The controversy surrounding the authenticity of Christian worship deepened recently when a former pastor, Ifeanyi Chukwudike Azunna Nwadike, a native of Ubaha Okigwe, abandoned his bible to embrace traditional medicine practice. In this chat with our editor, Afam Echi, he states that it is traditional medicine that powers most of the new age churches. Enjoy his revelation
How long have you operated as a native doctor?
This work embraced me from childhood without me knowing that I had a calling as traditional medicine doctor. Initially, I was running a church, the Christ Healing Prayer Ministry. I had branches at Okwele, Umunze in Anambra State. But in 2015 my ancestors visited insisting that I must go and take the family Ofo (symbol of authority). All of a sudden, those things disappeared and I took the Ofo to start work.
What was your role in the Church?
I functioned as the pastor/prophet and was engaged in prayers and healing of people.
How did you get to know that your ancestors needed you that you have to abandon church?
How I knew was that when I was into church it boomed but all of a sudden people stopped coming. I went to divine and I was told that I am needed in traditional medicine practice. When I got home the elders holding the Ofo explained to me that Aja Ala (the deity) is anchored in our home.
What is Aja Ala and what does it do?
It is the deity of our ancestors which they served and which kept them going well.
Since you started traditional medicine practice what is your experience like?
My experience is that Odinala (rooted traditional practices) is a good thing through which the name of God is extolled and lifted so high. It is from the works of God that you can lift his holy name as revealed in the scriptures. The scriptures also forbade man from declaring that what God created is not good.
As a native doctor, what kind of ailments do you cure?
I do treat very well Achaere sickness; I do sacrifices to the Marmaid spirits, for example anyone that is troubled by the Mermaid spirit, Ogbanje: some women with repeated cases of giving birth and losing the child, it is Ogbanje that is blocking them. Some get married but cannot stay in the marriage because the Ogbanje spirit is troubling them.
These kind of spiritual works is what we handle by asking the mammy water spirit on what we can do for it to free the person so that he can live his or her life on this planet earth. Related cases include divining for those who are troubled by spirits demanding them to do traditional work or not making progress in life. These we do through Afa or where it involves pulling down someone’s Agwu, we do that too. We do sacrifice for people to have open doors, we treat Agba belt (local afflictions that goes round the body) and some ailment which if consulted we check if it is within our competence.
What is the difference that you have discovered between Church and Odinala?
The differences are so much. In the church you find many traditional worshippers. It is many traditional worshippers that are using the church as a means to extort money from people. Odinala is the correct way to show that Igbo are worshiping God. Church is what was learnt from Oyibo people.
Which do you prefer and why?
It is Odinala.
But there so much attack’s against native doctors and where people are confronted by health challenges and other issues they patronize church and hospitals for solutions. Do you have any fears that you may soon run out of patronage or business?
There is nothing that can stop people from seeking the traditional options to their issues. This is because there are some who knows the truth and there are those who don’t know, It is because of those ignorant of the truth that we are canvassing this message. These churches all over the places are anchored by the Odinala people who put the name of God first but behind Odinala is the root or foundation of those churches. Some people are graced with the power to do this work like me but they are in the church confusing other and doing their dibia (traditional medicine) there. Some are those we are backing and working for who use us to anchor their churches.
Are there people who consult you for powers that they use in the churches?
There are people like that but we are not going to mention their names.
You are a member of the South East Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association. What is your group all about?
Our group is involved in harnessing the benefits of roots and herbs for good health.
What benefits do you offer the society?
Ours is to ensure that people sustain good health. We also free people in spiritual bondage.
You stated earlier some medicine men are running the churches? Does that confirm the assertion making the rounds that for lack of patronage many native doctors invaded Christianity to ply their wares?
People like that are those confusing themselves and misleading their followers. It is not because of hunger and it is not the way that things should be. Odinala has been there from of old.
If people approach you with some challenges how do you understand what the solution should be?
If it is sickness we offer the person medicine and it is not working we do some findings through laboratory. If drugs are still not working we do some divination (Afa) to check if any spirit has a hand in the challenge. Or what is caused by a person. If it is spiritual we settle the spirit and administer drugs to get the person okay. If it is caused by someone we destroy that and give the person drugs to get well.
Do you have traditional lab or same one used by orthodox medicine?
It is the one used by orthodox medicine
What support does your group require from government to promote traditional medicine?
I think the government is already looking into it. They have built a place in Umuahia where they use science and technology to examine the medicines produced by us, refine it in consumable form to avoid issues when consumed by sick people.
Do you have any drug produced by you?
Yes, I have one that takes care of infection but it is not yet in the market nor mass produced. It is administered to needy patients on request. It has cured many especially those infection has blocked their wombs
What is your advice to those that have rejected Odinala and traditional worship?
Odinala is not something that someone should reject. This is because everyone lives on the land and marches the land. It was through Odinala that man was created, everyone should embrace it. There is no one who does not have a language from where he originates, all of these are odinala. Every society has what distinguishes it from another and as well as the distinct ways they worship God. Odinala is from the beginning. It is different from bad people. It is the evil perpetrated by evil men that scares people from Odinala.
People are scared of Odinala because according to them they perceive it as evil, demonic, life threatening and unkind. How true?
Native doctors don’t kill people. There is no native doctor in our group that kills. Before you are registered you have to be scrutinized properly. It is traditional medicine men that cure ailments beyond the capacity of orthodox medicine. The doctor who administers drugs produced by another and the one who produces and administers the drugs who is greater? Odinala has been there from time immemorial and is practiced through roots and herbs from our place. There is no herb you see that has no value
You claimed earlier that churches especially the modern ones are rooted in the power of tradition but the same churches are the ones labeling the native doctors as evil?
They know the truth but it is greed for money that propels them in craze for money, thus castigating us. They know the truth but they don’t want to say it. People should go back to the root and keep the sacredness of the land. Whoever is able to maintain the sacredness of the land has also observed the law of the kingdom.
But the churches say that Christ has given them freedom from bondage which the observances represent? They find tradition burdensome.
The sacredness of the land means that an Ofo holder would not sleep with another man’s wife, but church people do this and after they run to church where they become elders, where they are not killed but if a man in Odinala tries it he will die.
What specific things do you do for churches when you claim that they are anchored by traditional powers?
We prepare powerful charms (okuku awele) contained in those flower pots you see in their alters, to attract crowd. We drop things in their eyes that make them to see and many of them belong to deities that they offer goats and sheep yet they are present church first while doing what we are doing. Some of the so called miracles come from the charms we give them. It is only the wise that will discern that they are being deceived.
