By Gbenga Osinaike
It is interesting how social media erupts at the sight of a gaffe by a known public figure. It is more dramatic when such personality is from the church.
Daggers are drawn from known and unknown quarters that sometimes one begins to wonder if Nigeria is a wholly Christian country.
But we know Nigeria is a multi-religion country. It is just that any matter that concerns the church gets the front burner. It is the market point for bloggers and the media in general.
And this is so because the church is a relevant force. I am yet to see social media go gaga when matters of other faiths are in question.
So, the recent drama that greeted the famed songstress, Evangelist Tope Alabi as a result of a worship chant she deployed during one of her outings is not unexpected. This is not the first time the artist would have to contend with the public.
Ajanaku controversy
A few years ago, when Prophet Elijah Ajanaku died and some cult members showed up to fellowship with his corpse, many people were taken aback.
A lot of people quickly added one plus one and concluded that Tope Alabi might have been inflicted with a strange anointing. They reached that conclusion because the gospel singer had in one of her albums paid tribute to Ajanaku referring to the God or god of Ajanaku; whichever.
The controversy was so much that many had thought Alabi would go down with the demise of the prophet. But she survived it.
She soon bounced back and got the confidence of her fans. Her sin was forgiven. It was thought that she might have been a victim of indiscretion.
But about two years ago, Tope Alabi was again enmeshed in another controversy. This time, many took her to the cleaners for daring to disparage the song, Oniduro Mi (My Guarantor). The criticism was so fierce; that it seemed an end had come for the gospel artist.
Despite the depth of the controversy, she bounced back. A supposed apology did the magic. And then, she rolled back to the limelight again getting stronger by the day. It seemed at the turn of every controversy, her rating rises.
Aboru aboye controversy
But then, the latest controversy seems to go beyond Tope Alabi. Many who listened to the praise session where she deployed the words, aboru aboye, abosise felt she was delving into the occult. During the session she told worshipers to rise beyond just praising God and coming to offer sacrifice but that they should be the sacrifice themselves.
Apparently referring to Romans 12v1 where Paul admonished that we should present ourselves as living sacrifices, she said she was ready to offer herself as the sacrifice. But in the heat of the song, Alabi perhaps was ensconced in a reverie when she uttered the words Aboru Aboye Abosise
Some described this utterance as a demonic code in the Yoruba cosmology. It is a mode of greeting among a particular sect of traditional worshipers.
A netizen wrote, “Why are people defending what they can’t? The greeting is limited to only the idol worshippers, most especially the Ogboni confraternity. Aboru Aboye; then the recipient would answer Aboye Bosise.”
Social media has since been abuzz with many kicking against the use of those words. But some believe it is a lack of understanding of the Yoruba language that has ignited the negative reaction. The controversy however has become deep and disturbing.
Those who are keen on the purity of the church will however realise that the utterance of Tope Alabi is not the real trouble with the church. It goes beyond that utterance. And this is not to praise her for the use of those words. We will come to that later.
Pentecostals are also guilty
Many denominations have long been lost in the sea of syncretism. But many are unaware. Even some Pentecostals who pride themselves on having a whole gospel are latter-day movers of a polluted faith. And this is not to put down the church.
There is a Babalawo dimension to some church gatherings. It starts from the idea of the pastors playing the role of consultants in people’s life. Any time a pastor plays the role of the man to meet for a problem to be solved that pastor stands the risk of being a Babalawo pastor.
This is how it works. A man has a challenge. He goes to meet his pastor to share his burden and ask for prayers to get out of the problem. The pastor recommends he reads a particular Psalm and asks him to pray around 12 midnight every day for seven days.
He also goes gives him a mantle and asks him to place it at the front of his house to ward off evil forces. In some instances, the pastor urges the man to put a money seed down to activate his prayer.
The pastor makes the man realise that without a money offering, God will not be too keen to answer his prayers. He quotes Solomon and how he sacrificed thousands of sheep to God and how that gesture provoked God to answer him.
The occult practice
If you look at all these steps they are not different from what one gets when one consults a herbalist. And many pastors are guilty of this.
In some other instances, the occult practice is a yearly ritual. At a particular time of the year, the congregation is asked to bring items that serve as points of contact. Such items could be water, handkerchief, or oil. They are not one-offs. You have to keep those items and refer to it whenever there is a challenge.
It became so amusing when a particular church leader recommended three handkerchiefs for his congregation. The use of each handkerchief is determined by the severity of the challenge confronting them. And many in the congregation that day did not see anything wrong with this.
What many don’t realise is that as long as the name of Jesus is not at the centre of our faith, the devil cares less. Financial breakthrough is common in places where Babalawo Christianity thrives because the devil is not threatened by material breakthrough. As a matter of fact, he encourages it.
Beyond Babalawo syndrome
Beyond this Babalawo posture, many churches parade traits that are not different from people of the occult. When for instance a church is shrouded in secrecy, there is trouble in that church. It is only in an occult setting that it is taboo for people to have dissenting views.
But then, what about the subtle occult practices we see on a daily basis in our churches? I have had cause to query the idea of pastors asking people to speak to their offering and send the offering on errands. That is pure mammon worship. I am yet to be convinced how that is not a demonic art. Yet, people who do this will be among those raising dust about the aboru aboye cliche.
The trouble is that when many of our revered men of God slip into this occult circle, people hardly want to talk because of fear of touching the anointed of the Lord.
A few years ago, a celebrated church leader asked his congregation to comb their hair backward while praying. That art was criticised and it is still being criticised by those who are discerning. But such criticism usually does not go beyond two or three people in small circles. It does not get the kind of backlash Tope Alabi is getting because of the personality involved.
The truth is that many assemblies have sunk deep into syncretism. But then, people are picking holes in Tope Alabi’s utterance because they have an understanding of her background being linked to Ajanaku and they may well assume that a vestige of Ajanaku is still with her.
If she had limited herself to talking about Aboye or ebo aye, meaning a living sacrifice, perhaps it would not have gotten the traction it is getting.
The real issue
The real issue is the dexterity with which she used the words. This goes beyond the rich Yoruba language. It is a demonstration of the mastery of a refrain that is common with the occult. But then, it may well be those words came out from the innocence of her heart.
The issue however is beyond the register deployed by Tope Alabi. It is about the decadence in the Church and the need for us to go back to the pure gospel where pastors don’t create roadblocks between their congregation and God.
Their duty is to teach their members the word and allow the holy spirit to direct them in their daily lives. Pastors behaving like Babalawos in the lives of believers is one of the monsters that the church has to confront. And then, it will be easy to deal with the other elements of syncretism in the church.
.Osinaike is the publisher of Church Times
