Paper short abstract:

There is a renewed effort to promote Àdìmúlà, a religion found among the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria. In 2023 the government approved a public holiday to mark Ìsèse, beyond holidays, how can doctrines, concepts and theories be developed to reconfigure African religious traditions.

Paper long abstract:

Endogenous religions are an integral feature of Africa’s societies, and Nigeria is not different, as Àdìmúlà, a religion found among the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria is enjoying new attention. In 2023 the government approved laws that provided for a public holiday to mark Ìsèse (traditional religious feast) moving the trajectory of the traditional religions from rejection to approval like Christianity and Islam. This development is seen as an effort to reposition the traditional religions of the Africans against the widely ill-conceived ideas about ‘African Traditional Religions’. The declaration of public holidays is seen as a good step in support of the endogenous religions, but there is a need to clearly conceptualise doctrines and theory in these religions. This paper is to consider the progress made in terms of development of doctrines, concepts and theories in view of a template for the reconfigurations of African religious traditions. This will be achieved through interviews with leaders of Adimula in selected religious spaces in the southwest of Nigeria on the plans and prospects for the future.