The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, has revealed that he was once chased out of the palace of the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, during a visit. The Ooni made this disclosure in a video that surfaced on TikTok on Sunday.
In the video, Ooni Ogunwusi recounted, “When I visited the Oluwo, he chased me out like a child. Since then, I have kept my distance from him. Now, people are asking me to visit him again. What if he does what he wants to me again? But as an elder, I have to manage his excess, even though I’m a young man on the throne of the elders. Oluwo, I greet you.”
While the Ooni did not discuss any specific conflict with the Oluwo in the viral video, it is believed that tensions exist due to the Oluwo’s disapproval of Ooni Ogunwusi’s association with traditionalists. Oluwo Akanbi has publicly criticized the practice of traditional religion, referring to its adherents as ‘idol worshippers.’
In another video, the Oluwo, popularly known as Telu 1, urged the people of Iwo to reject traditional religious practices. He warned that anyone practicing them should do so privately in their homes. “My role as a monarch is to stand for God and promote His teachings. I don’t support idol festivals or any form of idol worship,” he stated.
Akanbi also clarified in a Facebook post that the town of Iwo has long moved away from traditional religious leadership. He explained that since the reign of Oba Memudu Ayinla Lamuye in the late 1800s, Islam has been the dominant faith in Iwo. Oba Lamuye spread Islam widely, converting the entire population. “In Iwo, every family has a mosque, and every Iwo indigene has a Muslim name,” he wrote.
