Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said although he is Christian, he does not joke with Ifa.
The Ifa divination system, which makes use of an extensive corpus of texts and mathematical formulas, is practised among traditional worshippers in Yoruba communities. Ifa refers to the mystical figure perceived as the deity of wisdom and intellectual development.
Speaking in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while hosting a renowned female talking drummer, Olamuyiwa Aralola, popularly known as Ara, on her 50th Birthday at Green Legacy Hotel and Resort, within Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), the elder statesman called for preservation of African cultural heritages, saying they must not go into extinction.
He particularly said the Yoruba culture must be guided because it’s “authentic.”
Obasanjo maintained that despite being a Christian, he hasn’t forgotten his culture.
“I am a Christian, I had attended two churches today and that does not mean that I should forget my culture. Whoever says Ifa is nothing, I will say that person is a big fool.