The Onidera of Ideraland in Kwara State, Oba James Aroko-Ola Buremoh, says he worked as a driver to earn a living in the United States.
Buremoh said he worked as a driver before and after he became a traditional ruler in Kwara State.
The former world wrestling champion, professionally known as Ladi the African Tiger, disclosed this in a recent interview with BBC.
Buremoh, who defeated Mike Hayes in 1987, said he retained his job as a driver in the U.S., specifically driving a tour bus in New York, because he did not want his children to suffer and not to be a liability to his subjects.
He stated that this was to avoid soliciting contracts from the government which he would borrow money to execute and still not get paid.
From a family of nine and the last born, he revealed that before his dad died, he told him he would be the traditional ruler of the Kwara community after the then-incumbent joined his ancestors.
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He said this was in 1994, adding that when he expressed surprise at this as the last born in a family of seven males and two females, his dad reminded him of the biblical stories of David and Joseph.
Buremoh disclosed that when his father died and it was some days to the burial and he had completed plans to come to Nigeria from the U.S., the then-monarch died.
He said after the burial, his family was chosen to produce the king and was told that there was someone there whose name was Aroko-Ola.
He said at the time, no one in the family knew who Aroko-Ola was until an uncle of theirs called him to remind him of what his father said to him.
He said despite his protest, his uncle told him that there wouldn’t be a king on the throne until “Aroko-Ola accepts”.
The monarch said upon agreeing to be the next king of Idera, he signed a written agreement with the town that he would be shuttling between Nigeria and the U.S.
He said this was because he did not want his children to suffer, adding that at the time he agreed to be king, his first child had just finished secondary school.
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He said the agreement was for him to spend six months abroad and six months at home.
The monarch said when he makes money as a bus driver, he brings it back home to take care of his children and the community.
Buremoh disclosed the veil on his identity was blown open on a day someone who identified him told his passengers that the driver of their bus was a king in Nigeria and a former world wrestling champion.
He said this triggered a lot of events that put him in the limelight, including a television interview on NBC, adding that though he retired from the bus company in 2019 during the COVID-19 era, he has not ceased to be a practical king.
“My own king is to do as I do, not as I say,” Buremoh said of his 19 years on the throne.
