Oluwo’s Royal Circus: When the Throne Becomes a Stage.
Just when the public thinks the monarch has exhausted his Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, the Oluwo of Iwo, appears unwilling to let the curtain fall on his seemingly endless royal theatrics.
This time, the flamboyant monarch is said to be contemplating a royal distinction so extraordinary that it threatens to leave even the most unconventional of Yoruba traditional rulers scratching their heads.
If the reports are anything to go by, Oluwo is preparing to confer on himself a title without precedent in the annals of Yoruba kingship.
One is tempted to ask whether the palace has become a theatre of the absurd, with the throne doubling as a stage and the crown serving as a prop in an unending one-man show. For a traditional institution steeped in history, hierarchy and cultural significance, such reported ambitions raise legitimate questions about the line between royal innovation and personal grandstanding. A monarch may distinguish himself through uncommon courage, service, wisdom and cultural preservation, but self-appointed grandeur is another matter entirely. For Oluwo, whose public outings and pronouncements have repeatedly attracted controversy, the latest reported ambition threatens to add another chapter to a royal narrative in which spectacle often competes with substance.
MSEApp News is publishing an original rewrite of this tip for readers, based on reporting associated with THISDAY.