The
Oluwo of the Iwo Kingdom, Oba Abdul Rasheed Akanbi, has revealed he was
captured two times by ritualists and he was let go both times. He said
he went missing for 4 months.
The Flamboyant king in a recent interview with City People, went back
memory lane, as he discussed his relationship with the Ooni of Ife, Oba
Adeyeye Ogunwusi who he said he grew up with in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Speaking during the interview, Oba Akanbi disclosed that he was
captured two times by Ritualists in 1981 who later rejected him because
he was a chosen king.
‘Oh, yes! But I like to talk more about my life. I want people to
learn from my own life, my own experience. In 1981, something happened
and I had to leave Iwo. I left home and I was lost for 4 months. I was
captured 2 times by Ritualists and both of them rejected me’
‘.The 2nd one said let him go ooo. He is an Oba ooo. He is a king. Lets leave it at that.’
‘All I will say is that, I am from Iwo. I grew up in Iwo. The last time I left Iwo was 1981. I only came back in 1984.’
I came around and helped my dad and I left again. I came for
secondary school in Iwo. I was in Class 2 promoting to Form 3 at that
time. That incident happened and I left when I got lost after 4 months I
was found. The man who owns that building, out there, where Wema Bank
is located was the one that found me at a petrol station in Lawanson.
When I came back, my mother said you are not going back to Iwo again.
That was how I ended up with my uncle. It is not only in Akobo,
Bashorun area of Ibadan that me and Oonis family lived together. We
started from the area called Holy Trinity, Seventh Day Adventist area.
At that time, we were living side by side, by Senator Soji Akanbi’s
family house at Holy Trinity.
He
was just a big boy then, who just came back from England. He didn’t
want to talk to anybody. He would put his hands in his pocket and put
his head up high in the air. He is the son of Alhaji M. Akanbi. He knows
me good.
So, we have been close by then, but the family didn’t know each other
at that time. But when I moved to my uncle’s place in Akobo, they were
living just the street across. That was when we started knowing each
other. We and Tunji played soccer together. Do you know Tunji Ogunwusi?
The Primewater view, Real Estate company owner?.
He was at St. Patrick’s Grammar School. Me, I was at Oba Akinyele
Memorial High School. It’s almost a fence dividing us, just a few houses
away. We used to go to school together and we came back home together.
We used to go to parties, all those kiddies parties, all those disco
parties. It was great. Tunji was a very good soccer player. He played
good soccer.
I don’t know if he still plays soccer now. He, myself and others we
always made up a team to play in Akobo at that time. There was a primary
school in Akobo at that time, and we always made a team.
We used to go to school together. It’s just on that road, straight road from Akobo.
It was great growing up during that time. I was living with my Uncle
called (Uncle Onifade) Alhaji Raimi Onifade, he is a younger brother to
my mum. That’s where I lived. That is where we got to know. We thank
God that we are all great people today. At least we’ve made an impact
in Yorubaland.
One
thing I want people to know is that the new dispensation of what
kingship is all about is here and we thank God for it. And my own
message to kings is for us to be servants. It’s not about money. It’s
not about gathering money. There are many rich kings that have gone and
they are no more.
We don’t remember them. I am talking about many great kings with
money. Money doesn’t make great kings. Money doesn’t make you great. Its
only for a while.
While addressing a story making rounds that figure 16 is a significant number to him becoming a king, he said:
Me becoming a king is the will of God. It is what God wants, but sent
me with a message specifically for this generation. You can see it in
the signs. These are signs. Like the 16th ruler of Ife, Ooni Luwo
Gbagida, who happens to have given Telu, the Crown, from Ife. He is the
16th Ooni of Ife. I am the 16th Oluwo of Iwo land. Take note of the
figure 16.
Again, when I wanted to do my coronation, I gave the government 2
dates. They rejected those days. They took the 16th, 16-01-2016. Again,
when my child was to be born, I actually said it, right there. Me and my
wife, we were on the bed. I said to her: You are with a child now and
you will give birth to a boy. And the boy’s name will be Oduduwa. And
when the boy was to be born, he was born on the 16th of November 2016.
That is 16-02-2016 because 11 means 1+1 which is 2.
The same thing with figure 16, which is 1+6, which is 7 (a figure of compliment).