Chapter 4

Religious Experience in ngs Verbal Art among the Yorb People of

d

George Olusola Ajibade

Introduction
This study was born out of an exclusive interview with the adherents of ng
and experiential participation in the worship of this deity in the traditional
community of d, Osun tate, Nigeria between 2007 and 2012. The main focus
of this paper is to identify the orientation of ng worshippers as it comes to
expression in poetry. Religious poetry places the stress on different points such as
the emotional and spiritual stances and also expresses identical ideas in different
ways, in accordance with psychological and religious profiles and experiences.
The paper, among other things addresses how the people were practicing
ng religion in the past, the changes that had occurred, the factors that are
responsible for the changes and kinds of power relation existing between ng
worshippers and practitioners of other religions. Important to these questions is
the poetry produced by the worshippers to see transmogrification witnessed by
the ng worshippers in their various religious interactions with other people in
the community. In other words, the study examines the text of the poetry as
explicit statements of philosophical or religious doctrine and as expressions of
distinctive worshipful attitudes. This is because philosophical or doctrinal content
of the poetry (songs, chants and recitals) may determine, colour, or codify the
poet's spiritual and emotional orientation as it comes to expression in the selected
poetry. I will take as the starting point how ng worship started in d
community.

The Begining of ng in d
d is a community that is situated on the banks of the s un River. It is a town
originally regarded as a military outpost of Old Oyo Empire (Beier, 1959: 5).
The beginning of ng in d could be traced to Timi Kofoworola Bamigbaye
Ajeniju, who was said to be born with closed fists and upon consultation with Ifa
oracle it was revealed that he was a ng devotee from heaven. It was added
that he a message should be sent to the Mgb in y who will perform certain
rituals so that the fists might be opened. This was done as prescribed and a small
pebble (a miniature of dun r) was found in his right palm and a cowrie in the
left. It was then revealed that he was a Mgb from heaven. He grew up to
become a king in the lineage of Timi and encouraged the worship of ng in
d, making it a civil religion in this community.
ng is worshipped daily, weekly and annually in d town. ng
festival in d is a nine day event starting with prayers at Od ng. They fetch
water from this brook for the ritual cleansing of dun r. The main chiefs in the
cult of ng in d are Bal ng, Mgb, lgn ng and Ads ng
who are the male chiefs while the female chiefs are the y ng. I was told
during interviews with the cult functionaries that they create more executive
members within the cult as the need arises. The females are the exponents of the
oral art of ng. Besides what has been handed over to them over the years,
they create more of these oral arts both out of their religious experiences and in
their response to the prevailing situation with their religion within the
community.
The lgn ng are the devoted worshippers of ng whom he has
chosen to be filled with his power to reveal certain truths and secrets to the
world.
The initiation ritual creates the deity inside the initiands. The initiate,
either lgn ng (the one mounted upon by ng) or the Ads ng (the
one that fashioned his or her hair style after the patter of ng) are joined to
ng through initiation. Hence they are called yw rs (deitys wives).
These devotees join to their deity ( ng) as husband and wife just as married
women join to their husbands. uch initiates are no longer their own but bind to
the deity. Matory (1994: 175) made a similar observation that the verb gun (to
mount) often implies suddenness, violence, and utter loss of self-control-a
connotation linking it paradigmatically with angos action upon his possession
priests and upon the world. In other words, whenever ng mounts upon his
devotees they have no will of their own and they are totally subjected to the will
of ng. This is not totally different from the Christians experience when they
go into trance whereby they prophesy or when they are possessed with the Holy
pirit and they prophesy.
From our interaction with ng worshippers and many non- ng
worshippers in d we discovered that ng is patronised by many people.
Even many Christians and Muslims visit ng worshippers in d for one help
or the other. Interactions with ng worshippers, mainly in d community
revealed that ng is a living religion among the Yorb people of outhwestern
Nigeria. The worship of this deity daily, weekly and annually shows the peoples
commitment to this deity. It is not a gainsaying that there are genuine
worshippers of this deity who do not imbibe syncretism as found in some other
religions-traditional and domesticated. It has been observed that:

