Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has criticised the Emir of Ilorin, Sulu Gambari, for the cancellation of Isese festival, an annual Yoruba cultural event. which holds in the Kwara State capital.
in an open letter to the emir, Soyinka said the cancellation of the Isese festival was an attack on the culture of the Yoruba people and undermines civilization.
The incident that lead to the banning of the festivals occurred after Adesikemi Olokun, an Osun devotee, released fliers announcing a three-day traditional event aimed at celebrating certain Yoruba deities, which an Islamic group, Majlisu Shabab li Ulamahu Society, kicked against.
The Islamic organisation stormed her residence to threaten her not to dare hold the celebration. According to reports, the group said they were sent by the emir.
While responding to the incidence, the spokesperson of the Emir of Ilorin, Abdulazeez Arowona, said though the group actions was supported by emir but he didn’t send them to threaten the Osun devotee.
The priestess also alleged that she has received several death threats because of the planned festival.
Reacting to the controversy, Mr Soyinka said it is sad to see the ancient city of Ilorin, a confluence of faiths and ethnic varieties, reduced to this level of bigotry and intolerance, manifested in the role of a presiding monarch.
“The truncation of a people’s traditional festival is a crime against the cultural heritage of all humanity,” he said.
“Year after year, Ramadan has been celebrated in this nation as an inclusive gathering of humanity, irrespective of divergences of belief.
“Not once, in my entire span of existence, have I encountered pronouncements by followers of any faith that the slaughtering of rams on the streets and market places is an offence to their concept of godhead. Vegetarians hold their peace. Buddhists walk a different path.
“Prior to Ramadan, non-Moslems routinely join in observing the preceding season of fasting as a spiritual exercise worthy of emulation.”
Mr Soyinka recalled how for instance, “a procession of Corpus Christ was once attacked, some killed, by a brood of Moslem fanatics, for daring to process along the streets of that same Ilorin. Needless to say, such abominations have become routine. Community is sacrificed to bigotry.”
Mr Soyinka said he presently teaches in Abu Dhabi in the Emirates where the Islamic religion originated, and the system is inclusive.
“Prior to Ramadan, non-Moslems routinely join in observing the preceding season of fasting as a spiritual exercise worthy of emulation.”
Mr Soyinka recalled how for instance, “a procession of Corpus Christ was once attacked, some killed, by a brood of Moslem fanatics, for daring to process along the streets of that same Ilorin. Needless to say, such abominations have become routine. Community is sacrificed to bigotry.”
Mr Soyinka said he presently teaches in Abu Dhabi in the Emirates where the Islamic religion originated, and the system is inclusive.
“It may interest you to know that, in Abu Dhabi, numerous programmes are pursued, at government expense, for the evolution of a humanised community based on religious tolerance and mutual respect,” he said.
“By contrast here, several tiers removed from Origin, must we turn the turban of enlightenment into a crown of bigotry? And in a society whose very constitution that supposedly governs us all guarantees freedom of belief, association and movement?”
The novelist described the emir’s action as one that has led to religious malformations.
“Your Royal Highness, it is conduct like this that has bred Boko Haram, ISIS, ISWAP and other religious malformations that currently plague this nation, spreading grief and outrage across a once peaceful landscape, degrading my and your existence with their virulent brand of Islam,” he said.
“It is conduct like this that has turned, before our very eyes, a once ecumenical city like Kaduna into a blood-stained mockery of cohabitation. It is conduct like this that makes it possible for a young student, Deborah, to be lynched in the very presence of armed police, on mere allegation of having belittled the image of a revered prophet.
“It is action of this nature, perpetrated in obscure as well as prominent outlets of the nation, that turns a young generation into mindless monsters, ever ready to swarm out and kill, kill, kill. Simply kill for the thrill of it, but under presumption of religious immunity. It is conduct like this that then nerves one extremist to wake up one day in a Scandinavian country, publicly announce his intention, and proceed to make a bonfire of copies of the Qur’an. Reprisals follow, equally mindless, trapping humanity in an ever-ascending spiral of costly but gleeful violence.”
He also said the African continent has endured centuries of disdain and despoilation at the hands of alien religions – Christianity and Islam at the forefront.
He urged the emir “to rein in those agents of division, of triumphalist intolerance, such as the Majlisu Shabab Ulamahu Society. There is a thin line between Power and Piety.”
“Call Yeye Ajasikemi OIokun Omolara to your side, make peace with her and make restitution whichever way you can for this grievous insult to our race. We know the history of Ilorin and the trajectory of your dynasty – but these are not the issues.
“The issue is peaceful cohabitation, respect for other worldviews, their celebrations, their values and humanity. The issue is the acceptance of the multiple facets of human enlightenment.”
Isese festival is an event for traditional worshipers, celebrated on 20 August annually. A public holiday is often observed to give a sense of belonging to adherents of the culture by states that recognizes the rites, like Osun and Ogun states.
Following the announcement of the festival, Ilorin Muslim group came out to condemn the cultural event and vowed not to allow it to hold anywhere in the Ilorin emirate which constitute five local government areas of Kwara state.
