AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Africans are notoriously religious, and each people has its own religious

system with a set of beliefs and practices. Religion permeates into all

the departments of life so fully that it is not easy or possible always to

isolate it.1

To say that Africans are a religious people is not just a claim without any proof to support

it. Religion is part and parcel of the African’s life. However, because the study of African

Traditional Religion is closely linked with the aspect of African Metaphysics in African

Philosophy, in discussing African traditional religion we make use of various African

metaphysical terms.

Therefore, this paper attempts to expose the challenges faced in the study of African

Traditional Religion in Benin City. In doing this, we shall highlight the concept of African

Traditional Religion, its relationship with the Old Benin Kingdom, contemporary Benin City, the

problem of studying it, some possible solutions and then conclusion.

1 John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophies (New York: Anchor Books, 1970), p. 1.

1

2.0 WHAT IS AN AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION?

We ask what an African Traditional Religion is, because there are many African

religions, but they are similar in nature. According to J. O. Awolalu, when we speak of African

Traditional Religion, we mean the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Africans. It is

the religion which resulted from the sustaining faith held by the forebears of the present

Africans, and which is being practised today in various forms and various shades and intensities

by a very large number of Africans, including individuals who claim to be Muslims or

Christians.2

In African Traditional Religion, God is seen as the driving force or first cause of reality.

God, who is ascribed various names, according to the particular culture and language of the

people, is seen as the creator, one who lived among his people and as one who is supreme.

2See J. O. Awolalu, “What is African Traditional Religion”, Studies in Comparative Religion vol.10, no.2, (1976), p.1.

2

IDOLS USED FOR WORSHIP.

However, it is to be noted that this belief of the Africans has suffered a most serious

wound since the colonialists colonized us. So many accusations have been leveled against the

religion, such that it has almost lost its beauty in the eyes of the world. African Traditional

Religion is now seen a barbaric, carnivorous, totem tic and worthless venture. Maybe it is due to

the fact that it is a religion that is based mainly on oral transmission. It is not written on paper but

in peoples‟ hearts, minds, oral history, rituals, shrines and religious functions. It has no founders

or reformers like Gautama the Buddha, Asoka, Christ, or Muhammad. It is not the religion of one

hero. It has no missionaries, or even the desire to propagate the religion, or to proselytise.

However, the adherents are loyal worshippers and, probably because of this, Africans who have

their roots in the indigenous religion, find it difficult to sever connection with it.

3

RITUAL BEING PERFUMED BY TRADITIONAL

PRIESTS.

3.0 AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION IN BENIN CITY

Omasteye and Emeriewen tell us that “Generally though, the conception of God in most

religious belief system is oftentimes the premise from virtually where most discourse of religions

begins, across cultures. Even at that, the concept of God in most religious philosophies, no

matter how personal, tends to share same commonalities. Most religious inclinations have

identified the general belief in God as an Independent being, and the creator of the Universe, and

quite distinct from the Universe He created. This has therefore evolved a consensus on the

conception of God, as the all powerful (Omnipotent), all-knowing (Omniscient) and therefore an

4

Omnipresent God. In effect, God is perceived as every-where, tending to the needs of creatures.

It is also in this vein God is seen as the supremely rational, moral being, who has great concern

for human justice and suffering.”3

From the foregoing we can say that, African Traditional Religion in Benin City is

basically the same as it is practiced in other parts of Africa. However, some key concepts of

African Traditional Religion as practiced in Benin City by the Edos are; Osanobua as the

Supreme God, the Spiritual Role of the Oba, the Idea of Sacrifice and the Sacred Festivals.

Osanobua as the Supreme God

The Edos worship God through various deities, such as Olokun, Orisha, Ayelala etc.

Furthermore, the Edos have a special affiliation with the mermen spirits. These various deities

and spirits are seen as links between humans and Osanobua.

3 B.O.J Omatseye and K.O Emeriewen, “An Appraisal of Religious Art and Symbolic Beliefs in the Traditional African Context”, African Research Review vol.4, no.2 (April 2010), p.52.

5

OLOKUN (ONE OF THE DEITIES IN BENIN CITY)

For the Edos, God is not apart from the world, rather together with the world, God

constitutes the spatio-temporal totality of existence. Their thinking is hierarchical, with God at

the apex of the metaphysical chain of God- Ancestors- Divinities- Man- Lower Animals-

Vegetation- Inanimate world. God is seen as creator of the world; but that He is not outside the

world does not mean that He created the world out of nothing. They too, like other African

cultures, have their own myth regarding the origin of the cosmos.

Osanobua created the universe. He had functionaries in his kingdom, of which two are

known as Osanobua and Osanoha. Both parties were unfriendly to each other because Osanobua

was the creator of humans, while Osanoha was the creator of animals. Now, it happened that,

due to the quarrel between the both, Osanoha made a house in which he stored all kinds of

diseases. This he did because, he wanted to wreak havoc. As the humans created by Osanobua

were coming to the earth, there was a heavy downpour, and they took shelter in Osanoha’s

house, where they were afflicted with the diseases prepared by Osanoha. After the rainfall they

finally settled in the earth. This was how diseases came to be in the world. Consequently, the

human kingdom became enemies with the animal kingdom.

