What is Isese?

Some say Isese is a religion.
Some say Isese is a spirituality.
I say Isese is the collective culture, traditions, worldview, and ancestral heritage of the Yoruba people.
Before Christianity and Islam arrived in Yorubaland, our ancestors already had names, languages, governance systems, philosophies, ethics, arts, festivals, rites of passage, medicine, and ways of relating to the divine. These are all aspects of Isese.
Not every Yoruba person practices traditional “worship” today, but every Yoruba person is connected to Isese through ancestry, culture, language, customs, and history.

Colonialism, religious conversion, and modernization caused many people to become disconnected from parts of that heritage. Others preserved it through generations despite immense pressure.
What concerns me today is the growing attempt by some individuals to claim ownership or monopoly over Yoruba traditions. No one owns Isese. No single group, priesthood, organization, or business can claim exclusive rights to the collective heritage of millions of Yoruba people, living and ancestral.

Our traditions existed long before us and, if preserved properly, will exist long after us.

Isese is not a commodity to be controlled.
It is a heritage to be understood, preserved, and passed on.
A kì í ta ìṣẹ̀ṣe baba ẹni.
(One does not sell the ancestral traditions of one’s forebears.)

Òlórí Àṣàbí Ifáníwúrá