ghana, too many houses were demolished, and the occupants, including families and
their belongings were thrown on streets with wanton abandon. In Nigeria and Ghana,
practically all those in government profess either Christianity or Islam. Although the
terrorism in northern Nigeria is widely attributed to the Boko Haram Muslim sect , due to
governmental propaganda, there is no doubt that it owes its existence to bad politics, and
survival of the fittest mentality, which dominate the land jointly ruled by some Christian
and Muslim elites. The question then arises on the value of religion in society, and the
claim that religion promotes morality.
10.1. Sanctimonious Sanctity and Religious Triumphalism
The claim of exclusive revelation, inspiration, and inerrancy about Holy

Scriptures is not sustainable. As the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra,
Ghana, Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle, writes, for instance, “God could be found in the
various areopagai of human existence, be it in the traditional religions of Africa, or in the
historical struggles for political freedom on the African Continent.” 1 Yet, some Christian
and Muslim fundamentalists keep claiming that peoples who have no scripture lack
authentic religion, and must, therefore, submit to their own scriptural religions. People
who think that way believe that God actually wrote their own scriptures. Quite on the
contrary, Robinson, the Episcopalian Bishop of New Hampshire diocese, USA, writes,
for instance, that:
Few of us are willing to be bound by all the commands given to us

in the biblical text; otherwise, we would give all we have to the poor
to follow Christ, redistribute all the land every fifty years, refuse to
charge any interest on our loans and investments, share our worldly
possessions communally as did the early Church, and refuse to
support our nation's defense budget in accord with Jesus's
commandment not to resist evil. We have come to understand
certain things as acceptable in the biblical culture and time but not in
our own among other things, polygamy and slavery, which few
Christians would promote despite their acceptability in biblical
times.2
That notwithstanding, the impression is rife in some quarters that peoples who have no
holy scripture are worshipping the Devil or Demon. That attitude is referred to as
religious triumphalism; sanctimonious sanctity, or holier than thou. Christianity and
Islam are relatively young compared to the age of the world which is believed to have
existed many millennia before the birth of Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
128
Before the Christian age, which preceded the advent of Prophet Muhammad, “many great
empires had risen and fallen.”3What could God have hidden from human beings until the
advent of the two world renowned Prophets?4 And if God hid anything, on what bases
would He judge those who lived earlier, and those who will never become Christian or
Muslim until they die? St Paul states that non-Jews have no excuse to commit
ungodliness or wickedness, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because
God has shown it to them” (Rom. 1:18-19). Hence, it can be said that God has always
judged people, based on good and evil deeds. Why is it that dog is eating dog (meaning
the rivalry) between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, for instance, if all that the world
needed were holy books? Before Christianity and Islam came to Africa, people sold their
wares by displaying them on the road side, and putting a sign of the price beside the
wares, without keeping watch. What has made that to be no longer advisable; is it not
because the world is dominated by materialistic religions (Christianity and Islam that
require building of houses for God, and collecting money from members in His Name for
landed and other properties)?
With regard to non-scriptural religions, Etuk, for one, thinks that ATR's lack of
scripture is a good thing. In his words:
We find no books or records in African Traditional Religion; no

Bibles or holy books, hymnals or other documents. It is quite likely
that the religion has suffered some impoverishment and handicaps
for this want of documentation. But one thing we know is that the
religion thereby made itself so readily accessible that anyone could
come to it without feeling alienated, for instance, by inability to read
its sacred writings. In this way, the traditional religion lent itself
readily to use; one did not have to go to school in order to learn it;
and one did not have to master anything in order to be admitted to
its membership.5
ATR is of course a primal religion, not much based on deliberate doctrinal formulations
that are calculated to dominate the world through religious oligarchy. God speaks to
people through their senses, the created order, and life experiences. The online William
Burkitt's Notes on the New Testament comments on Rom 1:19 thus: “That is, much of the
nature and properties of God may be known by the light of nature; his infinite power,
wisdom and goodness, are manifest in the minds and the consciences of all men.” 6 As
such, the question remains: What new law did God introduce after many millennia of
human existence in the world? If the example of Jesus is anything to go by, He is quoted
as saying He has not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them (Mat.
5:17). The law of love cannot be “a new commandment” (John 13:34), because it has
been preached long before the birth of Jesus, and it is what has been tying people together
ab initio, while its absence results in enmity and hostility. The online Adam Clarke's
Biblical Commentary asks rhetorically:
In what sense are we to understand that this was a new

