Ifayemi Elebuibon, a well-known Ifa diviner in Osogbo, says that ghosts and people live together in the society, especially in big cities like Lagos, Ibadan, and Osogbo. He also says that people who died before their time usually come back to earth to complete their lifetime.

Elebuibon claims that the Yoruba belief in reincarnation, known locally as "Akudaya," enshrined the existence of ghosts.

In an interview in Osogbo, the well-known cultural icon said that ghosts are real and that they are the reincarnated versions of people who died before their God's appointed time. She also talked about the idea of reincarnation in Yoruba cosmology.

He asserted that members of these categories are not permitted entry into heaven.

But Elebuibon said that when ghosts reincarnate, they don't go back to where they started. For instance, people who lived and died in Osogbo, Lagos, Ibadan, or Abeokuta would relocate to other communities. He stated that people who lived in cities and died there typically reincarnate in smaller towns and villages, whereas people who lived in villages and died there move to cities to avoid seeing family.

The Yoruba believe that once they do, they will vanish into another world.

According to the Ifa priest, people who are deeply spiritual can see and connect with ghosts, whereas many people are frequently unaware of their presence. He also said that ghosts sometimes show themselves to anyone they want.

He attributes the victims' deaths to their haters, criminals, and evildoers; those who perished in traffic accidents; and those who died from diseases and illnesses; untimely departure from the world.

He stated that since heaven could not yet accommodate their spirits, they would return to the earth to live in a different climate.

Elebuibon stated that some of the residents of major cities, particularly those in the South West, are ghosts who coexist with the living and attributed the geometric increase in population in Nigeria to the growing presence of ghosts.

He stated, "It is true that there is reincarnation," in response to inquiries regarding Akudaya facts. Everyone who died without achieving the ordained would reappear on earth and begin living in a different country from where they had been stationed before.

“For instance, if you kill a bush rat at a spot in the bush, return to that place another time, you will see that same rat. It is the same for human beings. If a human being dies and it is not the ripe time for him or her, he or she would reincarnate to live in another place. 

“I remember when the Ile-Ife and Modakeke people were at war, hundreds were killed and at that time, you would discover that the population in Osogbo and its environs were increasing tremendously.

“Just look at Lagos, Ibadan, some of the people you see going about in large numbers are ghosts. It is those whom they want to see that would see them.”

The Ifa priest stated, regarding the Yoruba belief in reincarnation, "There are divergent history versions that back this up." The deceased were not buried in the ground in the past.

The bodies would be dumped in the forest, but when there were a lot of Akudaya cases, people started digging holes where the dead would be buried.

“But, it doesn’t stop the dead from reincarnating. There is strong evidence to prove this. We had cases of people who died but it was discovered that they were met living in other communities. We call them wraiths. It is not a lie. Yoruba belief and cosmology support this.

“Reincarnation is real and that’s why we beg God to prolong our lives so that we can die at old age before we join our ancestors. If anyone dies untimely, such a person would return to the earth to live in another place. Evil people, sickness and road accidents do cut short people’s lives. Check the rate at which people die in road accidents these days.

“I went to Abeokuta one day and I was sitting beside an old woman, and she told me that people were not as many as we have it now when she was younger adding that many people who died of road accidents in Lagos returned to Abeokuta, Lafenwa and other communities to live. She said that most people are ghosts. I also thought about what the old woman told me and I discovered that it is true. There are so many on the planet earth.”

Elebuibon’s argument was corroborated in a piece by a Senior Consultant Trauma Surgeon and Coordinator at the National Trauma Centre, National Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Usman Gwaram, who explained that ghosts are real.

“A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person that can appear to the living. These spirits make deliberate attempts to influence, most often harmfully, the living. They are believed to hunt particular locations, objects or people they were associated with in life often for vengeance from a grievous wrong. 

“The fair ghosts attack the perpetrators and accomplices to their wrongs while the real dreadful ones flurry on a rampage attacking both the guilty and the innocent in the community.

“Certain religious practices like funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead, especially those that died from unnatural causes or that suffer violent deaths. These practices are targeted at appeasing the restless spirit through offerings, provision of justice and contrition by the entire community.

“The overwhelming consensus of science is that ghosts do not exist, but their existence is impossible to falsify,” the trauma surgeon said.

However, Olusegun Solomon, a Christian priest, disagreed with Elebuibon and Gwaram's claims, claiming that there was no such thing as reincarnation.

Solomon admonished the people not to believe the myth that those who pass away too soon would reappear on Earth to live on.

He said, "It is appointed unto man once to die, after this is judgment," citing the Bible.

“We know that there are people who converse with ghosts but the word of God makes us understand that it has been appointed unto a man to die once. And if we are talking about reincarnation, it means that one is going to die twice. No! Man shall die once and after this, judgement. The plan of God is that we have come to the earth and after leaving the earth, we are returning to God.

“That someone dies and he or she is being found in places such as Lagos, Kaduna or Ibadan, is an ancient belief, but the gospel established it to us in Hebrew 9 verse 27 that after death is judgment.

“Christianity does not approve or support reincarnation. Once you die, you are going to face judgement, so don’t think that you will go to another place to enjoy life. There is nothing like that.”