The natural paramount ruler of Iwo land in Osun state, Oba Abdul Rasheed Adewale Akanbi, has advocated constitutional roles and recognition for monarchs across the country.
According to the monarch, given the spate of corruption, bad governance and insecurity in the country, if recognised and assigned constitutional roles to participate in government, monarchs can stand as checks on the excesses of corrupt politicians.
The monarch made a case for monarchs during the launching of his book, Code of Kings in Lagos.
The 359 pages book which chronicled the life of the monarch was launched to commemorate his 7th anniversary as the Oluwo of Iwoland.
He said, “The future of this country lies in the monarchical system of government because politicians alone can not do it. This is why monarchs should be recognised and assigned roles to participate in government.
Politicians need an institution that would stand as a check on them to ensure balance.
And this can only be done by the royal fathers who wield natural powers.
“You can see the level of corruption in the land. If there is nobody to check politicians on corruption and bad governance, where are we heading to?
“The kings have to be prepared for that role and I have seen that dream that we are going to be constitutionally recognised.
Government can not handle security better because the kings know what is going on in their towns.”
He described the code of kings as a standard for kings to represent custom and tradition.
He said, “Kings are the representatives of God and they should not bow for any other thing.
“So, I’m the custodian of tradition and culture. Religion starts from the palace. There is a lot in the Code of Kings. History, royal culture, and tradition.”
Publisher of the book, Hon. (Barr.) Femi Kehinde avowed that the author, Oba Abdul Rasheed Adewale Akanbi, encapsulated the history of Iwo, the origin, epistemology and ontology of Yoruba land and the place of Islam in Iwo land.
He said, “Everyone participates daily in the making of history either negatively or positively. Our national challenges have decimated the reading culture among our youths. This has therefore reduced the time our youths devote to studying unless when compelled by academic courses.
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They found it boring to read the history of our environment but with this epic historical work, the Oluwo has contributed immensely to encourage reading culture among the people.”
The reviewer, Dr (Mrs) Adeola Faleye of the Department of Linguistic and African Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun state, described the book, Code of Kings, as a text on the history and traditional rulership in Nigeria’s history.
She said, “The book, code of kings is in a class of its own. The title itself charged me to want to read what the Oba wanted to pass across to the world because the monarch is a controversial personality.”
The event was attended by representatives of the Lagos state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar, representative of Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, representative of APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, Hon Folake Oluhunloyo Oshibowo who represented Dr Florence Ajimobi, representatives of Lagos governor, among others.
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