commandment? Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, was a
129
positive precept of the law, Le 19:18, and it is the very same that
Christ repeats here; how then was it new? Our Lord answers this
question, 'Even AS I have loved you'.7
Was there, then, anything “new” in the commandment to love one's neighbour, or can it
be said that genuine love never existed before the prophetic ministry of Jesus, when the
world was created out of God’s love for humankind? Equally crucial is the question on
whether Christians and Muslims are better than other peoples in holiness, love of God
and neighbour. Ukpong writes that “As far back as 1937, Diedrich Westerman was to
observe: 'When Europeans who have lived in Africa are asked: Are African Christians
distinguished from their pagan fellows by greater honesty, reliability, and thrift? In the
majority of cases the reply will be in the negative'.” By way of reaction, Ukpong
remarked that “Christians can still be said to be losing their balance today.” 8. That
“today” was in 1984 when Ukpong published his book. But, nothing has changed for the
better, apparently for the worse. As earlier noted, the materialistic natures of Christianity
and Islam are not promoting virtues, such as altruism and compassion, but mostly pride in
being a Christian or Muslim. Whatever remains of altruism and compassion is reserved
for some members or fellows in the same Christian or Muslim group.
10.2. Africa under Christian and Muslim Dominations
Christians and Muslims dominate the political and economic spaces of many
African countries, and corruption and self-aggrandisement, with corresponding
impoverisation and mass abject poverty are the orders of the day. And so, what Turaki
wrote in 1997 remains true, that “the contemporary scene and condition of Africa look
hopeless and helpless.”9 Both Christianity and Islam are highly politicized in countries
like Nigeria. Apparently, because the two religions are also money-centered, their clerics
rarely play any prophetic role of lampooning the corrupt rulers, since they need money
from them. In Nigeria, for instance, rather than condemning the corrupt political rulers,
many Christo-Islamic clerics focus homosexuals and women who they accuse of
“indecent dressing”. Turaki is thus apt when he notes that “the conditions today have left
man mostly in chains in Africa.”10 For instance, some Muslims in power want women in
Nigeria to dress as in Saudi Arabia. They strive to impose hijab-wearing by Muslim
students in public basic schools, which would instill religious bigotry on Nigerian
children from primary to university levels, one way or another. Nigeria rulers prioritise
Christian and Muslim festivals, pilgrimages, and projects above infrastructure and
workers’ dues.
Christo-Islamic Africa quotes Scriptures to assert that homosexuals are not
created in that way, and so, have no right to express their sexuality. Yet, the diversity in
creation is inexhaustible, and God is not known to have personally written anything that
one could quote with impeccable authority against homosexuals. Ditto regarding such
controversial issues, including polygamy versus monogamy, and the controversy
surrounding alcoholic drinks. As an academic, I would expect that we listen to gifted
biologists and psychologists on such issues as homosexual orientation, if our scholarship
is to be as scientific as it should be. Theologians have no excuse not to be scientific,
because the unseen God is studied in His visible creation and human actions and failure
130
to act. Moreover, can it be said that sexual immorality, which many Christians and
Muslims are focusing, is worse than socio-political and economic crimes, including
misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds, responsible for the gross
underdevelopment of many African countries, and mass abject poverty, perpetrated by
the elites with impunity, to the peril of the overwhelming majority? In traditional Africa,
trust is secured through effective oaths that are tied to divine powers, which Christians
and Muslims reject as idolatry.
10.3. Religion and Idolatry
Many Christians and Muslims accuse traditional Africans of idolatry. I observe

that peoples in the two religions have also turned certain persons into idols, such as those
they recognize as living and dead saints or their spiritual fathers and mothers. A Yoruba
Muslim singer enjoins in one of his songs: Ẹ jé ̣ á ṣe tótó f'Alfa wa (the closest English
translation is: Let's pay homage to our spiritual Leader). I have translated tótó as homage,
but the fact is that the word is much stronger than that; it is used in Yoruba only for God.
When a traditional Yoruba is awfully confounded by a wonder, he or she would say Tótó
fùn ún un, Olódùmarè (i.e. God and His infinite wonders!). The word tótó is not even
used for kings, queens, priests and priestesses in the traditional usage, but reserved only
for God. Yet, that is the extent to which some Muslims awfully respect their clerics;
giving them the category of homage which the traditional Yoruba reserve for God alone.
Is that not reminiscent of the “gods” concept? Is it not idolatry when Catholics conceive
the Eucharist as symbolizing God? Muslims, like the Jews and Catholics, conceive the
Kaaba (Tabernacle) as representing the Holy of Holies; a thing that would be regarded as
idolatry if found in ATR.
Moreover, many Christians and Muslims perform rituals that are similar to what
obtain in ATR, such as initiation rites, and they use their Holy Scriptures magically.
From the Christian worldview, Gwamna quotes David T. Adamo as affirming that “the
Psalms have particularly been used to address diseases, therapeutics, curses, success to
win court cases, success in examination, success in business and to secure love, among
others.” And, according to Gwamna, S.O. Abogunrin corroborates Adamo this way:
The reading of such psalms may also include the sacrifice of animals
like goats or sheep or fowls or materials like maize (àádùn), bread,
sugarcane or sugar, palm oil, etc., and placed at crossroads or market
center, river or sea beds, to witches, wizards or spirits, either for
deliverance or for the destruction of the enemy. [And] 'those who
practice the magical use of the Bible believe that, it is efficacious.'11
That may sound incredible to the in-experienced, including this researcher. The magical
use of the Qur'an is more popular, because many Islamic clerics are known to indulge in
it, professionally.
Some holy books have received human sacrifice, after being turned into idols by
some religious adherents. Not too long ago in northern Nigeria, a female examination
invigilator was killed by being set ablaze for throwing out some books which happened to
include “the Holy Qur’an” among the books brought into the examination hall by an
131
examinee. I am aware that some Christians also enthrone the Bible ritualistically in a
corner of their houses. Did upheavals over doctrinal disagreements not lead to killing of
heretics in Christian and Islamic histories, tantamount to human sacrifice? These types of
observations become issues for comparative religious studies, regarding various forms of
“idolatry” and “syncretism”. Some Muslims attribute their successes to the grace of the
Qur’an; the grace of the Kaaba, and the grace of the Prophet, all of which correspond to
Christians who conceive Jesus as having all the attributes of God, and saying that he is
indeed God. Jesus has replaced God Almighty in the consciousness of many Christians,
as the latter is rarely mentioned in popular practice of Christianity; a thing that is contrary
to the emphasis that Jesus himself places on the Father, as exemplified in “The Lord’s
Prayer”.
Going by the foregoing, it is difficult to see how there is a religion without “idols”
and “idolatry”. And why not, if not, if an idol is what we adore? Ideally, then, the most
worthy Idol should be God Almighty Himself.
10.4. Religion and Neighbour
There is the fact of environmental noise pollution by some Christians and

Muslims who mount powerful loudspeakers in their churches and mosques in Nigeria and
Ghana, for instance, to impose their homilies, music, etc. on their neighbours. Some
neighbbours have described the phenomenon as “nuisance”, and smacks of insensitivity
that has become the bane of many African societies. I saw it in Nigeria and Ghana,
though not in Dakar, the Senegal capital, where I spent a month, in the capital of a
country with about ninety-seven percent Muslims. One can only hope that many African
societies and communities have not lost their socio-political, economic, and religious
sanities, based on religious sentimentalism and aggression.
Can any informed person really deny that many Christians and Muslims have
shifted emphases from love, mercy, and compassion, to condemnation of “idol
worshippers”, to the extent that a good Christian or Muslim is not one who loves his or
her neighbour, but one who does not “worship idol”? Yet, Jesus at least is not reported in
any of the gospel accounts to be upset by “idol worship”, but by lack of love of
neighbour, mercy, and compassion. That was what he advocated and appreciated
wherever he found it even among gentiles. In Matthew 25: 31-46, what will decide
salvation to heaven or damnation to hell is being kind, generous, and altruistic, or being
selfish, stingy, wicked, and insensitive to the needs of neighbour, respectively.
10.5. The Concept of Religious Superiority
Some scholars wonder whether it can be said that Christianity or Islam or both are
superior religions in relation to ATR or any other religion, including Judaism, Hinduism,
Buddhism, Confucianism, Shintoism, etc. Smith quotes a religious scholar, Arnold
Toynbee, as saying that, "There is no one alive today, who knows enough to say with
confidence whether one religion has been greater than all others".12 Similarly, Balogun (a
renowned Islamic scholar) affirms that, “I am certainly not interested in extolling one
religion above another, neither do I consider one religion per se better than another.”
Rather, he believes that “religions are either acceptable or rejectable (sic) according to
132
how their adherents practice them.”13 Unlike Balogun, too many Africans appear
credulous and gullible. What is worse, I discovered through interactions that not every
Department of Religious Studies in African universities has closed its doors to religious
bigotry against ATR. Some supervisors and examiners still allow some Christian and
Islamic students to malign ATR as fetish and lacking in genuine knowledge of God.
While bigotry may make sense in church and mosque, it denotes prejudice and ignorance,
as well as sin against truth and objectivity, in a university system.
In Europe and America, the wars between Catholics and Protestants led to the
state-church separation, so as to maintain equity and peace in the states for every citizen.
However, all efforts to separate religion from state is frustrated in many African countries
by Christo-Islamic elites, including in many universities where the administrations insist
on opening and closing meetings with prayer, either in a Christian and or Islamic way.
All of that promotes religious sentimentalism and favoritism, and only God knows how
long the rivalries, politicking, and destabilization bedeviling those countries, such as
Nigeria, Mali, Central Africa, and Chad, will last. I believe that people should pray,
privately, and leave public offices and institutions for public service, towards promoting
religious freedom and equity, such that opening and closing meetings with prayer would
be avoided, or at most said silently by individuals according to their beliefs. Otherwise,
neither the Church nor the Mosque can be trusted with human rights as such. With
specific reference to the Catholic Church, Oguogho notes, for instance, that:
A Church that promoted and took part in the slave trade and in the
colonial enterprise cannot be said to have recognized human rights
or respected them, even if it officially claimed to recognise them.
This is simply because the slave trade and colonialism were a
negation of freedom from the point of view of their victims.14
What Oguogho is quoted as writing about the Catholic Church cannot be denied about
other Churches. And the Arabs who brought Islam to Africa also perpetrated slave trade.
The Slave Trade was a terrible violation of Human rights, and human rights are still
largely violated in many African countries today. In Nigeria, for instance, the perpetrators
are, for the most part, Christian and Muslim politicians who are ruling the land, and they
resist separation of religion from the state, so they can continue to spend state funds on
their churches, mosques, festivals, pilgrimages, etc.
10.6. The Christian and Islamic Status in Africa
During the last decades of the twentieth century, hope was very high that by the
next millennium, starting from year 2000, Africa would become the center of Christianity
in the world. Based on that expectation and hope, Pobee wrote in 1986 that “the next
millennium is only some fourteen years ahead and holding out the prospect of Africa
becoming the center of gravity of world Christianity.” 15 When the new millennium came
and Africa has not become the center of Christianity in the world, the language has
changed. Writing in 2005, Carpenter cautiously expressed his belief that “Africa already
has more Christians and greater future for Christianity, than Europe and North
America.”16 Since being the Headquarters of world Christianity implies money and
133
influential power, would Europe and North America really want to lose their privileged
positions, and when will African Christians achieve adequate financial resources to
shoulder the responsibilities of a headquarters? Beyond all of that, to what extent is
Christianity itself growing in Africa? Assimeng wrote in 1989 that:
Although huge religious assemblages are still visible in the urban

