An Ondo State-based former pastor, Olabanjo Felix, has explained his decision to abandon Christianity and embrace Isese, the indigenous Yoruba spiritual tradition, saying he was driven by what he described as “deceit in Christianity.”
Felix, who now identifies as Ifawamiri Aworanolodumare, a Babalawo of Ifa, claimed that many Christian clerics in Nigeria had turned the religion into personal and family businesses.
He said he became disillusioned with Christianity after becoming increasingly concerned about what he described as brainwashing by some pastors and contradictions in the Bible.
Felix, who previously founded the Image of God Evangelical and Prophetic Ministries in Ibaka, Oka Akoko, Ondo State, publicly announced his departure from Christianity in a video that went viral on Thursday.
Explaining his decision in an interview with The Punch on Sunday, he said he made the announcement to ensure people stopped referring to him as a pastor after he had ceased practising Christianity.
“I did that video to announce to the world that I’m no longer a pastor because people kept addressing me as pastor, but I cannot continue to accept that. I don’t support deceit, so people have to know that I’m now an Ifa adherent,” he said.
Felix said he spent about two years on what he described as a “soul-searching journey” before finally deciding to leave Christianity.
He disclosed that he consulted several pastors during the period to reassess his beliefs, but their efforts failed to convince him to remain in the faith.
“I became fed up of Christianity because there is no true pastor of the Bible in Nigeria aside from Pastor Gbile Akanni. I’m a Bible student and I understand the Bible very well, but I was arrested by Ifa. I did not just change my religion overnight.
“I changed from Christianity to Ifa worshipping two years ago when I was on a soul-searching journey. I was very disturbed with the confusion in the Bible and the deceit in Christianity. Before taking my decision, I tried consulting with other pastors to check myself because I thought maybe I was not truly born again, but I still could not continue with Christianity even with their attempts to change my mind.”
The former cleric also revealed that he briefly considered Islam before eventually choosing Ifa.
“I even tried converting to Islam because I consulted a cleric who advised me to go and study the Quran. I downloaded the Yoruba version of the Quran and I read, but I discovered that it is the same deceit.
“After this, I made up my mind to learn Ifa and become an Ifa priest and I started looking for genuine Ifa priests to mentor and lead me. My conviction was further rooted in the potency of herbs and roots,” Felix added.
He said his interest in traditional Yoruba spirituality was strengthened by his experiences with herbs and roots, which he said contributed to his conviction.
According to Felix, he eventually contacted the Araba of Isararemọ, Oluṣẹgun Latunji Aifuwapẹ, whom he found on Facebook, to express his desire to learn Ifa.
He rejected the description of traditional religious practice as fetishism, insisting that his own practice involved prayers, supplications, herbs and roots.
“I found Araba of Isararemọ, Oluṣẹgun Latunji Aifuwapẹ on Facebook and I told him of my intention to learn Ifa. And since I joined him, I have never engaged in any fetish act. We have only been praying and doing supplications,” he said.
Felix further claimed that people from outside Nigeria visit the centre to learn about Ifa.
He also alleged that some Christian clerics privately seek Ifa practitioners for divination despite publicly condemning traditional religious practices.
“There is too much deceit in Christianity. The so-called men of God have used the religion to brainwash a lot of people. I cannot count the number of pastors that contact us for Ifa divination.
“But I cannot do that, and that is why I came out openly to renounce Christianity and declared my allegiance to Ifa,” he said.
