"Oluwo lacks proper cultural orientation" — Elebuibon

A renowned Ifa Priest and Araba of Osogbo, Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon has disclosed that the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi lacks the proper cultural orientation of a Yoruba traditional ruler.

This is as traditional practitioners under the aegis of ‘Isokan Orunmila’ also warned Oba Akanbi to desist from ridiculing Yoruba tradition to avoid facing the consequences.

This was disclosed at a one day ‘Ifa Unity Conference’ held in Osogbo, Osun state capital at the weekend.

Speaking to newsmen at the event, Elebuibon, who was the guest speaker, stated that there is no way a King in Yoruba-land will not be linked to tradition because he is enthroned only after Ifa might have been consulted.

Oluwo is not an example of a proper Yoruba traditional ruler, because he was chosen without proper recourse to tradition. That is a major setback and one of the problems our tradition has suffered leading to a vacuum in Iwo traditional institution.

“Each Yoruba town has a seclusion room, where an incoming king will be for a stipulated number of days. There is where he will get to learn the tradition and given proper cultural orientation but Oluwo didn’t go through the process.

“So, for him to be acting improper due to civilization is an indication that there is a big vacuum in Iwo. Maybe all kingmakers and chiefs have converted to either Islam or Christianity. He also boasts that a Governor made him a king not Ifa, so he chose to be what he wanted not a proper Yoruba king,” he said.

The priest noted that there has been a lot of challenges with the Yoruba traditional institution since the coming of foreign religion and especially the death of custodians of tradition.

There are no protocols among some Yoruba kings anymore, this is a wake-up call for everyone on the need to restore our tradition. Kings and Chiefs should know their duties and obligation even after embracing foreign religion”, he added.

While addressing the gathering, Araba Agbaye, Owolabi Aworeni noted that Oluwo has on several occasions said things that denigrate Yoruba tradition and even the kingship stool which they have always overlooked but warned that there could be consequences if he did not restrain himself.

He added that Oluwo, being an inconsistent person, would come back begging after he might have said a lot of improper things out there.

Oluwo had in a recent interview said that Yoruba deities are spoiling culture and are not adding any value to tradition.