Charlez Blog

How did your romance with the Ogboni fraternity begin?
I am Oba Olamilekan Ifayemi and I be­came Ogboni member over 30 years ago when I joined AborigineOgboni fraternity of Nigeria. I was born into a family of traditionalists, and therefore it becomes natural that I should have a liking for the Ogboni people. I like their ways of life, their respect for culture, and ways of our forefathers. The day I joined the Ogboni group marked a turning point in my life. My life has not remained the same again. My joy, and happiness in­creased when I joined the Ogboni group.
But it is the general belief of peo­ple that Ogboni is synonymous with evil, and that your members used to kill people and even drink blood during initiation, what is your reac­tion to this?
People saying these things are malicious especially some pastors who make it a habit to attack our members. Ogboni people are peace loving. We are children of light as we abhor anything evil or darkness. It is a pity that some people have deliberately indulged in this malicious propaganda againstOgboni over the years.
Contrary to the wrong impression being harboured against us, Ogboni is an extension of African traditional religion. Let me take you back to the olden days in Yoruba land before the colonialists came.Ogboni plays promi­nent roles in the affairs of the society. Our members are society watchdog, and not only in the old Oyo empire, Ogboni played key role in the installation and removal of a monarch.
But with the advent of colonialism and influx of mis­sionaries, these preachers started making disparaging re­marks against Ogboni, even describing it as a secret cult which we are not.
Are you saying Ogboni is not a secret cult?
What does light have in common with darkness? Og­boni members are children of light. We don’t kill, we save lives. This is why I challenge those pastors or anybody who claims we eat people or suck blood to a public de­bate. I want them to show proof of where any of our mem­bers is involved in act of cannibalism.
Don’t mind these pastors who I will refer to as hypo­crites. If we are evil, why do they come to us to acquire power? Those of them that you see crowd in their church, do you think it is through their own prayers that make them to have such a crowd? If I make certain revelations on some well known pastors in this country who rode to stardom on the back of Ogboni, you will be shocked.
These pastors say we are evil, yet when armed rob­bers descend on their churches, they used to come cap in hand begging us the traditionalists to help secure their churches. Did you not report of how traditionalists and some OPC members were recruited to provide security in churches? Again, how many times have you heard about armed robbers invading Ogboni place of worship? Never. It will never happen but we see armed robbers robbing churches at will. Ask yourself who is cleaner between Og­boni and the pastors?
But if you claim you are not a secret cult, why do you hold your meetings at night?
That shows the bias that some people have against us again. Don’t churches organise vigils, and even now mus­lims through such organisations as NASFAT hold vigils regularly. To answer your question, I will not deny that we often meet at nights, but not every time.
As members of Saala Ogboni Fellowship of Nigeria and Overseas, we hold our meetings during day time, and this is usually on the 1st Sunday of every month, but when occasion demands that we should meet at night, we do so, and the main reason for this is to ensure that we are not disturbed or distracted by noises during day time. Our members also have their own quiet time during which we pray and meditate.
Our meetings at night are not for evil purpose but to ensure that we worship our creator in quietude. I can’t un­derstand why our people like to disparage what is African. Look at India and China, they still keep faith with their traditional religions in spite of the incursion of western influence in their countries. Majority of Indians today are Hindus, while many Chinese still practice Confucianism. This is why I challenge these people to a public debate in order to clear the air about these misconceptions. I in­vite any pastor or any other Nigerian seeking the truth and knowledge to Ogboni meetings.