An Ondo-based former pastor, Olabanjo Felix Gold, has opened up on his dramatic decision to dump Christianity and embrace Ifa, accusing some Christian leaders of turning religion into a personal business.
Gold, founder of the Image of God Evangelical and Prophetic Ministries in Oka Akoko, Ondo State, recently stunned Nigerians when he publicly announced that he had abandoned Christian ministry and become a Babalawo.
The former cleric made the declaration in a video that went viral online around August 13, introducing himself by his new spiritual identity — Ifawamiri Aworan Olodumare, Babalawo of Ifa.
His announcement marked a dramatic reversal for a man who had previously operated an evangelical ministry and spent more than three years as a pastor.
But Gold insists his exit from Christianity was not sudden.
According to him, the journey began about two years earlier when he embarked on what he described as a deep “soul-searching” process.
He said growing doubts about what he considered contradictions in the Bible, coupled with his concerns about the conduct of some Christian leaders, gradually pushed him away from the faith.
Gold alleged that some pastors had turned Christianity into family and personal businesses while using religion to manipulate their followers.
He said he became so troubled by what he was seeing that he consulted several pastors to determine whether the problem was with his own understanding of Christianity.
Rather than changing his mind, he said the consultations deepened his doubts.
Gold also revealed that his search did not immediately lead him to Ifa.
At one point, he considered Islam and consulted a Muslim cleric, who advised him to study the Quran. He said he downloaded a Yoruba version of the Quran and read it but eventually concluded that Islam did not provide the answers he was seeking.
His spiritual search subsequently took him towards Ifa and Isese, the indigenous Yoruba religious and cultural tradition.
Gold said he began searching for what he considered genuine Ifa practitioners who could teach and guide him.
His search eventually led him to Aifuwapẹ Oluṣẹgun Latunji, the Araba of Isararemọ, whom he reportedly discovered through Facebook. He subsequently contacted the traditional priest and began learning under his guidance.
Gold has since publicly acknowledged Aifuwapẹ as his Oluwo, or spiritual mentor, and thanked him and other traditional elders for guiding him through his transition.
The former pastor has also rejected the description of his new religious practice as fetishism.
He said his experience under his new spiritual teachers had involved prayers, supplications and the use of herbs and roots, rather than the kind of activities commonly associated with fetishism.
Gold said his belief in the potency of herbs and roots was one of the factors that strengthened his attraction to traditional Yoruba spirituality.
He further claimed that people from outside Nigeria visit the centre where he now practises to learn about Ifa.
‘I DON’T WANT TO BE CALLED PASTOR AGAIN’
Explaining why he decided to make his conversion public, Gold said he wanted to put an end to the continued use of the title “Pastor” in addressing him.
According to him, although he had stopped practising Christianity, people continued to identify him by his former clerical title.
He said remaining silent would amount to misleading people about his present beliefs.
Gold therefore used his viral video to formally announce that he had left Christian ministry and embraced Ifa.
In the video, he also went beyond announcing his personal conversion, declaring that he had rejected Christianity and other religions he regarded as foreign.
He described Ìṣẹ̀ṣe as the authentic spiritual path he had chosen.
IFÁ IS A UNESCO-LISTED HERITAGE
Gold’s decision has generated heated reactions partly because Ifa remains a deeply rooted but controversial subject in contemporary Nigeria.
However, Ifa is also recognised internationally as an important part of Yoruba cultural heritage.
UNESCO inscribed the Ifa divination system of Nigeria on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. The organisation describes Ifa as an extensive system of texts, signs and mathematical formulas used by Ifa priests to guide important individual and collective decisions.
UNESCO further notes that the Ifa literary corpus consists of 256 Odu, each containing verses known as ese, which preserve aspects of Yoruba history, philosophy, beliefs, language and worldview.
A Babalawo is the Ifa priest responsible for interpreting this system.
That cultural recognition provides a wider context to Gold’s decision, which he presents not merely as a change of religion but as a return to an indigenous Yoruba spiritual tradition.
PASTOR-TO-BABALAWO SWITCH STUNS NIGERIANS
The development has attracted considerable attention because of Gold’s background as an evangelical pastor and founder of a Christian ministry.
Reports on his announcement identified him as Olabanjo Felix Gold, although some reports refer to him simply as Olabanjo Felix.
His former ministry was known as the Image of God Evangelical and Prophetic Ministries, based in the Oka Akoko area of Ondo State.
His sudden public emergence as an Ifa priest has therefore triggered questions about his former ministry, his followers and what became of the church after his departure.
As of the latest reports, there has been no widely reported formal statement from his former congregation explaining whether the ministry will continue under different leadership.
Gold, however, appears determined to move forward with his new identity.
For him, the journey from the pulpit to Ifa was not an overnight decision but the culmination of years of questioning, consultation and spiritual exploration.
And by publicly taking the name Ifawamiri Aworan Olodumare, he has made it clear that he no longer wants to be identified by the Christian identity he once carried.
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