Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi has attacked a former Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Professor Wande Abimbola for saying that he has abandoned the Yoruba tradition.
Oluwo said: “Abimbola is an elder who lack understanding. He is attacking me based on information he read about me on social media. This is an attribute of a wicked elder who jumped to conclusions without listening to all sides.”
“You cannot count from one to one zillion in Yoruba, yet you call yourself a Yoruba scholar. What is the essence of the Yoruba language when it doesn’t have meanings for so many scientific things. We need to upgrade the language.”
“Who recognises babalawo or Awise in the Constitution? It’s we, obas, that are recognised by the Constitution, not babalawos.”
“If it was in the olden days, can he, as babalawo, say that about a king? Does he not have an oba in his town? I am not afraid of him; an oba who doesn’t worship idols can’t be afraid of anybody because such an oba’s authority is from God almighty.”
“Abimbola is following a failed system. If his generation had done well for us, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Nigerians wouldn’t be fleeing abroad today. I am suffering for the future of our people.”
“Traditional rulers are higher than Yoruba gods, Yoruba should not worship idols.”
For those who don’t know, this is what Professor Abimbola said:
“Anybody who do not support the Yoruba traditional practices, should not aspire to be an oba. It is hypocrisy for traditional rulers to oppose Yoruba culture and tradition.”
“They should give him some herbal concoction. There’s nothing Oluwo can do to me…A lot of Yoruba monarchs were misfits, desecrating various traditional stools.”
“The main thing is that do we want our obaship institution to be wiped out or sustained? The way the institution is being run leaves much to be desired.”
“Yoruba traditional rulers are too many. They are over 10,000. So, there are no checks and balances to control their excesses. Some communities have between 30 and 40 obas.”
“Many of them who parade themselves as obas today were baales or heads of farmsteads. Kingship in the land has been so bastardised that some of them don’t even mind being kings over just their houses alone.”
“Ooni Adesoji Aderemi said there are only 17 kings in Yoruba land. We must stop and ask ourselves if we want to continue with kingship or not.”
“Having this large number of kings is too much, and it has turned the whole thing into a comedy. Let us reduce their number so that they can be controllable.”
“Democracy has its demerits on our obaship institution. How are we treating our obas in this democratic dispensation? Are we treating them rightly or wrongly?”
“Do we involve our obas in government decisions? Our legislators should carry our traditional rulers along in their deliberations, we should give our kings roles to play in our democracy.”
“The way some of our kings behave is disgraceful. The way government is treating them is also disdainful.”
“More than a million people in the US worship Yoruba gods and practice Yoruba culture and tradition. People who don’t want to have anything to do with Yoruba gods shouldn’t aspire to be kings.”
“Some parts of the world like Cuba, Brazil and other countries in Latin America rake in millions of dollars annually through the celebration of Yoruba culture and tradition.”
“If we, the owners of the culture and tradition, have monthly festivals in celebration of our gods, culture and tradition, tourists will pay dollars to watch us celebrate.”