You are an Isese person if:

*Your placenta was buried in the soil by your parents after birth. *You buried the placenta of your children instead of leaving it in the hospital as hospital waste or throw it away to feed the birds.

*If you have Oriki (praise poetry),. Oruko Abiso, & Oruko Amutorunwa like Taiwo, Kehinde, Idowu, Alaba,, Ige, etc. *You have a family home you lay claim to proudly  despite not being the owner. *You have family root & genealogy you are proud of. *You have a native town established by your great grand parents on Odu Ifa guidance and which  you can never change even if you change your country or state by choice or geographical boundary delimitation.. Eg, I can change my citizenship&nationality but I can’t change my Abeokuta & Igbore area citizenship because a  country is artificial but your town is historical and cultural to you.. An Ekiti man can’t become an Ijebu man but he can become an American by citizenship and abandon his “Nigerianity”.

You are Isese person:

*If you believe in Obasahip & Baaleship. If you believe your town has an Oba, whether he is  Oba Igbolabi or Oba Gidi (real Oba) that’s another issue. If you can trace your ancestral history to one Yoruba deity or the other and you believe you cannot consume some things because of your custom. Eg, the Ikoyi people won’t consume, “Okete” pouched rat. They see it as a taboo.

In my maternal ancestral custom, drinking palm wine is a taboo, but my father’s ancestral deity was Ogun. So I pitched my tent with Ogun who loved taking palmwine. That was one of the disputes myself and my dear grandma, Iyagbore never settled before she exited the world. ” Akimu, O ko le mun emun ni ile mi lailai. Omo Olobata re mi” (Akimu, you can’t drink palmwine in my house. I’m from Obatala lineage).  Iyagbore used to tell me the immediate repercussion was that my lips would bleach into white or red. Well, my lips are lighter than my black skin. I don’t know if it was  my years of intensive  kissing (when I was still in the sinful world) or Obatala’s anger was responsible.

Iyagbore was a kurukere kurukere Muslim & “Alasalatu” but she still believed in her tradition & custom as a Yoruba woman. That’s the extent of grip Isese has on complete Yoruba people.

So, you are Isese person if:

*You believe in customs, taboos & tradition of your ancestors. That’s the reason you don’t call your parents by their names. You don’t sleep with your mother or your father.

You are an Isese person.

*If you associate with cultural festivals, icons, praise poetry and traditional tourist centres of your town or vilaage. Lisabi Day, Omo Olowu Day, Eso Day, Ojude Oba, Ogun festival, Egungun, Oro, Eyo, Odo Oba, Agemo, Olumo rock, Osun festival,, Ekimogun, Obanta, Sodeke, Lagelu, Oluyole, Oduduwa, Oranmiyan, Aafin, etc. Most of these have cultural history, Odu Ifa backup, real or imagined . They didn’t just drop from heaven or from whiteman abroad. It’s a product of people’s cultural & traditional history.

Nobody is more Isese than you if you believe that when your parents die you have to give them proper  cultural burial together with members of nuclear and extended family. You didn’t burn them or cut them into pieces to feed birds. If you pray at their graveside during burial, and you remember them regularly, Welcome to Isese world.

For instance, how can Babatunde, Babajide, Babatomiwa, Iyabo, Yetunde, Yejide, Tinubu, Aregbesola, Babarinsa, Egbedore, Onanuga, Onagoruwa, Ifalana, Odugbemi, Akanbi, Igbolabi, Odumosu, Arogundade, Soetan, Ogunlola, Ogundare, Ogunlana, Esugbemi, Esubiyi, Esugbayi, Obadofin, Bamigbose, Bamigbetan, Bamishingbin etc, say they are  not Isese, or not interested or they are  not associated with Isese when they are carrying Isese identities of traditional roots about? That’s  Laughable, if they ever claimed that or will.  That’s ignorance, empty arrogance, self deception A delusion of grandeur due to cultural colonialism..

I once again appreciate ex governor Adesoji Aregbesola of Osun state for being the first governor to declare a public hooiday as Isese Day for cultural rejuvenation and ancestral remembrance despite being a kurukere kurukere Muslim. Kudos to Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Lagos State governors to have followed this step of promoting Yoruba culture and tradition.

However, the governors should be reminded that topmost to Isese tradition is good governance and community  development. They should endeavor to study Ifa corpus and traditional history of mass revolt by the people against bad, authoritative, looting, arrogant and insensitive leaders. “Enikan ki n’je ki ilu fe” (Looters  don’t develop their towns because of their corruption & selfishness)

So they should do more for their people beyond declaring Isese public holiday.

If you a Yoruba person and you believe, act, obey  practise any, some or all of the characterisations of Isese as a totality of  our life, you are an Isese person despite your kurukere kurukere with other religions, faiths, cultures, traditions, custom, language, belief system. A fruit can’t deny its root, stem, leaves no matter how beautiful, tasteful or not it is.

Happy Isese Day, Happy Ancestral Day to ALL.

Adeola Soetan is a culture preservation activist.