By Young E. Freeborn, Warri
The Uku-in-charge and son of the founder of the Igbe Orhe Ofuafo Oghene Healing Home, Uku Simon Imoni Efedudu, has said religion and tribalism have torn Nigerians, including thousands of families in the country, apart.
He made this assertion recently during one of the Igbe worship days at Unenurhie community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.
In a media chat with our correspondent in the worship hall, the ‘Ose-Isi,’ as he is popularly called by his adherents said, “No doubt, religion and tribalism have contributed to the problems of Nigeria today. Truly, the Nigerian Constitution guarantees freedom of worship and association as fundamental rights of all the citizens of the country and also recognizes Nigeria as a multi-religious country. We have three major religions in Nigeria today. They are Christianity, Islam and the African traditional religion. We Nigerians are very religious, but we practice the opposite of what we claimed to believe.
“We are not religion-tolerant at all in our daily lives. We are bent to kill or cause chaos in our communities at the slightest intrusion into our religious beliefs and practices by other people. We always claim religious superiority over other religions. Christians will tell you that, they are the only chosen ones by God. The Moslems will also tell you that, they are the only ones recognized by God. While the Igbe members will say, apart from them, every other religion is fake. If we need peace and peaceful co-existence in this country, then we must be religion-tolerant and also to love our neighbours as ourselves. This is the summary of God’s commandments to man,” he advised.
Also speaking was the ‘Oyiko-Isi’ (public relations officer) of the Igbe religious group. The Ughelli based business tycoon said, “Today, there are incessant religious crises looming all over the country especially in the Northern region. All these crises are caused as a result of religious superiority championed by different religious bigots.
“From available historical records, the Igbe religion came into existence from the Urhobo people. It was founded by the great Uku Ubiesha Etarakpo of Kokori Inland in Agbon kingdom. From there, it spread to different parts of the country especially in the Niger-Delta region. It’s a religion that seeks for the salvation of the soul by turning a new being once you are initiated as a member, by way of confessing your sins everyday. Again, the Igbe religion propagates peace, love and harmony amongst its members and between its members and their other neighbours.
“However, the same way the church is being proliferated today as a result of different reasons, that’s how the Igbe religion is also being proliferated by different Igbe adherents too. My message here is very clear, our lifestyles should completely reflect what we preach or teach in our different religious groups despite the multiplicity effects on our religions,” he said.
Mr. Amuke ended his divine message to Nigerians by advising them to tolerate one another irrespective of religion and tribe as he described the two sociological tools to have cost thousands of Nigerians series of unforgettable experiences of hatred, disunity, aggression, enmity, poverty, hardship and finally, crisis and death.
