Elijah Adebero
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has opened up on how depressing life became for him after a former olori (royal wife) left him
The monarch, in the past few years, suffered such two controversial departures but he did not say which of the women specifically.
Queen Zynab left him after which Naomi, whom he married after her, also gave the king the red card.
Naomi’s case appears to have been the devastating one Oba Ogunwusi is talking about.
The monarch, while speaking recently at his palace, revealed that he was pervasively mocked by people after his wife left him.
According to him, on several occasions he slept and woke up and also prayed to God asking Him who he had offended.
However, things have changed because his palace is now full with queens.
He said, “When my marriage broke and I became single. Many people mocked me and said there is no respect for a king that has no queen.
I was sleeping and waking up alone.
I called on God; I asked questions: who did I offend?
I never did evil to anyone.
He told me to put my mind at rest.
Look at me today. There are queens everywhere in the palace.”
Naomi had, in September 2021, announced her separation from the Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II.
In a statement posted on her verified Instagram handle and Facebook page on Thursday, she announced an end to the three-year marriage.
According to her, she tried to make the union work but said the monarch’s public identity is at variance with “his true self”.
The fair-skinned ex-queen wrote, “I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle, but I have finally realised I had just one assignment, my son, and when God is done, He is done. He chose Saul to be king, and when He was done, He told the prophet Samuel I have moved on. Religion was never an issue between us; please refer to my interview on News Central TV. Instead, His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self.
“Today I announce the beginning of a new dawn and the close of a chapter. Today, I am a mother to God’s unique gift. I am no longer a slave to my thoughts of perfection. I, at this moment, announce that I shall no longer be referred to as wife to the Ooni of Ife or as Queen of Ile-Ife but as the Queen of the people and mother of my adorable Prince.”
