Olusegun Ariyo
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has downplayed any supremacy battle with the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade.
Ooni described the 48-hour ultimatum by the Alaafin of Oyo to withdraw the Okanlomo of Yorubaland Chieftaincy title conferred on an Ibadan-based businessman, Chief Dotun Sanusi, as empty threats of a dead empire.
The Alaafin had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ooni of Ife to withdraw the Chieftaincy title.
Owoade said the decision of the Ooni to confer such a Chieftaincy title was an affront to his authority and the traditional institution.
Responding, Ooni’s spokesman, Moses Olafare, said the Ife monarch awaits the elapse of the 48-hour ultimatum.
Posting on his social media page, Olafare wrote: “The Ooni is busy setting up businesses and creating jobs for youths across Yorubaland; they are busy fighting supremacy that does not exist. Dead empire.
“Their 48-hour ultimatum will soon lapse. We are waiting. Dead Empire Ooni plans for the groundbreaking and launching of the Ojaja smart city in Ibadan, the biggest in Africa, but someone is somewhere busy issuing 48-hour empty threats.
“Where does this king (Ooni) have time for supremacy hullabaloo? Issuing a 48-hour ultimatum over a Chieftaincy title that doesn’t even exist.”
