Department of Religious Studies

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife MA Proposal Name: OSUNTUYI Pius Mabayoje Reg. No: ARP11/12/H/1593 Supervisor: Prof. S.G.A. Onibere Title of Proposed Research: A Socio-Anthropological Examination of Twenty-First Century Religious Juvenilia in Ifa Divination among the Yoruba Background to the Study: First and foremost, it is important to note that juveniles are young persons. According to Norman Maynard (1970) the personality and behaviour of juveniles changes from year to year as they grow up. It is perhaps less obvious but equally true, that there are wide differences in ability, personality, and behaviour of juveniles. However, psychologycampus.com has generally characterised juveniles with rebellious behaviour, lying, cheating, school performance problems, negative attitudes, disobedience and disrespect, sibling rivalry, drug and alcohol abuse, pressures from peers, depression, and issues of sexuality. In terms of religious commitment, Juveniles devotion is sometime overwhelming in such a way that they surmount or transform socio-cultural boundaries. Take for instance the Arugba of Osun Osogbo festival who as a juvenile performs the role of a leader among other outstanding qualities. The pantheon of Yoruba gods also have juveniles being represented by Orisa Ewe and Orisa Ibeji. As a matter of fact, their innocence and presence ensures the future existence and growth of the religion they practice. Taking a look at Ifa divination, Benjamin C. Ray (1976) opines that a person becomes a diviner (i.e. babalawo) either by inheriting the ability from his father or grandfather or by being specially chosen by Orunmila. Furthermore, training begins between the age of seven and twelve years and last for seven to twelve years. During this time the trainee must learn a prodigious amount of technical and oral knowledge. As a result, one may begin to ponder on the choice of juveniles. Could it be as a result of their ability to memorize? Or could it be that they are easily perceptible to believe whatever they are being told? Nevertheless, it is important to note that knowledge could be acquired through common sense observation,

reasoning, authority (i.e. instructions from teachers), personnel experience, and rolemodelling. Quietly frankly, with the high level of globalisation as well as social and political situations that shook the world especially in the twenty-first century; the attitude of juveniles to ancient system of learning is inevitably a concern to many. This study seeks to find out the juveniles level of involvement in Ifa divination. Statement of Research Problem: Previous studies on Ifa divination have focused largely on adults religious, social, cultural, and historical role in Ifa divination, thus ignoring the activities of juveniles. However, the continuous existence of Ifa divination could be attributed to juveniles involvement in the practice. The present study fills the lacuna by examining the activities of twenty-first century juveniles in Ifa divination among the Yoruba. Specific Objectives of Research: The specific objectives are to: (a) investigate the historical, cultural, social, and religious role played by juveniles in Ifa divination among the Yoruba; (b) discuss the importance and training of twenty-first century juveniles in Ifa divination among the Yoruba; and (c) examine the Ifa Literary Corpus vis--vis the activities of juveniles. Expected Contribution to Knowledge: The study will provide understanding on the historical, cultural, social, and religious influence and training of juveniles in Ifa divination among the Yoruba. In addition, it will provide understanding of the relationship that exists between juveniles and the Ifa Literary Corpus. Research Methodology: The study will employ a sociological as well as anthropological methodology. Primary and secondary sources will be used in data collection. With regard to the primary data, observation and interviews would be conducted with a view to getting the responses of purposively selected individuals consisting of 10 adult devotees of Ifa divination, 10 juvenile devotees of Ifa divination, 5 researchers of Yoruba indigenous culture, and 5 researchers of juvenile development. As to the secondary data, articles in learned journals, books, newspapers, and the Internet relevant to the study would be consulted.