From drums to chants: How Yoruba indigenous religion shaped church, Islamic worship - Don

File: Prof Olusola Ajibade

A professor of Yoruba folklore, literature and culture at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof Olusola Ajibade, has said Christians and Muslims in Yorubaland have, without realising it, adopted elements of Isese, the Yoruba indigenous religion, into their worship styles and music.

Ajibade, whose research interests include religion in Yoruba drama and traditional practices such as the Sango cult, spoke in an interview with Yoruba Gidi TV which was published last week but gained virality on social media on Friday.

He said the influence of Isese was visible in the musical instruments and dance styles now common in churches, despite the religion’s historical rejection of such practices.

“Muslims and Christians don’t know that whether they like it or not, the elements of traditional Yoruba that is in their life can never go away,” he said.