Revealed: Why Ooni of Ife wants to fill the palace with many wives

By David Adebayo

If there is one monarch in the South-West and by extension in Nigeria who enjoys making the headlines and embracing the spotlight constantly, it has to be His Royal Majesty, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ọjájá II.

Call him the most talked about monarch, one may not be wrong as the king seems to be enjoying the blitz and the glitz.

For the attention he has attracted to himself in the last two months, Ooni of Ife appears to have set new records as the monarch who married five women in a month with the sixth joining the oloris.

Here is a peek into the beginning of his journey to the palace:

He had defeated 20 other contenders, including his brother, Adetunji to become the new Ooni following the demise of the former Ooni, Oba Okunade Sijuade, who joined his ancestors in 2015.

He was crowned as the 51st Ooni on the 7th of December 2015 at Enuwa Square, Ile-Ife. Adeyeye is from the Royal House of Giesi of the Oranmiyan Dynasty.

No sooner had Ogunwusi was crowned the king than he began the search for his Olori but it seemed the king whose ascension to the throne was greeted with felicitations has not been lucky with women.

The first break-up:

The chartered accountant-turned monarch previously suffered a marital break up in 2017 when he severed relationship with Edo-born Zaynab-Otiti Obanor, whom he married as a monarch on March 16, 2016.

Per Seconds News gathered that Obanor’s marriage to the king lasted for only 17 months before the separation.

He later married Silekunola Naomi in 2018 and the marriage produced a son, Tadenikawo.

The queen had taken to her Facebook account to announce she had separated from the Ooni, saying she tried to make the union work but said the monarch’s public identity is at variance with “his true self”.

The break-up and the manner with which it happened was said to have angered the Ooni and the Palace as the queen was said to have been driven out and banished from the sprawling palace complex.

The Ooni in the past few years has been subjected to several criticisms since the departure of Prophetess Silekunola with those concerned, including royal chiefs wondering what could be responsible for Ooni’s queens to keep ditching the royal family.

While no one could fault the Ooni for constantly preaching peace and upholding the traditional beliefs of the Yoruba and speaking truth to power when it matters most, same could not be said of his inability to keep his women.

Busting spate of break-ups

In what looked like a move to tame the spate of divorce that that keeps rocking the royal palace, it is believed that the Ooni decided to marry more wives this time around and keep them in the palace in order to prevent a repeat of Queen Naomi’s saga.

This may further explain why the king has welcomed about six new wives to the royal palace in the last six months and may seek to add more in the coming weeks.

And the number keeps increasing:

Per Seconds News learnt that the King had married Mariam Anako on October 16 a day before his 48th birthday celebration after his marriage to Queen Silekunola hit the rocks in 2021.

After Anako comes Elizabeth Akinmudai, who hails from Ondo State.

A few weeks later, the king welcomed  Tobiloba Philips On October 9, 2022, making her the third wife in quick succession.

Philips won many pageants in the past including, World Miss University – Africa, World Miss University -Nigeria, Miss Personality – Sisi Oge and many more.

At a time when it seemed the king was done with marriage, he welcomed his fourth wife, Ashley Adegoke, a princess from Ile-Ife, who hails from the royal linage of Lafogido ruling house, Adagba compound.

On October 20, the number had risen to five with the announcement of Ronke Ademiluyi as the fifth wife the Ooni would marry in less than a month.

She is a fashion expert, entrepreneur, and the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Fashion Week which holds in London and Nigeria. Also, she is an author and cultural ambassador to the Ooni of Ife, who is now her husband.

The sixth wife on the way:

Barring any last minute change,  the lifestyle king is expected to marry his sixth wife today.

The queen goes by the name, Temitope Adesegun and is a princess who hails from Ijebu land in Ogun State.

It remains to be seen if the number will rise to seven or more in the coming days. But one thing that is certain is that the tradition allows the king to marry as many wives as he desires just like the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who kept a record harem of about 18 wives, most of who are in their 20s.