There is a saying that “if a river should forget its source, it will run dry”. For it not to run dry, there are measures that must be taken to protect this river from departing from its source. In recent weeks there have been little murmurs about the important nature of the Zikhall baptism event,with many alluding to it being fetish and promoting cultism and occult initiation, while others see it as just school aesthetics.
In Christianity, where it is believed that baptism originated from, it is the sacrament of admission to the church, symbolized by the pouring or sprinkling of water on the head or by immersion in water. In Zikhall, it is no different. It is the admission of student into hall with camaraderie of brotherhood and oneness that comes with being a member of the hall.
Many organizations and groups in the hall have been preaching and persuading their members to avoid partaking in the baptism exercise due to their belief that it is against their faith and the premonition that the event is an avenue to lead many of the new freshmen astray. But one wonders if that is truly the case?
The Zikhall baptism exercise has been one of the oldest traditions of Zikism in the whole University of Ibadan. It is an event that seeks to officially welcome the freshmen into the hall and officially induct them as members of the Nnamdi Azikiwe hall, promoting the spirit of Zikism as it is popularly known. The idea of Zikism as it is well known is to promote a sense of brotherhood and strong affiliation among members of the hall and not to promote cultism and fetish practice as has been insinuated by outsiders. So it is quite baffling when you see people who are supposed to be privy about the practice try to portray it as what it is not.
It has now become a common practice for Africans to berate their tradition in the support of their new faith or religion, but it is time to set aside what is wrong and what is right. The common belief that anything traditional is occultic and dark has led many people to depart from their origin and lay claims to the practice of strangelands.
The sole belief that nothing good can be ascribed to the tradition of Africa seems to play into the eurocentric point of view that Africa being a dark side that needed the intervention of the Europeans to see the light. This erroneous point of view has been propagated by Eurocentric scholars such as Hugh Trevor-Roper and the activities of African converts to the new religion seems to accent to this belief, as they belittle every thing termed to be traditional in favour of their newly adopted ways.
This is not to say that all traditional activities are appropriate or harmless, but one must learn to sieve the good from the bad and not try to dump every activity associated with tradition as being occultic and fetish. One could remember just last month traditionalists in the kwara states were hindered from performing their annual traditional rights due to interference from other religions who believed that they have the right to dictate what is acceptable and what is not in a state that has no religious boundaries.
Although, this is not to say one can’t have their reservation about a practice or belief, but one must not try to create a sense of antagonism that might give rise to tension and misunderstanding among the members of the hall. It must be reiterated that the belief that the Zik hall baptism exercise is a form of occultic initiation that will introduce freshmen into occultic fraternity cannot be more farther from the truth. Although the practice might seem odd to some due to the activities involved, the event is just a way of introduction and induction into the hall with the main aim of promoting oneness and brotherhood among members of the hall. But it must be noted that students who are not inclined to participate in the event are at liberty to withdraw and should not be forced to participate in the event.
To the new freshmen that will be participating in the baptism event, we will like to welcome them into the community and remind you that true Zikism does not entail cultism or fraternity of any kind but the real sense of brotherhood and oneness that keeps the hall strong as a community.
