Oluwo confronts Ogun judge over kingship burial rites remarks

The Oluwo of Iwoland, His Imperial Majesty Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi Telu 1, has expressed displeasure with the recent remarks by a judge of the Ogun State High Court, Justice Phillips Akinside, on kingship and traditional rites in Yorubaland.

Justice Akinside at the 5th Chief Kehinde Sofola Memorial Bar Lecture had argued that in life or death, traditional rulers remain bound by the customs and traditions of their people.

According to the judge, having submitted voluntarily to certain traditional rites to become king, an Oba already forfeited the right to reject the application of burial rites in death.

But reacting to Justice Akinside’s position in a statement, Oba Akanbi described the judge’s argument as “sacrilegious”, misleading and lacking understanding of cultural norms.

Oluwo argued that no religion has the right to impose its practices on a king, clarifying that culture and tradition do not equate to deity worship.

“Note that the acts of worshipping deities are not limited to the Yorubas. Igbos also worship deities, so it can’t be called our culture,” Oba Akanbi said.

The monarch accused the judge of trying to drive the traditional institution back to the past, asserting, “Every attempt to desecrate traditional rulers and the institution will continually be resisted by noble monarchs.”

While calling for the review of practices inimical to the advancement of traditional institutions, Oba Akanbi praised the Ogun State Government and the frontline traditional rulers in the state for ensuring that even in death, kings enjoy religious freedom with constitutional safeguards against practices that contradict their beliefs. He urged other South-west States to emulate the Ogun State example.