Royal Rumble: Fresh Crisis Rocks Ooni of Ife’s Palace

A fresh crisis has rocked the recently married Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi in his palace at Osun State.

A fresh crisis has brewed over the appointment of Idowu Olaniyi Adediwura as the new Obalufe of the Ife kingdom by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi. The Aga Orunto ruling house in Ile Ife has protested the appointment saying the appointment was a miscarriage of justice.

As a result of this, members of the ruling house on Monday mobilized a protest march to the palace of the Oni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who they alleged had wrongly picked the Obafule.

They believe the Ooni should have appointed someone from Aga Orunto ruling family to be the new Obalufe of Ife Kingdom, to replace Oba Folorunso Omisakin who died in October 2015. The angry protesters carried placards and sang solidarity songs to the palace to register their grievances.

Oluwasegun Olayade, one of the princes of the family, the order of appointment of the Obalufe among the ruling families, the Ajagbusi, comes first, then the Ado Gbodo, Aga and Jaojo, follows respectively. The last Obalufe, is said to have hailed from the Ado Gbodo ruling house.

The Aga Orunto ruling family demands that the decision of the Ooni on the Obalufe be reversed in.

“We are protesting today because my family has been deprived of the Obalufe position that we are entitled to, based on the order of the gazette. Four ruling houses are entitled to it (Obalufe position) based on that existing arrangement and there was no disorder until it is our turn now.

“When the issue was getting hot, the Ooni called us to present candidates that can occupy the throne and that if we do not present the names on time, he will choose for us.

“We submitted the names as and when due, but he refused to call us back as we agreed. Suddenly, we heard that the Ooni has appointed someone that is not from our Aga ruling house, which is the next house to be appointed Obalufe.

“This has never happened before; the position of Obalufe is a prominent one that cannot be bathed with injustice. Ooni can’t just over rule our choices when it is not the case that we are fighting dirty within the family. The previous method has always been peaceful using the gazette; this one may result to crisis.

“The Ooni should return the position to the Aga Orunto family for peace to reign.” Olayade said.

Speaking about the crisis, another member of the family, Elizabeth Oladimeji, expressed shock at Ooni’s imposition of a candidate rubbishing the laid down rules that brought him to the position.

“We are the next to produce the next Obalufe. They only want to rob us of our right because the family that is appointed by Ooni produced the Obalufe before Omisakin (the last Obalufe died). So, Aga should be the next.

“We have seen instances and cases where it takes two to three years before a candidate is produced. For instance Akinlalu died before the Obalufe and the post is still vacant.

“We appeal to the Ooni to give us our right. When it was the turn of Giesi that the Ooni came from, no one deprived them of getting their right; it is our turn too to produce Obalufe and we should be given.” she said

The Director of Media, Ooni’s palace, Moses Olafare, however said the appointment of the new Obalufe followed due process.

“The appointment of Obalufe is in order and followed the right process,” Mr. Olafare pointed out.