At times, some women who are looking for the fruit of womb visit them to
inquire from ng what we need to do and he can tell us what we need to do so
that such women can have children. In some cases ng can tell us to give such
women cold water called gbo d ng (Concoction at the shrine of ng).
But it sad to say that after such a woman has received her miracle from ng,
though she will come to pay her vow (j) but she usually ascribes glory to
Christ if she is a Christian and to Allah if a Muslim.[1]

One would wonder the situation with the ng religion in d today. It was
gathered from the interview with the royal monarch of Ede town (Oba Muniru
Adesola Lawal, Laminisa 1) recently that the religion is thriving. Below is the
summation of his position on ng religion in d as reported in Vanguard of
March 10, 2013:
You cannot remove the seat of Timi from that of ango and that is why ango
has been one of the major traditional festivals that we celebrate. In the last five
years, I have tried to rekindle the dampened lights of this festival. People will
testify that I have done a lot to promote the festival, but Islamic and Christian
religions have been affecting the festival. If anything happened to an Ede person,
he will shout ng Timi in those days. We believe ng is part of Ede and
Ede is part of Timi and that is why I have been trying to promote the festival
again. People believe once you celebrate this festival that you are no longer a
Muslim or a Christian, but I am a Muslim and I know my relationship with God.
o, I have tried to raise the standard of the festival so as to attract people from far
and wide. The origin of Timi itself is ng and one should not allow religion to
blind fold him as to close his eyes to the traditional worshippers and the culture
of the people. I know I am going to give account of my stewardship for all the
religious beliefs of my people in Ede before my creator as their burden is on me.

The above shows clearly that ng religion is a living tradition in this

community. It also shows a level of religious tolerance on the part of the royal
monarch.
Mgb are the friends of ng who is regarded as the husband of all
ng worshippers. They are well respected in cult. They are given honour as
friends to ng. There is a popular song sung in the public during the annual
worship of ng especially in d to honour the Mgb and to show their place
in the worship of ng. The song goes thus:

Baba Mgb (twice)

m fi baba Mgb er,
Baba Mgb.
(Baba Mgb,
Do not joke with Baba Mgb
Baba Mgb).
We have gathered that Mgb are the non-possession priests that are officially
responsible for the initiation of possession priests and priestesses. In addition, we
gathered that in the history of deified ng the Mgb occupy a central space.
The Mgb were the faithful friends of
ng when he became deified. We were told that it was these Mgb who heard
the voice of ng at Koso when he ( ng) told them how he should be
worshipped. That is why up till today they are regarded as the close associates of
ng cult wherever the latter is worshipped.
During the annual festivals of ng in d, the cult members perform
different types of magic to show the power and prowess of ng. He is regarded
as a powerful and strong man; he emits fire and has a lot of medicine. All these
they show to the people in order to prove that his power is still in us as his
followers. They cut tongues with razor blade and it grows again within some
seconds. At times they put a mortar on their chests and request hefty men to
pound raw leaves into powder with pestle. In some cases they remove one of
their eye bulbs with a sharp knife and it grows back in the socket.
 This practice could be regarded as performing of miracles in hour of
ng by his worshippers. It instills fear in the hearts of the audience and brings
life to their worship. It shows social relevance of ng in this cultural milieu.
The practice of magic to honour him during the festival is the celebration of
ngs sacred origin. They are the ritual exponents that possess s , the power
to bring things into existence. Through a practical mastery of performance
techniques they manipulate the perceptual world, as it is experienced daily; they
play upon, embellish, and transform reality. They bring that which is normally
inaccessible or imagined into the phenomenal world where it can be observed
and contemplated (Drewal, 1992: 90).
At the incursion of Islam and Christianity in many Yorb communities;
and even after, many ng worshippers remain faithful to their deity
notwithstanding the political influence and economic sway.
As far back as 1954, Ulli Beier (Beier 1954: 16) remarked in regards to ngs
worshippers experience thus:
In fact, I know a priestess of hango who accompanies her ba every now and
then to church. Although she does not believe in Christianity she will yet show
respect to the God of her king.

