Traditional worshippers demand public holidays

Traditional religion worshippers in Nigeria have called on the Federal and State governments to award them the same recognition given to Muslims and Christians during public events and prayers.

The spokesperson for International Council for Ifa Orisa religion under the auspices of Olu Isese Makoranwale Awodotun, Ifalere Ifagbenro said in an interview with the press in Ibadan that the Federal and State governments should also set aside August 20th as public holiday for traditional religion believers in the country.

He noted that the traditional worshippers have been marginalized and it would be unfair if Muslims and Christians are given six or seven days as public holidays in a year and ignoring the traditional believers.

Ifagbenro, who is the Oluwo lfa ldingbe temple, also said that Muslims and Christians enjoy public holidays during their festivities for one or two days while the traditional religion have zero days.

Speaking on the declaration of Bola Tinubu as the president-elect, Ifagbenro, reiterated that no amount of permutation can prevent his inauguration on May 29, 2023. Adding that persons calling for an interim government will be shamed.

“There will no interim government. Tinubu will still be the president; this has been revealed by the oracle since 29th January 2022 that despite the wars he will still be President.

“Our demands are: We want the same recognition to be given to us the way it is being given to Muslims and Christians. Both Muslims and Christians are enjoying holidays for six or seven days each in a year. And we are demanding our own holiday. The federal government should declare August 20th as our public holiday.”

“We want the president elect to include traditional religion adherents as part of the people that will offer prayer for him during the inauguration the way they are allowing Muslims and Christians to pray. He should be the first president to do such thing.”

“We want the board of traditional medicine to be functional and strengthened in all the states especially those from the south west.”

“We also condemned the burning of shrine by some people in Ile Ife. We want Adeleke to intervene in the matter. The government should provide adequate security for traditional religion adherents too. We are Nigerians, we pay our taxes. They should allow us practice our religion without fear or molestation,” as quoted by thenationonlineng.net.