The Oluwo of Iwo, Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has banned Hennessy and other alcoholic drinks from his palace, saying they pose health risks and should not be offered to him or other elders.

The traditional ruler announced the decision in a video shared on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

Mr Akanbi warned that anyone who brings alcoholic drinks to the palace intends to “eliminate the king.”

Health concerns

Mr Akanbi said the gin, schnapps and imported spirits often reserved for elders are harmful to health and should no longer be brought to his palace.

“The so-called alcohol usually presented or reserved for the elders is detrimental to their health – it leads to death,” he said.

“Anyone who brings hot drinks to the king’s palace wants to eliminate the king. Gin, schnapps reserved for the elderly should not be brought to my palace because what they call alcohol for the elderly is made by the Western people to kill and destroy internal organs. It will render the kidneys useless.”

The traditional ruler said he recently learnt that some visitors had brought Hennessy to the palace.

“I heard you brought Hennessy; don’t bring it here o; you want to kill me. Anyone who brings Hennessy or other dangerous alcoholic drinks has the intention to kill me. So, I should drink an entire bottle; what will I use to pray?” he asked.

He argued that alcohol was not part of Yoruba ancestral practice.

Health experts have long warned about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, including liver disease and kidney damage.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that “no level of alcohol consumption is completely safe for health”

Criticism of traditional practices

Mr Akanbi also condemned what has become a cultural practice where masquerades wield canes and beat people on the road.

He described it as violence. “Are Yoruba cows? How can I be a king and people are being macheted in the streets? Are we butchers?”

He noted that adherents of traditional religion should eliminate the violent practices if they want wider acceptance.

He also criticised the restriction of movement during the Oro festival, describing it as unconstitutional and questioning why women should be prevented from moving freely during some traditional festivals.

“We restrict people’s movement; even the president cannot do that. It is unconstitutional. It is illegal,” he said.

He also queried why women should be restricted from walking during certain traditional festivals.

Since ascending the throne in 2016, the Oluwo of Iwo has frequently spoken against some traditional and cultural practices in Yorubaland.

He has also been involved in several ‘fights’ with religious and traditional leaders. He was suspended by the Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers for allegedly behaving improperly to some fellow traditional rulers.

Mr Akanbi, in his reaction, said the suspension is “a mere audio pronouncement.

Two people have died in the United States after contracting Cyclosporiasis, marking the first known deaths linked to the country’s largest recorded outbreak of the disease.

Cyclosporiasis is an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite that thrives in human waste.

The deaths were recorded in Michigan, the state hardest hit by the outbreak.

Reuters reported on Monday that the state health authorities said both patients had serious underlying medical conditions that may have been worsened by the infection and the severe dehydration associated with the illness.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it had confirmed 6,707 laboratory cases nationwide as of 28 July, alongside more than 11,500 suspected cases awaiting laboratory confirmation.

Michigan, the hardest-hit, has recorded 11,234 cases as of Monday, including 193 hospitalisations.

About Cyclosporiasis

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by the microscopic parasite known as Cyclospora cayetanensis.

According to the CDC, people become infected after eating food or drinking water contaminated with human faeces containing the parasite.

Although the disease is not usually life-threatening, it can cause severe illness in some people.

Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, nausea, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, fatigue, and dehydration.

The CDC notes that some infected people may not develop symptoms, while untreated infections can last for weeks or even months, with symptoms disappearing and returning over time.

Outbreak investigation

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has linked part of the outbreak to iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms’ operations in central Mexico and served at Taco Bell restaurants.

The affected lettuce has since been recalled.

However, investigators believe the contaminated lettuce does not explain all reported infections and are examining whether other food sources may also be responsible.

Epidemiologists suspect that more than one outbreak may be occurring simultaneously.

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Public health experts told Reuters that recent staffing and funding cuts across US health agencies may have slowed efforts to investigate and contain the outbreak.

Paul Bollyky, an infectious disease expert at Stanford Medicine, was quoted to have said that “Cyclospora is harder to track than many foodborne pathogens because, unlike bacteria, it cannot be grown ⁠in the lab or easily genome-mapped to trace an outbreak.”

Mr Bollyky warned that reduced staffing in public health departments could make outbreaks more difficult to investigate and control.

He said the scale of the outbreak raises broader questions about the safety of the US food supply.

“Anytime you have over 10,000 people infected with a foodborne pathogen, you do have to wonder whether this is a canary in the coal mine.”