By Adeyinka Olaiya/ Brazil
Ajagunna Ile Oodua , Prof. Kola Abimbola has characterized the Yoruba Olodumare as different from the Abramovic concept of God . The son of Awise Ifa Agbaye said “Olodumare is not God” , he explained the differences and classified such affirmation as radical and fundamental category mistakes in philosophy and logics , he said category mistakes is ascribing certain property to entities which lack such .
According to the Professor, the God in the Bible is all in all , it does not consult other entity . Ajagunna said the Yoruba Olodumare consults other entities , it consults IFA , It takes messages from Esu , the Yoruba Olodumare is like the executive head of a team of Irunmoles with different purposes.
Ajagunna said the concept of God in Abramovic religion is designed to elevate the foreign entity . it is simply to accord the Abramovic God a higher divine position by conceptualizing the Yoruba Olodumare as God .
The Bàbálàwò said : “Olodumare is not God , it consults IFA too , it has the same Ase as Esu “ . He explained that Olodumare can not be compared to God , he said Olodumare has been conceptualized and embedded wrongly with the properties of the European concept of God , he said the word God is Germanic which has its significance in German, so is Olodumare which has its significance in Yoruba land .
Ajagunna revealed the Odu Osa O laanu , that the Yoruba Olodumare also consulted Ifa through Orunmila when it was necessary to recheck the forces of Ajoguns , the initiatives of Olodumare, Obatala , Esu and IFA to checkmate humans , IFA had asked Olodumare to make Ebo with 600 eggs , and which Olodumare did . This , according to Ajagunna , is a fact that Olodumare is not God , he said the European concept of God would not consult or rather make Ebo as Olodumare did
Prof. Abimbola expressed that the wrong definition of Olodumare began with the colonialists who relegated the Yoruba religion , he quoted the British Herbert Macaulay , who in 1835 addressed the British Parliament , he said Herbert Macaulay suggested that the fastest way to capture Africans is to teach them the white education and English.
He alleged that if Africans believe in the superiority of the white education, it will also be easy to use the education to capture their minds , “ I propose that we replace our old and ancient educational system and culture, for if Africans think that our English and all that is foreign is greater than their own they could loose their self- esteem, native culture and they will become what we want them , throughly dominated “ a segment of Herbert Macaulay’s in 1835
Professor Abimbola classified the affirmation as erroneous , he said Olodumare is not God , and Esu is not Satan , he termed the mistake as category mistake in philosophy , he said such is common when different functions are ascribed to things that looks alike , he said category mistake starts from the mind .
Prof. Kola mentioned the Kenyan writer , Ngugi Nwa Thiongo who related the negative effects of colonization in the use of English language which twisted significant meanings in African society to something else in English , he said Ngugi wrote a book “ Decolonizing the mind “ which was his farewell book to English language , Ngugi , like Fela Anikulapo Kuti , also removed his foreign name as a move towards decolonization
The founder of Ifa University said the language of a people is the source to better understand the society , Olodumare is Yoruba , and can only be properly defined in Yoruba , not in English . He said the African language can better describe the African Lives and spirituality.
In his 111 Orisa devotion program , Ajagunna Oodua started with songs and praises of Yeye Osun, he prayed and asked the blessings of Osun in the lives of every true Orisa worshiper , he said it is erroneous when one’s mind is fixed towards common situation in all instances that looks same , he cited the case of a person who visited first class university complexes and asked why Oxford university was not among.
Such , according to him , is erroneous mistakes , Abimbola said that Oxford university, though a first class university, might not be having the properties attached to other universities in the list he visited , he compared such error to that of Olodumare and God.
He said when many people conceptualize Olodumare, they are engaging in the category mistakes , which is attaching the properties of God as embedded in the European concept to the Yoruba Olodumare .
According to him , it is endemic that even some IFA priests who practice the Orisa religion daily still take Olodumare as God , they are mostly carried away by the European concept.
He said , the conceptualization of Olodumare as God is the reminiscence of Herbert Macaulay’s plan to arrest the minds of the African people , he praised the Kenyan scholar and writer who identified this problem and changed away from using English, the Kenyan removed James from his names and remained Ngugi nwa Thiongo, the celebrated author said English is not a means of expression, Ngugi revealed that African situations wouldn’t be expressed well in English because such will end up in category mistakes, so he stopped writing in English , and adopted the African language to write his books . Ngugi Nwa Thiongo said the language we use will surely determine how we see things that are external to us.
Professor Kola Abimbola made examples , asking the listeners during the 111 Orisa devotion program to look around the rooms and count color reds , and not numbers of reds as the Europeans would do with the methodology of sort outs , saying that the African methodology of counting is mostly spiritual , it is not same like the Europeans who use the methodology of sort outs.
Europeans counts by numbers of reds , while Africans will count only color reds . Ajagunna said Olodumare is like that , he said Orisa religion is different from the European concept of worship , so Olodumare can not be God .
In order to differentiate Olodumare from God and how Olodumare behaves , Ajagunna mentioned the sixteen Odus , he sited a poem from EJIOGBE where sixteen 16 brother went to their father , to see who will be their King , he said Ejiogbe was chosen to lead instead of the eldest brother Ofun meji because Ejiogbe performed Ebo . This , according to him , is Olodumare, not God.
Ajagunna said Olodumare is not benevolent , he sited the Odu Osas o’laanu , where Olodumare needed to recheck the forces of Ajoguns which he created along with Obatala, Esu, Ifa to counter balance the good things on Earth , these Ajoguns were negative forces that could provoke negative things to humans on earth , he said Olodumare needed to consult Ifa through Orunmila in order to caution the extreme negativities caused by the Ajoguns he created to tackle humans on earth , so if Olodumare does , it is wrong to associated Olodumare with the properties of God .
Ajagunna said Olodumare is rational , not Benevolent , he said the atitudes of Olodumare , Esu, Ifa, Obatala has proven to be more than benevolent, he said Olodumare and Obatala Esu, Ifa were cognitive and rational, they balanced the creation with good and bad, so they are not benevolent who would only create good things without Ajoguns , he said good things on earth without bad things will be meaningless.