Olu of Owerri and his God

“Henceforth, I submit and present the title ‘ogiame’ to God, the creator, who made
the sea and rules over all. Therefore, no Olu or person may bear the title or name
that now belongs to God. I nullify all tokens of libation poured on the land and seas
or sprinkled into the air in Iwere land. I frustrate all sacrifices of wine, blood, food,
water, kola nuts and other items offered in Iwere land. In conformity with the new
covenant, through the blood of Jesus, I release the royal bloodline, the chiefs of the
Iwere kingdom, the Iwere people and land, waters and atmosphere of Iwere
kingdom from all ties to other spiritual covenants and agreements.”
With the foregoing royal proclamation, the Olu of Warri, Atuwase II, recently
decreed a stop to some ancient customs of the Warri Kingdom after publicly
renouncing the traditional name ‘Ogiame’. The Olu also vowed to replace all the
rituals and practices that do not conform with his new faith in Jesus Christ. But the
royal father did not have the last word on the matter as he met a stiff challenge
from a cross-section of Itsekiri people who called for his dethronement. By the third
day of what was almost becoming a violent protest, several youths and women had
erected canopies and were cooking in front of the palace gate.
However, following the intervention of the Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel
Uduaghan, himself an Itsekiri man, the traditional ruler (who happens to be a
staunch member of the Foursquare Gospel Church), had to annul his own decree
for peace to reign. And with the crisis resolved, a thanksgiving service was held last
Sunday with the crème-de-la-crème of the Itsekiri nation, including Governor
Uduaghan, (who came with his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN), Speaker of the
state House of Assembly, Mr. Victor Ochei, and a large number of senior
government officials) in attendance.
While it is noteworthy that Governor Uduaghan and other prominent Itsekiri sons
and daughters were able to rally to put out the fire that could have had far-reaching
consequences on the peace in Warri Kingdom, a most pertinent question remains
as to whether indeed the Olu could unilaterally reject the title ‘ogiame’ which
represents the ancient identity, custom, heritage and symbol of the people over
whom he presides. This question is worth interrogating in view of the fact that what
the royal father sought to jettison without due process were established values and
deep-rooted beliefs of his people which have persisted over generations--traditions
over which he was appointed to serve as custodian.
I find the Warri Kingdom crisis fascinating because it speaks to the tension between
Pentecostal Christianity and tradition, especially in our country and Richard
Niebuhr’s highly revealing book, “Christ and Culture”, perhaps opens some window
of understanding. To demonstrate how Christians have attempted to deal with the
challenge of their faith against the background of old beliefs and customs, Niebuhr
identifies five approaches which he listed as: Christ against Culture; The Christ of
Culture; Christ above Culture; Christ and Culture in Paradox and Christ the
Transformer of Culture.
Unfortunately, the Pentecostalism that has been embraced in Nigeria today fits into
the paradigm of “Christ against Culture”, a notion which rejects all the traditional
African mores as archaic, backward and evil. The presupposition is that those
traditions belong to some sinister gods that need to be dropped for us to prosper
materially and spiritually. For that reason, many Nigerian Christians have had to
change their names based on the theology that those names were dedicated to
some ancestral spirits whose yokes would have to be broken for them to be free
from poverty, disease and curse. While expressions of faith differ from one
denomination to another, the preponderance of opinion among pastors is that our
traditional heritages (sometimes including priceless artifacts, dating back to
centuries) are hindrances to our faith and callings as believers hence we have to do
away with them. It is within that context that we can situate the spiritual edict
which got the Olu of Warri into trouble.
Now, I must make something clear: I am also a Pentecostal Christian--even with all
my failings and imperfections--and I understand that one cannot serve the true God
and still be worshipping idols. But I have problem with a faith that is expressed in
symbolisms and even superstitions. For instance, I have listened to several songs
and messages that the economic and political problems which plague our nation
today can be traced to our hosting of FESTAC in 1977 during which, as the tale
goes, several countries came to dump their Satanic gods on our land. Not only do I
believe there was nothing wrong in our hosting FESTAC, I see no correlation
between it and our inability as a nation to harness our enormous potentials for the
advancement of our society.
The Warri incident is instructive because there is a constitutional dimension to it
which in itself can be considered within the context of the Christian faith. The Olu
for instance already has a Church within the palace and it is not on record that his
people quarrel with that; so the attempt to change the tradition under which he
came to power is not only wrong but indeed self-serving. Like all positions of
authority, there are sacred rules that bind the leader to the community and that
explains why in other climes, Kings have been known to abdicate their thrones
whenever there are irreconsiliable conflicts between personal convictions (which
sometimes include the love of certain women) and the traditional order.
In the particular case of Warri, the matter is even simple. If the Olu can
demonstrate the true essence of his faith and his subjects could see the evidence in
his deeds, perhaps he could gradually reform some of the traditions without the
public drama that almost ended in hubris. The problem I see, however, is that such
public profession of political Christianity has become the vogue. I have read of a
minister who holds a strategic portfolio under the current administration who also
doubles as the General Overseer of a Church he founded. Even if we choose to
ignore the several issues begging for clarification in such God-Mammon portfolio,
the question must be asked as to whether his faith is reflected in his stewardship as
a public official.
But before we digress, what many fail to understand is that in order to develop our
country and uplift our people, we need to burnish our cultural identity while
adopting the instruments and methods of scientific civilisation. However, a fuller
exploration of the issues will take us to the place of symbols in belief systems; the
essential privacy of religion and indeed the tricky point of how all these intersect to
sustain public order and social peace. To that extent, the peaceful resolution of the
clash between the Olu of Warri’s private Christian belief and the imperatives of his
public cultural symbolism as a traditional monarch speaks volumes to the rest of us.
Religion as an aspect of culture thrives on symbols and rituals. Pentecostalism of
course rejects the rites of the traditional Christian churches as it is founded on the
redemption work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. But I remain unconvinced that
salvation is also a function of cultural suicide. For me, there is nothing that should
preclude a traditional ruler from being a disciple of Christ as well as an authentic
symbol of the culture of his people. This is the crux of a debate that is waiting to be
inaugurated.
The Real Essence of Power
In a piece she contributed for the UK Guardian last Saturday, former Prime Minister
of Australia, Ms Julia Gillard, spoke about the regrets and pain of losing power in
such a profound manner that leaves lessons for all politicians (http://
www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/13/julia-gillard-labor-purpose-future).
Gillard who was Australia’s first female prime minister was ousted by long-term
political rival, Mr. Kevin Rudd, in June this year, because the Labour Party felt she
had become unpopular and might lose the September 7 general election. But
notwithstanding, the party still lost to the conservative party. Gillard lamented that
the change of leadership within the Labour Party just a few weeks to the general
election had sent a “very cynical and shallow message” about the primary purpose
of the party. “The decision was not done because caucus now believed Kevin Rudd
had the greater talent for governing. Labor unambiguously sent a very clear
message that it cared about nothing other than the prospects of survival of its
members of parliament at the polls.”
The message from Gillard is that there should be a higher purpose to seeking public
office than the prospect of winning elections. Unfortunately, in our country today,
politics has become an end in itself rather than the promotion of the public good.
That explains why the last couple of months have been spent by our political office
holders (at practically all levels) making permutations about the 2015 general
elections rather than fulfilling the promises of their current mandates. There is crisis
in our public university system with the students marooned at home due to ASUU’s
endless strike; the 2013 budget is in a tailspin on account of the activities of some
oil thieves; a grw, for all our nation’s children
and then build it. And when the grieving is done, that’s our purpose.”