The Paramount Ruler of Iwoland and Oluwo of Iwo, Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi says his kingship is over all categories of people in his domain.
Against this backdrop, Oba Akanbi said the welfare of all class of people particularly, the most vulnerable in the society remains his top priority.
The monarch stated these in lwo, Osun state while reaching out to the aged who are either hopeless or financially handicapped.
This, he said would gladden their hearts and make them feel not neglected.
“You can see the deplorable state they are. They can’t even come out, they are older, nobody is taking care of them .And as of the people, l’m not king of the rich only but king of old, the aged, poor and the wretched, their welfare is of utmost concern to me and l have to make sure l visit them in their houses under their roofs.
“I m there king, so to make life better for them l have to see how they are living, their welfare, especially the aged ones. We are gonna grow old one day, some of them have no husbands, you can see the one that has husband, the husband is blind, she has no job, they have nothing to eat in the house, so if l don’t come to this place, l won’t know how, l have to feel their pains” He said.
Accompanied by his entourage, Oba Akanbi walked round the interior of Iwo to personally lend a helping hand to the vulnerable aged in cash and kind.
He said the gesture is to reawaken the hope of this category of people and to inspire the young ones for greatness in future
He said the visit to the indigent and the vulnerable, particularly the aged ones in their respective homes will continue for the rest of the week as part of activities to commemorate his fifth year on the throne.
“Though l do this all the time, on random basis l just go to their house ,this is my fifth year coronation anniversary, for this week. l’m not going to be partying until the D-day which is Saturday. But from now till Saturday, l will be visiting people in their houses, people that don’t have nothing to eat, people that their businesses are down and need money to bring their businesses up, I’ll give them that money, it depends on what they need, N10,000.. N20,000, N30,000”.
The Oluwo asserted that “this type of visit corrects the ills of the society, the society is not only for the rich. the society is also for the less privileged and their children too, me visiting them will give them hope for the future, even their children, you can see all of them seeing a king that they see on TV, that they see with the president, they know that the sky cannot limit them.
“l want to give them hope, l want them to be able to dream bigger, seeing a king doesn’t make me less, it makes me to raise them. If l’m lightening a candle, it doesn’t mean that my candle is off.
The cash gift presented to the vulnerable aged ranges from N5,000 to N20,000 for their upkeep and business startup respectively.
The monarch also told those with eye problem among the aged to come to the palace for necessary arrangements for the treatment.
The aged who were elated to see their traditional ruler and received the cash gift from him were appreciative of the gesture.
They thanked the traditional ruler for the novel gesture and pledged their lifelong loyalty to him.
