It is no longer
news that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, is no more. The question
perhaps should be who becomes the next Ooni?
In fact, gathered
that no sooner did the news of his demise hit town than the race over who
succeeds him began. So far, we learnt that there are five strong contenders for
the position.
Among them are
Prince Ademola Ademiluyi, who is in his 80s and trained as a lawyer; Prince
Yinka Ademiluyi, in his 70s and a popular socialite; Prince Gboyega Ademiluyi,
in his 60s and an oil magnate; Prince Adebambo Ademiluyi, in his mid 60s and an
ex-student of the popular King’s College, Lagos and Prince Kanmi Ademiluyi, in
his 50s and a former journalist.
Of the five, however, Prince
Kanmi seems the most favoured, and for several reasons too. Besides being the
youngest, the former Editor of Punch is said to be close to the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC).
Especially two of
their leaders in the South West, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Gov. Rauf
Aregbesola. And both men may swing it for him.
Oba Sijuwade, it
would be recalled, died in London on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. Aged 85, the
colourful traditional ruler was from the Ogboru ruling house.
His predecessor,
Oba Adesoji Aderemi came from the Giesi ruling house. In Ile Ife, Osun State,
there are believed to be four ruling houses – Lafogido, Giesi, Ogboru and
Osinkola. The others have had their turns and now it’s the turn of the
Osinkolas, where the Ademiluyis come from.
And feelers
reaching us have it that Prince Kanmi Ademiluyi, also with maternal link to the
Peregrino family of Lagos, may eventually carry the day.
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