Excursion
Excursion to Historical sites in Lagos: N1, 500 (Optional)
It is expected that participants interested in excursion will take a trip to historical sites in Badagry such as the First story building in Nigeria, the relics of slave trade in Nigeria. The palace of Akran of Badagry, etc

Ìwàlewà omo ènìyàn

Act of worship among the Yorùbá is a true reflection of the sociological context of their locality. Olódùmarè occupies a very high status as the king of the heavens and earth. He has the divinities who emanated from Him and who are His messengers or ministers in His theocratic government of the world. The ancestors are also there as intermediaries between man and Olódùmarè. For the Yorùbá, as a matter of respect, Olódùmarè is approached through His messengers or ministers. These in turn, convey the people’s petitions to Olódùmarè, who has the final say on the petition or prayers.

However, great changes have taken place among the Yorùbá and the Yorùbá in Diaspora and this have affected the people in all spheres of human endeavour, including religion. With the coming of Islam, Christianity, Western education and the emergence of urbanization and industrialization, it cannot be correctly asserted that Yorùbá religions and traditional festivals have not undergone some changes over the years. Alien cultures have, no doubt, forced changes on the religious belief systems of the Yorùbá thus there is a new way of looking at issues. For instance, Yorùbá religion and traditional festivals are becoming increasingly unfashionable among the educated people, particularly Muslims and Christians. Also, it cannot be denied either that the Independent African churches, particularly, the Church of the Lord - Aláàdúrà, Celestial Church of God, and Cherubim and Seraphim Church, do pose a serious threat to Yorùbá religion and traditional festivals as they manifest some of the features of many traditional religions, thus making it appear redundant. It is a fact, too, that many localities, genuine votaries are dying out, where priesthood is hereditary, and the young ones who are to become priests in the future have all travelled out and have lost touch with the villages and towns. The “poaching” by the latter day Independent African Churches and other myriad of challenges enumerated above has and is still causing a serious threat to these traditional religions and festivals that if care is not taken majority of them will go into extinction within the next two decades or so.

It is not that the challenges enumerated above have not been there from time immemorial, but they were not as profound as we now witness. This is because prior to this century, many educate Muslims and Christians patronise these religions and partake in the various traditional festivals within their different communities and localities for protection and security in times of crisis. Some people even celebrate it as their family heritage. This is evident in the popular saying of the Yorùbá on such occasions that ìgbàgbó̙ kò ní kí á má s̙orò ilé wa (adherence to the Faith- Islamic or Christian-does not prevent us from worshipping the gods of our land). However in the recent times, the situation has changed such that people do not want to or be associated with these traditional religious festivals openly. Anybody that does so is regarded as pagan and seen as worshipping idols.  It has now reached a crescendo that monumental damage is being and will be done to it sooner than expected, if urgent remedial measures as the one been proposed here are not considered, as majority of them will go into permanent extinction and oblivion.