In a similar vein, Beier (1954) remarked that:

I was extremely lucky that the first Oba I met was Timi Laoye of Ede. In order to
encourage his people to attend extramural classes, he joined my course for a
whole year. He also became my mentorThe exciting thing was that he was a
Christian, in fact, he had been educated by American Baptists. He went to Church
on undays, to the mosque on the major Moslem festivals, and celebrated
meticulously all traditional Yoruba festivals. He saw himself as the father of all
his people and as such, could not be seen to favour one religion over another. But
above all, Timi Laoye celebrated the ng festival more than any other. ng
was his personal orisa.[2]

Nowadays, the experience of Beier recorded above is not the case; still there are
similar and related incidences. For example, there are those we interviewed who
are Muslims and Christians who told us that they love the ng festival in the
town and that they are always happy and look forward to the month of October to
witness ng festival.
This indicates that despite the hard onslaught of Islam and Christianity on
ng as one of the Yorb traditional religions there are still many people found
devoted to this traditional religion of the people. This is in line with Nigosian
(1975: 1) who observes that:

Many religions rose only to disappear quickly, living little or no race. Others
flourished only as long as a particular civilization or nation flourished, but died
with it. A few, however, were destined to persist as living religions to the present
era.
The observation of Nigosian is true of ng religion both among the Yorb
people of Africa and those that are off the shore of Africa.
In regards to African traditional religion of which ng is of paramount,
Awolalu and Dopamu (1979: 285) summed it up thus:

Thus, although the traditional religion has many forces militating against it and
underrating its importance, it has within it an inexplicable seed of immortality
which has been planted on a fertile soil which continues to give nourishment to
the tree resulting from the seed and under which tree men and women come to
seek refuge from time to time.

Our summation from interviews we had with the adherents of ng among the
Yorb of Nigeria, d to be specific tallies with the observation of Awolalu and
Dopamu as cited above. It is evident that this religion is surviving in the
contemporary society with reformation and transformation. This, no one has
control over, because culture is dynamic and unstable; it will continue to change.
Nonetheless, the base does not change as one could evince from the performance
of the ng poetry by the adherents in d community as shall be seen later in
this work.
imilarly, we note that the existence of Islam and Christianity have been
responsible for the crisis in peoples religious susceptibilities for which they have
to assert their indigenous/traditional religiousity. Thus, it can lead to revolution
and protest. Islam, Christianity and the global wave of globalization had and
continue to have terrible effects on ng worship among the Yorb of Nigeria.
But the adherents of ng in d community maintain that the future of this
religion is bright. Islam and Christianity are very old in this community; still they
are not able to stop this traditional religion. One of them even said during our
interview with him that, though we do not know what the future holds since we
are not God, but it is certain that ng religion cannot be destroyed.
Projecting into the future is somehow difficult and unpredictable. But
correlating the past to the future of any event or scene is of great importance to
forecasting of the future.
Our experience with some ng worshippers on Tuesday July 17, 2007 at
ngs compound in sogbo is a proof to the perception of ng worshippers
in the contemporary Yorb society. On this day, in our bid to negotiate a forum
for interview with ng worshippers, they did not only decline to grant us
audience but they also maintained that they perceived that the ultimate of our
research on ng is to snatch their ng (motifs) away to the Western world
(l b, in their word). Every effort to convince them proved futile. This
experience with them cannot be discountenanced; it is highly significant to our
understanding of religious orientation of the people during the colonial era and
even after. Fear of interference with foreign religions, Islam and Christianity, to
be specific is of great concern to the adherents of ng. Also, our experience
with the ng worshippers in d is a proof that most of the worshippers are
afraid of being intimidated by the domesticated religions and thereby guard their
worship jealously. It took interventions of some dignitaries before we were
allowed to make a productive interview with the worshippers.
From our interview with ng worshippers and our experiential
participation in the festival in d community, we discovered that the verbal art
is central both in the worship and in the construction of religious experience and
identity of the ng worshippers. Besides, Yoruba rs can scarcely be
apprehended without taking into account the specific textuality of the oral genres
through which they are created, maintained and communicated with (Barber,
1990: 313). This portends that for proper capturing of religious experience of the
ng worshippers in d community the verbal art of the worshippers must be
properly taken into account. This will lead us into appreciation of the verbal
ritual orchestrated by the adherents of ng in d community.

Verbal Ritual to ng
The Yorb oral or verbal art can be produced in three distinct but in many
instances in interwoven forms (Babalola 1966, Olukoju 1978 and Olatunji 1982
&1984). The same observation has been made with the verbal art performed by
the ng worshippers in d community. We gathered that the verbal art can
either be in the form of a song or chant or recital and the three can be performed
together in a single performance. Also, it was discovered that they perform the
three intermingled. It is only the performance mode that differ, in many instances
the themes and contents are very similar. Be it songs, chants or recitals, the
performers are the same. One important thing is that recitation, chanting and
songs are used to praise, worship, adore ng but songs are usually performed
to reveal religious experience of the worshippers in their reaction to other
religions in the community.
Most of the songs we gathered in Ede community, mainly from the ng
worshippers during their public worship of ng are encomium of heroic deeds
of ng. This reflects the sovereignty or power of the deity which eventually
becomes incorporated and understood as the peoples cultural life, the actions
which are praised and subsequently used as antecedence for making further
petitions. The interaction of ng worshippers with other religionists especially
the Muslims and the Christians has over the years generated the kind of songs
below that we gathered during our interview with the worshippers in d.
In their reaction to the Muslims who are attempting to convert the ng
worshippers the latter formed this song:

Nbo l n n gb ng mi o?
Nbo l n n gb ng mi o?
Bb onlwn bnb
T n k n gb ng wmle,
Nbo l n n gb ng mi o?

(Where doe he want me to put my ng?

Where doe he want me to put my ng?
The man with a big turban on hi head
Who aid that I hould drop ng to become a Mulim?
Where doe he want me to put my ng?)

In a similar vein, whenever the ng adherents react to the preaching of the

Christians, all in the name of evangelism, they form the song below.

Nbo l n n gb ng mi o?
Nbo l n n gb ng mi o?
Bb onkl lrn
T n k n gb ng gbgb
,
Nbo l n n gb ng mi o?

(Where doe he want me to put my ng?

Where doe he want me to put my ng?
The man who wear a dre with collar on hi neck
Who aid that I hould drop ng to become a Chritian?
Where doe he want me to put my ng?)

Creating and singing songs like the above attests to the fact that the ng
worshippers though witnessing some changes arising from the wave of
globalisation in the form of infiltrations of foreign religions are negotiating their
place and space through the verbal art. Ordinarily, ng is usually placated with
songs, dances, lyrics and sacrifices. The verbal aspect being the verbal ritual
while the material aspect could be regarded as visual ritual; and the combination
of the twain makes a complete and acceptable ritual.
Poetry as a form of literature makes the world appear more passionate,
expressive and momentous. Poetry is a saturated experience and this is sequel to
the fact that there is a strong link between experience and meaning; and between
religious experience, feelings and poetry. In other words, there are observable
parallels between literature and religion as literature identifies spontaneous and
self-organizing images that govern our perspectives and actions.
Connerton (1989: 3-5) says:

Concerning social memory in particular, we may note that images of the past
commonly legitimate a present social orderif there is such a thing as social
memorywe are likely to find it in commemorative ceremonies; but
commemorative ceremonies prove to be commemorative only in so far as they
are performative; performativity cannot be thought without a concept of habit,
and habit cannot be thought without a notion of bodily automatisms.

