The Oluwo of Iwo land in Osun State, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi rules his people with ease and the kind of love associated with a populist king. He is a man who derives his power and wisdom from God who made him king. All around him in Iwo, people want to see and feel his impact more and more every day. In this interview with Edozie Udeze in his palace in Iwo, Oba Akanbi makes it clear that power, kingship, wisdom to rule; to touch people’s lives and sustain an everlasting legacy belong to God who gives kingship to whom he prefers.
The Oluwo of Iwo is the paramount ruler of Iwo land. He is His Imperial Majesty Oba (Dr.) Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi. He is an enigmatic custodian of the people. An urbane and charismatic ruler of his people, Oba Akanbi is a reporter’s delight. A visit to his palace showed him as a traditional ruler who is receptive to people. He is someone who is not just at home with his subjects but also amenable to their everyday needs. His simplicity was demonstrated with vigour and joy, as he welcomed the reporter and got set immediately to tackle questions on the role of traditional rulers and what they must do to keep the cultural values and properties of the people together for the sake of posterity.
No doubt about it. The Oluwo is a student of history, indeed very vast in cultural and traditional responsibilities of kings to their people. A repertoire of knowledge, he answered questions with accelerated ease, delving into facts, refreshing history and drawing attention to the issues that mattered and will continue to matter in the affairs of traditions and the people in more years to come. Besides being the paramount ruler and head over other 35 Obas within his area of jurisdiction, Oba Akanbi is a first class traditional ruler in Osun State and far beyond.
But what is the role of traditional rulers, obas and kings in ensuring that the cultures of the people are kept sacrosanct as the world keeps evolving in a frenzy? “Yes, the king is like God. When you see him you see God. He is the custodian of the people, a bridge between them and God. It is God that makes someone a king. If God says you will sit on the throne, yes, you will sit on the throne. This is the case here. I fought so many battles, faced so many oppositions, before God finally chose me. It is not usually for the feeble-minded. So we have to keep the people together to ensure we stick to the cultures of the people. You see here, I have about 35 other obas under me. I am the one that crowns them. That shows you how vast, how large the Iwo kingdom is in the annals of Yoruba history. It dates back in time; it is part of history. It is part of heritage in Yoruba cosmological inheritance.
In Yoruba land, we have two areas, two kingdoms that speak the original or what you may call central Yoruba language. They are Iwo and Oyo. For you to know the Yoruba language very well, the one that is generally accepted in texts, in books, even in the translation of the bible; it is either Iwo or Oyo dialect of the Yoruba language. It is part of history; it is part of what God has given to us. Most Yoruba musicians who sang before now had to learn these two identical dialects to be able to sing songs that were generally receptive to the people. One of the examples is King Sunny Ade, a man from Ondo, whose local version of the Yoruba language couldn’t have got him to the heart of the people if he did not use the Iwo or Oyo Yoruba to sing. There are many more examples.
In other words, Iwo and Oyo have contributed exceedingly to the cultural emancipation and evolution of the Yoruba nation. Ibadan is also one of them. In terms of civilization, education, prospering Yoruba modern heritage beyond bounds, Ibadan has done well. Not in terms of the language itself. But during the 19th century Yoruba wars, Ibadan became a buffer, standing against the enemies of the people. Ibadan land is not just vast and large; it is also a legacy that the Yoruba people are proud of. Ibadan people are warlords, great warriors. They have contributed to the growth and development of Yoruba people generally.
But for us here we are the paramount source of obaship in Yoruba land. We are the source even more than any other place. So this is the source (he said, pointing to the stool). The culture is strong – in the way we dress, what we eat, the way we greet and demonstrate love for one another. They are all different. In terms of local gods, we have them plenty. We have ogun, orunmila, and sango and others. We have sango which is from Oyo. Some people believe in all sorts; in rivers, in trees, in mountains and so on as sources of power and belief. But we do not want to mix what is culture with what is tradition and then impose religion or belief on people. That is one thing I do not do, and I do not want it to happen in my kingdom”.