Some features of God for the Edos and indeed all Africans are:

God as judge.

God as transcendental (that is conceived as being far away from the earth), and God as

immanent (also being close).

God as pre-eminent and pre-existent.

God as immortal.

God as omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.

God as a unique being.

6

The Concept of Ancestors and Sacrifice.

Like we said earlier, the Edos worship Osanobua through various deities. These deities

however, are actually the ancestors, who they believe intercede on their behalf before Osanobua.

From time to time, they appease these ancestors with prescribed sacrifices. Through the

ancestors, they seek help from Osanobua. Nevertheless, these ancestors were not just men who

once lived with them, but those who lived a good life and died a good death. Since the ancestors

were once men, but have only now occupied a higher status in the order of things, there is a high

level of interaction between them and the Edos. According to Lebisa and Abraham:

The ancestors are a striking example. Immortality is conceived in pragmatic

terms. Survival is of no personal particular value. What is important,

however, is that the deceased can assist the living sections of their families,

and exercise moral leadership among them. The ancestors thus have to do

with group solidarity and tradition and in this way help guarantee moral

consistency.4

What Lebisa and Abraham are trying to say is that, the concept of ancestors in African

Traditional Religion can be linked with the idea of saints in the Catholic Church. They are not

just spirits which sacrifices are offered to, but they are role models. This concept passes for

African cultures and religion in general, that includes the Edos.

4 Lebisa J. Teffo and Abraham P.J. Roux, “Metaphysical Thinking in Africa” in The African Philosophy Reader, edited by P.H. Coetzee and A.P.J. Roux (London: Routledge, 2003), p.192.

7

8

A GOAT SACRIFICE TO THE AYELALA DEITY

4.0 PROBLEMS OF STUDYING AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION IN BENIN

CITY

Modernism is more or less like a contagious disease spreading throughout the world. It

has affected virtually all the aspects of life in our world today, including African Traditional

Religion. Hence, African Traditional Religion in Benin City has also been influenced by this

wide-spread disease. For this reason, Bolaji says:

She (Africa) has suffered so much because she has been callously and

frequently raped and despoiled by the strong ones of the world who are

adepts in the art of benevolent exploitation and civilized savagery. Even

now there are organs of her body which are under torture and cruel assault

and, consequently, she is still more or less a sick personality.5

This is probably the main reason for the many problems which the study of African Traditional

Religion faces in our contemporary society. These problems are:

4.1 PROBLEM OF AUTHENTICITY OF SOURCES

Benin City is known as the ancient city of Benin. This is due to its ancient formation,

stemming from the Ancient Benin kingdom. Benin was once a great kingdom with a very rich

culture, but her beliefs as at that time, are not yet clear. Some writers, especially non-Africans,

paint the African Traditional Religion practiced as at that time in a very barbaric way. For them

the dominant feature of the religion of the Edos was blood shedding. Even the rulers of the Benin

Kingdom were captured or killed, for they were viewed as evil people, basically because of the

practice of their religion. Now, with all these mix stories, and also false accounts of the authentic

African Traditional Religion practiced by the Edos of old, the study of African Traditional

Religion becomes rather difficult.

5 E. Bolaji Idowu, African Traditional Religion (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1973), p.73.

9

OLOGBOSERE ARRESTED BY THE COLONIALISTS FOR DEFENDING HIS

RELIGION

4.2 THE PROBLEM OF ASCERTAINING THE TRUTHFULNESS OF ITS

EXISTENCE

10

Here, we faced with the question of whether there is actually a religion peculiar to the

Edos. In the study of African Traditional Religion in Benin City, it is difficult to point the

difference between A.T.R as practiced in Benin City, and the entire Africa. The dominant

question is whether there is an African Traditional Religion of the Binis.

4.3 THE PROBLEM OF NOMENCLENTURE AND TERMINOLOGY

It may sound rather elementary. But the issue of the precise name of the subject has not

been fully settled. A group of scholars, led by E.B. Idowu, insist that one could legitimately

speak of One African Traditional Religion, that is, in the singular.6 J.S. Mbiti thinks that there is

no basis for such a position. He maintains that the title of the subject should be in the plural;

African Traditional Religions, Many not One. The debate engaged the attention of scholarship

and constantly featured in publications and conferences for a considerable period of time. But

this is basically the same problem in that of the Edos. One would wonder if the various deities

are different religions or the same religion.

4.4 THE PROBLEM OF METHODOLOGY

Issues related to methodology, as earlier stated, are central in the systematic study of

African traditional religion in Benin City as they are bound up with the quality of work and

result one hopes to achieve. They concern data on which analysis is based, their collection and

viability. And they are closely linked and determined, as in other disciplines, by the nature and

characteristic features of the subject. Incidentally, several scholars both Africans and Westerners

clearly recognize the essential elements of African Traditional Religion in Benin City. But many

6 E. Bolaji Idowu, African Traditional Religion (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1973), p.82.

11

fail to press home the implications of such significant elements for methodology in their

respective works.

