•Rejects the profiling of Yoruba as vernacular

By Olayinka Ajayi 

Dr. Henry Abayomi Odeneye is a US-based Nigerian apostle who has largely contributed to the Christian community in Houston, Texas, using the Yoruba language. In this interview, he speaks on how the ‘Dagunduro Prayer family’ metamorphosed into Harvest Point Ministry using Yoruba. Excerpts: 

We were told the Yoruba language would soon go extinct. How were you able to use it as a tool for the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Yes, UNESCO confirmed that the Yoruba language is among the endangered languages, and if necessary steps are not taken, Yoruba will soon be out of circulation. When I was in middle school in Ghana, Latin was one of the languages that was considered compulsory. But today, nobody talks about Latin. It is almost dead. The original language spoken by the tribe of our Lord Jesus Christ has gone into extinction. The government of Israel is now trying to bring it back. So if we are not careful, the prediction of UNESCO may come to pass on Yoruba because it is based on thorough research and facts to back it up. So I do not take it upon myself to promote the language. I had a call to ministry from God, and the instruction was specific. I asked God where, and he told me your ministry is abroad, and when God gives you an instruction, the next instruction will not come until you obey the first one He gives you. So I took it. I was celebrating that I would be going abroad, but before then, I had some encounters that served as a signal about the Yoruba language. The first was when I traveled to Brazil for a training program. The immigration officer that attended to me asked if I was a Nigerian. I said yes, Yoruba. I said yes, and he asked if I understood Yoruba. I said I do, and he then asked about IFA. I said I don’t know about IFA. He told me he was learning Yoruba because he was worshiping Ifa; he even told me that soon the Brazilian government would make Yoruba compulsory in schools. That caught my attention, so when I got to my hotel room and had my evening devotion, the spirit of God reminded me of the religion with the language attachment. The Muslims had Arabic attached to it, and Judaism had Hebrew attached to it. Then the holy spirit warned me that very soon the Yoruba language would be attached to Ifa, Ogun, and Shongo.

Thinking about it, some churches would say no vascular, no choruses in Yoruba, and in our various homes, some even said no vernacular, no Yoruba. So that was the first feeling I had for the language. Remember when the Lord told me my ministry was going to be abroad? After it became a reality, I had to travel to the US with my family. When I wanted to leave, God told me you were going to use Yoruba to feed your spiritual being. It is much easier to communicate in your local language than in English. That’s how we started the Daguduro prayer family.

So how has the spiritual journey been so far?

Dagunduro Prayer Family was a three-day, once-a-month program in Houston. As we continued, there was a need for some of us to want to meet on Sundays too. So we explored it, and the Dagunduro prayer family gave birth to the Yoruba Christian Fellowship. We meet on Sundays, and we have our regular services all in Yoruba without interpretation in any other language. As an extension of the program, we extended it to the social needs of the Yoruba community, like the dissemination of information from the government, especially during COVID-19. Little did we know that the government was watching us. The city of Houston then formerly engaged us whenever there were government programs; they called us in to take care of the Yoruba community. In fact, during politics, candidates also engage us, but we balance it, ensuring that all candidates have access to the Yoruba community. So the Mayor of Houston,Annise Danette Parker, in recognition of our contribution, declared December 6 as Yoruba Dagudoro Day. 

But how has the Yoruba language been accepted by Americans?

Anytime you talk to a typical American, they refer to Africa as their motherland. Unfortunately, most Americans see Africa as one country, but gradually they now know there’s Nigeria, and within Nigeria we have Igbo, Hausa, Ibibio, and Yoruba, and the reception of the Yoruba side in the Christian community has been good. To the extent that some of them would ask me to give them Yoruba names. Like Kolawale, Abayomi, Babajide, and Babatunde,. So that encouraged me to introduce the minister’s manual to guide ministers. So far, I have named about 32 African-American children. We are organizing a visit to Nigeria. We will be teaching them that before the adventure of the colonial masters, we had a kingdom, and our kingdom was well structured. The history of Nigeria did not start with slavery. There was no coup at that time. A king is a king; he has a prime minister; they had Balogun as the chief of defense staff. So there’s history in Africa before slavery. 

Being an Apostle of God and also a core Yoruba ambassador, do you have any affiliation with those calling for self-determination?