Oba Akanbi believes that for whatever reason, and in all intents and purposes, people’s beliefs should be personal to them. And no one should force somebody to worship a god he does not believe in. He says further, “Idol worship is universal. People have the right to worship what they believe in. Before Europe encountered God, they worshipped all sorts. There was the sun god, the moon god. Even the Romans had their own source of worship. So as a king I am not involved in your belief… it is your right. But do not come here to impose your own on me. No, it will not work and I won’t accept it. Many people are saying the king must worship idols. Oh no, no, I say no to that. Not me. I cannot worship idols. How can I be God’s own representative and then worship idol? I worship God Almighty. He is the real king. He makes kings as well. He is the King of kings, Lord of lords. The first people he recognizes are the kings. We are his messengers on earth. We occupy the throne he has given to us to occupy on-behalf of the people”.
The Oba’s total submission to God in all things is indeed incontrovertible. He reflects more as he says, “We take messages from God and then pass them across to the people. We are his mouthpiece before the people. So kingship and deity, they have nothing in common. You deify anything you want. But God is God. He has no equal. He has no contestant. Then when you know you are his representative on earth and he has put you on the throne for others, why would you go and worship a deity? The mistakes of our fathers therefore should be corrected by their children. We cannot continue to live in the past, believing in what is not. Our forefathers lived with all sorts. But today most of those things are no longer acceptable. This is why I am different, different because I have come to make some changes that are good for my people, for the throne itself”.
The Oluwo is passionate about foods. “Yes, here in Yoruba land, we have our foods. But only amala is basic and peculiar to us as a people. Amala is our food, it is our heritage and we cherish it so much. We have varieties of it – white and black, and it goes mainly with ewedu and gbegiri. I do not know of any other people that love ewedu the way we do. It is a special soup in Yoruba land and full of medicinal powers and healing ingredients. Our foods also say who we are and how much we cherish what is ours. Ila (okro) soup is ours too. We have also drums, different drums that have different messages for us. As a king, if a drum beats in my palace, I am able to decode the message immediately.
Whether it is gbedu or bata, the language is usually known to those who are made to understand what it is saying. Before a visitor comes in here the drum will announce his presence and I will quickly understand who that person is and what his intentions are. The drums are very essential to the issues that bind us together as a people. It is very essentially relevant in the palace, in the life of the king. The drum wakes me up in the morning. The drum talks to me. But when it comes to idol worship, it is an entirely different thing. It is a taboo for a representative of God to then bow to an idol. It must be a taboo. It should be a taboo. You should worship He that made you a king. All kings therefore must be answerable to God, for God Himself is the Almighty King.
As God Almighty, He is a jealous God. He does not like it when you equate Him with other gods or worship Him alongside other deities. He is the real King. He does not like rivalry. This is not my forefather’s throne. It is God’s own throne. He is the giver of life; giver of all things good. He is the one that protects, sustains and provides. He is the one that gives you the wisdom to rule, to shepherd his people. He is the real source of power and majesty. So he appoints someone to be on throne. In fact, the name King belongs only to Him and to Him alone”.
The way Oba Akanbi eulogizes God’s kingship on earth is highly informative and instructive. He goes on again; “There is no other king but God. The name kingship, the root of it all, all belongs to God, the maker of mankind. So when you hear a king, he is an earthly representation of God Himself. Then, if that is the case, will you now create a rival with that kind of person? No! So anything you are worshipping that is not God, the king will be the first to talk against it, to talk you out of it. Anything that is not giving glory to God that is not of God, the king will be the first to go against it or those engaged in it. Even though your subjects are worshipping other things, it does not matter. You should be the one to tell them to desist from it.
My own belief is a personal thing, not because I am a king but because I know it is God that I worship, that I believe in. There is no deity or idol that emanated from the palace. The kingship is a plain, clean God-inspired institution. Today I am here to right the wrongs of our forefathers. It behooves on me to do so and that is what I am doing. That is why it is an abomination for a king to worship deities. You can be a babalawo or baba ifa, which one is greater? Which king will remove himself from the throne and then says I want to be babalawo, baba ifa or such? No, that will be belittling the pride and the crown God has given to you. Ifa wants to be king but he cannot. If he wants to do divination with Ifa where will he sit? He cannot sit on the throne because the throne does not belong to him. He does not merit or deserve or have any right to the throne.
I am therefore greater than any god, small god. As soon as I become king, I am greater than them all, all the gods, deities. I am not their mate. A king is not the mate of idols or gods or deities that people worship. When a king holds on to God Almighty, you do not need any other to keep you safe from the throne. Even wisdom is with you as king when you trust in God to solve all your problems. For one with God is majority, guided and guarded by God’s wisdom and power and providence”.
