Olusegun Adeniyi: The Olu of Warri and his God

by Olusegun Adeniyi

His-Majesty-Ogiame-Atuwatse-II-The-Olu-of-warri-2012

But I remain unconvinced that salvation is also a function of cultural suicide. For me, there is nothing that should preclude a traditional ruler from being a disciple of Christ as well as an authentic symbol of the culture of his people. This is the crux of a debate that is waiting to be inaugurated.

“Henceforth, I submit and present the title ‘ogiame’ to God, the creator, who made the sea and rules over all. Therefore, no Olu or person may bear the title or name that now belongs to God. I nullify all tokens of libation poured on the land and seas or sprinkled into the air in Iwere land. I frustrate all  sacrifices of wine, blood, food, water, kola nuts and other items offered in Iwere land. In conformity with the new covenant, through the blood of Jesus, I release the royal bloodline, the chiefs of the Iwere kingdom, the Iwere people and land, waters and atmosphere of Iwere kingdom from all ties to other spiritual covenants and agreements.”

With the foregoing royal proclamation, the Olu of Warri, Atuwase II, recently decreed a stop to some ancient customs of the Warri Kingdom after publicly renouncing the traditional name ‘Ogiame’. The Olu also vowed to replace all the rituals and practices that do not conform with his new faith in Jesus Christ. But the royal father did not have the last word on the matter as he met a stiff challenge from a cross-section of Itsekiri people who called for his dethronement. By the third day of what was almost becoming a violent protest, several youths and women had erected canopies and were cooking in front of the palace gate.

However, following the intervention of the Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, himself an Itsekiri man, the traditional ruler (who happens to be a staunch member of the Foursquare Gospel Church), had to annul his own decree for peace to reign. And with the crisis resolved, a thanksgiving service was held last Sunday with the crème-de-la-crème of the Itsekiri nation, including Governor Uduaghan, (who came with his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN), Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Victor Ochei, and a large number of senior government officials) in attendance.

While it is noteworthy that Governor Uduaghan and other prominent Itsekiri sons and daughters were able to rally to put out the fire that could have had far-reaching consequences on the peace in Warri Kingdom, a most pertinent question remains as to whether indeed the Olu could unilaterally reject the title ‘ogiame’ which represents the ancient identity, custom, heritage and symbol of the people over whom he presides. This question is worth interrogating in view of the fact that what the royal father sought to jettison without due process were established values and deep-rooted beliefs of his people which have persisted over generations–traditions over which he was appointed to serve as custodian.

I find the Warri Kingdom crisis fascinating because it speaks to the tension between Pentecostal Christianity and tradition, especially in our country and Richard Niebuhr’s highly revealing book, “Christ and Culture”, perhaps opens some window of understanding. To demonstrate how Christians have attempted to deal with the challenge of their faith against the background of old beliefs and customs, Niebuhr identifies five approaches which he listed as: Christ against Culture; The Christ of Culture; Christ above Culture; Christ and Culture in Paradox and Christ the Transformer of Culture.

Unfortunately, the Pentecostalism that has been embraced in Nigeria today fits into the paradigm of “Christ against Culture”, a notion which rejects all the traditional African mores as archaic, backward and evil. The presupposition is that those traditions belong to some sinister gods that need to be dropped for us to prosper materially and spiritually. For that reason, many Nigerian Christians have had to change their names based on the theology that those names were dedicated to some ancestral spirits whose yokes would have to be broken for them to be free from poverty, disease and curse. While expressions of faith differ from one denomination to another, the preponderance of opinion among pastors is that our traditional heritages (sometimes including priceless artifacts, dating back to centuries) are hindrances to our faith and callings as believers hence we have to do away with them. It is within that context that we can situate the spiritual edict which got the Olu of Warri into trouble.

Now, I must make something clear: I am also a Pentecostal Christian–even with all my failings and imperfections–and I understand that one cannot serve the true God and still be worshipping idols. But I have problem with a faith that is expressed in symbolisms and even superstitions. For instance, I have listened to several songs and messages that the economic and political problems which plague our nation today can be traced to our hosting of FESTAC in 1977 during which, as the tale goes, several countries came to dump their Satanic gods on our land. Not only do I believe there was nothing wrong in our hosting FESTAC, I see no correlation between it and our inability as a nation to harness our enormous potentials for the advancement of our society.

The Warri incident is instructive because there is a constitutional dimension to it which in itself can be considered within the context of the Christian faith. The Olu for instance already has a Church within the palace and it is not on record that his people quarrel with that; so the attempt to change the tradition under which he came to power is not only wrong but indeed self-serving. Like all positions of authority, there are sacred rules that bind the leader to the community and that explains why in other climes, Kings have been known to abdicate their thrones whenever there are irreconsiliable conflicts between personal convictions (which sometimes include the love of certain women) and the traditional order.

