The demise of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunwade Sijuwade, leaves a huge gap in the traditional institution of the Yoruba race, Journalist AKEEM LASISI writes
With the formal announcement of the death of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, on Wednesday, reality must have dawned on many sons and daughters of Yorubaland that they have lost one of their most influential traditional rulers. The late monarch was a national and, indeed, a global figure. But his role as the king of Ife, regarded as the source of the Yoruba race, particularly makes his passage a very symbolic one.
The Ife Traditional Council announced the passage of Oba Sijuwade in the presence of the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. The sacred duty of informing the world about Ooni’s demise must have brought some relief to the governor himself, as pressure had mounted on his administration and other key stakeholders to do so since the monarch joined his ancestors on June 28, 2015. He was 85.
Oba Sijuwade’s reign was very eventful. A symbol of cherished myths and enviable realities, he loomed larger than his immediate kingdom. When the traditional requirement to ‘preserve’ news of the monarch’s death for about 30 days and the no-holds-barred character of this communication age thus confronted each other, some people only saw it as an extension of the dramatic events that punctuated his life. It may not be too early to say that the conflict will have an impact on how similar incidents will be handled in the future, but the fact is that beyond the suspense, both culture and technology have at the end had their ways.
And that again seems to be part of the factors that defined Oba Sijuwade’s life. Being the custodian of the people’s history, culture, language and other elements of their worldview, he did all he could to keep tradition alive. The way a substantial part of the palace in Ife has been preserved is, for instance, a plus for the deceased. Beyond the rites that are regularly performed in the town, whoever visited there during the Olojo Festival, during Oba Sijuwade’s reign, would applaud him as a real custodian of the people’s heritage.
Yet, Oba Sijuwade also savoured modernity and all its manifestations to the fullest. For instance, only a few people could outplay him in the glamour game. Every inch a king, he could be so trendy fashion-wise that one could hardly separate his appearances from his sublime aura. Besides, based on the exotic cars he usually paraded, he was a master in his choice of luxury products. So, in Ooni, tradition, wealth, grandeur and other elements of modernity perfectly mixed.
Of course, he will be remembered as a man of immense financial influence. He was a monarch that obviously believed in dignity of labour. As a result, he was identified with businesses that cut across construction, real estate and hospitality. That was why when he was alive, his name always came up as one of the richest monarchs in Africa. Indeed, followers of Nigerian social scenes will remember a myth in which Oba Sijuwade was said to have described the financial power of the late business mogul, M.K.O. Abiola, as something close to a mere ‘chicken change’.
One of Oba Sijuwade’s profiles traces his business antecedent thus, “Prince Sijuwade’s business career was marked by more than average fortune. Endowed with an agile mind, highly motivated and possessed of an iron-will, courage and prodigious industry, the prince was certainly destined for success. And so he drove himself to limits that would seriously test all but the most dogged. Early in his career he decided he could do with no more than four hours sleep and that distance would prevent him from accomplishing his goals. Even today, with the enormous demand on his time in several places, some of them several miles apart he maintains a travelling schedule that even the most peripatetic would consider punitive.”
In terms of the benefits Oba Sijuwade’s affluence attracted to Ile-Ife, some observers have argued that he could still have done more. Such people would like to compare his impact on the socio-economic profile of the town to what obtained in a town such as Iloko, also in Osun State, when another billionaire, the late Oba Oladele Olashore, was its monarch. Perhaps, based on the direct populist investments that Oba Olashore made in Iloko, they are likely to rate him higher than Oba Sijuwade in this respect. But the fact, again, is that many Ife indigenes will ever remain grateful to the late monarch.
They would recall that his business outfits also brought direct and indirect benefits to the people, in terms of employment and patronage. Also, they would recall how the late Ooni fought very hard to have Ile-Ife as the Osun State capital, when it was being created during the Babangida era.
This, of course, would make any observer remember Oba Sijuwade’s politics. By tradition, he was meant to be a king for all his subjects – no matter their political leanings. But far from being a political introvert or pretender, the late Ooni was known to often advance a clear position. Whether during the military or civilian era, Oba Sijuwade was often identified with a political bend. Such a position generated controversies at times, as was the case in the early days of the June 12 crisis, when many agitated folks interpreted his action and utterance after a meeting with Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.) as supporting the annulment.
But on other occasions when he identified with a particular party or candidate, his position was somehow understandable because the interest of an Ife indigene was often at stake. This is what happened during that last governorship election when Chief Iyiola Omisore, an Ife indigene, competed against Aregbesola.
