OSOGBO — A fresh supremacy battle is brewing among Yoruba traditional rulers following the 48-hour ultimatum issued by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, demanding the withdrawal of a controversial chieftaincy title. The Alaafin had faulted the Ooni’s reported conferment of the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on Ibadan-based businessman, Chief Dotun Sanusi, describing it as an affront to his authority and the institution he represents. He further claimed that the Supreme Court had affirmed the Alaafin’s exclusive right to grant titles that cover the entirety of Yorubaland.
Responding to the ultimatum, Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the warning as “an empty threat from a dead empire.” Writing on his WhatsApp status, Olafare said the Ooni was preoccupied with initiatives to empower youths and create jobs across Yorubaland, not with supremacy battles. He cited the upcoming Ojaja Smart City project in Ibadan as proof of the monarch’s focus on development, while mocking the ultimatum as “noise over a title that doesn’t even exist.”
“The Ooni is busy setting up businesses and creating jobs for youths across Yorubaland, while some are fighting a supremacy battle that does not exist,” Olafare wrote. “Issuing a 48-hour ultimatum over a chieftaincy title that doesn’t even exist is laughable. Dead empire.”
Amid the dispute, the Oore of Otun-Ekiti and paramount ruler of Mobaland, Oba Adekunle Adeagbo, stepped in to clarify the controversy. In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Akogun Banjo Ayinde, the monarch categorically stated that there was no evidence the Ooni ever conceived or conferred the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on anyone. He described the Alaafin’s claims as unfounded and lacking merit.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Ooni has never conceived it, talk less of installing anybody as the Okanlomo of Yorubaland,” the Oore said. He added that as the “Natural Father of the Yoruba race and spiritual head of the Oduduwa race worldwide,” the Ooni possesses the authority to bestow titles of territorial relevance when necessary, but insisted that no such installation had taken place.
