By David Kabiyesi
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has berated those who kicked against Isese celebrations in their respective states, describing them as bunch of detectors.
Reacting to Kwara state resistance against Isese Day celebration in Lorin last month, Soyinka described Isese as a quest for illumination of human condition. According to him, Isese does not pretend, but asks questions about justice.
He spoke at a “Public Exchange” on “Isese, samarkand, and other markets of the mind” in Lagos, yesterday at the Kongi’s Harvest Gallery, Freedom Park, 1 Hospital Road, off Broad Street, Lagos Island.
He called on government to also declare a public holiday for Isese, adding that the genuine path seekers must remain unwavering and patiently await their detractors’ day of illumination.
He maintained in strong terms that those who deny other people their path of belief are inadequate in their religion.
He added: “The paths that lead to wisdom will survive them all, and continue to beckon to others as seekers after truth, dedicated to the creation of the elevated community of man, woman and child.”I
“Isese has come, but not gone. We salute all those – human rights activists, community leaders, affronted citizens, advocates of equity and all – but the state governors most especially – who have taken history to task and boldly formalised a level praying ground for the exploration of the infinite, the realm of intuitions, whch exists across pedigree, borders, class, politics, social mechanisms and cultures. The battle is not over. There are those who feel compelled to indulge their obsessions through the cooption of public symbols and educational institutions.”
“We must never weary of instructing them, of offering them gleanings from the threshing floor of millenia old and new transformative ideas, rescue them from centuries of false historicism, baseless fears, and will to dominate and/or flaunt an inglorious past of enslavement.
“This notation of “ISESE” on the calendar of faiths in any nation is a vital stage in the human incessant yearning for even a semblance of spiritual truth. It enacts an impartial order, inserts a critical building block in the architecture of universal enlightenment. Hopefully such formal recognition will be read as the commencement of an era of spiritual accommodation, a lesson in humility, not a trigger for sterile contestation and renewed demonization of others among overlapping theocratic realms.
“ISESE has always been with humanity, and will remain for all eternity,” he said