In the particular case of Warri, the matter is even simple. If the Olu can demonstrate the true essence of his faith and his subjects could see the evidence in his deeds, perhaps he could gradually reform some of the traditions without the public drama that almost ended in hubris. The problem I see, however, is that such public profession of political Christianity has become the vogue. I have read of a minister who holds a strategic portfolio under the current administration who also doubles as the General Overseer of a Church he founded. Even if we choose to ignore the several issues begging for clarification in such God-Mammon portfolio, the question must be asked as to whether his faith is reflected in his stewardship as a public official.

But before we digress, what many fail to understand is that in order to develop our country and uplift our people, we need to burnish our cultural identity while adopting the instruments and methods of scientific civilisation. However, a fuller exploration of the issues will take us to the place of symbols in belief systems; the essential privacy of religion and indeed the tricky point of how all these intersect to sustain public order and social peace. To that extent, the peaceful resolution of the clash between the Olu of Warri’s private Christian belief and the imperatives of his public cultural symbolism as a traditional monarch speaks volumes to the rest of us.

Religion as an aspect of culture thrives on symbols and rituals. Pentecostalism of course rejects the rites of the traditional Christian churches as it is founded on the redemption work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. But I remain unconvinced that salvation is also a function of cultural suicide. For me, there is nothing that should preclude a traditional ruler from being a disciple of Christ as well as an authentic symbol of the culture of his people. This is the crux of a debate that is waiting to be inaugurated.

 

The Real Essence of Power

In a piece she contributed for the UK Guardian last Saturday, former Prime Minister of Australia, Ms Julia Gillard, spoke about the regrets and pain of losing power in such a profound manner that leaves lessons for all politicians (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/13/julia-gillard-labor-purpose-future).

Gillard who was Australia’s first female prime minister was ousted by long-term political rival, Mr. Kevin Rudd, in June this year, because the Labour Party felt she had become unpopular and might lose the September 7 general election. But notwithstanding, the party still lost to the conservative party. Gillard lamented that the change of leadership within the Labour Party just a few weeks to the general election had sent a “very cynical and shallow message” about the primary purpose of the party. “The decision was not done because caucus now believed Kevin Rudd had the greater talent for governing. Labor unambiguously sent a very clear message that it cared about nothing other than the prospects of survival of its members of parliament at the polls.”
The message from Gillard is that there should be a higher purpose to seeking public office than the prospect of winning elections. Unfortunately, in our country today, politics has become an end in itself rather than the promotion of the public good. That explains why the last couple of months have been spent by our political office holders (at practically all levels) making permutations about the 2015 general elections rather than fulfilling the promises of their current mandates. There is crisis in our public university system with the students marooned at home due to ASUU’s endless strike; the 2013 budget is in a tailspin on account of the activities of some oil thieves; a group of Ombatse cultists are gradually carving out an empire for themselves in Nasarawa State while the Borno/Yobe axis of the country has almost become a war zone because of the seemingly intractable Boko Haram insurgency. Yet the only agenda in Abuja is the desperation about who becomes the president of Nigeria in 2015 and which region he (always he!) should come from.

Even though Gillard has now quit politics for good, a portion in her intervention which I commend to readers should serve those who wish to learn lessons about the futility of power and its real essence: “Losing power is felt physically, emotionally, in waves of sensation, in moments of acute distress… know too that you can feel you are fine but then suddenly someone’s words of comfort, or finding a memento at the back of the cupboard as you pack up, or even cracking jokes about old times, can bring forth a pain that hits you like a fist, pain so strong you feel it in your guts, your nerve endings. I know that late at night or at quiet moments in the day feelings of regret, memories that make you shine with pride, a sense of being unfulfilled can overwhelm you. Hours slip by. I know that my colleagues are feeling all this now. Those who lost, those who remain. We have some grieving to do together. But ultimately it has to be grieving for the biggest thing lost, the power to change our nation for the better. To protect those who need us to shield them. To empower through opportunity. To decide what future we want for all our nation’s children and then build it. And when the grieving is done, that’s our purpose.”

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Read this article in the Thisday Newspapers

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

One comment

  1. Olu of warri have reminded me of king hezekiah in the Bible who destroyed all the foreign gods of his ancestors. and he United Israel and they all served God Almighty and he was bless and also the people was blessed. The king is a wise man and have toor the road of wisdom. God whom you have chosen will not let you down read through the Bible know king who chose this part that God disappointed. Rather they where stars in their communities and they again eternal life. Don't allow pleasure to make you denounce christ whom you have profess, only pray for God to give you courage to overcome. Your name have written in heaven, God bless you and the person who preach to you.

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