The Secretary of the Adagunodo Ruling House in Iwo, Prince Semiu Oladimeji, has urged the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi to caution the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Adewale Akanbi.
He said the Owolo must be warned against bringing strange traditions such as dressing or using the title of an Emir into the Yoruba kingdom.
Prince Oladimeji said this in Iwo on Friday at a press conference to address what he described as the “misrepresentation” of the stool and the town by Oba Akanbi.
The prince added, “It is not in the history of Iwo to wear a crown for the Olori (queen ). Whoever wants to become a monarch in Iwo must have lived in the town for 10 years to enable him to be acquainted with the traditions of the people. A monarch must spend 90 days in ipebi (seclusion ) before wearing the crown.
“I met him (Oba Akanbi) for three hours on the issue between him, the Oluwo-Oke and Chief Abiola Ogundokun. I advised him not to confront the people with his personality. He should allow us to handle it, but he refused.
“Waziri is not a traditional title (in Iwoland) and the monarch should not interfere in the affairs of the League of Imams and Alfas. The installation of Waziri is alien to Iwoland.
“If he (Oba Akanbi) fails to change, I will sue him to make sure that the error of title of the emir that he adopted is corrected. An oba is superior to an emir. The Iwo monarch has no right to bear emir. We don’t have an emir in Iwo.
“I want to call on the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo to caution Oba Akanbi against adopting this title and other wrong things he is doing.”