Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi, Telu I, Oluwo of Iwoland
Regardless of Oyo Obas’ episode, Obasanjo prostrated for me, says Oluwo
By James Akinola
The traditional institution is an integral system of Nigerian society, as it accommodates religious tenets, political principles, and social ethics, as well as cultural values.
In Nigeria, the royal fathers are custodians of culture. In this interview, the paramount ruler of Iwoland, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, in his grandeur, exudes his rich thoughts on the Yoruba history, culture, religion, tradition, and politics, including the yearning of Nigerians, among others. Excerpts:
Recently, something happened between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and some monarchs in Oyo State. How can such a situation be prevented from recurring?
Baba Obasanjo is a well-cultured man. He had come here before and prostrated before me. I think what happened in that place was a personal issue between him and a king who talked about him. And Baba didn’t know where to scold that king and I don’t think he could have done that. So, he decided to scold him right there. Obasanjo is a very good man and well-respected. He respects traditional institutions too. So, that’s why I came out and did what I did, I needed to do that at that time.
As a first-class monarch, what is your experience ruling the people and at the same time, interacting with the government?
First and foremost, I thank the Almighty God for choosing me to lead my people. And when you are a leader, you need wisdom to rule, to grow, and to drive. Not just your immediate town but also how you impact the world. So as a king of Yoruba people in one of the major towns of the Yorubaland, you have to know what it is all about. You have to come up with new things to deal with the ideas, challenge the status quo and know why things are the way they are so that you can make a change for a better life.
Again, when you get to a position, talk about what you see. I’ve written a book which is titled: “Code of Kings”. The next one I’m writing is “Our Origin” because we are experienced now. Today, with the wisdom of God, I only submit to God Almighty. We don’t go through the dead to worship the powerful creator. Adam didn’t go to the dead to talk to the living God. The dead don’t talk anymore. So as a living person, I don’t go through my fathers who were dead. I can pray for them where they are but to say I’m going to take my supplications and my problems through my dead father or my dead ancestors to lean towards God is absurd.
How can we convert our rich culture and tradition to tourist attractions and beautiful knowledge for the world?
We have a very rich and quality tradition, and our language is the best. But we haven’t moved. Do you know that we have not moved? Even these people that we’re talking about; the Chinese, the Russians, the Germans, the English, do all their courses and advance their education in their languages. Even the Ethiopians are using their language and I wonder why we haven’t moved. We don’t move because we have so many superstitions.
Superstitions are limits and they limit us as humans. And it is my job as a king of the people that is close to the people. It’s not the job of the government. It is the job of a king to sensitise and change the mindsets and remove all the scare tactics. All we want to do is talk about voodoo that does bad, a voodoo that will kill you. We are the ones that have gods that kill. Ogun a pa e (Ogun, the iron diety will kill); Sango a pa e (Sango, the thunder deity will kill).
What kind of father is that? All should be removed from our day-to-day life. The fear tactics are not to be about love to the people.
If people are running away from the king’s palace, what are they running away from? They’re running away from culture. They are running away from a rotten culture, but our culture and tradition are beautiful and we should showcase them to the bigger world. People are running away from everything hostile to their daily living, and this is not what makes us a Yoruba people. And that is the problem of this clime. You will see the way I dress now, today, believe me, the way I react, I display with so much splendour is the reality of our culture. The culture is not to threaten or curse or use deities to scare people.
I was going to come to your kind of dress. What drives your fashion style? Is it your perspective of rewriting the narrative?
These are the old, cultural ways of our fathers. We are not dirty people as portrayed by the deities in the past. They want us to be dirty people. This is how I want to impact the Yoruba and black people. You can wear your Dansiki, Buba, Agbada, Saayan, Kembe, Alaari and others so that you can see the beauty of our culture. I wear my clothes to influence, inform and educate the people. People want to express their culture. I know that and believe that I’ve impacted many people. This is the way the Europeans see us. That is how Europeans realise the beauty of your job, not people telling us to go and worship deities. I don’t worship deities. I don’t praise deities. All I praise is Eledumare. In Iwo, it is the only place that we celebrate God Almighty. Yes.
There are insinuations that culture is deviating from tradition following the installation of adherents of the two major foreign religions, Islam and Christianity, as kings in Yorubaland? The recent case was in Ogbomoso. What’s your take?
I want to ask, who is the traditionalist? A traditionalist is someone who wears his clothes, someone who practises the asa and ise. When you came in here, you prostrated. People want to define traditionalists as people who worship deities. We are not deity worshipers. We are the Yoruba people who worship Olodumare. Odu is all the codes of life. It is the Yoruba word. It is not any deity’s word. It is not Ifa word. It encompasses everything. If you call someone “Olo’du”, it means he does everything.
So, the owner of the “odu” who knows where it will end “ibi ti o maa re” is the Olodumare which the English call the “Alpha and Omega” – Ipilese ati Opin. We must understand these people calling themselves traditionalists are idol worshipers but that is not the correct thing because they want to deceive people into their thinking, to take over the kingship institution. No idol is called kabiyesi. So when you’re talking about the root of Yoruba people, our culture and tradition is a great one. And our belief is in the belief of one God whom we worship.
Traditional institutions are believed to be closer to the government as well. What are the royal fathers doing to bridge the gap between the people and the government?
We are closer to the people and not the government. And we need to bridge that gap. And there is only one way to bridge that gap. Politicians, in a democratic setting, cannot rule a country of diverse cultures and traditions without the kings. We should play a key role in democracy. We used to do it in the past. The Oluwo throne was part of the House of Chiefs during the colonial period, in the Western region. During the reign of the white men, the kings were a part of the government as ministers. Some kings were ministers with portfolios and some were ministers without portfolios.
The government needs to recognise us constitutionally. They must find a place for kings in the constitution of Nigeria. The Queen or King of England is in the constitution. So, if Nigeria’s royal fathers are recognised, the gap will be bridged.
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2023-11-05