Of all typologies of Yoruba oral genres, ork is not only central but it is germane
to the understanding of the subject, object and interactional and identity among
objects and subjects (Barber, 1991, 1994a&b and 2003). The ork of rs is
especially illuminating, educative and informative. This is sequel to the
observation of Barber (1990: 316) that:
In the propitiation of rs , as in other ceremonial and ritual activities, ork are
indispensable. ork are performed at almost every ceremony concerning rs .
They are uttered in the privacy of early-morning propitiation at the devotee's own
domestic shrine; in the regular weekly or monthly cult meetings; and in the cult's
annual festival, which may involve a great set-piece, a theatrical event where the
performance of ork is a central feature. In all these contexts, ork constitute a
channel of communication between devotee and rs through which reciprocal
benefits flow. The communication is opened by the making of an offering, and
this is usually supplemented by the utterance of prayers intended to direct a flow
of blessings towards the devotee. But it is in ork that the relationship is most
fully realised as a living engagement between a speaker and a hearer. Like all
ork, the ork of rs are in the vocative case and presuppose a listening
subject. The rs cannot but be there when the speaker exhorts and appeals to it,
extols it and insists on its attention in ork. The devotee speaks her mind to the
rs , in the process constituting its personality and powers in their fullest form.

The above observation of Barber is true of all rs in Yorubaland. In this regard,

we shall look into the ork of ng how it shows the religious experience and
commitment of the worshippers in Ede community. The chanting of ork of
ng falls into what is called ng-pp (calling of ng). Welch David
(1973:156) has even noted that:
ng-pp is a genre of verbal art practiced at well-defined ritual and social
occasions by devotee-chanters of ng, a Yoruba thunder deity. In ritual context,
ng-pp is performed in private worship and cult ceremonies; while in the
annual festival (Qdun), which involves outsiders, the chanting mode is employed
in a social context. ng-pp is a praising act, outwardly taking the form of
chanting and singing, which plays an integral role in ng ritual.

Ironically, due to long standing and presence of Islam among the d people,
Islamic identity has been conferred on ng as the traditional communal or civil
deity. This is discernible in one of the ork cited below.

Ngb ng w n l
mle n e
ni t for aj jiyn,
A-for-ld-mk-w.
(When ng wa living in l
He wa a practicing Mulim
The one who ue dog head to eat pounded yam
The one who ue pig head to drink pap during Ramadan fating).

In the word of Connerton, the performance of the above is a reflection of social

memory of the people using images of the past to legitimate a present social
order through performing of ork poetry. From the above ork ng, one can
draw a conclusion that the chanters were just satirizing Islam as one of the
domesticated religions in their midst. Pork is known to be a taboo for the
practicing Muslims, hence, if truly ng was a Muslim he would not contravene
the Islamic injunction that forbids a devout Muslim from eating pork.
Though the worshippers declined that ng was a Muslim but there are
few things we can bring out of the literature above in relation to societal beliefs
and practices. One can conclude that this praise poem was borne out of long
history of existence of Islam among the Yorb in regards to religious orientation
of the people in their various interactions. imilarly, this idea is also discernible
in ngs praise poetry as seen below.

Akw-gbr- The one who wins slaves due to his skill in Arabic
Akw-gbin The one who wins horses due to his skill in Arabic
Alwl-rbi-f-gb--rj- The one who performs ablution to see the storm
of arrow.

As earlier pointed out, another thing we can say is that such literature is created
by the worshippers to ridicule or lampoon the Muslims since their religion was
domesticated by the people. This poetic idea could be seen as a way of identity
creation in which the ng worshippers adopt to negotiate their religious space
in their interaction with Islam in their community. Eloquently articulating the
stakes around the pasts present in performance, Pollock (2005:72) writes:

Performance does not merely execute what is conventional or done. To the

contrary, the tension between the act of doing and what i done suggests an
essential ambivalence in the order of things. Performance at once enacts and
contests reiterations of the past in ongoing negotiations and re-creations of what
matter now. In its amplified versions as drama, ritual, show, and spectacle
performance thus becomes culturally salient as a way of knowing the past, doing
the present, and intervening on the future.

