Trinidadians reflect on receiving Ifa/Orisha chieftaincies in Nigeria

DR Charmain Blaize was introduced to the Ifa/Orisha faith from an interest in African folk dance. Shaka Alexander’s path to the faith began with African consciousness instilled from childhood. Together the two would journey thousands of miles to Nigeria to receive prestigious chieftaincy titles in Ifa/Orisha, an African traditional faith.

On July 30 this year, HRM Ọba Pius Omiyejola Akande (The Ajabaluku 1) Iwaro Oka, Ondo State, Nigeria, bestowed chieftaincy titles onthree Trinidadians, namely Blaize – Yeye Osunleyo of Iwaro, Alexander – the Ajagun Ore of Oka Odò and Baba Opakunle – the Odubonna Awo Iwaro Oka.

Newsday spoke with Blaize, a consultant and data health expert, in a Zoom interview from Scotland, where she lives.

Originally from Chaguanas, she and her family moved to Arima. Though her parents raised her as Anglican, she was not very interested in the dogma and indoctrination, but in living well and treating people well. She also attended an Anglican school, Bishop Anstey High School ,and attended various Christian churches with her grandmother.

“Granny was very service-oriented. Sunday morning was to go to church and visit older relatives to keep them company.”

She described her grandmother as a very spiritual woman who was always lifting her grandchildren up in their journey.

In her late teens, she had a very good friend involved in a Judaeo-Christian church and she became interested in going. But she broke away from the faith because of the restrictions on Sabbath-keeping, dress, clothing and hairstyles.

A life-changing visit

She continued her spiritual search and visited different churches. In the year 2000, one of her neighbours told her she was going to an African folk dance class in an Orisha yard. She recalled growing up she was taught that African dance was demonic, and that programming was still there.

“(But) I didn’t see anything evil there.”

It was being held at Ile Ijosin Otura Méjì àwọn Osun shrine in Arima and Blaize decided to attend initially just for the exercise, but eventually became more involved in the community.

One of the aspects of Ifa/Orisha that stood out for her was the focus on service.

“We are put on earth to make this world a better place. Not to dominate.”

She also appreciated the faith’s interaction with the forest, nature and animals. She explained that Ifa is not religion, but it contains religion.

“It allows us to live a purpose-driven lifestyle.”

Blaize recalled when she started doing the dance practice, she could not do the dances. The teacher instructed her to hold her body and feel the movements.

“I felt free and liberated. The dance is a form of somatic (relating to the skeletal muscles) worship, and healing. My feet touched the earth. We use it to heal ourselves. Our bodies are traumatised bodies.”

She explained in the Ifa/Orisha faith they believe in a supreme creator of all things, but there is no devil in their cosmology.

“We believe in good and evil. But there is no hell.”

She said they adhere to having a good and humble character and the concepts they follow are to be decent human beings and make the world a better place. They also see the expressions of God through nature, such as  rivers.

Blaize said there is a lot of confusion among those outside of the faith about what they practise.

“I follow the mantra of living the best life that I can live.”

In 2006 she migrated to Scotland to study and while she hoped to share her faith with Africans there, that was not the case.

“The fervency and zeal we have in Trinidad and the Diaspora is not the same here.”

She added most of the Yoruba in the UK were practising Christians or Muslims.

She is co-founder of Women of Colour Scotland, a community interest group committed to empowering and promoting positive change for families living in Scotland and the Diaspora.

She said while in Trinidad it is openly practised, that was not the case in Scotland.

“You go in the road and ring a bell, people will wonder, ‘What is wrong with her’?”

She said, however, many people were interested in learning about the faith in Scotland and exploring ways to improve their spiritual lives.

Blaize has received backlash from some of her relatives for her choice of faith.

“Some of my family openly tell me I am going to hell, it is evil. I say, ‘That’s your opinion. It’s my life. I will not dictate how to live your life.' It’s a ‘live and let live’ kind of thing.”

But her daughter also embraces the faith.

“But when you don’t have peers to practise it, it is a bit strange.”

African consciousness and performance

The second shieftaincy recipient, Alexander, told Newsday in a telephone interview his parents were always supportive of his journey. Originally from Siparia, he recalled he was always drawn to his African ancestry. While at Siparia Presbyterian School he was mocked a lot because of the darkness of his complexion and his stutter.

“I thank God for my parents, who used to coach me to believe in myself and see me shine in my life. My mother would always tell me ‘If anyone called you black, look them straight in the face and say yuh black and proud.’ She would often repeat the words of Winston "Gypsy" Peters’ song, ‘Be black, be black, but be conscious.’ Those were the affirmations of power that were instilled when confronted with problems.”

In primary school, though he stuttered, he took part in storytelling, calypso and athletics. At the Fyzabad Anglican Secondary School, he entered the Mr and Miss Emancipation St Patrick competition.

He portrayed King Shaka Zulu of South Africa and when asked the question, “Are you an African?” he replied, “Even though I was born in Trinidad and Tobago, my ancestry is from Africa, therefore I am an Afro-Trinbagonian.”

Alexander recalled the entire crowd “lit up” and he was crowned king. He entered the show a couple of years later and won the crown again with a piece entitled N--ga Yard.

He read books from Marcus Garvey, Senegalese historian Chiekh Anta Diop, and American philosopher Molefi Kete Asante.

“I was thirsty, looking for my roots.”

Alexander also sang calypso, danced and performed monologues at Sanfest competition.

“Most of my music back then was geared towards uplifting black people and their heritage.”

In 2009 while he was at UWI studying theatre arts, one of his lecturers, Rawle Gibbons, took the drama festival and society class to an Orisha prayer in Parshley Street, Laventille as part of their research. This encounter inspired him to pay deeper attention to the faith.

