By Adeola Soetan
The “holy slap” from Portable to a pastor is bad. But why should a wandering pastor go to Potable’s joint to preach where people are drinking & smoking Igbo with the fear of God, when he should have thought that God himself may even be afraid of Potable with his wanran wanran eccentric behaviour?
Well, may be the pastor wanted to reenact the provocative old preaching style of his forebears in the Lord /Allah in those years of their intoxication with their new found faith in Christianity or Islam. Those overzealous new convert preachers, Pastors, Woli, Imams and Alfas who just “gba were mesin” (unrestrained religious fanatical faithful) rated their courage and closeness to God by the amount of provocative preachings they did in front of “Ile Ogboni” (Ogboni conclave) or “Ojubo Orisha” (Shrines), “Igbale Egungun”.
They would come there with their megaphone, and gaslamp, if it was in the evening, shouting to condemn Isese with very nauseating noise just to ridicule them and their faith. “Orisha e ko le gba o la” (your deity can’t save you). “E ma se egbe okunkun mo. , Ogboni egbe okunkun ni” (stop being members of secret cult, Ogboni is a secret cult). “Egungun ko dara, ebo ko dara).” Ofe ni Igbala” (salvation is free).. Why going to attack Isese in front of their shrines when Egungun would respect your own religion and become mute in front of churches and mosques during their road carnivals?. Senselessness of religious fanatics.
Those old Isese women and men always ignored or pitied these rabble trousers because they knew all of them were “Omo Orisha” by birth with different “gbenren” spiritual body incisors. They knew that after the newly acquired religious fanatism, a form of social madness, their omo Orisha would return home to “tuba” repent and adopt the traditional worship and its mode of Isese practice.
Are their children not back home? Yes they are fully back with Isese mode of practice and are doing worse with their conduct . All they abused Isese of, it’s what they are doing now. The promised free salvation is no more free. To enter their own heaven or to prosper now is by payment of money in tithes, offering, thanksgiving, sowing of money seed, covenant payment, owo mosalasi, buying of hantu, anointing oil, buying spiritual soap, soap, handkerchief, comb, etc.
Omo Orisha have come home in deed and actions.
- Adeola Soetan, a Public Affairs analyst, lives in Lagos