A RELIGIOUS centre known as Ogbanje Church of All Nations has opened in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The church, NaijaTimes gather had its first worship service recently, and members sang series of songs praising the names of popular river goddesses in the area.
In a viral video online, members of the church were seen rejoicing and dancing to the tune of songs composed in praise of goddesses of some popular rivers in Nnewi.
Addressing the congregation at the uncompleted building, the cleric, presiding over the service, advised them to worship what they know, rather than what they don’t know.
The cleric who didnt mention his name and spoke in Igbo said people had used the names of Bethsaida, Jericho, Samaria, and some other biblical locations to compose songs without knowing the meaning of those locations.
He said, “People usually sing and dance to songs composed with names and places in the Bible while they do not actually know who, what, or where they are and what they represent. It is high time we started going back to our culture and tradition.”
“People should start singing songs composed with names of rivers that are known to them and the goddesses of those rivers, rather than singing and dancing to the names of what they don’t know,” he added.
While proudly identifying as an Ogbanje, the cleric claimed that he and other people who were Ogbanje “usually shine, prosper and live fine from year to year because they worship the rivers and the goddesses of the rivers they know, rather than those unknown to them.”
Together with the congregation, he mentioned some names of rivers and the goddesses in the area including Obò River, Mmiri Ele, Orasò River, Mmiri Edo, Ofala River, Ota, and Ezu River, among others.
Thereafter, the church continued to sing songs in reverence to the Ogbanje, while the church members cheerfully dance around in joy.