communities of West Africa, especially on Fridays, Sundays, and
other festive days, the reasons for such religious assemblages should
now be perhaps sought in other than purely spiritual spheres. Much
of what is done now is done on grounds of rationally calculated
utility, pleasure, and practical need.17
There seems to be no doubt that some or many go to church for socialization and to kill
loneliness; to know people for job and other opportunities, including getting a partner for
marriage. There are some other persons who seek miracle to solve one problem or
another, due to which too many persons seem disillusioned with deception and empty
promises. I found that some Christians in Nigeria and Ghana are not in the church every
Sunday, for various reasons, including penury and dissatisfaction with church life. My
observation revealed also that there are many Muslims who neglect the five-time daily
prayer and the Ramadan fast in Nigeria. Monday, July 28, 2014 marked the Eid el Fitri
(the feast that celebrates the end of Ramadan). The Sheikh that was interviewed on that
day in the IQRA programme, Tv3, Ghana, said if you gather a group of thirty young
Muslims of post-secondary school age, you would not find more than one or two or three
of them who know the basic teachings of Islam. And that conforms to my experience
with undergraduate Christian students that I teach some aspects of Christian studies,
including “The Life and Teaching of Jesus”. Most of them lack knowledge of the simple
catechism and biblical stories that I learnt in primary school with my peers. The Muslim
woman that was on the IQRA programme with the Sheikh blamed it on parenting. I can
add, from a Christian perspective, that the fundamentals of Christianity are no longer
emphasised in many Christian quarters; what are emphasised are faith and miracle, more
often than not disconnected from love of God and neighbour.
Yet, there are still very many Christians and Muslims in many African countries,
whether nominal, neutral, or practicing. But, is it possible that Christianity or even
religion, as it were, is drifting to its status in Western Europe and North America in terms
of dwindling church attendance and nominalism? ATR is moribund in many (not in all)
places, but the future of Christianity and Islam depend on the extent to which they
promote social equity and justice. As things stand now in a country like Nigeria, only
very few persons are saying the truth to authority, and not all of the few are doing so in
the name of religion, but as human rights activists. More and more people learn about
oath-taking and honesty in ATR, which some researchers may like to delve into.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
We have gone through how and why some African traditional heritages remain
relevant and urgent for the reinstatement of African personality and African life itself, in
the face of growing inhumanity of human beings to human beings, egocentricism, self-
134
aggrandizement, mass abject poverty, and growing ocean of beggars. Any river that cuts
itself off from its source will soon dry-up; Africans should celebrate their
ancestors/ancestresses, and protect their heritages. The extended family system used to
mitigate (not eradicate) egocentricism and self-aggrandizement. African traditional
medicine is still in much demand. Some individuals use charm to arrest criminals, even
though some evil people also use charm ingloriously, and more often than not
unsuccessfully. Some good diviners still give a sense of direction to some bewildered
persons. African traditional music and dance still have their appeal, etc. in diverse areas
of human needs.
African Christian Theology of Inculturation is encourage-able because there is
much in African traditional culture that has nothing to do with the devil or not
inextricably bound-up with evil. Liberation Theology is needed in Africa; the Church and
the Mosque should stop presenting religion as opium to the people; political injustice
should be challenged, protested, and confronted.
Is there, perhaps, a holier than thou religion? It is historically true, for instance,
that Mary Slessor, a Christian missionary in the nineteenth century, helped to end killing
of twins among the Calabar people, Nigeria. But she or any other Christian missionary
