The late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, had before now asserted that his stool was superior to that of the Alaafin of Oyo.
The late monarch also said that even the Oba of Benin is greater than the prominent Oyo monarch in a viral old video that reminisces about the superiority claim between him and the then Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.
In the clip that hit the internet on Thursday, the late Ife monarch was seen explaining to his subjects and visitors in his palace that even the then-Nigeria governor, Sir Hugh Clifford and the Federal Gazette of 1904 backed his claims.
In 1924, during the Prince of Wales, Edward VIII’s visit to Clifford, he noted that the governor faulted Reverend Samuel Johnson’s book on Yoruba history as fake because it contradicted reality.
The late monarch said, “The Oba of Benin is superior to Alaafin. I will provide you with all the necessary pictures as proof; you can take them away. You can hear him (late Oba Adeyemi) saying Oranyan, he was wrong. Oranmiyan is the correct pronunciation. He was tricky; there was nothing like that.
“On [Samuel] Johnson’s book that you said, the Nigeria governor in 1924, when the Prince of Wales was visiting, the governor said Johnson’s book is fake. He said Johnson was an Oyonman who wrote a book to boost the ego of his people. He said it is fake. Yes, it is in the archives. I will provide supporting documents. Alaafin is nowhere around Ooni at all.
“A Federal Government Gazette of February 28, 1903, revealed that when the the Govenor of Nigeria came to invite Ooni who was my grandfather to settle the rifts among the kings fighting for the crown in Lagos. He wanted Ooni to come because in the Nigeria Council of Yorubaland, Ooni was the owner of the crown and the only legal one to speak on it. Ooni told the governor that none of his predecessors had ever travelled out their palace.”
Oba Sijuwade further narrated how the governor had to please his grandfather to settle the rift in Lagos, stressing that his acceptance brought many kings out of their palaces to honour the revered then-Ooni.
“The governor then asked what to do for Ooni to travel out of his palace. He(Ooni) said for every river to be crossed, a black cow must be sacrificed.
“The governor agreed to buy 1,000 cows. The governor then asked what other thing he wanted. Ooni said he would board a vehicle to Ede town, where the governor’s entourage would pick him up. The governor then promised to send his personal armour to pick him up instead.
“It was written in the Federal Gazette. All the kings from Asaba, Warri and every part of the country vacated their palaces to come see Ooni in Lagos.
“The governing colonial governor then wrote a gazette that even the Alaafin of Oyo is now living outside the walls of his palace. They didn’t return until it was announced that Ooni was back in his palace. Have you ever seen Ooni sit behind Alaafin in all the old pictures I’m showing to you?”
The PUNCH reports that the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, on Thursday, declared that the British had signed a treaty with Alaafin recognising him as the superior head of the Yoruba Nation.
This followed a fresh crisis between the Alaafin and Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, after the Ooni conferred the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on a businessman, Dotun Sanusi, during the unveiling of 2geda media networking platform, at Ilaji Hotel, Ibadan, at the weekend.
Condemning Ooni’s action on Monday, Alaafin had, in a statement by his Director of Media, Bode Durojaye, given the Ife monarch a 48-hour ultimatum to withdraw the chieftaincy title or face “the consequences”.
The Ooni has, however, kept mum on the matter, even as the ultimatum expired on Wednesday.
In a fresh statement by his media aide, Durojaye, on Thursday, the Alaafin went historical, asserting that he remains the foremost monarch in Yoruba land.
Alaafin said, “Oyo simply rose to prominence through wealth gained from trade and its military skills. It was the largest West African empire, the most important and authoritative of all the early Yoruba principalities. More so, the British, as it was in their tradition, recognised lineage as meaningful supremacy and legitimacy, preferring to sign the Treaty of Cessation with the Alaafin as the Superior Head of the Yoruba Nation.
“Alaafin has sworn to his ancestors to defend and add glamour to Yoruba tradition; he would never be in a supremacy battle with any king.”
(Punch)
