Oba Enitan Ogunwusi and wife Olori Silekunola
- Ooni still loves his Olori Silekunola – Palace
- She cannot re-marry without necessary ritual cleansing, says prominent Ifa priest Elebuibon
It appears a sad end of an era and perhaps a new dawn for Queen Silekunola Naomi, now estranged wife of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, as she announced an end to her three-year -old marriage to one of Nigeria’s foremost monarchs.
In a statement posted on her verified Instagram handle in a statement posted on her verified Instagram handle @queen_silekunolanaomi_ogunwusi and Facebook page, yesterday, the queen said Oba Ogunwusi has a picture he projects to the world and another one, which is his true self, adding that she had endured struggle in the marriage but could no longer bear it.
This is the third time Ooni’s marriage will crumble. Oba Ogunwusi’s first marriage with Adebukola Bombata in 2008 lasted for about eight years before it wound up. The influential monarch moved to the ancient Benin Kingdom, where he married a lady, Zainab Otiti Obanor, in March 2016. The marriage hit the rock in less than a year, after Zainab filed and got a divorce in 2017.
A year after, Ooni Ogunwusi wedded Prophetess Silekunola Naomi. After giving birth to a son in the three –year-old marriage, the queen yesterday, announced that she asked the public to desist from calling her a wife to Ooni of Ife.
She denied that her quitting the marriage was because Ogunwusi got married to another woman. She said on her Facebook page: “I bless the Lord Almighty for His faithfulness in the last three years of my marriage. In life’s journey, it isn’t how far. But, how well, indeed though, satan did buffet and trials came. I have this blessed assurance controlling all situations and saying to me it is well with my soul.
“Certainly, it is well. I made my journey into the ancient throne of Ife with faith in my heart and love for the keeper of it.
“Few impressions I would love to correct. If anyone knows otherwise, they are free to come up with facts.
“Let it be known that this decision to move on did not come because his majesty is married to another queen. As many would love to assume, throughout our life as a couple, I was the only married wife to him. There were side attractions, but it was never an issue.
“I never approached him with any revelation of any sort, as many believed he contacted me first and made his proposal known several months later.
“I have never been pregnant all my life before Tadenikawo; my son is my first ever pregnancy with medical reports to back it up. The girl who is said to be my daughter is my niece.
“I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle, but I have finally realised I had just one assignment, my son, and when God is done, He is done. He chose Saul to be king, and when He was done, He told the prophet Samuel I have moved on. Religion was never an issue between us; please refer to my interview on News Central TV. Instead, His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one, which is his true self.
“Today, I announce the beginning of a new dawn and the closing of a chapter. Today, I am a mother to God’s unique gift. I am no longer a slave to my thoughts of perfection. I, at this moment, announce that I shall no longer be referred to as wife to the Ooni of Ife or as Queen of Ile-Ife but as the Queen of the people and mother of my adorable Prince.”
Reacting, yesterday, the Director of Media and Public Affairs to Ooni, Moses Olafare, said he would find out from his principal the true situation of things.
Olafare, who spoke on the telephone, said: “I also woke up this morning to see the story reported on the social media, but I have to find out from the Kabiesi, what is happening. I will find out and get back to you.”
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, still loves his Queen Silekunola – Palace
Later in the day, Olafare said that the Ooni still loves his Olori Silekunola and was packaging a special gift for her, noting that separation is a two-way affair.
The Palace spokesman said: “Separation is a two-way affair.
“It is not something that is announced by one party.
“The announcement of separation is subject to an agreement by both parties, so, to that extent, the palace is not aware of such separation because we all went to bed last night having the king and queen being together.
“So, if by this morning, the queen went to her social media to write that she is no longer in marriage with Ooni, we will look into it to see whether or not the Instagram page truly belongs to her, and to know the reason behind it.
“But as of today, this moment, the palace is not aware of the separation.
“Marriage is a private affair. No matter how prominent the personalities involved, it is a private affair.
“We will dig deeper and know what happened but as I said, all of us just woke up to read about the separation on social media.
“Even by this time yesterday (Wednesday), Kabiyesi was still packaging a special gift for her.
“If you want to separate with someone, you cannot be packaging a gift for her.
“I am aware that Kabiyesi was putting special gifts for her for Christmas.
“If he is not in love with her, he cannot be doing that, only to wake up the following morning to hear from the public that she is no longer in the relationship.
“The Christmas gift has been delivered to her already.”
Meanwhile, prominent Ifa priest, Chief Yemi Elebuibon, has warned that the estranged wife of the Ooni can only remarry after going through some cleaning rituals. He warned that any man who sleeps with the former queen without necessary rites would be risking his life.
The Ifa devotee said the cleansing process is necessary to enable the mother of one to regain a normal life.
Elebuibon, while reacting to the collapse of the three-year marriage of Ooni Enitan Ogunwusi and Silekunola on a telephone interview yesterday, revealed that lack of understanding and endurance on the part of the royal family was responsible for their travails.
The Araba Awo of Osogbo said: “This issue has to do with lack of understanding and endurance. There is nothing wrong with Kabiyesi Ooni, you know the issue of marriage, it’s only God that knows what happens in secret.
“In marriage, husband and wife need patience. This is not a curse or spell, they (Ooni and Silekunola) misunderstood themselves. In Yoruba land, we don’t want our wives to divorce their husbands, it’s not about queens alone. If it gets to the situation whereby they can’t manage the situation, then, they can separate in peace.
“If a marriage wants to bring pain to any partner, it’s better to separate. But marriage needs endurance for it to last.”
On whether the ex Oba’s wife could remarry, he said :”It is left to her to decide to remarry or remain single. But, no one dares settle down with an Oba’s ex-wife; they have to first remove the touch of royalty from such a queen through some rituals.
She will go through a spiritual bath, carry out some rituals before she can remarry, else, it’s dangerous for her to have an intimate relationship with any man. An Oba is not a man who can just have an intimate relationship with his woman, either married or divorced.
“Any man who wants to marry her (Silekunola) should be patient because she still has royalty in her and she needs to be returned to an ordinary person before she could remarry.”
The Guardian / The Nation
