New York Cabbie Doubles As African Chief

You know how cabbies think they know everything? Well, the next time your taxi driver is forcibly telling you why the country has gone to the dogs and explaining what Fabio Capello should do to the England team; don’t immediately dismiss it as misguided hubris. They might, after all, be a wise chief conferred with sage-like talents.

Take New York cabbie Isaac Osei for instance. Not only does he own a fleet of iconic yellow cabs, but, But, BUT he is also the chief of five towns in Ghana and goes by the rather more regal name of Nana Gyensare V.

Since assuming chiefdom following the death of his brother in 2006, Osei, who moved to New York in 1982, divides his time between New York and Ghana. In America he is a respectable businessman, while in Africa he conducts judicial hearings, officiates at festivals and blesses the annual yam harvest, all while sporting a gold crown.

It would appear then that his existence is some kind of real-life version of the classic 80s Eddie Murphy film, Coming To America.

Or maybe it’s more like King Of New York. Just without all the drugs and violence. Coming To America it is then.

[Via New York Times]

(Image: Rex Features)