Title: Exodus of the Gods
Author : Kayode Akin Fanilola
Publisher : Taproot publishers
Reviewer: Yetunde Oladeinde
EXODUS of the Gods is a literary recreation of the resilience and the survival of the spirituality of the Africans during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. It is a historical tale of deception, dominance, betrayal, love and perseverance during the slave trade and Christianity invasions.
The book unravels a number of issues around John Clapper, who led some white Christian missionaries hiding under evangelism to take away many cultural and religious artifacts from Yoruba land. Nancy Chamberlain, fiancée of John Clapper got pregnant for Fadahunsi Ogunleye, a gardener in the service of the colonial government. The death of John clapper and the genetic alteration of the child’s destiny in white skin as predicted by Ifa oracle saved Governor General Ray Chamberlain and her daughter, Nancy from shame and scandal.
In Chapter one titled ‘Throw away your idols’, does a flashback to December 1890 on a bright harmattan Monday in Ido- Ekiti, an Agrarian community. Setting was a group of Christian missionaries at a crusade to introduce Christianity to this Southern town. “The venue was the market square. Àdúlójú Ọ̀jẹ́tọ́lá, a young man in his twenties, was one of the early arrivals for the crusade. He had been to the city recently and observed that the foreign evangelists were working hard to get converts. He doubted the acceptance of the white God by his people. He envisaged that gifts would be given to those that attend the rally. He was there to collect his own gift from the white man”.
The coming of the white missionaries to Ido, bring civilization through Christianity, inspirational songs, the market square, missionary vehicle , pictures shown via a projector , megaphone, Àdúlójú an indigene , popularly called Adú and activities of a local interpreter are all captured vividly here.
The author moves on to chapter 2, 3 and 4 titled The fake Missionaries, The Exposure and The Deities at work capturing the experiences , setting , opportunities, relationship, exchange of ideas that led to some transformation, gains and pains in the town.
In the fourth chapter, we also discover how Nancy gave birth to a white baby named John Ifáṣèyí Clapper, in London, seven months after John’s death.
The process of the baby’s delivery of the boy named Akinwande Falola Ogunleye.
“The birth was not disclosed to Mr. and Mrs. Fádáhùnsi Ògúnlẹ́yẹ. The middle name was explained off as honor in memory of a friend who died alongside the anthropologist while doing business in Nigeria. Ray just told Fádáhùnsi that the baby was born prematurely and died, affected by the abortion drugs John had administered before he passed on. Ifábùnmi consulted the oracle. She discovered that the baby boy was alive. They were warned not to tell the colonial governor what they knew. Ifá told them to protect the Governor General from whom they will benefit immensely for keeping the birth secret. Ifá promised that their son will come home sometime in the future to help the Yorùbá nation”.
The story goes on to Chapter 5 titled, In Obedience to a White God, looking at the refined lifestyle of Fadahunsi Ogunleye, 15 years after the birth of his first son who had just graduated from kings College, multi deity doctrine, evils of slave trade, criticism of human sacrifice amongst others. Moving on the writer continue to capture the reader’s attention with graphic imagery in chapter 6,7, 8 and 9, titled God of the captives, the invading scholars, African Cultural Renaissance and Robbers in the Shrines, the writer paints images of the effect of the middlemen, masquerades, core religious aspects and art speculators.
More revealing details are found in the last three chapters. These are chapter 10, 11 and 12 titled: The exchange program, Digital voice of the God’s and the Aftermath. Here, the author wraps up looking at their gods, spirituality and religion. This x-rays the disconnect between the slaves and their natural habitat, tracking the baby from the Pelican Motherless Babies Home in London, locating the baby finally with Mr. and Mrs. David smiths residence near Staten Island. It also looks at having a DNA test to confirm the paternity of Atkin (Akin), concept of Olodumare, how the Yoruba Orisa Tradition operates, culture and religion were able to survive many decades of slavery in the Caribbean, North America and South America.
The author’s creativity and descriptive prowess reflects his rich diverse background. He attended the University of Ilorin, where he bagged his PhD degree in Yoruba literature. After teaching Yoruba Language and Literature in the University for more than a Decade. He later relocated to the United States of America and joined the Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. He moved to Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland where he pioneered Yoruba studies in the department of Foreign Languages. He was for many years an advisor and consultant on many projects at the Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington Dc.