Revd. Emmanuel Moses Líjàdù, Ifá and the Promotion of Yoruba Literacy, 1862-1926

Abstract

This article examines the interwoven and reinforcing relationships between religion and literacy within the African context by  interrogating a narrative, which primarily privileges and ascribes the promotion of Yoruba literacy to the activities of mainstream  Christian missionaries. Methodologically, the paper relies on archival data and other primary sources such as the diaries and private  papers of Moses Lijadu and the conduct of oral interviews with members of his family, copious textual analyses of Lijadu’s works and a robust engagement with relevant secondary literature. Essentially, the study illustrates how the documentation of the knowledge of an  African traditional divination system played a significant role in the promotion of Yoruba literacy. Thus, the study locates the centrality of  Ifá, the indigenous Yoruba divination system, in the tapestry of the discourse on the introduction of literacy in Yorubaland. Put differently,  the paper explains how, ironically, the introduction of literacy by Christian missionaries aided the documentation and  preservation of the knowledge of Ifá which the missionaries passionately sought to undermine and obliterate.