Formation of ork ng to reflecting Islamic identity is also part of negotiations

and re-creations of what matters now in the contemporary society. The ng
worshippers see that Islam has come to stay in the community and that little or
nothing could be done to eradicate it. Hence, the bargaining of religious identity
in which ng is seen as a practicing Muslim but with warlike attributes that are
peculiarities of ng.
The chanters of Ork ng among our respondents demonstrated their
dexterity in the orchestration of Ork ng in their verbal propitiation of the
rs as seen below.

Ll: Atbjay
gb: Bal mi !
Ll: A-b--gbangba-dm-lj
gb: Bal mi !
Ll: Tl
knrin 5
jl-onl-b-tir-lyn
gb: Bal mi !
Ll: un n j tir bl onl.
gb: Bal mi !
Ll: k mi m m jl old b
tmi 10
gb: Bal mi !
Ll: dr m m j n rj ng
gb: Bal mi !
Ll: n gangan n gbgi wl
A-pani-b-
t 15
Ll: A-k-m-tk-lyn
A-k-m-gbb-k
gb: Bal mi !
Ll: lej kan b ljaf r
A-gb-an-tr-
flgbe 20
A lej-yn-b-ni-m-tl.
gb: Bal mi !
Ll: Arbnb,
A-rgba-ta- gun,
A-bb-gbkn-
lk. 25
gb: Bal mi !

(olo: The one who i worthy to be aociated with

Choru: My huband!
olo: The one that judge the victim in the public
Choru: My huband!
olo: A tough
man 5
The one that join omebody ele houe to hi
Choru: My huband!
olo: It i he that join hi houe to that of omebody
Choru: My huband!
olo: My huband dont join my enemy houe to
mine 10
Choru: My huband!
olo: dr prevent me from the wrath of ng
Choru: My huband!
olo: He take tree to the town in the
noonday, 15
The one that make omebody behave a if he i intoxicated
with wine
Choru: My huband!
olo: The one that refue to upport wicked people,
 The one that refue to accept acrifice from a dubiou
peron
Choru: My
huband!
20
olo: The one that i ever ready for all
viitor,
The one that gave the whole pot of oup to the beggar,
The one that entertain viitor a if he had been informed
Choru: My huband!
olo: Arbnb,
The one that ha plenty thundertone to defeat hi
enemie, 25
The one that ha hefty knife in hi quiver.
Choru: My huband!)

