Herbalists [Tradional Worshippers] demands 3 seats at the National Conference

Traditional worshipers under the auspices of African Traditional Religion in Nigeria are demanding representation at the proposed National Conference.

The group have lamented their exclusion by the Federal Government,saying that their exclusion from the dialogue would haunt the country in many years to come.

Speaking on behalf of the African Traditional Religion, Prof. Idowu Odeyemi, President of International Council for Ifa (African) Religion and Dean, School of Earth and Mineral Sciences at the Federal University of Technology, Akure said, "Most disturbing and perplexing of this arrangement is the representation of other religious groups. In the listing, six "Muslim” leaders and six “Christian” leaders, each representing each of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, were invited.

"A major flaw in this is that Nigeria, acting in accordance with the dictates of the foreign media, gives the impression that Nigeria is made up of only Christians and Muslims. African religion does not exist in Africa’s largest nation. Both ingested and imbibed impressions are plainly off course, clearly false, patently self-demeaning and self-abnegating. To consciously alienate and ignore this massive African religious class is therefore totally unacceptable.

"Ignoring African Traditional Religion now or ever, will come back to haunt our country Nigeria for several decades to come. According to Edmund Burke (1790), People will never look forward to posterity, those who never look backwards to their ancestors. All practitioners of African Traditional Religion in Nigeria demand and should be given three slots to the national conference to represent and articulate the interests of African religion and .

Odeyemi demanded for at least three slots for the indigenous religion practitioners.