A coalition of Mogajis and noble princes of Iwo, Osun State on Monday dissociated themselves from a group of individuals who recently accused the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi of desecration of the ancestral royal graves in the town.
The coalition in a press conference addressed by Prince Wasiu Hammed Modunle, Mogaji of Modunle ruling house in Iwo, blamed the accusers of acting on behalf of rivals who lost the race to the throne and who have since turned to smear campaigns to discredit the traditional ruler.
He described the group of individuals’ action as a conspiratorial plan to throw the dignity of Oba Akanbi into the dustbin and maintained that those making the claims are neither true princes nor qualified to speak on behalf of the royal family of Iwo.
“We are not unaware of a few youths parading themselves as spokespeople for Iwo princes. We state unequivocally that they have no right or recognition to do so. Their allegations against our king are frivolous and a deliberate attempt to blackmail Oba Akanbi.
“They want a king at cost, thinking they can manipulate things as they used to do in the past, to seize lands, issue illegal commands, and act with impunity under the cover of traditional authority. But Oba Akanbi has modernised the institution and made it a service-oriented one. That is what they cannot accept.
“We challenge the accusers to present any graveyard they maintained prior to Oba Akanbi’s reign. Many of these supposed blue-blood critics could not even identify their own family lineage in Iwo’s royal heritage.
“Our king transformed both the palace and the graves of past monarchs. Before his reign, these graves were like refuse dumps. Now, they are tiled, fenced, and dignified. Those shouting today should show us what they have done to preserve their own legacies.”
Shedding more light on the claim that the remains of past Oluwos were relocated or tampered with, the princes explained that, “upon his ascension, Oba Akanbi invited royal family members to help identify the neglected graveyards of past kings.”
“The graves in question were then in poor condition and were surrounded by fetish items before later renovated and tiled by the monarch.
“There was no trace of graves behind the old palace when Oba Akanbi ascended the throne. In fact, it was he who called on the princes to help locate them. The identified ones were in a dilapidated state.
“Former Oba Tadese’s grave, the most recent, was marked with old blocks. Oluwo renovated them with dignity. There was never a time the remains were moved.”
On the changing of Oluwo’s title to Alaafin’s of Oluwo, the princes asserted that “the term is not exclusive to any one Yoruba town but rather denotes one appointed by God to rule from the palace, in line with the tradition of divine kingship across Yorubaland.”
These accusers are “rabble-rousers and perpetual failures” who, despite multiple failed attempts to discredit Oba Akanbi, continue to parade falsehoods while begging for relevance behind closed doors., “
“We tender our apology to our paramount ruler for this briefing. He had always advised us not to respond to scavengers paid to malign his reign. But in his absence on an official trip to Abuja, we saw the need to defend our collective heritage,” they concluded
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