KINGS MUST SEE THEMSELVES AS SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE- OLUWO OF IWO @ 50

• OLUWO Of IWO’s 50th Birthday Interview

Its move of a double celebration for the Oluwo of Iwo, HRM Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, Ilufemiloye Telu the 1st. He is 50. And in the next few months, he would have spent 2 years on the throne. Everyone in Iwo agrees that it has been 2 impact years on the throne. The town has witnessed phenomenal transformation. Since he came in January 2016 he has reawakened the sleepy town which had no Oba for over 10 years. So Kabiyeesi had to play catch up. He knew that to succeed quickly he had to do things the unconventional way. He is not your kind of Oba that sits in the palace and awaits his subject to come to pay homage to him, he goes to them.  Almost on a daily basis Kabiyeesi walks on the street of Iwo town going to visit ordinary people in their homes. He is a grassroot man. He leads them to patch and repair roads. He feeds the hungry 3 times a week. He has created a clothing bank at the palace where the needy can come to get clothes if they desire it. He has also fixed up so many Iwo indigenes looking for admission or jobs. Over the last 2 years, Iwo people have come to depend on their new Oba for everything. And he doesn’t mind. He tells anyone who cares to listen that he is the servant of the Iwo people. He openly says it that “traditional should be servant things”. He says he emulates the Yoruba progenitor Oduduwa in everything he does. That is why he named his son Oduduwa.

There are those who see Oba Akanbi as a controversial king but he does not mind.

I don’t mind the name people call me, as long as I’m doing the right thing. 2 decisions he took since he came in that has painted him controversial was his decision to allow his wife to start wearing a crown like Oduduwa’s wife, Olokun and his campaign that all traditional rulers in Yorubaland should stop worshiping and bowing down to small gods and deities. His logic is that Oduduwa, when he reigned never worshipped smaller gods and that if Kings are the representatives of God on earth, they should worship only God. Tough one you will say.

But give it to Oba Akanbi, he is a tough monarch. He is very bold and daring. And he is not afraid to speak his mind. His knowledge of Yoruba history and culture is very deep. So deep is it that Kabiyeesi can tell you the whole story of Yoruba creation for 6 hours mentioning dates and names. His Mastery of Iwo history is equally deep. He will start from the 10th century and for 4 straight hours he will tell you, who did what and which year.

His mastery of Islam and Christianity is even great. He knows all the stories in the Quran and will tell you significant stories in the Bible.

How he does it, no one knows? But he has an answer. “God speaks to me a lot, he says “ He gives me directions. He directs my footsteps” As if that is not enough, the role the number, 16, plays in his life is very spiritual. It is a recurring decimal starting from the day he was announced king, to the date Gov. Aregbesola chose to give him staff and the day his wife delivered their son. Everything fell on the 16th.

Who is this Iwo king who is so passionate about his people? Why does he do what he does, the way he likes to do them? These and many more were the questions City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE asked Kabiyeesi Akanbi who relocated from Canada to be king in 2016. It is a lengthy interview because Oba Akanbi spoke like he has never done before.

Kabiyesi you’ve consistently accused by your fellow Obas of not doing the right things. Why?

Do you know what I am doing? I am trying to save us from extinction. All I have been saying is:  Let us do things the right way. We need to restore the lost glory of the kings. Many kings need to understand their roles as Kings in a kingdom. That is why God has asked me  to actually come at this time to come and redefine Kingship, to tell people the actual meaning of kingship and at the same time to bring us back to our history the same way. Olorun fun mi ni Igba atijo, o fun mi ri. This helps us to resolve the mysteries of the past.

That is why I often tell people the story of Oduduwa who came to put order to our lives. He set up a government. He knows about kingship. He saw that there was no problem among this people. Our culture is so beautiful. Our language is so beautiful. But we have not been able to put it to good use.

We have a problem from the kings themselves. They are now doing “memory things” our progenitor didn’t give to us. I have been asking everybody give me the god, the lesser god that Oduduwa worshipped. Give me one name. Give me just one name of an Oosha that Oduduwa bowed to. God chose Oduduwa to come and liberate us. And he made that place Ile-Ife (love), a place of love. He is the one that brought love. He is the one that called it Ife-Ifee. The leaders that existed before him were all leaders, not kings. They didn’t have a crown Oduduwa didn’t wear Are, Oduduwa didn’t know Ogun or Sango. Ogun was the first king in life. Sango was the 3rd king in Oyo. He didn’t know them. My question is what Oduduwa didn’t passion to us where did we get it from. I am not saying we should celebrate Ogun or Sango, our heroes of the past. I am not saying don’t do their festival but we should not worship them like gods. When did heroes start becoming gods. We have to understand why they are our heroes. How come we don’t have modern people becoming gods, like the man who manufactured places, phones. We were ignorant then, Oju Dudu.

We can celebrate them because they are our heroes. We can celebrate Ifa priests who use to divine for us, then centuries back.

But should a king worship these small gods.? No, we need to be grateful to God for giving us Ifa to help us divine. But at the same time should it be a subject of worship for kings.

Many don’t know the meaning of Kingship. It is service to the people. A king is the servant of the people. Serve the people. Serve the people diligently. If you serve the people they will appreciate you. If you really serve the people you won’t have the time for personal business.

What has been your own experience since you became a king?

It has been a life of service to my people, service to humanity. How did we get the name, king? Only God is the King. And when God is the king what is the best attribute to God? That is Service. God has devoted his own existence, the only existence to service for humanity. God does not sleep. He does not live a life of pleasure. Because of us he does not sleep, he does not eat. He doesn’t drink. He does not have a wife like us. All because of us. We should appreciate him more.

Thanksgiving is the only thing that we need. Prayers is proverb. Your prayer should be your good deeds.

For instance, I went on the road with my people to go and patch the road that many people use. People pray for me for fixing the road. I don’t need to pray for myself. People pray for me. That’s why I can be in the sun, in the rain when you a king you must emulate God. I cannot be God. God is the King. People say Kabiyeesi for the office of the king not me as an individual. I am just a servant. We the kings are like the face of God on earth. God in his infinite mercies just chose me to sit here on the throne. If you do good works that’s your prayers. If you don’t its you you prayers also.

There are secrets revealed through divine inspirations. Prayers is a dictation for God, as per what you want. It is not the prayers that gets answered, it is God that decides.

Kabiyeesi you are seen by many to be controversial. Why is that so?

I see myself as a face of God on earth, I am a King that God has sent with a specific message and the grace of God are not easy for man to comprehend because most of them are actually proverbs. Only someone who is very deep and spiritual can understand. What many people don’t know is that without the Spiritual there cannot be any Physical.

Kabiyeesi lets go back to how you became a King in 2016. How well prepared were you then?

You cannot prepare for Kingship. Its God that will actually bestow it on you. Its God that will guide and lead you. Like me, I don’t say anything unless what God wants me to say. It is not about Islam. It is not about Christianity. It is not about I am a Babalawo or Onisegun. This is abou pure dedication of whatever you have to God himself. There is God. But people don’t understand his ways. Good and Evil comes from God. When you think Evil it is from God. When you think Good it is still God. He created everything for a reason. Do you know that only the body dies the soul never dies. The soul comes back.