A disgrace to Yoruba Tradition ? – Bigvai Jokotoye Oreoluwa’s shocking comment

“Most Traditional Religion worshipers are behind kidnapping and money rituals,” says  Bigvai Jokotoye Oreoluwa on Instagram.

You will be amazed to know the level of very uneducated or ill-informed some of our actors and actresses  are and this is the main reason they continue to attack the traditional religion in their Fiction films. In this 21st century, some people still believe in money rituals or turning people to money ? How very illinformed people could be to understand this is pure religious information war against the traditional religion and it was used perfectly by the missionaries to sell their own version of religious ideologies which has since become a well established tradition in SW of the country.

The simple truth is, non of the Orisas/Irunmoles out of about 401 Gods demand human blood for rituals or scarifies. If non of the Orisa or Irunmole demanded such so where did Bigvai Jokotoye Oreoluwa got his shocking comment from ?

A typical example is how the same missionaries labeled Esu as satan in the bible.  The simple truth is, Esu is not satan, has neverbeen and will never be. Obviously, a Bigvai Jokotoye Oreoluwa reading the bible would not be interested in  re-investigating African invisible religions or cultures and using the ethical values within those cultures to suppress, marginalize the ethical values, to arbitrate even his own conflict with the eastern middle eastern cultures, religion or Islam

http://nigeriaentertainer.blogspot.com/2016/05/most-traditional-religion-worshiper-are.html

“ Most of these traditionalists are behind kidnapping. They kill people to do money ritual. So they will now kidnap more Nigerians on their proposed public holiday if granted.hmm”

The above statement was made by Jokotoye Oreoluwa popularly known as BigVai a Yoruba born actor who hails from Ogbomoso, one of the historical town in Yoruba land. The above statement was made today on a post by @instablog9ja on Instagram on the movement by Traditional Religion Council in Nigeria to have Nigeria government recognize August 20th as national holiday for traditional religion practitioners in Nigeria.

Big Vai didn’t do himself any favor, he basically shot himself in the foot with his antics. Shortly after his statement was posted, it quickly generate reactions from several people who lashes out that the actor is a disgrace to the Yoruba film industry and he ought to know better.
Traditional religion practitioner in Nigeria and around the world have experienced and endure age long of abuse, stigmatization, marginalization and stereotype as the devils worshiper. The movie industry in Nigeria in particular have not helped matter, they are big part of the religion propaganda in the country. The constant display of Ifa priest as the evil doers and Christianity and Islam as savior in their movies is part of the big problem. The misinformation in the stories they produce knows no bound.

What happen to freedom of religion practice as part of fundamental human right?
What happen to religion tolerance?
What happens to we are all worshiping the same God?

Prominent religious leader and pioneer of Yoruba Culture like Prof Wande Abimbola and Araba Ifayemi Elebuibon among others, are force behind the promotion and protection of the ancient traditional practice of the Yoruba people against stereotype. They have fought and still fighting relentlessly to show the world that there is more to the spiritual practice than what the media, movie industries and individuals who uses the religion as disguise to perpetrate their evil deeds.
The leaders in the community both home and abroad have gone through a great deal of work to be where they are today and secure little recognition, protection and respect they have today. There is high rate of religion intolerance in Nigeria and in the world today. The comments on the post on Instagram shows the stigmatization that traditional Yoruba spiritual practice faces in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
It is however shameful and embarrassing to see a public figure like Bigvai make derogatory comment over a trivia matter that is sensitive to a large number of people in Nigeria and abroad. Big Vai as seen in the picture below posted the below picture on his Instagram which display “Omo Yoruba Atata” , a proud Yoruba child.

It is hypocritical of a so called proud Yoruba son be the same person to express such stereotypical comment about a spiritual system that is of Yoruba culture and practices.
Shortly after Big Vai saw that his comment have give rise to attacks from people. He retracted by saying he was only implying that there are evil doers in all religious sect as oppose to his first statement which was straight forward.

Nigeria celebrities need to be weary of their activities online and be conscious of the words they put out there. Most Importantly, they need to be held accountable for their actions at all time. Some celebrities seems to take their success for granted, they forget that social media is unpredictable. It can either be a tool or a weapon. Unfortunately Bigvai decided to use it as a weapon against the traditional religion practitioners in Nigeria.
We get on social media without thinking, forgetting that once the word is out there and the damage is done it can be unforgiving at times. Irrespective of your religion belief, you much show respect to others who practice differs. Nigeria as a country have witness wars and violence because of lack of religion tolerance. This is a spectacular mess for Bigvai.