“(I) eventually decided to walk on the path.”

For the next five years, he continued to visit the site where the Orisha prayers were held.

“I started to feel this is somewhere I belong.”

He would also go online and research the different Orisha deities. He also experienced dreams and visions that directed him to different places.

He was encouraged by one of his friends, Ifakomiyo, to attend the National Osun festival at Salybia held by Ile Ijosin Otura Méjì àwọn Osun shrine in Arima.

“The head Priestess Yeye Agbomola, from the time we met, we connected well, and later on I visited the temple and from then I started my Ifa /Orisha journey. I subsequently got initiated into the faith in 2014.”

He became more exposed to deeper information about African spirituality. In 2016 he received the opportunity to visit Nigeria with other members from his temple. He was excited by the news, as the only place he had ever wanted to visit was Africa.

“I wanted to see where my ancestors came from.”

He said from the moment he stepped off the plane in Nigeria, it was a “spiritual experience”.

“To see the distance my ancestors came from, touch the ground – African soil –and seeing people who look exactly like people here. Yes, our ancestry is very much connected to Africa.”

Blaize was also scheduled to go on the trip, but it did not work out.

After the trip, Alexander promised himself he would return. After returning to Trinidad, he visited various Orisha temples and shrines as he wanted to be strengthened in the faith.

“To study and learn more and be a part in a bigger way.”

Alexander participated in a spiritual consultation in 2022 and explained it is a divination system to find out the trajectory of one’s life. During the reading, he was told some people from another part of the world would be looking to bestow a title upon him soon. In March this year, he was invited to visit Iwaro Oka, southwest Ondo state in Nigeria, to be conferred with the chieftaincy title of Chief Ajagun Ore of Oka Odò.

“I was honestly happy. I felt as if I was blessed by my ancestors. I felt really humbled to know in this day and age a young boy from Siparia is called to come to Africa to receive something like that.”

The Chieftaincy titles

Blaize said she was surprised when she heard the news of the chieftaincy. Her title is Yeye Osunleyo of Iwaro and she explained it signifies reverence and connection to the Orisa Osun. The title comes with responsibility for the community both in Trinidad and the Diaspora. She said there was no explicit Ifa/Orisha community in Scotland, though there was some familiarity with the traditions.

A strong component of the faith was to use art and culture as a way to unite and understand oneself and the people one interacts with.

She recalled her trip to Nigeria for their crowning during the New Yam festival. It was a drive of more than seven hours to get to the village in Oka to meet with their Araba, the chief priest in Ifa, whom Blaize likened to an archbishop.

She reported some of the roads were good, but some were very bad.

“We had to decide which pothole to go through or which side.”

They went through Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria, which Blaize said was very cosmopolitan.

When they arrived at the village, she saw villagers dressed as Trinidadians would for Emancipation Day, though this was their regular daily wear.

She described the village as “out of this world.”

“There were no mosquitoes. It was the rainy season. The weather was very cool. It was not Trinidad and not blazing sun.”

She described the villagers as very friendly, and some villagers came up to their van and prayed for them.

“The culture is one of respect.”

They were transported with a police escort. She reported there was a lot of poverty in the village.

“Everybody hustling. Nobody liming. Selling clothes, shoes, plantain chips, watermelon, boiled corn.”

She said it reminded her of Chaguanas a long time ago.

Blaize explained the New Yam Festival is a celebration and thanksgiving and yam is distributed to all the villagers. There was also a street parade where the villagers sang their names and sang about them.

“It was really jubilation.”

The villagers dressed in costumes which reminded her of old mas in Trinidad.

“Africa in Trinidad, Trinidad in Africa.”

Blaize said she felt euphoric and returned to Scotland on a “high.”

“Pure Orisha Nigeria energy.”

She compared her pilgrimage to Muslims performing Hajj or Christians visiting Jerusalem.

As part of the title, she is committed to helping the community in Iwaro Oka, a mountainous and very rural area. One of the things about setting up the foundation is the promotion and development of Ifa/Orisha tradition in culture and practices.

Alexander explained his title Ajagun Ore of Oka Odò means "chief warrior of Iwaro Oka community."

“It is about protecting the crown, women and children, advocating for the rights of the people.”

At his coronation, he was given a sword to indicate he represented the king and the people of Iwaro Oka anywhere in the world. At the annual New Yam festival, which marks the beginning and the end of the farming season, he would walk behind the chief.

“A warrior for the king and the people.”

He further explained the title is connected to the sacred deity in Africa and he must protect the people and the bountiful yam harvest. Alexander also renewed connections from his trip in 2016.

“I am strongly of the belief my ancestry came from that part of Africa.”

He said it was not an honorary title, but a community/spiritual title, and one he is allowed to keep until death. His responsibilities were to propagate the culture and traditions of Iwaro Oka; protect the throne: support the annual New Yam Festival; return to Africa each year; defend the people and ensure there are no disturbances within the community; and sit with the chiefs and king on matters affecting Iwaro Oka.

“Even though I was born here, I was given the proper rights and rituals to function in this capacity as a chief.”

He returned home with his crown and sword and added his parents were very happy and proud of him.

Alexander said while he is back in Trinidad he remains in touch with the community via phone and messaging. He has also co-hosted the radio programme, Ifa Orisha: A Way of Life on radio station 91.9FM for the past three years.

The third Trinidadian to receive a title at the ceremony was Jerome Baptiste, aka Baba Opakunle, who was given the chieftaincy title of Odubonna Awo Iwaro Oka, a spiritual one that is in the hierarchy of Ifa/Orisha tradition and doctrine.

Alexander explained Opakunle has been in the tradition for many years, functioning in the community of Arima as a farmer, ensuring food security is developed. He added he is also the younger brother of the late national calypso icon Lord Brigo.