No wonder, the death of the Ooni, although at a ripe age, has left a gap in the hearts of many of his subjects and associates. For instance, when our correspondent contacted the Asiwaju of Ife, Chief Alex Duduyemi, on the phone on Wednesday, the impression he gave was that he was still experiencing shock.
He said, “I am not ready yet for a tribute. When the time comes I will pay him a tribute. I am still mourning him. He was my uncle.”
While efforts to reach other prominent indigenes did not yield fruits, the Senator representing Osun East (Ife/Ijesa) Senatorial District, and Chairman, Babajide Omoworare, has also described the death as a colossal loss, saying the incident is shocking.
According to a statement signed by his media aide, Tunde Dairo, Omoworare expressed his condolence to the Ile-Ife Traditional Council, the entire Ife people, family and friends of the late Sijuwade.
He said the traditional ruler’s lifestyle added glamour, uniqueness, dignity and pride to the Ooni’s stool, adding that Oba Sijuwade duly and responsively represented the ancient town and the Yoruba race in the Diaspora very well.
“Oba Sijuwade was a significant figure in Nigeria with notable presence in almost every facet of human endeavour – be it politics, business, academics, religion and tradition. History of this nation will be incomplete without a mention of Ooni Sijuwade,” Omoworare said.
The Oluomo of Ife, Chief Gbenga Owolabi, noted that the Ooni was a father-figure to all and sundry.
Noting that the late monarch encouraged him to join politics, he said, “Baba led a significant life and touched lives. Significantly, Baba gave the Ooni throne that mystique, that aura of greatness, without a shadow of doubt.”
The National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress, and Convener of the Oodua Progressives Union, Otunba Gani Adams, also in a tribute explained that the Ooni’s death was a monumental and irreparable loss to what he called the Oduduwa race.
In a statement, he described him as a foremost monarch in Africa and the “enigmatic and wondrous deity of the Yoruba in human form”.
He said, “The Oonirisa Olubuse 11 has completed his mission as assigned him by the owners of the world. He has gloriously relocated to the ancestral abode of his progenitors, to feed them back after a memorable peregrination odyssey on earth and the completion of his assigned role as the ‘tenderer’ and protector of the ancestral stool of the Yoruba.”
Foremost scholar, Prof. Jacob Oluponna, noted that Oba Sijuwade straddled all aspects of Yoruba people’s lives in a positive way. He highlighted his achievements to include the internalisation of the Yoruba project, which led to the rediscovery of the bond that exists between those at home and in the Diaspora.
Oluponna added, “For all of these achievements I believe history will judge Oba Sijuwade most favourably — as the leader of his people, the head of the Yoruba sacred city of Ile-Ife, and the inheritor of the exulted throne of Oduduwa. He has left an empty place in our hearts and also in the palace, whose roles he redefined to suit the times in which he lived. His shoes will be difficult to fill. But just like his famed predecessor, Ooni Aderemi, he came and fulfilled his mission and the mandate his people gave him and thereby brought greatness to the Ife people.
“More than any Oba of my acquaintance, Ooni Sijuwade took seriously the Yoruba cultural project, advancing the culture to every nook and cranny of the globe, particularly in places where the Yoruba tradition is already entrenched, including The Republic of Benin, Trinidad, Tobago, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, the U.S.A, and Europe. He served as a critical agent and ambassador of goodwill promoting Yoruba and Nigerian culture overseas.
“He succeeded in raising the banner of Yoruba culture everywhere he visited. In places such as Cuba, Trinidad, and Brazil, to whose shores, during the years of the transatlantic slave trade, thousands of enslaved Yoruba were transported, the Ooni is regarded as a living deity. “
Oba Sijuwade was born on January 1, 1930 in Ile-Ife to the Ogboru ruling house, grandson of the Ooni Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I. He studied at Abeokuta Grammar School and Oduduwa College in Ile-Ife. He worked for three years in his father’s business, then for two years with the Nigerian Tribune, before attending the Northampton College in the United Kingdom to study business management.
By the age of 30 he was a manager in Leventis, a Greek-Nigerian conglomerate. In 1963 he became the sales director of the state-owned National Motor in Lagos. After spotting a business opportunity during a 1964 visit to the Soviet Union, he formed a company to distribute Soviet-built vehicles and equipment in Nigeria, which became the nucleus of a widespread business empire. He also invested in real estate in his home town of Ile Ife. By the time Sijuwade was crowned Ooni in 1980 he had become a wealthy man.
Source:Punch
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