At the monthly meeting of the Osun State Council of Obas which held yesterday, there was an incident between the Owa Obokun, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.Ahead of his arrival, the Ooni’s advance team had place his(Ooni) seat at a vantage position but the vice-chairman of the council, Oba Aromolaran, allegedly refused to allow the team place the Ooni’s seat in front of him. The Ooni is the permanent chairman of the council.
The Nation reports that the dress of one of the emissaries (emese) was torn during the “scuffle” that later ensued as the emissaries were said to have insisted on placing the seat in a particular position on the Ooni’s instruction. The meeting was postponed indefinitely. The Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola however invited the monarchs to a meeting at the Government House. Oba Aromolaran left the Government House a few minutes before Oba Ogunwusi arrived, while the Ooni later went to visit the Owa at his palace in Ilesa.
At the Owa’s palace,the Ooni was also quoted to have said that “You are one of the prominent traditional rulers in Yorubaland and it is in my own interest and that of the larger Yoruba people to relate very well with the Owa. I have just spent about three months on the throne now while you, Owa, have spent about 34 years. It is my responsibility to visit you first because you have been on the throne for long. It has been said by God that I should come and liberate Yorubaland and to ensure peace and unity. I am not engaging in any leadership supremacy with anybody.”
Owa reportedly told the Ooni that “Your visit is a surprise to me and it is the least expected. Now that you have come to show a hand of friendship, I will now join your unity train to unify the Yoruba.”The Ooni of Ife’s Director of Media and Publicity, Moses Olafare, when contacted on the incident said: “Ooni would not want to be drawn into what happened. But he (Ooni) remains the permanent chairman according to law. The issue of who becomes the chairman is a creation of law and can only be reversed by law. Whoever is not satisfied with the arrangement should either go to court or the House of Assembly and seek a review of the law.”