4.5 PROBLEM OF INTERPRETATION

Interconnected with methodology are issues relating to theoretical presuppositions and

models of interpretation of unearthed materials in the study of African traditional religion.

Strictly speaking, conceptual schemes of interpretation or analysis of data generally fall within

the broad area of methodology. Writers and scholars of different intellectual hues and

backgrounds have contributed to the study. Some of the researchers were evolutionists who hold

strongly the theory of unilineal stage by stage development of culture and civilization. The

diffusionists among them worked from the perspective that holds that whatever higher cultural

form found in sub-Saharan Africa, derived its origin from an external source, that is old hamitic

hypothesis. On the other hand, many ethnographers and social anthropologists were equipped

with one refurbished version of Marxian or Frazerian theory or another in their studies of African

traditional religion. Many of the African scholars who systematically sought to explain the

indigenous religion, as already mentioned, adopted the schemes of scholastic philosophy and

theology from their Christian background of training.

4.6 THE PROBLEM OF SUBSTANCE/CONTENT OF THE RELIGION

12

Issues relating to the content or substance of African traditional religion are closely tied

and corollary to the problem of the problem of methodology. And they also derive from the

major trend that marked the study of African traditional religion in the past. In other words, they

arise mainly because of the kind of questions that for a long time, occupied the attention of

scholarship in the subject.

Due to the contents, one would say the study of African Traditional Religion in Benin

City may be closely associated to African Metaphysics. This is another problem because; we are

not yet sure if there is an African Metaphysics.

13

14

THE COLONIALISTS, HAVING INVADED AFRICANS

5.0 POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS OF STUDYING AFRICAN

TRADITIONAL RELIGION.

We have seen that Benin City is rich with culture, tradition and religion. However, with

the problems we earlier mentioned, study of its religion has become inevitably difficult. Here are

some suggestions regarding how we can solve these problems:

5.1 ADEQUATE RESEARCH OF BENIN WRITERS

Benin City is blessed with intellectuals, who have written one or more books about the

Bini Culture, which includes African Traditional Religion. Someone like Jacob Egharevba has

written a book which could help students to understand better, the idea of African Traditional

Religion as practiced in Benin. This is a better means of studying, rather than using the works of

the same Europeans who have little or nothing good to say about the religion of Africans in

general.

5.2 PROOVING THE EXISTENCE OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION

It pertains to the students of African Traditional Religion to prove the existence of an

African Traditional Religion in Benin City, for if we do not know of its existence, then trying to

study its content would be a futile venture. This is to be done through rigorous study and very

importantly, perseverance.

5.3 EXPOSING STUDENTS TO ITS TERMINOLOGIES VIA EMPERICISM

Studying the African Traditional Religion of the Edos outside Benin City, could yield

unsound arguments. This is because; books alone cannot suffice for such a practical venture. It is

advisable then that students of African Traditional Religion, get acquainted with the

terminologies of the Edo African Traditional Religion, through personal contact with the people

and their deities.

15

5.4 PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH

Philosophy is basically about the pursuit of truth, and anthropology desires to know man

in his entirety through empirical means. So, if the methodologies used in Philosophy and

Anthropology are used connectively in the study of African Traditional Religion in Benin City,

we would have a very great impact and improvement.

5.5 CAREFUL INTERPRETATION OF EMPIRICAL OBSERVATION

Now, it is one thing to observe the actions of people, but it is another thing to interpret

what such actions would mean. If the wrong interpretation is given, is distorts the entire research

method and fruits. So even when students experience the worship of deities in Benin, questions

should be asked of the proper authorities for the meaning of each action during the worship.

5.6 AVOIDANCE OF SENTIMENTAL POSITIONS

When students venture into the study of African Traditional religion in Benin City, it is

advisable that they dispose themselves to learning and do away with any sentimental position, no

matter their own religious background or philosophy of life. When this is done, students will be

ready to learn more and this will enhance the study of the African Traditional Religion in Benin

City.

16

17

SERVANTS OF THE IDA DEITY

CONCLUSION

African Traditional Religion in Benin City is part and parcel of their life, hence it is very

necessary to study. However going by Sogolo’s view:

At first it would appear that claims in traditional African thought do not fall within the

category of explanations generally associated with science-oriented thought systems.

The reason for this is obvious. In seeking to understand events, as Horton (1970) points

out, the prevalent explanatory models adopted by a given culture are determined by the

peculiarities of that culture.7

Evidently, if students of African Traditional Religion do not study that of the Edos within its

own culture it would be very difficult to make any progress. Therefore, African Traditional

Religion in Benin City is real to the extent to which the students take their research, following all

the recommendations of this paper.

7 Godwin S. Sogolo “The Concept of Cause in African Thought” in The African Philosophy Reader, edited by P.H. Coetzee and A.P.J. Roux (London: Routledge, 2003), p.228.

18