Royal roulette

August 21, 2025 by Lawal Ogienagbon

• Alaafin reignites supremacy war with Ooni

What WILL Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, do now that his 48-hour ultimatum to Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has expired? The ultimatum expired yesterday. Up till now, the Alaafin has yet to make good his threat that “there will be consequences” if the Ooni did not comply with his demand after the ultimatum’s expiration.

What is the demand? The Alaafin wants the Ooni to withdraw the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland that the Ife monarch conferred on a business magnate, Chief Dotun Sanusi, last Saturday. The ultimatum expired yesterday, but there have been no visible signs of any “consequences”, 24 hours after. According to the Oyo monarch, the Ooni has no power to confer such titles on anybody. From time immemorial, there has been no love lost between occupiers of the two leading Yoruba stools.

In the past, they hardly saw eye to eye. Where one was, the other was never there. They avoided each other’s company, as if they were rival wives married to the same man. The rivalry affected whatever group or council they belonged to. Everything done by the authorities to accommodate both monarchs so as to avoid being perceived as taking sides with either of them never worked out. One saw himself as above the other.

Until Osun State was created out of Oyo in 1991, this cat and mouse game defined the relationship between the revered monarchs. The rotational chairmanship of the Oyo State Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs between them never solved the supremacy battle. The ice was only broken when Osun became a state and Ife was listed there. Yet, the rivalry continued on other fronts. When Ogunwusi became Ooni in 2015, he embarked on a peace mission to the then Alaafin in Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, against the advice of some hardline culture activists who wanted him to maintain his distance.

From the outset, he showed that he believed in jaw-jaw rather than war-war. He and Owoade are in the same age bracket. They are in their 50s. Owoade celebrated his 50th birthday last month, Ogunwusi was 50 last year. As young kings, it is expected that they should be more tolerant of each other as they work for the progress of their people and the larger Yoruba race. Certain things should not come between them. Even, nothing should come between them to the extent that it would blow open. They can disagree in private and resolve whatever their differences are without a third party knowing about it.

When the spat of royalties like them becomes public, it affects not only their status, but the royal institution they represent. What is it about conferring a title on an individual that it should split the Alaafin and the Ooni? Did the Ooni confer the title on Sanusi in secret? Monarchs like to protect their domains in their own interests, but the conferment of titles on persons is not the exclusive preserve of any king. They can give titles to whoever they liked, as long as it is within their purview. The Alaafin is saying the Ooni does not have the power to confer the Okanlomo of Yorubaland title on Sanusi.

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He urges the Ooni to restrict himself to awarding such titles in Ile Ife, which is historically known as the cradle of the Yoruba. Owoade refers to a Supreme Court judgment which he says recognises the Alaafin as the sole authority to confer titles on individuals in Yorubaland generally. Other monarchs of the race, he claims, can only perform such functions in their respective domains. Is the Alaafin saying that his predecessor, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, was not aware of the Supreme Court judgment?

If Adeyemi was aware, why did the late monarch not raise an objection when the Ooni was said to have publicly announced in 2020 that he would confer the Okanlomo of Yorubaland title on Sanusi? Or had the Supreme Court not given the judgment then? For a matter to have reached the Supreme Court, it must have gone through the high and appeal courts. With the kind of justice system we operate, that would have taken some years. Owoade became Alaafin five months ago, and they are not long enough for this matter to travel all the way from the high court to the court of appeal, and finally the Supreme Court.

Ironically, the Ooni and Alaafin are the sons of Oduduwa, the Yoruba progenitor, who founded Ile Ife. That is why till today, the Ooni is referred to as Arole Oodua (the heir of Oduduwa). The two of them are major monarchs who should set examples for other Yoruba obas. There will be squabbles at times, but they should not be over what could be considered mundane issues. If Oduduwa’s two leading sons fight, what will their brothers do?  Who will settle the big brothers?

Except there are other underlying factors, I see no reason why the Alaafin reacted the way he did. If he really wants to follow the rule of law as he claimed by citing that Supreme Court verdict, he should have returned to court for remedy. But he resorted to self help by issuing the Ooni a 48-hour ultimatum to uninstal Sanusi or “face the consequences”. As the nation waits with bated breath for those “consequences”, the Alaafin can, in the meantime, give answers to these pertinent questions:

   Which year was the case filed? Who are the parties? What is the subject-matter of the suit, as well as the suit and appeal numbers? And when did the Supreme Court give its judgment on the basis of which he is claiming to be the overlord of rulers in Yorubaland. Softly, softly, your royal majesty.