Olori Odunola Sijuwade, one of the queens of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunwade Sijuwade, has said that there is no rule or norm that prevents widows of an oba from remarrying.
Many people believe that it is an abomination for an olori to marry any other person or for any man to sexually know her even when the king is gone.
But Olori Odunola said that the decision to remarry or otherwise belonged to the woman involved, noting that no cultural law banned her from doing so.
She said this in an interview published in ‘The Nation’, where she relived the beautiful life she shared with the late influential monarch.
Asked whether or not an olori was permitted to remarry as a widow, she said, “Nothing stops us from remarrying. It’s based on individual preferences.”
She recalled how Oba Sijuwade won her heart even when her father, the late Orangun of Ila, Oba Williams Adetana Ayeni, initially disapproved of the relationship.
Olori Odunola added that she, however, enjoyed every bit of her experience with Oba Sijuwade.
She said, “He was very romantic. He bought nice things for us. He would buy us nighties. He would say, ‘I travelled and I saw these nice nighties and I bought them for you.’ There was a time he travelled and he bought these nighties for me, and I said, ‘what is this?’ He said, ‘you will be wearing it.’
“Again, there was a time they made oranges for him and he was sucking it. When I came back, he left mine for me and he said, ‘Madam, this orange is very sweet, you need to taste it.’ When I said no, he said, ‘No, you must taste it. Or should I feed you?’
“Whenever we travelled, maybe to London, he would just come up with an idea, ‘Let’s go to one hotel to enjoy ourselves,’ and when we got to the hotel, he knew so much about food. He would look at the menu list and he would say, ‘You haven’t taken this my dear; we are going to order for it. I’m sure you are going to like it.’ Things like that. He would take me and the other wives to lovely places.
“He was very close to his children. When they were young, he would call them and tell them to sing for him. His children who were older and were already in business, he would call them to his room and tell them, ‘Don’t borrow. I’ve never borrowed in my life.’ He was the only business man that I know that has never borrowed from any bank, I don’t know how he did it but he never borrowed.
“He was down to earth. Very humble. Whenever we went to church, he would be greeting people, ‘Well done sir, well done ma.’ He would want to greet everybody that passed by.
Whenever a traditional ruler came to the palace, even if Kabiyesi was already in bed, wanting to rest, as soon as he heard that an Oba was waiting for him, he would rise up, saying, ‘He is an Oba, I have to see him.”
