GENDER ROLES IN IFÁ CULTURAL PRACTICES AMONG THE ÌJẸ̀BÚ OF SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

The construct of gender, its dimensions and the disposition of a people towards it, manifest in their cultural and oral traditions. The Ifá cultural practice is one of the enduring and respected legacies in Yorùbá land. Existing studies have examined Ifá traditions, especially training of Ifá priests, divination processes as well as literary appreciation of content and form of Ifá verses. However, the role of gender in Ifá cultural practices is bereft of adequate scholarly attention, and understudied in Ijebu. This study was, therefore, designed to examine gender and gender roles; the interface of gender and its cultural contents in Ifá cultural practices and highlight Ifá verses that lend credence to gender among the Ìjẹ̀bú people of south-western Nigeria. The African Womanist and Sapir-Whorf hypothesis provided the framework, while the ethnographic design was adopted. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 60 respondents in five local government areas in Ijebu land comprising 50 Ifá priests and 10 priestesses/adherents who perform prominent religious and social roles in the different Ifá cultural practices. Key Informant Interviews were held with six Ifá priests and four Ifá priestesses. Four Focus Group Discussions were held with Ifá priests, Apè̩tè̩bí and followers of Ifá in Ìjè̩bú-Òde, Òmù-Ìjè̩bú, Ò̩sò̩sà-Ìjè̩bú, Ìjè̩bú-Igbó, Ìgbílé-Èrúnwó̩n and Ìrè̩wo̩n-Ìjè̩bú, being core areas in Ìjè̩bú land where respondents were readily forthcoming and cooperative. Participatory observations were also used to generate data regarding specific gender roles through Ifá sessions involving the participants. Secondary data were also extracted from Ifá literary verses collated from the study area. Data collated were thematically analysed. Men and women participate in Ifá cultural practices in general terms, as a Babaláwo can publicly make use of ikin ritual nuts for divination, while a woman can use ẹẹ́rìndínlógún, both Ifá paraphernalia. However, women were found to be precluded from participating in some crucial aspects of the vocation and not accorded the same ‘rights and privileges’ as their male counterparts, such as found in the Igbódù rites, considered to be the peak of initiation process for Ifá adherents. Thus, in Ifá practices in Ìjẹ̀bú land, gender roles, though complementary, were found to be in favour of the male-folk. In addition, women in Ifá cultural practices in Ìjẹ̀bú land were not prepared to challenge the status quo, which will give them parity with the male-folk, because the tradition as inherited must be sustained. Women practitioners hardly show interest in the rendition of Ifá poetic verses. Female Ifá trainees cannot graduate to become ‘Ìyáláwo’ as an equivalent of a Babaláwo. The hierarchical structure is mutually exclusive for the male and female practitioners, while the Ifá poetic verses showed both female benignant and malignant characterisation. Gender roles in Ifá cultural practices, though complementary among the Ìjè̩bú of south-western Nigeria, are not in ascendancy. Similar research efforts in other parts of Yorùbá land will avail a comparative perspective and will shed more light on the scope and level of cultural homogeneity or otherwise among the Yorùbá people.