could not stop the Slave Trade, colonialism, apartheid in South Africa, and the
exploitation and oppression of the Blacks in North America for decades, and those
Western projects claimed so many lives when they prevailed. Parratt writes that the
Christian background of Dr. Julius Nyerere influenced his Ujamaa programme and pro-
people policies as the President of Tanzania. 18 One then wonders what influenced the
anti-people policies of the Church, such as its opposition to liberation theology, and
multiplication of collections and offerings in addition to tithe in many churches? In
respect of the latter, the Yoruba say, Alufa n sanra, ìjọ n rù (meaning: the cleric is getting
fat, the members are getting lean). Where lies hope when religion fails to promote fear of
God and good moral conscience? What did Islam tell the Arabs when they were buying
Africans as slaves? What did Christianity tell the Europeans when they indulged in the
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade? What did ATR tell Africans who sold their fellow men and
women into slavery? It is thus doubtful that religion qua religion will save anybody. I
submit that only fear of God and love of neighbour will count, ultimately. It is usually
said that no religion preaches evil, but many crimes and evil deeds, such as financial
extortion and sexual exploitation, are committed in the name of one religion or another,
and yet attributed to God, since they are committed in His name. Hence religion and God
should not be equated as sometimes assumed, because they are two different entities;
while God is unique, religion is a diverse reality.
135
Notes for Chapter Ten
1
Palmer-Buckle, Charles G., “Forward I”, in Cephas N. Omenyo and Eric B. Anum,
Rodopi, 2014, a single initial page, no page number.
2
Robinson, Gene, God Believes in Love: Straight Talk about Gay Marriage. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 2012, pp. 66-67.
3
Adamolekun, T. (2006), “A Survey History of the Early Christian Church from the
Apostolic Age to the Council of Chalcedon 451 A.D.”, Journal of Religion and African
Culture, Vol. 2, Nos 1&2, Akungba-Akoko: Department of Philosophy and Religious
Studies, Adekunle Ajasin University, p. 9.
4
In Luke 24:19, Jesus is called “a prophet”.
5
Etuk, Udo, Religion and Cultural Identity. Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2002, p.37.
6
William Burkitt's Notes on the New Testament (online Power Bible CD)
7
Adam Clarke's Biblical Commentary (online Power Bible CD)
8
Ukpong, Justin S. African Theologies Now: A Profile (Spearhead No. 80),February
1984. Eldoret: GABA Publications, February 1984, p. 13.
9
Turaki, Yusuf, Tribal Gods of Africa: Ethnicity, Racism, Tribalism and the Gospel of
Christ. Jos: Crossroads Media Services, 1997, p.2.
10
Ibid.
11
Gwamna, Je'adayibe Dogara. Perspectives in African Theology. Bukuru: African
Christian Textbooks, 2008, p. 214.
12
Smith, Huston. 1991. The World's Religions. Harper San Francisco, 1991, p.6.
13
Balogun, I. A. B., “Religious Tolerance is A Prerequisite for Peace, Unity and Progress
in Nigeria”, in I. A. B. Balogun (ed.), ReligiousUnderstanding and Co-operation in
Nigeria: Proceedings of A SeminarOrganized by the Department of Religions, University
of Ilorin, Nigeria, 7th-11th August, 1978. University of Ilorin, Department of Religions,
2012, p. 7; pp. 1-9.
14
Oguogho, Murumba Jem, "The Nigerian Church and Human Rights", in Ngoyi, J.P. and
Edigheji. Emma O'Mano (eds). The Church and HumanRights: Papers Presented and
Report of A Workshop Organized by the Human Rights Committee, Justice and Peace
Commission, Ijebu-Ode Catholic Diocese, and Civil Liberties Organisation, Nigeria,
1993, p. 55; Pp.45-59.
15
Pobee, John S., “Preface”, to J. S. Pobee and J. N. Kudadjie, Theological Education in
Africa: Quo Vadimus? Accra: Asempa Publishers, World Council of Churches, Geneva,
p. vii.
16
Carpenter, Joel A., “Preface”, in Sanneh, Lamin and Carpenter, Joe A., The Changing
Face of Christianity: Africa, the West, and the World. Oxford: University Press, 2005,
p.vii.
17
Assimeng, Max, Religion and Social Change in West Africa.Accra: Ghana University
Press, 1989, p. 125.
18
Parratt, John, “Dr Julius Nyerere”, in John Parratt (ed.), A Reader in African Christian
Theology. London: SPCK, 1987, p. 117.
136

