Development in Europe started with the Renaissance from the 14th to the 17th centuries, when the Church couldn’t contain rebellion against its activities. The Westphalian Treaty of 1648 significantly waned the influence of Roman Catholicism as the need to separate the Church from the State became inevitable.
It was the above movement that led to the Industrial Revolution; people started exploring the once forbidden alternatives. In the mission to achieve development, the status quo that limits people must be challenged and, if possible, altered.
During this Age of Enlightenment, people had the freedom to consult the literature of the pre-Church era to reconnect to the natural cycle of development. Scholars emerged across Europe to make projections and suggestions away from the religious status quo.
At this period, they discovered that the religion that subjected Europe to the Pope could be used to subject others to their wills. There was a need to export the European version of Christianity to Africa and other parts of the world, and today, Africans who accepted the religion are now exporting it back to them.
If saying the truth looks like condemnation to you, we have to start living by that reality. There is a need to reconnect to our pre-Islamic and pre-church eras to discover the secret of our natural circle of developments. Yoruba tradition (Isese) is not all about spirituality alone, but also science and technology.
Take a look at it: Agbo business (herbal medicine) has employed significant numbers of women in Yoruba land. From north to east and south, you see Yoruba women with their loads of Agbo hawking from one area to another. They are patronised by both Christians and Muslims, and Agbo itself is a significant part of our Isese scientific discovery.
Our ancestors in the Pre-Islamic and Christian eras researched deeply into nature to unravel these potent medicines; if not for the fact that Arab and European cultures separated us from this natural circle of development, Yoruba land might have been a major producer and exporter of medical products to the world.
There is a need for a cultural renaissance in Yoruba land. Making August 20th Isese Day is a first step in the right direction, but there is still much to do. One of the ways to reconnect with the past is to build the confidence of our children from infanthood. Just like we have missionary schools and Muslim schools, there is a need to create Isese primary and secondary schools across Yoruba land where our children would develop self-worth and self-confidence by associating with the cultures and traditions of our progenitors.
With Isese Schools, children of traditionalists and lovers of cultures can send their wards to these schools to learn Western education through the prism of our indigenous culture and beliefs. From there, we would build generations of young ones who would reconnect to our roots and unravel the scientific corpus of Ifa divination that is built on the binary system.
China today drives Eastern values to compete with Western values; that was made possible because they saw the world through a Chinese lens and adopted foreign values to conform with their indigenous identity. Let us engage in this revival for the sake of prosperity.
HAPPY ISESE DAY TO US!
Ogunwoye Samson Gbemiga,
Writing from Ogbomoso,
ogunwoyesamson@gmail.com
