Wole Soyinka Backs Ooni Of Ife Against Alaafin, Others

Eniola Adeniyi

Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has received a major boost from professor Wole Soyinka.

The literary giant insists that “the Ooni of Ife is above all”

This assertion is in the face of counter-narratives from the likes of Alaafin of Oyo Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and Olugbo of Ugbo Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan.

Professor Soyinka in weighing in on the claims of those who claim better status than the Ooni of Ife, stated that “The reality is that Kabiesi, the Ooni of Ife is above all, Ile Ife is the cradle of humanity. We know what we know; we know what we accept and believe and that remains the fact…I don’t want you (Ooni) to spend any time or energy at all responding to counter or alternative theories. It is not necessary. The influence of the Ooni and Ile Ife as the cradle of mankind transcended this region. Ife monarch was recognized and referred above other Obas outside the shores of Nigeria. If you walk on the street of Cuba or Brazil, somebody will tap you on your shoulder because they know you are black, they say ‘who are you?’ And you say ‘I am Osun, Ogun, Sango’. At the end, they will ask you how is the Ooni? It means the Yoruba race, culture is beyond this environment.”

Elated handlers of the Ooni Ife copied the comment by Soyinka and published it on the official page of the Palace of the revered king.