According to Moses Olafare, the spokesperson for Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, the monarch would not respond to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, who has given him 48 hours to revoke the title given to Dotun Sanusi, a well-known business magnate from Ibadan.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Olafare said that Oba Ogunwusi specifically instructed him to disregard the esteemed Oyo monarch.
He emphasized that he had left the subject to be decided in the public court of opinion and said that the Ooni would not dignify what he called “undignifyable” with an official answer.
“My principal has instructed me not to issue a press release on the baseless threat,” he wrote. I’m sorry, gentlemen of the press, to disappoint you.
“We cannot use an official answer to elevate the undignifiable. Since the issue is already being addressed, we let it be decided in the public court of opinion.
Instead, let’s concentrate on stories that bring us together rather than ones that could drive us apart. Please, no press release. 48 hours for my foot!
Oba Owoade called the Ooni’s conduct a “affront” after he gave a 48-hour notice to revoke the chieftaincy title.
Additionally, he asserted that it constituted an outright threat to his authority.
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has been given 48 hours to rescind the Okanlomo of Yorubaland chieftaincy title that was recently granted to Ibadan business magnate, Engineer Dotun Sanusi, by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade.
The Alaafin called the Ooni’s conduct a “affront” in a statement released Monday and signed by Bode Durojaiye, his Director of Media and Publicity.
Additionally, he asserted that it constituted an outright threat to his authority.
The Alaafin reaffirmed that he is the only one with the authority to grant titles that encompass all of Yorubaland.
In addition to being beyond the bounds of authority, the Ooni’s awarding of a chieftaincy title that encompasses the entire Yoruba is an insult to the Titan of Yorubaland.
Only the Alaafin has such authority, according to a Supreme Court ruling. However, the Ooni still violate the law and custom by acting above the law.
The Alaafin said that “consequences will follow” if the Ooni did not revoke the title within 48 hours.
A similar incident occurred in 1991 when the late Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, wrote to Colonel Abdulkareem Adisa, the military governor of Oyo State, to alert him to the late Ooni, Oba Okunade Sijuade, who had given Chief Tom Ikimi, the National Chairman of the National Republican Convention, the fictitious chieftaincy title of Akinrogun of Yorubaland.
Oba Sijuade’s act, according to Oba Adeyemi, was a flagrant pollution of the hallowed institution, particularly when such abuses originate from those who are supposed to uphold and adorn such institutions.
