The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, may be courting trouble over a purported decision to install Yaquob Abdul-Baki Mohammed as the Waziri of the entire Yorubaland.
The League of Imams and Alfas in the South-West, Edo and Delta states is reportedly questioning the monarch’s right to extend his reach beyond his domain, which is Iwo Kingdom.
According to The Punch, the league expressed its reservation with the traditional ruler’s planned move through a letter its President, Sheikh Jamiu Bello, addressed to the monarch on the matter.
The letter read in part, “The proposed installation of the said recipient by your Highness as the Waziri of Iwo land is no doubt the result of your avowed commitment to the development of lslam, the lwo Community and Osun State in general.
“However, it is our considered hope that your Highness should as a matter of urgency correct the rumours making the round that the organisers of this event are trying to overblow the ceremony to capture the entire Yorubaland. This is not right.”
“If such should be, it has to come through due process as we know you to be a man of honour , protocol and due process.
“To this end, we urge Your Highness to immediately call the organisers of the event to limit it to Waziri of Iwo land which your Highness has concluded arrangement to bestow on the recipient.”
However, reacting through his spokesman, Mr. Ali Ibrahim, the Oluwo said, “Everybody knows that Iwo is called Ilu Alfa
(Alfas’ town) and whoever is the king in the town is the number one Muslim in Yorubaland because there is no town with such rich Islamic tradition in the South – West.
“Iwo has been installing Oluwo with turban and not crown for the past 450 years. There is no town that does that in Yorubaland. What the Oluwo is doing is to install a structure in Islam in the South-West . In the North, the Sultan is the head of all Muslims and Alfas there.
“The Oluwo is going to install the Waziri of Yoruba land and they cannot stop this because the title was invented by the Oluwo himself and not the Alfas. Are the Imams and Alfas in the North superior to the Sultan of Sokoto? Are the Imams and Alfas superior to the King of Saudi, the home of Islam?
“The Oluwo is more than qualified to install anybody he likes as the Waziri. It is not the chieftaincy title under the authority of Imams and Alfas. I invested it and they can’t stop me.
“As one of the natural paramount rulers in Yorubaland, I have the right to install the Waziri of Yoruba land. The Leagues of Imams and Alfas does not have the right to install it.
“Iwo is called town of Alfa and that is the only town that is called that in the entire Yoruba land. There must be a structure in Islam in Yorubaland and I am starting it because I am qualified to lead the way.”