The Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Movement and Traditional Practice Today

Traditional Yoruba religious practice no just quiet disappear as Christianity and Islam enter. Since the 1980s, people wey dey practice traditional religion don organize themselves into formal associations, struggle make dem get the same civic standing wey church and mosque dey take for granted, and dem even win public holiday wey dem name after their own word for tradition, Ìṣẹ̀ṣe. Na this institutional movement this file specifically cover: how e dey defend itself, wetin e don win, the inside-wahala about whether women fit get initiation into the Ifá priesthood, and how over-population for cities and global demand don change the business side of divination and sacrifice. Òrìṣà Tradition Today cover the demographic picture, how dem dey relate with Christianity and Islam, the Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo grove, and the general way people dey return to tradition; this file no go repeat those ones. Ifá Today cover the UNESCO inscription, the community of practitioners for diaspora, and divination for this digital age; the date wey dem give for Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day for that place na the correct standard and na wetin this file follow.

Wetin Ìṣẹ̀ṣe mean and wetin make the movement choose the word

Dem form Ìṣẹ̀ṣe from the verb ṣe, to do or to practice, wey dem double and turn to noun, and practitioners plus scholars dey explain am as "tradition," "the original way dem dey do things," or "the way things don always dey happen" 1 The decision to choose am as the name wey the movement take call itself na deliberate thing. While colonial and missionary sources dey call indigenous religion paganism, idolatry, or juju, and Nigerian government officials still dey use "traditional religion" as umbrella name for everything wey remain, Ìṣẹ̀ṣe na the practitioners own word, wey dey show say na them first dey instead of just to say dem different: this one no be just one option for list beside Christianity and Islam, na wetin dey on ground before any of the two arrive.

One phrase wey dem dey use every time for movement gathering, for banners, for Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day celebration, and inside diaspora communities wey help make the day popular for internet, na Ìṣẹ̀ṣe l'àgbà, "tradition na elder," wey dem sometimes dey extend to Ìṣẹ̀ṣe l'àgbà gbogbo wa, "tradition senior all of us" 2 The person wey compile this work search for the longer quote wey dem write for earlier draft, wey dem talk say come from Rowland Abiodun book Yoruba Art and Language (2014), but e no see am for that book or for any other work wey carry Abiodun name. The real contribution wey Abiodun make wey person fit verify for this area dey different and dem document am better: e analyze the proverb ìwà l'ẹwà, character na beauty, as the aesthetic-ethical principle wey join art, behavior, and word wey get power (àṣẹ) together for Yoruba thought 3. That argument belong to art and cosmology and dem treat am for Àṣẹ; e no be evidence for translated Ìṣẹ̀ṣe liturgical proverb, and person no suppose mix the two together. Ìṣẹ̀ṣe l'àgbà itself na real and current phrase, wey dey show for practitioner and journalistic records of the Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day movement, rather than as sentence wey trace go one specific scholar wey translate am 2. Dem present am here as something wey the movement dey use, not as quoted literary text with named translator, because no source wey reach that standard dey available. Confidence: medium on top how current the phrase be and the rough meaning; the longer three-line liturgical form wey some Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day material dey spread no get independent verification, so dem no write am put here.

From lineage cult go reach civic association

Before the twentieth century, Yoruba traditional religion no get any central organization wey person fit compare to church or mosque. Authority dey with individual shrines, lineage cults, and town-level priesthoods, where each one dey answer only to its own custodians and to the ọba's palace, not to any pan-Yoruba body 4. The Ìṣẹ̀ṣe movement na the struggle, throughout the last few decades, to build that kind coordinating structure without cancelling the lineage-level freedom wey dey under am.

The International Council for Ifá Religion (ICIR), wey dey based for Lagos, na the body wey dey most visible among them, wey dey present itself as coordinating and advocacy organization for Ifá and Òrìṣà practitioners everywhere for the world, with clear goal to promote education about traditional religion and join practitioner communities for Nigeria with the ones for diaspora 5. E dey function as voice wey the public dey see: e dey release press statements, organize conferences, and particularly, threat say e go go court for 2023 because of shrine wey dem talk say people spoil, wey show how the movement don begin use law and human-rights language 5. The person wey compile this work no fit verify independently whether any group wey dem call "ARSADIC" (Ancient Religious Societies of African Descendants Association) really dey or wetin dem dey do apart from where e show for the first draft, and no other source dey to back am up. Dem remove that claim from here instead of repeating am based on just one unverified mention; another researcher for future wey get access to ICIR own publications or Nigerian civil-society registry go fit confirm or clear am.

Wetin the movement dey do, according to documents wey dey available, include public advocacy make government recognize them and give them public holiday calendar treatment equal to Christian and Muslim religious bodies, and organizing people when wahala happen like when people spoil shrines or scatter sacred places during urban development 5, na pattern wey dem also discuss specifically for the Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo grove inside Òrìṣà Tradition Today.

Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day and the politics of recognition

The clearest institutional win na Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day, wey people dey observe every year on 20 August. Osun State, under Governor Rauf Aregbesola, approve the date as public holiday for traditional worshippers in 2013 under Nigeria Public Holidays Act, and the first full celebration as work-free day follow for 2014, wey make Osun the first Nigerian state government to give public holiday to traditional religion for the same level with Christian and Muslim holidays 6. Ifá Today treat this one as the first holiday like that for the whole country and date this milestone the same way; this file follow that date instead of to repeat another record wey no too clear.

The recognition start to spread slow-slow, and after that e come fast. For August 2023, after plenty lobbying and ten years of Osun example, the governments of Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo States declare 20 August as public holiday or work-free day for Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day, while Osun still continue their own celebration 7. By the mid-2020s, many southwestern states dey already take the day as regular yearly event, and campaigns to push the recognition enter Ondo, Ekiti, and other Yoruba states still dey go on 7. One peer-reviewed study for 2026 put the whole matter straight-straight as human-rights issue: say how government dey recognize Christian and Muslim holidays for many decades without giving any to traditional religion na unequal treatment under Nigeria constitution wey guarantee freedom of religion, and say e better make people see the Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Day campaigns as way to claim their right, no be to beg for favor 1.

The celebrations dey include community prayers, processions, and meetings with traditional rulers (ọba), plus public prayers for peace and progress (àlàáfíà) for the land 67. This recognition no come without wahala. For towns where different religions dey mix, and na Ilorin for Kwara State people dey quote pass, traditionalists dey face resistance from conservative groups inside the main religion for the town, and public processions come turn major point of dragging 8. The person wey compile this work find out and confirm say Rasheed Olaniyi na real historian of Ilorin and of Yoruba-Muslim relations for Ilorin emirate, wey don publish work on religious-boundary matters for Kwara State; the exact article wey dem cite for earlier draft, for inside Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, no dey possible to independently find and confirm by the title, volume, and page numbers, so na why we cite am here with lower confidence, to just mention the general pattern wey dem use am for instead of to quote am directly. Confidence: medium on this particular citation; high on the main matter wey many people don report about how public traditionalist visibility dey cause dragging for towns with mixed religions 8.

Two sources wey dem cite before for the civic-recognition story, one 2024 article by "Matthew Agbaje" for inside Nigerian Journal of Cultural Studies and one 2024 article by "Soliu Oyesiji" for inside African Studies Quarterly, no show up at all for the published records of the two journals, or for Google Scholar, or for any library catalogue wey dem search. True-true, Matthew Agbaje na Nigerian journalist wey don write newspaper explainers about the Ìṣẹ̀ṣe festival, and na likely that true story lead to the fake journal citation, but no peer-reviewed article with that name show up on this topic. We remove the two citations because dem no fit verify dem as dem present dem. But the claims wey dem support, the fact and the correct time wey state-level recognition happen, na true and dem independently confirm am through Nigerian news reports of that time and the Olanrewaju 2026 study wey we cite above 167, so nothing change about the recognition timeline itself, na only the two fake citations wey dem join put we commot.

Contemporary priesthood: training, standardization, and the Ìyánífá question

According to all academic records, family-lineage apprenticeship still remain the standard way to enter Ifá priesthood: person go stay ten years or more with master, dey memorize verses, dey learn traditional medicine, before initiation, and e go continue to specialize for years after that. That training pathway, the stages, and how dem dey check quality inside dey well covered for Becoming a Babaláwo and we no repeat am here.

Wetin make sense to add here na the newer, parallel channel: formal institutes wey dey teach Ifá literature and philosophy inside classroom outside the master-apprentice system, wey dey open the tradition give students, including diaspora and foreign students wey no get family lineage link to am. Wande Abimbola, wey be the living Ifá scholar-priest wey popular pass internationally, dey connected to this exact kind of institutional teaching for Oyo State. The person wey compile this work no fit independently verify the exact name "Ifa Heritage Institute" or confirm the details of how dem start am as e dey for earlier draft; Abimbola institutional teaching activity na true and e well documented in general terms through im university career for Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ University and im role as Àwíṣẹ Awo Àgbáyé, spokesperson for Ifá worldwide, one title wey meeting of Ifá priests give am for 1981 9. Therefore, the specific claim about one named formal academy remain at confidence: medium, and we state am as general pattern of institutional Ifá education instead of to tie am to name wey we never verify.

The Ìyánífá controversy

Whether women fit undergo initiation as full Ifá priests, ìyánífá, na one of di biggest live dispute inside di tradition today, and no be this decade e start: e dey run across practice inside Nigeria, Cuban Lucumí and Santería, and di American diaspora, where different communities dey reach different conclusion wey sometimes dey strictly oppose each other. Dis corpus don already treat di dispute well well as e take deserve inside Becoming a Babaláwo: The Ìyánífá Question, as e depend mainly on di peer-reviewed study wey Ayodeji Ogunnaike do, wey be di most careful single treatment wey dey available and deliberately refuse to judge between di different positions 10. Dat file bring out di conservative position say women no fit look di òrìṣà Odù or touch di sacred instruments; di position wey Wande Abimbola and lineages inside Ọ̀dẹ Rẹ́mọ and Ilé-Ifẹ̀ document, say woman initiation na older practice wey colonial and missionary pressure suppress; di historical evidence for early women diviners including di tradition say na one woman, Arugbá, carry Ifá enter di Ọ̀yọ́ Empire; and di transatlantic dimension, where American and European seekers, as dem see say Cuban route close against dem, come drive plenty of di demand for women initiation inside Nigeria and cause open conflict with conservative lineages wey come from Cuba.