The above excerpt from the praise poetry of ng is very important in that as a
form of folklore, it is the expression of deeply-felt emotions of the people where
the social, religious and cultural lives of the people are embedded. Decoding the
multiple layers of meanings encoded in the poetry as such is germane to the
understanding of the religious experience, orientation and power relations of the
people and with other religions within the community respectively. Hence, it is
worthwhile to discuss the implications of the ork for the worship of ng in
d community in this cultural milieu.
omething that cuts across the whole performance is the idea of referring
to ng as husband by the devotees. Of course, women are the principal
communicators, that they establish and create the rs through ork, and that
the fragmentation and merging of rs cannot be properly understood except
through the specific disjunctive and labile textuality of ork (Barber 1990: 317).
In their performance of the above ork, the qualities and powers of ng
are brought into the limelight. As earlier mentioned, this is an expression of total
submission, reverence and unswerving loyalty to ng. As a religious poetry, it
is an outburst of emotions in creating a religious identity. Of course, religion is
the sacralisation of identity and sacralisation is an emotionally welding of an
identity which, sudden or not, consolidates and stabilizes that identity. This
identity is also crucial to societies and groups: estrangement and relegation occur
if changes in society pale out identities before the originals adapt sufficiently.
Poetry is made from words, but it also expresses an outlook or vision; makes
experiences out of events, and such experiences are also real to believers.
The poem also talks about the power and the prowess of ng as a
warrior, fierce, tough and generous person. He is one of the deities of justice and
fairness in the Yorb pantheon, that is why he is depicted as The one that
refuses to support wicked people, and as the one that refuses to accept sacrifice
from a dubious person. The performance of this ork genre of ng does not
only bespeak the adherents faith and fate in him but it is also an insignia to the
future of ng religion among the Yorb people, especially in d.
 In addition, the rendition is mythical. One of the functions of myths is
that they describe the behaviour of deities to each other, their treatment of human
beings and their adventures on this earth and beyond. In spite of their
immortality, the gods are anthropomorphic, exhibiting human passions. The
language of myth is closed and self-supporting, not easily translated or
transferred from one culture to another. Meaning is formed by acts of
communication, and has to be recreated in those acts time and again.
Gender issue is also discernible in the above ork of ng. It is evident
from the chorus of the above poem rendered that ng is referred to as the
performers husbands; of course the performers are mainly women. Besides,
references to ng as the husband reveals the patriarchal ideology of the Yorb
people regarding male gender as superior to female gender. From our interview
with the ng worshippers and our observation in d, we gathered that females
are the main performers of ng religious poetry; although that is not to say that
men do not partake. The drummers who drum to songs render to ng are men.
In other words, women have been central in the ng cult in d community at
least partly because it is they who control the vital passages of communication
with the ng through their mastery of the verbal art of the rs , especially the
ork. Also, they are very sensitive to the sociocultural changes that the practice
of ng religion is witnessing and this is resulting into adaptability of the
religion to these changes and creativity of new oral genres to situate the worship
of their rs within the larger context. The women actually operate the 'praising'
mechanism through which the flow of spiritual forces is directed and through
which, ultimately, the multiple personalities of the rs are constituted (Barber
1990: 329).
In a bid to proof that ng religion is a living tradition regardless of the
waves of colonialism and globalisation, the worshippers sang some songs as seen
below.

1. N b ng agbaja l (Twice)
T mo b wyn t mo r ng
Ma mra
N b ng agbaja
l.

(I will accompany ng in hi outing (Twice)

Whenever I look back and ee ng ordidly behind me,
I will continue to work for him,
I will accompany ng in hi outing).

2. ng l ma b e e e e e e e
ng l ma b
wa gbgb
ooooooo
ng l ma b
wa krun o o o o o o o
ng l ma b
 (We hall continue to worhip ng
We hall continue to worhip ng
We are not Chritian,
We hall continue to worhip ng
We are not Mulim,
We hall continue to worhip ng)

3. ng bramu e e e e e e e
ng bramu
wa gbgb o
ng bramu.
wa krun o
ng bramu.
( ng uit u,
ng uit u
We are not Chritian,
ng uit u
We are not Mulim,
ng uit u).

4. ng lmi k/2x
ni ba w k ma krun
ng lmi k jre
(It i ng that I am worhipping/greeting/2x
Anyone who like can be practicing Ilam
It i ng that I am worhipping)

