Flashback: “Ooni, Benin Monarch Superior to Alaafin,” Late Oba Sijuwade Declares
- The clash between two of Yorubaland's most revered monarchs, the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo, took a fresh twist as the late Oba Sijuwade's statement resurfaced
- Interestingly, the question of who truly holds the power to appoint traditional leaders sparked fresh conversation in the polity
- While Oba Abimbola Owoade denied being in a supremacy battle with any monarch, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, ignored the ultimatum to reverse the chieftaincy title conferred on a popular Ibadan-based business mogul, Dotun Sanusi
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
The late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, had before now asserted that his stool was superior to that of the Alaafin of Oyo.
Source: UGC
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.
As reported by The Punch, in the clip that hit the internet on Thursday, August 21, 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.
Source: Twitter
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.”
“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?”
There will be consequences - Alaafin warns
Legit.ng earlier reported that the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, opposed the decision of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, to confer the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland.
Oba Owoade gave the Ooni 48 hours to revoke the title conferred on an Ibadan businessman, Engineer Dotun Sanusi.
British treaty made him leader of Yorubaland - Alaafin
Legit.ng reported that the late Oba Sijuwade's statement emerged after the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, also claimed that the British signed a treaty with Oyo and made the Alaafin the supreme leader of the Yoruba nation
Oba Owoade made the comment in a statement by his director of media, Bode Durojaye, while keeping mum on his strained relationship with the Ooni of Ife, Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi
Read related articles here:
- Alaafin vs Ooni: How British treaty appointd head of Yoruba nation
- Okanlomo tittle: Group calls for peace as Oyo Alaafin, Ooni of Ife battle, “Let the issue die”
- Nigerians react to Alaafin's clarification
Alaafin of Oyo addresses rumoured fight with Ooni
Previously, Legit.ng reported that Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, the Alaafin of Oyo, reiterated that contrary to media reports, he is not in a supremacy battle with any monarch either in Yorubaland or anywhere in the world.
The Alaafin stated this in a statement issued by Bode Durojaiye, his director of media and publicity, on Thursday, August 21, 2025.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
