Governors, not Ifa, pick Yoruba kings, says Oluwo

Paramount ruler of Iwo land in Osun State, Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi, has said governors are the ones picking Obas in Yorubaland.

He said this in an interview with Nigerian Tribune ahead of his eighth coronation anniversary.

The monarch claimed that Ifa, the Yoruba Oracle, has no role to play in the selection of an Oba these days like it used to happen in the olden days.

Oba Akanbi, who was installed as Oluwo under the Rauf Aregbesola administration, said he met the governor overnight and became king at daybreak.

He said, “Tell me one king that Ifa picked in Yoruba land. The person who is picked by the governor is the one God has ordained to be the king. There is no Oba in Yoruba land that will say Ifa picked him.

“It is after the governor picked you that you now become a king. Ifa doesn’t have any power over the governor. Maybe you watch too much Nollywood movies.

“Even during our forefathers, they would make the most powerful person at that time king. At that time, I didn’t even know the governor because I had just returned from Canada but I told other contestants who were far richer and popular then that I was the next king even if you know Barack Obama and the governor, it would not change the fact that I was going to be the next Oluwo.

“When Olodumare wants to work, you can’t even understand how He would do it. Just a few months before I became the king, Olodumare just opened a channel.

“I didn’t even meet the governor until the eve of the day I would be announced as the king. I met him at 1am and that was all! It was the work of Olodumare, the God of the Yorubas, the God of our fathers and you can’t understand it. When God brings a king, He brings him for a purpose.”