These three songs out of many that were rendered are cryptic with meanings. But
the main theme in them is that nothing can remove the allegiance of the
worshippers of ng to their god from them. They are confident, consistent and
resolute in their absolute trust and faith in ng. A Yorb aphorism says, B
gn ni b dni lj e ni fi gbr. That is, if one is certain of the support
of ones deity (gn) one can boast of such deity. They are sure of ngs
support; they do not only rely on him but they are proud of him. This points to
the fact that to them ng is a living tradition or religion.
The first song shows the adherents joy and confidence in ng. They are
bold to identify with ng, not only in the private but also in the public sphere.
Their belief is that in whatever they are doing they have the backing of ng.
ng is the only real actor in the above songs, while the singers had, as they
themself say that they can do nothing without ng's help, hence, what they
pray for is that ng should surround and protect them.
In the second, third and fourth songs, the adherents of ng make reference to
the two other religions-Islam and Christianity that are also observed by the
people in the d community. They opine that they are contented with ng and
that they are not ready to be converted into either Islam or Christianity. These
songs, born out of their religious experience and orientation within the
community are clear expressions of their wishes and aspiration in regards to their
religious affinity and identity. The songs are expressions of absolute trust in their
deity. ng is regarded as the centre of its own devotee's world, and is not seen
as subordinated by them to any other rs , be it traditional or domesticated. The
ng worshippers hold other religions within the community as rivals and
competitors; hence they are upholding their rs reputation at the expense of
others as discernible in the above songs. The third song reveals that the
worshippers are satisfied with what ng offers them since all rs have to be
able to offer benefits and certain qualities in terms of being benevolent by
bestowing children, wealth and long life; and ferocity, in order to empower,
protect the devotee and destroy his or her enemies (Barber, 1990).
The main idea reflected in the above four songs and some of the ork is in
line with the observation of what Karin Barber (1990: 318) calls inconsistency,
fragmentation and merging in the personalities of rs among the Yorb people
of south-western Nigeria.
he maintains that there is inconsistency, because the cults are in competition
and each presents its own rs as the centre of its own world, ignoring others or
relegating them to subordinate positions. Fragmentation is implied because the
intense personal nature of the bond is enhanced if each devotee or small group of
devotees within a cult has its 'own' version of the rs . he maintains that it is
merging, for the exclusive character of the relationship means that each rs
has to be all things to its own devotees.

Conclusion
This study, among other things has proved that Yorb religion within itself is
based on tolerance. This is because, in each of the Yorb community there are
various religious cults, all co-existing peacefully without significant open
confrontation or opposition as obtained among people of different religious
groups in other part of Nigeria. There was and there is no unhealthy rivalry
between different traditional religious groups based on the principle of
complementarities essence inherent in the worshippers; since no single road leads
to the market (n kan k wj). They hold the belief that their concerted efforts
will bring peace and harmony to the community. Most of the verbal art created
by the adherents of ng were created in their responses to both Islam and
Christianity as novel religions in Yorb communities. This is in conformity to
Yorb proverb that, J m j m, kror n ni n d. Literally, the effort
one makes of forcing another to be like one makes one to become an unpleasant
person. The ng worshippers opine that both Islam and Christianity are unfair
in their treatment of ng religion by their failure to recognise that ng is
another system and religion through which one can be vital both here on earth
and in the life to come. Hence, they resort to verbal dialogue in or der to give
room for religious tolerance. A critical appraisal of the religious poetry of ng
worshippers reveals their religious experience and orientation amidst other
religions in the community. It also shows that the performance of the oral art of
this deity is an avenue for deeper communication between the devotee and the
deity and it is also an avenue for power flow, empowerment and enablement.
 Likewise, the Yorb view of gender balance is equally discernible in this study.
Both men and women have their roles to play in the ng cult; men have their
roles to play as the Mgb and Ads while women are the y ng, the
preservers of verbal ritual tradition.

Oral Source
Chief ngdkun, Male, Jagun ng of d, 100 years, interviewed on August
3, 2007 at the ng palace shrine, d. Mr ngknm, Agbjere of d, 55
years, interviewed on August 3, 2007 at the ng palace shrine, d.
Mr ywl lya, member of ng cult, d, 65 years, interviewed on August
3, 2007 and October 2012 at the ng palace shrine, d.
Mr lywl, member of ng cult, d, 80 years, interviewed on August 3,
2007 at the ng palace shrine, d.
Mrs ngldn, ws compound, d, 75 years, Female Jagun, interviewed
on August 3, 2007 at the ng palace shrine, d.
Mrs Bll yny, member of ng religion, d, 60 years, interviewed on
August 3, 2007 at the ng palace shrine, d.
Mrs knk ngny, member of ng religion, d, 40 years, interviewed on
August 3, 2007 and October 2012 at the ng palace shrine, d.

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[1] This experience was revealed to us by some ng worshippers during

interview with them at the palace in 2007.
[2] Nnabuife, Chuka (2006) The Face of the Gods: Ulli Beiers Images, tories of
Receding Culture Guardian Newpaper, 7th March, 2006.