WOMEN AS VOCALISTS IN SANGO CULT OF YORUBA INDIGINOUS RELIGION: AN ANALOGY FOR THE ROLES OF MODERN WOMEN IN NIGERIAN POLITICS AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

In every aspect of our national development, the roles of women cannot be over emphasized. This fact is also applicable in the religious life of our country. Generally speaking, religious music is an important aspect of worship and it differs from one religious tradition to another. Although some cults in traditional religion are gender biased and exclude women from playing prominent roles yet, in others, they are indispensable. In this paper, an attempt is made to showcase the relevance of women in Yoruba Indigenous Religion especially, in the
cult of Sango (the god of thunder). Although there are offices that women cannot occupy in this cult, their role as vocalists who champion the chanting of the concerned divinity is emphasized. An analogy is drawn for the unique roles of women in national development inspite of the notion that they are not allowed to play leading roles in Politics. The author employed historical-analytical method, personal observation, personal oral interview with the vocalists, and consulted relevant works of other scholars. The work discovers that a lot is revealed in the religious chanting about the attributes as well as the beliefs of the devotees in relation to the divinity. These can be likened to the significant roles of women in our society. The paper concludes that as the role of these women cannot be over emphasized in a nonscriptural religion where they preserve traditions, so are the unique roles of women in our society. Although the modern women may not be occupying certain political offices, they can still experience fulfilment by serving in several other areas of both domestic and national development.