Dem flag two citations wey connect to dis dispute make dem verify am here, and di two of dem check out. Di article wey Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús write, "Contentious Diasporas: Gender, Sexuality, and Heteronationalisms in the Cuban Iyanifa Debate", na real, peer-reviewed article inside Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, volume 40, issue 4 (2015), pages 817 to 840, and e document di 2006 Venezuela confrontation where Cuban babaláwos reject di standing of one female Ifá initiate while Nigerian babaláwo wey dey there argue say e legitimate 11. M. Ajísẹbọ McElwaine Abímbọ́lá's "The Role of Women in the Ifa Priesthood" na real chapter inside Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun edited volume Ifá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance (Indiana University Press, 2016) 12. Dem cite di two of dem correctly inside di draft wey cause dis file, and dem use di two of dem, through Ogunnaike, inside di treatment wey already dey inside di corpus. Instead of to repeat dat argument here, dis file dey direct readers go there and only add wetin specific to di civic and institutional angle: di Ìyánífá debate now don also turn to argument about representation inside newer coordinating bodies like ICIR, where diaspora-influenced, inclusionist positions carry more institutional weight pass wetin dem get among conservative homeland lineages, wey dey reflect di wider pattern wey Ogunnaike document say di controversy dey hot pass when e far pass from im geographic source 10.

Urban practice and di ritual economy

As Lagos and Ibadan dey quickly turn to big cities, e don force traditional practice enter new physical and financial arrangements wey lineage-based, village-scale religion no need before.

Space. Communal drumming, all-night vigil, and sacrifice wey dem dey do outside dey clash with noise laws and with landlords, wey many of dem dey now put religious-conduct rules inside rent agreement for buildings wey majority na Christian or Muslim. Initiates wey dey rented apartment dey often make their shrines small and keep am inside room, na practical arrangement instead of say na doctrinal change. Di pressure on physical sacred space, including encroachment on sacred forests and rivers because of development, dem treat am well well through di Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo case inside Òrìṣà Tradition Today and dem no repeat am here.

Money. Divination fee, sacrificial materials, and payment for herbal preparations don always be part of Ifá practice; Abimbola account of training clearly include di diviner fee and how dem take dey handle offerings as normal features of di profession, no be modern corruption 9. Wetin change with globalization na di scale and distance, no be di principle. Foreign initiates, wey plenty pass from North America and Europe, dey pay in dollars and euros, for level wey pass normal local fees far far, and dis one get clear effects: priests wey get transnational clients fit fund bigger shrine complexes and support more apprentices, and e don also cause documented worry among senior traditionalists and scholars about short, fast-track initiation wey dem dey sell to visitors within days instead of di years wey training traditionally need 13. Ifá Today treat dis commercialization dynamic well, including di specific problem of online practitioners wey nobody fit verify and automated divination, and dat treatment full pass and get better source; dis file only note say di same economic pressure dey affect Ìṣẹ̀ṣe institutions generally, no be only on individual Ifá initiations.

One earlier draft of dis material quote one particular "original text" Ifá verse about how e no correct make diviner work without payment, wey dem talk say na translation from Wande Abimbola book Ifá Will Mend Our Broken World (1997). Dat exact verse and di translation no dey inside dat book or anywhere else under Abimbola name, even after person check all im published work dem, including Sixteen Great Poems of Ifá and im oda translated collection dem. Di main point wey dem dey argue, say Ifá literature see diviner right to collect payment as something wey correct and expected instead of something to dey ashamed of, get strong backing even without dat verse: Abimbola talk am clearly, as e dey discuss training and practice, say di fee wey diviner dey collect na normal and necessary part of di work 9, and di general Yoruba proverb tradition about payment for specialist knowledge, say one great poem of Ifá na only in exchange for anoda one dem dey give am, get independent documentation and dem don cite am correctly elsewhere inside dis work 9. Di particular three-line verse and di translation wey dem link to am don commot from here because e no get proof for dat format; di claim wey dem use am support still stand on top better citation.

Wetin dis one leave wey never settle

Di exact institutional membership and internal structure of organization dem like ICIR no get independent documentation outside wetin demsef talk publicly, and dis file no verify dem pass dat level. Whether second coordinating body wey big reach ICIR dey alongside am na wetin person no fit confirm, and we no talk say e dey for here. Two English translation quotation dem wey dey inside earlier draft no fit dey traced go di sources wey dem name or to any oda source wey person fit identify, so dem commot dem instead of to repeat dem; we describe di two of dem above so dat any researcher wey get access to specialist Ifá archives, or to Yoruba-language movement publications instead of secondary English reporting, fit try find dem with proper source.