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AFRICAN ANCESTRAL HERITAGE

A comparative study of African and Christian ancestral heritages, coupled with a

Originally published by Department of Religion and Human Values, University of Cape

Pius Oyeniran Abioje

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I. Justification for this Book x

Chapter One: Ancestral Veneration in Theological Literature 2

Chapter Two: Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland 10

Chapter Three: The Catholic Church Sainthood and Ancestral Veneration 29

Chapter Five: Observations, Recommendations, and Conclusion 50

Chapter Seven: The Content of African Heritage 69

Chapter Eight: African Heritage in Contemporary Perspectives 102

Chapter Ten: Religion in Contemporary African Perspectives 128

Thirdly, the eyes of African peoples, especially scholars,

No longer is African Religion subjected to foreign nomenclature, seen as a

Of course, saying that “African Religion is no longer subjected to foreign nomenclature”

Theoretical or conceptual categorisation is possible in such disciplines as

III. The Structure of this Book

Notes for the Introduction

ANCESTRAL VENERATION IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE

1.1. Ancestral Veneration as a Phenomenon in Human Life

In a report: “Ancestor Worship Discussed at Synod” (the Synod of Catholic

In all the black-African societies, the relationship of the living with

1.2. Ancestral Veneration vis-à-vis Cult of Saints

The final proposals of the Synod Fathers to the Pope defended

1.3. Identification of Jesus Christ As An Ancestor

The Nigerian Journal of Theology of May, 1991, carries a contribution,

Ancestral Christology, Ancestral Kinship and Christ's Brother-

Briefly, we may say that radically speaking, Jesus became our

That seems to represent Nyamiti's peculiar expression of theological instinct on Jesus

Notes for Chapter One

ANCESTRAL VENERATION IN YORUBA CULTURE

2.1. Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland

Ogundeji, ọmọ ẹkùn

Òkú gbérí kò le dìde

Adieu! Till eternity

2.3. The Place of Ìwà in Yoruba Anthropology

In Yoruba worldview, as in many other cultures, possibly, neither earthly wealth

Máse m'òrìṣa kan mọ́nu:

Do not accuse any divinity

Belief in reincarnation seems widespread. In Richardson's view, the belief in

Normally, when a child is born, the Yoruba consult the oracle to

In Yorubaland, if not in entire Africa, generally speaking, the situation in which

re-incarnation doubtless sprang from an ethical intuition that justice

2.4.1. Metempsychosis: Forms of Living in the World after Death

While reincarnation refers to transmigration of a soul into another body, on the

2.5. The Yoruba Approach to Ancestral Veneration

2.7. The Ancestral Cults of Egúngún and Orò

2.7.1. The Egúngún Cult

2.7.2. The Orò Cult

2.7.2.1. Women Who See Oro

2.8. Diviners vis-à-vis Ancestral Veneration in Yorubaland

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAINTHOOD AND ANCESTRAL VENERATION

3.1. The Catholic Cult of Saints

Due to proliferation of secret cults around the world, it seems apposite to

Saints are venerated by the observance of feasts in their memory in

3.2. History of the Process of Attaining Sainthood

only in 993 did a candidate named Ulrich of Augsburg go through a

In ecclesiastical usage the term canonisation is the process, reserved

3.2.1. Sainthood in Contemporary Perspectives

Vatican Council II affirmed that the Holy Spirit is at work wherever

3.3. Abuses Relating to the Cult of Saints

3.3.1. Mary the Mother of Jesus in Catholic Perspectives