The Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, also known as the R.O.F, is an international

fraternal organization A fraternity (; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in the Western conce ...

. It is commonly described by initiates as a

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus ...

blend of the Ogboni system of

Yorubaland Yorubaland () is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of . Of this land area, 106,016 km2 (74.6%) lies within Niger ...

and various external elements.

History

The Reformed Ogboni Fraternity was founded on 18 December 1914. It was started as an alternative of the Ogboni Fraternity for practitioners of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, and its founder was the Anglican cleric T.A.J. Ogunbiyi. Founding members that joined him in starting the fraternity included Prince Orisadipe Obasa, his wife Princess Charlotte Blaize Obasa of the

R.B. Blaize Richard Beale Blaize (November 22, 1845 – September 21, 1904) was a Nigerian-Sierra Leonean businessman, newspaper publisher, financier, and black nationalist of Sierra Leonean and Nigerian heritage. Early life Richard Olamilege Blaize was bor ...

family, and Prince M. Akinsemoyin of the

Akinsemoyin Oba Akinsemoyin reigned as Oba of Lagos from around 1704 to 1749. His father was Oba Ado and his siblings were Erelu Kuti and Oba Gabaro, whom he succeeded. According to the Justice J. O. Kassim tribunal of inquiry report of 19 September 1978 ...

royal family. Prince Obasa was recognized by the founders as the first ''Oluwo'', or

master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

, in the same year. Although the fraternity was started both by and for the Christian elite, it has since grown in scope, and today its membership includes

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

followers of different faiths. External elements that influenced the fraternity's founders during its creation included everything from the early Christianity of Nigeria (as manifested in the local chapter of the

Keswick Convention The Keswick Convention is an annual gathering of Conservative evangelicalism in the United Kingdom, conservative evangelical Christians in Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick, in the English county of Cumbria. The Christian theological tradition of High ...

) to English

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Membership

Membership is open to males between the ages of 21 or older and females who are 40 or older who agree to embrace a "non-idolatrous faith in God".

Chapters

As of May 2010, the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity had had 940 ''lledi'' or conclaves in Nigeria, one in Cameroon, five in London, five in Italy, and one in Belgium.

Notable members

Notable members of the fraternity have included: *

Adetokunbo Ademola Omoba Sir Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola (1 February 1906 – 29 January 1993) was a Nigerian jurist who was the Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1958 to 1972. He was appointed as Chief Justice on 1 April 1958, succeeding Sir Stafford Foster ...

, ''Olori Oluwo'' of the fraternity, Chief Justice of Nigeria *

Ladapo Ademola Oba Sir Ladapo Samuel Ademola KBE, CMG (1872–1962), also known as Ademola II, was the Alake of Abeokuta from 1920 to 1962. Before he was crowned Alake, Ademola was involved in the affairs of the Egba United Government. As a member of ...

, the Alake of Egbaland *

Adeyemo Alakija Oloye Sir Adeyemo Alakija, (25 May 1884 – 10 May 1952) was a Nigerian lawyer, politician and businessman. He served as a member of the Nigerian legislative council for nine years starting in 1933. In 1942, he became a member of the governor's ...

, ''Olori Oluwo'' (or grandmaster) of the fraternity, a member of the Nigerian Legislative Council, president of

Egbe Omo Oduduwa Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà () is a Nigerian political organisation established in 1945 by Yoruba leaders in London. Its initial purpose was to unite the Yoruba people in a manner similar to the tenets of the Ibibio State Union and the Igbo Federal U ...

Ladoke Akintola Chief Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá otherwise known as ''S.L.A.'' (6 July 1910 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician, aristocrat, orator, and lawyer. He served as Oloye Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of Yorubaland and served as premier ...

, Premier of

Western Nigeria The former Western State of Nigeria was formed in 1967 when the Western Region was subdivided into the states of Lagos and Western State. Its capital was Ibadan, which was the capital of the old region. The largest ethnic group here are the Yoruba. ...

Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, was a Nigerian politician, statesman, and revolutionary leader who served as the 3rd and first black governor-general of Nigeria from 1960 ...

, president of Nigeria *

Ahmadu Bello Sir Ahmadu Bello (; born Ahmadu Rabah; 12 June 1910 – 15 January 1966), famously known as Sardauna of Sokoto, was a conservative Nigerian statesman who was one of the leading northern politicians in 1960 and served as its first and only pre ...

Premier of Northern Nigeria The Premier of Northern Nigeria Northern Nigeria (or Arewa, Arewancin Nijeriya) was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security s ...

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

, King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions *

Francis Meshioye Chief Francis Meshioye is a Nigerian esotericist. He currently serves as the Olori Oluwo of the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, a Nigerian fraternal order A fraternal order is a voluntary membership group organised as an order, with an initiatio ...

, esotericist and ''Olori Oluwo'' *

Olubuse II Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade Order of the Federal Republic, CFR (1 January 1930 – 28 July 2015) was the fiftieth Nigerian traditional rulers, traditional ruler or List of rulers of Ife, ''Ooni'' of Ife from 1980 to his death in 2015, taking ...

, the fiftieth traditional ruler or ''Ooni'' of Ife *

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

, president of Nigeria

Controversies

The organization has been alleged to be a secret cult partaking in human sacrifices, although no cogent evidence has ever substantiated this. In an exposé on occultism titled ''Occult Grandmaster Now in Christ'', a Nigerian bestseller written in 1993 by Iyke Nathan Uzorma, the organization was alleged to be engaging in "Rajo witchcraft" which had little to no credence as the author didn’t explain, nor elaborate on what ''Rajo witchcraft'' meant . On December 19, 2019,

the Olori Oluwo (which in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

means the ''supreme leader'' of the organization) negated any alleged claim of wrongdoing on the part of the organization and expressly stated that there was nothing sinister about it.

References

External links

"Nothing secret, sinister about us—Ogboni Fraternity" (''Vanguard'')
Society of Nigeria Culture of Nigeria Black elite Fraternal orders 1914 establishments in Nigeria