The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, has hailed the burial of the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, as a defining moment for the Yoruba traditional institution, describing it as a liberation from ritual bondage. The Awujale, who passed away on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at the age of 91, was buried according to Islamic rites the following day, in line with his personal wishes. The burial, conducted by Islamic clerics and secured by soldiers who prevented traditionalists from interfering, marked a departure from ancient practices often involving rituals, bodily mutilation, or cult rites.

Oba Akanbi, in a statement issued by his press secretary, Alli Ibraheem, praised the Awujale's family, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, and the state's Attorney General, Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN), for respecting the late monarch’s wish to be buried in a dignified and faith-aligned manner. He described their decision as a historic step that sets a “foundation blessing” for restoring the sanctity of Yoruba kingship and rejecting outdated, oppressive burial customs.

The Oluwo, a known critic of idol worship and traditional cultism, declared the Awujale’s burial as a win for progressive values within Yoruba royal traditions. He stated that kings, as servants to the people, deserve honor in death just as in life and must not be “butchered like animals.” He emphasized that such harmful practices dishonor the institution of royalty and called on Yoruba communities to abandon secret cult interferences in royal transitions.

Calling for a new norm, Oba Akanbi urged that the burial of Yoruba kings should reflect either their documented wishes or the desires of their immediate families. He asserted that any town still willing to subject its monarch to ritual practices after death should consider appointing a herbalist or cult leader as king instead.

Oba Akanbi concluded by reaffirming his ten-year-long stance against ritualism in Iwo, stating that the Oluwo stool had already been freed from such bondage under his reign. The late Awujale’s Islamic burial, he said, was not only a personal victory but a breakthrough for Yoruba kings who seek dignity in life and death, devoid of spiritual or physical slavery.