Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stressed the need to preserve African culture, acknowledging the importance of traditional practices like Ifa, despite his Christian faith.
Obasanjo made these remarks during a luncheon at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, organized to celebrate the 50th birthday of renowned female drummer, Aralola Olamuyiwa.
He expressed concern over the decline of African traditions in favor of Western influences, calling for greater appreciation of indigenous languages, attire, and food.
He said “Culture is the totality of who we are, unfortunately, we have relegated some of our culture to the background, our food, our language, our dress and so on
“They even say Yoruba is vernacular, that is not right, Yoruba is Yoruba, it is the authentic and we must learn to celebrate what belong to us because that’s the authentic
“I am a Christian, I have been to two churches today but whoever say Ifa Orumila is nothing must be a bloody fool because Orunmila has been with us before the advent of Christianity or Islam”.
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