Veteran Fuji musician, Shefiu Alao Adekunle, popularly known as Baba Oko, has opened up about a remarkable and deeply personal chapter of his life, revealing how his late mother, despite being a devout Muslim who observed the Islamic practice of wearing Purdah, personally took him to a traditional Ifa priest when his music career was experiencing a major setback.
The revelation has sparked renewed conversations about Yoruba cultural identity, traditional spirituality and the relationship between indigenous religious practices and foreign religions in Nigeria.
Recounting the experience, the Fuji musician explained that there was a period when his career was struggling, show bookings had dried up, and the opportunities that once kept him relevant in the entertainment industry had almost disappeared.
According to him, he was advised to return to his roots and seek spiritual direction through traditional Yoruba practices.
However, what made the experience particularly astonishing was the involvement of his late mother, whom he described as a devoted Muslim and an Eleha who regularly wore Purdah.
Baba Oko disclosed that he was initially frightened by the suggestion, but his mother's unexpected decision to personally lead him to a Babalawo eventually changed his perspective.
In his words:
"When my career collapsed and the bookings stopped, I was told to return to my roots.
"Amazingly, it was my late mother—a devout Muslim Eleha—who took off her Purdah and led me to a Babalawo for Ifa initiation. I was terrified, but that step changed my life and revived my career.
"It taught me that while Islam belongs to the Arabs and Christianity to the West, Ifa belongs to us, the Yoruba. We are from Ile-Ife."
The musician maintained that his life and professional fortunes began to change following the experience, claiming that his career gradually regained momentum and opportunities started coming his way again.
His account offers an interesting perspective on the complicated relationship some Yoruba families have with religion, particularly where indigenous traditions coexist with Islam and Christianity.
Interestingly, Ifa is not merely a traditional ritual or an isolated spiritual practice. It is a sophisticated indigenous knowledge system with an extensive body of oral literature, philosophical teachings, divination practices and cultural history.
According to UNESCO, the Ifa divination system was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. It is practised among Yoruba communities in Nigeria and across the African diaspora, including communities in the Caribbean and the Americas.
The system revolves around 256 principal Odu, with thousands of verses preserving Yoruba history, philosophy, beliefs and worldview. Its knowledge is traditionally transmitted through trained Ifa priests known as Babalawos.
Shefiu Alao, who has built a longstanding career in Fuji music, has previously spoken about his journey in the entertainment industry. In a 2011 interview with Vanguard, he recalled starting his Fuji career in 1982, initially singing on the streets before gradually establishing himself in the industry.
His latest revelation also brings attention to the influence of family, cultural heritage and personal convictions in the lives of entertainers, particularly those who have experienced difficult periods in their careers.
While his assertion about the religious origins of Islam and Christianity represents his personal interpretation of cultural identity rather than an established historical fact, his position on preserving Yoruba indigenous heritage has undoubtedly opened another conversation about the place of traditional African spirituality in contemporary society.
For Baba Oko, however, the most memorable part of the story may not simply be the reported revival of his musical career, but the extraordinary decision of his late mother, a practising Muslim woman, to lead him towards a spiritual path she apparently believed could help him find direction.
It is a revelation that raises an intriguing question: how much of our indigenous cultural heritage have we abandoned in the name of embracing foreign religious identities?
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