HUMANITARIAN OR ECONOMIC VENTURE? AN ANALYSIS OF IFÁ PRIESTHOOD IN

Abstract

Ifá divination, a repository and infinite source of knowledge is an important aspect of the Yorùbá culture that proffers solution to almost every problem that confronts humanity through its agents called the Babaláwo –Ifá Priests. It is a clearing house and source of direct inquirers into other cults. As important as Ifá divination is, so also are the priests who serve as the custodians and middle men between the physical and the spirit worlds. In the past, priesthood was not a profitable venture but purely a service to humanity where the highest level of discipline was maintained to attain joy and happiness for the downcast, who could not afford service charged as fund in some of the Odù Ifá in Ifá literary corpus. This is the reason they supplemented their chosen profession with farming and trading.
However, in the contemporary Yorùbá setting, particularly in Nigeria, it seems this act is drifting away from the grip of the Babaláwo because there are now full-time Babaláwo. As a result, it has become economic venture, which has led to the introduction of sharp practices that were not found in the venture before. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to analyse this trend and project what can be done to sanitize the situation. Twenty Ifá Priests were selected for interview from O ṣ̀ e ̣̀Méjì temple at Ọjà Ọba Ìbàdàn and Ògúndá Méjì temple, Àpáta, Ìbàdàn and their views content are analysed. The study realised that Ifá priesthood is majorly humanitarian that is almost gone now as a result of commercialization of it at home and abroad without considering ethics of the profession. The study advice that practitioners should be honest, follow the ethics of the work, take caution, gather experience and refrain from bad tide.