Ilorin extremists

A viral video showed members of a Muslim group in Ilorin, Majlisu Shabab li Ulamahu Society, visiting the residence of a Yoruba traditional religion priestess, Yeye Adesikemi Olokun Omolara Olatunji, to warn her against celebrating a planned three-day traditional festival scheduled for July 22 to July 24, 2023 in Ilorin.

A member of the group, who described himself as an Imam, said in Yoruba: “Ilorin does not permit idol worshipping, we are ardent Muslims in the land of the emirate.” Another Imam said: “We are here on behalf of the Emir of Ilorin to ask that you desist from any Isese. We are also backed by the laws of the land. We are not here to fight you but to warn you against this celebration.” It is unclear which laws he was referring to.

In another video published after the visit, the priestess, who is an Osun devotee, spoke in Yoruba, saying,” I have been living in Ilorin for many years and have experienced nothing but peace until recently. I have always been fair and kind to my neighbours and this has been reciprocated over the years.”

She explained that “One of my people shared the invite online which caught the attention of the Imams,” adding, “In a matter of hours, I was tagged on numerous posts and also began to receive death threats. I also heard that meetings were being held to ensure that the Aje festival does not hold in Ilorin.” The development forced her to cancel the festival.

Nobelist and famed defender of freedoms Wole Soyinka, in a response to the drama, issued a statement titled “Isese festival: An open letter to Sulu Gambari.’’ The addressee is the traditional ruler of the Fulani Emirate of Ilorin and Chairman of Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council.

Soyinka, who will be 89 this week, said: “It is sad to see the ancient city of Ilorin, a confluence of faiths and ethnic varieties, reduced to this level of bigotry and intolerance, manifested in the role of a presiding monarch. The truncation of a people’s traditional festival is a crime against the cultural heritage of all humanity.”

According to him, “It is conduct like this that has bred Boko Haram, ISIS, ISWAP and other religious malformations that currently plague this nation… with their virulent brand of Islam.”

“The issue,” he stressed, “is peaceful cohabitation, respect for other worldviews, their celebrations, their values and humanity. The issue is the acceptance of the multiple facets of human enlightenment.’’

The Emir of Ilorin, 83-year-old Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Malam AbdulAzeez Arowona, explained that the ban on the traditional festival “is to prevent a crisis.” He added: “It may result in issues which could also lead to reprisal attacks by sympathisers or promoters of such belief (Isese festival) in other parts of the country.”

Notably, he referred to the “predominantly Islamic culture” of Ilorin, which he said “could be described as a centre of peace,” and highlighted “its strategic location as the capital of Kwara, which makes it a bridge between the north and south west of Nigeria.”

The emir missed the point. Ilorin’s “predominantly Islamic culture,” or Muslim majority, does not invalidate constitutional secularism. Nigeria is a multi-religious but secular country; it has no official state religion.

The fundamental human rights listed in the Nigerian constitution are: the Right to Life, the Right to Dignity of Human Person, the Right to Personal Liberty, the Right to Fair Hearing, the Right to Private and Family Life, the Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion, the Right to Freedom of Expression and the Press, the Rights to Peaceful Assembly and Association, the Right to Freedom of Movement, the Right to Freedom from Discrimination, and the Right to Acquire and Own Immovable Property anywhere in Nigeria.

Importantly, the constitution allows the restriction, suspension or limitation of the fundamental human rights of persons in Nigeria only where there is an order of court or a state of emergency or a democratic law that allows such suspension or restriction of fundamental human rights.

Indeed, it can be said that the move by the Muslim establishment against the traditionalist violated not only her Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion but also possibly her Rights to Peaceful Assembly and Association, and her Right to Freedom from Discrimination.

There is no doubt about the status of Yoruba traditional religion. For instance, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in 2005, added the Ifa Divination system to its list of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”

Interestingly, the 10th edition of Orisa World Congress in Ile-Ife, Osun State, in 2013, involved discussions on “Globalisation and Cultural Identity.” Globalisation has religious implications, including collision of faiths.  

Religious conflict was the focus of the All-Comers Colloquium on Fundamental Imperatives of Cohabitation: Faith and Secularism, in April 2014, organised by the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) and the Osun State government at the centre’s Auditorium in Osogbo, Osun State. Prof. Wole Soyinka was CBCIU chairman at the time, and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was state governor.

Participants in the three-day conference, with four plenary sessions and 18 papers, explored the essence of the concept of secularism as it applied to the country in particular, in the face of manifestations of extremism based on faith.

They generally agreed on the need for cohabitation in the context of “secularism that respects and appreciates the reality of diverse faiths without promoting any religion at the expense of others.”

In the end, collective recommendations emerged towards achieving inter-faith harmony in the pursuit of peace for social progress. The participants proposed a path to tackling the troublesome spirit of extremism: Constitution review to reflect religious diversity; tightening legislation to address religious violence; non-politicisation of religion; value reorientation; programme of compulsory education for social enlightenment and establishment of a national centre for inter-faith studies.   

These recommendations remain relevant today. The drama of extremism performed by the Ilorin extremists who violated the traditionalist’s rights further highlights the necessity for harmonious cohabitation in the country’s multi-religious situation based on submission to constitutional secularism.

Peoplesmind