HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACOB OLUPONA

 AKINTUNDE E. AKINADE pays tribute to Jacob Olupona, an ‘organic intellectual’ at home in the church, academy, and Yoruba worldview

The 75^th birthday of Professor J.K. (Jacob Kehinde) Olupona today offers an auspicious opportunity to truly acknowledge his massive and monumental contributions to both intellectual engagements and humanity. Ordinarily, birthdays are occasions for people to count their blessings one-by-one and resoundingly proclaim that God is good. They serve as moments to pause, quietly slip away from the cacophony of life and appreciate stupendous transcendental grace and gravitas. These opportunities are tranquil and telling. Mozart once remarked that: “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” Quiet memories engender solemn songs of praise that energize the soul and spirit. Remembrance plays a key role in this process of stock-taking. In theological parlance, remembrance, anamnesis sustains tradition and dogma. Jesus boldly proclaimed: “Do this in remembrance of me.” Remembrance provides the substance for celebration, plenitude, and gratitude.

Olupona is a true embodiment of the Yoruba saying: ‘bibire ko see fi owo ra’ (good and noble character cannot be bought with money). He was raised in a context that valorized piety, service, and commitment. He embraced the virtues of both tradition and transformation from an early age and knew that an uncommitted life is not worth living. Mark Twain poignantly remarked that: “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and day you find out why.” Venerable Michael Alatake Olupona and Mrs. Henrietta Olupona inculcated life-affirming values in Olupona and guided him in the path of righteousness.

I have known Professor J.K. Olupona for almost four decades. It seems to me that his vocation as a teacher, scholar, and mentor has been thoroughly shaped by his unequivocal commitment to God and humanity. St. Isaac of Qatar once remarked that “true wisdom is gazing upon God.” This perspective about the intrinsic value of a vision that is shaped by what Johannes Metz dubbed “transcendental neediness” provides the formidable staying power for Olupona’s committed life and distinguished academic profile. God’s divine grace and mercy remain the fons et origo of his academic fortitude and forte. His faith is built on nothing else and the words of the hymn “Take My Life and Let it Be” were permanently seared in his heart, mind, and soul. His solemn oriki (praise song) as “omo alaago ajilu,” “the son of the early morning bell ringer” undoubtedly situates his footing and bearing under the sacred canopy. He was raised in a parish setting, thus like sunflowers turning to the sun, it was natural for him to embrace the values of the Christian tradition.

It is no happenstance that some of his friends have described him as “a reverend gentleman without the collar.” He has chronicled his early experience in his In My Father’s Personage: The Story of an Anglican Family in Yoruba-Speaking Nigeria. Nevertheless, that was just the beginning of his deep passion for religious matters. His interest in phenomenological inquiry resulted in the publication of Kingship, Religion, and Rituals in a Nigeria Community: A Phenomenological Study of the Ondo Yoruba Festivals in 1991.

This work was only an intellectual appetizer to The City of 201 Gods: Ile-Ife in Time, Space, and the Imagination that was published in 2011 and for all intents and purposes remains his magnum opus. The oikos beckoned with an alluring invitation and Olupona’s inquisitive mind could not resist the summon to explore its limitless sacred possibilities. He felt the pulse of the need for a radical paradigm shift in the study of indigenous religious traditions when people were still groping in the dark about the relevance of indigenous spiritualities. He rejected the provincial policies and parochial paradigms that relegated African indigenous practices to the periphery of serious academic discourse.

Through his extensive interdisciplinary and ethnographic research, a religious phenomenon that was more or less a terra incognita was given a much-needed visibility especially within the Western academic magisterium. A similar zeitgeist engendered his foray into the study of African Immigrant Communities in the US. Truly, Olupona has the tremendous gift of shining a radiant light unto unrecognized paths and projects. The incandescent spirit of his intellectual creativity has added depth and breadth to uncharted territories and terrains. Like a trudging elephant, he leaves his mark where ever he steps and goes. Ajanaku ko ja, mo ri nkan firi, ibi ti erin ba ti koja, tigbo tiju ni o mo ola erin. An elephant leaves its mark where ever it steps, these marks are in every nook and cranny of the thick forest and its presence is profoundly felt by everybody.

Oga reminds one of the profound sagacity and creativity of Imodoye in Wole Soyinka’s The Forest of a Thousand Daemons: A Hunter’s Saga. This treatise was a translation of D.O. Fagunwa’s first novel, Ogbojo Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole. Imodoye, a fervent intellectual represented knowledge fused with understanding and wisdom. Imodoye transcended facile, artificial, and rigid categories. His intellectual pursuits evoke intuition, originality, and focus. I hasten to say that Fagunwa’s novel was actually published by the Church Missionary Society in 1938. This fortuitous perspective adds more credence to the meaning and veracity of ecumenical sensibilities.

Olupona’s professional overtures have established him as an “organic intellectual” to borrow a phrase from Antonio Gramsci. In contrast to a traditional intellectual, an organic intellectual has deep roots in his or her community and works diligently to foster connections with the hopes and aspirations of the people. He is totally committed to active engagement with both the academic world and also his different contexts and communities. Olupona is at home in the hollowed hallways at Harvard, the sanctified space at Riverside Church in New York, and the sanguine streets in Ile-Ife. He is a global citizen that has embraced his cultural roots with gusto and grace.

Only a scholar and Nwalimu such as Olupona who has been fully baptized in the waters of Yoruba traditional ethos, parish life, and the rigors of intellectual investigation can accomplish an extraordinary vocation with ease and panache. He is a man that is at home in the church, academy, and Yoruba worldview. I salute him for his courage, cadence, and consistency.

Happy birthday Oga. ‘Igba odun, odun kan,’ may 200 years be like the passing of one day. May God Almighty continue to grant you good health, strength, and grace to be the beacon of hope to multitudes of people looking up to you. May your days continue to shine with grace. Hearty congratulations to Ojogbon Agba, most learned professor. I celebrate and honour an intellectual extraordinaire whose life and vocation continue to illuminate the path of many people all over the world. I warmly salute you from Doha, the Pearl of the Arabian Peninsula and the Land of Sheikhs. Great is thy Faithfulness, O Lord, our Redeemer and Rock! Indeed, it is well with your soul, Oga!

Akinade is a Professor of Comparative Theology at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar.