While the Yorubas in Osogbo, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ado-Ekiti and parts of Lagos were relishing in the euphoria of the Isese Day, a formal recognition of Yoruba cultural identity, the unfortunate downpour of diatribe among the people on social media, especially took shine off the significance of the celebration.
The tirade over what?
Oyo triggered the heat when Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin of Oyo, Mr Bode Durojaiye on Monday, August 18, issued a release, warning the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi to revoke the “Okanlomo of Yorubaland” title he conferred on a business success, Engineer Jubril Dotun Sanusi within 48 hours.
Durojaiye emphasised that only the Alaafin reserved the exclusive authority, as upheld by the Supreme Court, “to confer any chieftaincy title which covers the entire Yorubaland on anyone.”
He accused the Ooni of lawlessness and behaviour depicting one officially granted a bottomless immunity, adding that the monarch is fond of “walking on everybody’s’ back including the apex Court in the country.”
Durojaiye pointed out that the “instrument of office presented to Oba Ogunwusi, during his installation, specifically limits his Traditional area of authority to Oranmiyan Local Government which has now been split into three Local Governments, viz: Ife Central, Ife North and Ife South.”
Finally, he said, “The dictum that nobody is above the law of the land is now being put to a crucial test and the reality of our time makes it very obligatory for the Alaafin to call the Ooni of Ife to order and demand Revocation of the so- called Okanlomo of Yorubaland chieftaincy title conferred on Engineer Dotun Sanusi within 48 hours or face the consequences.”
This reaction from Oyo may have relied on a similar incident that occured in 1991 when the immediate past Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi took the then Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse up over the latter’s plan to confer the Akinrogun of Yorubaland title on the then National Chairman of the National Republican Convention (NRC), Chief Tom Ikimi. Swiftly, Oba Adeyemi sent a petition to
Oyo State Governor, Colonel Abdul-Kareem Adisa who also promptly looked into the merit of the matter.
The petition, dated March 4, 1991, went down memory lane, providing clarification that the title belongs to the Military of the Egba variation in the Pre-Colonial days. He pointed out that the Ooni was “the Chief Priest, Shrine Keeper,” with no link with Military formation to protect lle-lfe.
“That was why each time Ife was faced with a Military assault, the Ooni cried out for external assistance, first to the Alaafin and later to the British Colonial Administrators. For example, in 1903, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Olubuse I, had to go to Lagos and pleaded rehabilitation from the Colonial Governor following the destruction, of the lle-lfe town by the Modakekes. See Gazette No. 9 of 28th February, 1903, PP170.
“In the said gazette, Ooni Olubuse I admitted before the Governor in Lagos that Ibadan had taken over all his land as a result of their conquest and that all the surrounding towns and villages formerly under Ife were now paying tributes to the Ibadans, Oba Olubuse I, complimented the Alaafin with whose assistance the Ifes were brought back to their home and through which the 12,070 (Twelve Thousand and Seventy) Ife war prisoners were released by the Order of the Alaafin,” he revealed.
Alaafin continued: “I think it will not be out of tune for the Ooni Oba Sijuade to be called upon by the Government to defend his imaginary title of Akinrogun of’ Yorubaland by reference to such and similar titles his forebears awarded before, the past recipients and their places of origin. Unless, that is done, one will not be surprised if it becomes the vogue for any Oba to be conferring their town or villages titles and designate them as ‘Yorubaland’.”
In his prompt response, Governor Adisa held a meeting with traditional rulers on March 7, 1991 and the matter was resolved in favour of Oba Adeyemi’s prayer.
TheTabloid.net gathered that since the stern-looking Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade emerged the 46th Alaafin on January 10, 2025 and his glamorous coronation on April 3, 2025, he appears to have tied a nuptial knot with controversial acts. On April 17, one Baba Oba of Oyotunji, Lukman Sulaiman Arohunfale of Oyotunji, linked with the Ooni, was beaten to a pulp within the palace premises on his alleged directive. Arounfale was said to have eventually succumbed to death following the degree of injuries he had sustained in the violence.
Oba Owoade was, in addition to the above, also alleged to have treated the Ooni with disdain on April 30, 2025 in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, where wife of President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu inaugurated the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). He also allegedly refused few visiting traditional rulers, to his palace, respect despite their status, keeping them waiting for him for a long time.
“Permit me not to mention names of the traditional rulers that travelled from a far distance to Oyo to meet such treatment. He needs to thread softly because his journey is still far. We wish him a successful reign but he should be sensitive to public perception of his personality and the stool,” a source said.
The subtle threat to the Ooni, contained in Durojaiye’s release, is regarded in some quarters as a poor public relations to the image of the Alaafin and a spit to the Ooni’s stool and parsonage.
A culture promoter and legal practitioner, Barrister Ayo Faniyi contends that Durojaiye should have rather called his counterparts in the all-white Palace of Oodua in Ile-Ife and sought clarification of the matter instead of issuing an ultimatum to the monarch of the town respected as the source of Yoruba race.
“The language employed by Mr Durojaiye was totally unsuitable for such a sensitive matter involving our two foremost monarchs. Forty eight hours ultimatum for a non issue sounds unreasonably alarming and crude. A simple issue which mere communication would have resolved,” he noted.
Director of Media and Public Affairs to the Ooni of Ife, Otunba Yera Olafare came out with a message that Oba Ogunwusi was not favourably disposed to a rejoinder to Oyo, pleading to the anxious media and explaining that silence is golden over the matter.
“We leave the matter to be handled in the public court of opinion has it is already being treated. Let’s rather focus on narratives that unite us rather than the ones capable of dividing us,” he responded.
Olafare’s position aligned with a section of public who are throwing insults to the Alaafin whom they described as a monarch seemingly on a combative agenda on the throne to settle scores with perceived enemies of Oyo or his person. However, the recipient of the Okanlomo title, Sanusi, has clarified that his title bears no ‘Yorubaland’ as Oyo alleged.
But further findings by our correspondent revealed that he had edited the title to bear “Okanlomo Oodua” in a smart way to end the bad blood created by his June 28 Facebook post which bears “Okanlomo of Yorubaland.”
Danger
This latest noise may have caused a setback to the peace initiatives between the two most influential royal fathers. The private agreement entered into by the late Ooni and Alaafin, which achieved peace till both breathed their last in 2015 and 2022 respectively, is under a threat now. Save for a near clash at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 2017 inside the Oduduwa Hall, Oba Adeyemi was said to have extended the peace to the reigning Ooni at least in public till his last hour.
An Ife Prince Fatai Adiyeloja recalled how the Ooni went to Oyo on “an unscheduled visit to the immediate past Alaafin the highly cerebral and culture savvy Oba Lamidi Atanda Adeyemi III, who warmly received him.”
Adiyeloja described this new development as needless and an obstacle to peace and unity which Yoruba need to confront multi-faceted challenges facing the land, particularly the upsurge of gunmen emboldened to have laid an ambush for Yoruba traditional rulers, the Onimojo of Imojo, Oba Olatunde Olusola and the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin in January 2024 and murdered them while the Alara of Ara-Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Fatoba ran for his dear life and escaped by the skin of his teeth.
The rift, according to Professor Alamu Oguntola of the Osun State University, has challenged efforts towards achieving genuine peaceful co-existence and growth of Yoruba among ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria, saying it “raises concerns about unity and peace in the region.”
The dispute has also demystified Yoruba traditional institution sadly with a potential to wreak more havoc on the fabric of it. Oguntola reasoned: “The outcome of this dispute could have implications for the traditional institutions in Yorubaland, potentially leading to a re-evaluation of the roles and responsibilities of monarchs in the region.”
Already, Yoruba youths are openly calling both traditional rulers unprintable names and offensive sobriquets regarded by custom as taboos. Yoruba history is being subjected to critical examination and indeed query, thereby creating a gap among Yoruba towns which trace their root to Ile-Ife and acknowledge Oyo as political capital of Yoruba ethnic group.
Less than 24 hours after the release, a group of Ibadan traditional rulers, Mogajis, Baales, and other stakeholders issued a statement signed by its President, Mogaji Asimiyu Ariori, and Coordinator of Ibadan Compound Peace Initiative (ICPI), Mogaji Nurudeen Akinade, calling to task the Alaafin and describing his stance as “provocative and divisive.”
The statement read in part, “Instead of engaging in initiatives that promote unity and development, the current Alaafin appears bent on stoking divisions. He has already lost credibility over the Oyo State Council of Obas chairmanship tussle, and now he is attacking a foremost Ibadan chief, philanthropist, and respected personality in Nigeria. This is unacceptable.”
Also in protest, a travel agent, Erelu Funmi Rotiba challenged the Alaafin’s claim, saying “At this stage let it be known home and abroad. The Yoruba land of Alaafin does not include Ondo and Ekiti.”
She added, “This pettiness should stop around other jurisdiction that can not speak up. As Ondo born, my great grandfathers did not sign allegiance with any Alaafin. (you can come with your Gazette to prove). May we have peace.”
Conversely, a media practitioner cum public affairs analyst, Mr Bamidele Johnson differed sharply with Rotiba and expressed his belief in Oyo’s claim to history.
Johnson argued, “I believe that the Oyo stool is of greater historical significance than the Ife stool. Oyo was the imperial structure here. The Oduduwa story is on the same level as that of Citroën’s retractable tyres preparatory to flying like Value Jet. I don’t do spiritual. So, one place being the spiritual wetin call of the Yoruba means zilch to me.”
Another public analyst, Mr Lanre Smart-Otusanya sued for peace and argued that the problem is reflective of “the complexities of traditional authority in modern times and it is in the best interest of the Yorubaland that the crisis is amicably resolved.”
The Olugbon of Orile-Igbon Oba Francis Olushola Alao has also risen and confirmed the step so far taken in putting out the flame on the body of Yoruba.
“I am in touch with both Alaafin and Ooni, and I can confirm that both traditional rulers are not interested in dragging the issue. They are both for peace and unity. I have said it before that Ooni remains Ooni , and Alaafin remains Alaafin. There is no supremacy battle,” he explained.
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