Like you said, I am an apostle, so Thy will be done is the stand of any pastor. The USSR was one country. I don’t know who prayed for their disintegration, but as far as I am concerned, let Thy will be done. I am sure those agitating for the Yoruba Nation drew their inspiration from somewhere. Somebody must have caught a vision. And it is only the person who sees the vision who sees it clearly. Anyone who believes in vision would remain resolute to pursue it. I have not seen that vision, so let it be done. 

What is your advice for those with that vision?

If the vision is their vision, they would pursue it. I can only pray for them that the will of God be done.

Is there support from Yoruba in the diaspora for this laudable project?

The support we have received so far is both moral and spiritual. But we are believing God that an international rally will be held and Nigerians will come up to support us. The program is not only going to promote Yoruba but is also going to tell the world about the richness of African culture. The Ooni of Ife have endorsed the program. He was the first person we visited. We also want to visit Oba Tejuosho, and we are going to visit Baba Enoch Adejare Adeboye. It is designed to be a three-day program in December. 

In what way would you want the government to come in?

The United States gave me a Congressional award. I believe it’s a challenge for the Nigerian government to support the cause of the ministry because whatever we are promoting is helping to laud the image of our country. Before America gives you an award, they would have done due diligence. I want the government to support me in any area, both moral and financial, and I want corporate organizations to support us in achieving our noble goal.

But how will it benefit Nigeria?

It would benefit Nigeria a lot. The first is the image of the country. It would also promote our culture. Many knew that Anglicans started in England and Cherubim and Seraphim started in Nigeria. Catholics started in Rome; the Redeemed Church started in Nigeria; and we have redeemed churches all over the world. Methodists started in Europe, but the Celestial Church of Christ started in Nigeria. It will also correct the wrong impression that missionaries who came to Nigeria did not come to explore Africa; they came with the gospel. The government of the colonial masters sent their representative to colonize Nigeria. They were the ones that came to explore. Missionaries do not believe in slavery. Unfortunately, that is the wrong impression they are creating abroad.

There’s so much suffering in Nigeria due to the removal of fuel subsidies. What are you doing to alleviate the suffering of the people?

Suffering is not peculiar to Nigeria. In America, we have homeless citizens. It has nothing to do with the economy. They did not choose to be homeless, but circumstances led them to it. In front of our church in Houston, we see people who sleep in their cars. They choose the library because they feel safe. I remember this is not the first time Nigerians are saying things are hard. There was a time on Nigerian airlines where to get a seat, you had to be on the run to get on board, like the Moluwe bus, because it was only on Nigerian airlines. Instead of blaming the government, some people put their resources together to rescue the situation and floated an airline like Cargo Airlines or Bellview Airlines. They solved the problem and made money. When maggi became very expensive, somebody introduced Ajinomoto. Let the energy we use to criticize the government be used to explore the situation positively. Relatively, Hon. Abike Dabiri is doing fantastic work for the diasporans. The opportunities are there, but they are only for people who choose to explore them. Many eyes look, but very few eyes see. Abike Dabiri has set up a platform for us to collaborate. The EU is desperate to take care of this green house issue. They know that because we are all in the same universe, the challenges are at our end, and we are all on the same earth, so if there’s a challenge, we are going to suffer it together. So they have voted tones of money to encourage developing countries to pursue programs to address the green house issue. I would suggest that, like the Nigerian Road Transport Workers, the Nigeria mechanics association in 10 years would not be able to address the challenges of vehicles because they would have been converted into lithium batteries. So the road workers and the mechanics association come together and approach Hon. Abike Dabiri and her council. I know of a company in California, San Diego; they do these conversations easily and seamlessly. They have complete kits for brands of cars like Honda, and the premises they are using are not more than my living room. 

President Tinubu did fantastic work in Maiduguri, setting up such a thing. These associations can put their money together to set up such a thing. They can approach the American government because green gas is a serious issue; they would give them grants. Knowledge is so important; these are things we encourage our people there to do in our business seminars. 

What is your charge to people who are yet to come to terms with your Yoruba philosophy?

First, the idea of ‘no vernacular in this house’ should come to an end in our homes because it is a mentality of the colonial masters because anyone who takes your language has taken your future. The colonials were deliberate with their goal: Take their language and their culture; if you make their food, their language and their culture inferior, then you have captured them. Unfortunately, wherever the Chinese go now, they want to encourage the country to teach Mandarin; they want to recolonize you if you are not smart enough. Unfortunately, people are rushing into it.