When he became sober and saw his mistake, he vowed to never drink again and reinvented himself as "The Great White God", protector of people with disabilities.

However, Obatala was able to emerge victorious in the contest and it led to the murder of his rival Oduduwa and the retrieval of his throne.

[citation needed] According to Yoruba mythology, Obatala is one of the oldest of all of the orishas and was granted authority to create the Earth.

He released the white hen which spread the sand from the shell onto the ocean to create mountains and valleys.

After he successfully created the human being figures, they were given ase, a copper knife, and a wooden hoe.

A tradition states that before he could return to heaven and report to Olodumare, Oduduwa usurped his responsibility (due to Obatala's being drunk at the time).

However, an assessment of Yoruba traditional religion shows that each of the 201 deity are understood by their descendants and adherents to have carried out the creation of the earth.

His reign was disrupted by an usurpation led by Oduduwa and his supporters such as Obameri, Obadio, Aloran, Ejio and Apata.

However, Obatala was able to facilitate the death of Oduduwa and retrieve his throne as the king of Ile-Ife with the assistance of his support base consisting of Oluorogbo, Orunmila, Akire, Obalufon Ogbogboinrin (Obamakin), Owa Ilare and numerous others.

[7] Obatalá is the oldest "orisha fúnfún" ("white deity"), referring to purity, both physically and symbolically as in the "light" of consciousness.

However, Obatala is the only male orisha who "eats" in the Iabás circle, thus accepting sacrifices of female animals in his honor.

Bastide,[10] commented on the androgynous characteristics of Obatala as an explanation of why this orisha accepts female animals as offerings.