Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, stands out as one of the most prominent and discussed traditional rulers in Nigeria, particularly within Yorubaland.
In June, during an exclusive interview with Premium Times at the Eko Hotel in Lagos monitored by IgbereTV, he spoke on the sidelines of a ceremony introducing the 2024 Africa Fashion Week, which is set to take place in London in October. His wife, Aderonke Ogunwusi, is leading the event’s organization.
The Ooni detailed his plans for his upcoming 50th birthday, which include unveiling 50 legacy projects. He also shared insights into his personal life, reflecting on what he misses from his days before becoming the Ooni in 2015, and discussed the common heritage between the Yoruba and Igbo peoples, two of Nigeria’s major ethnic groups.
Frequently contrasted with his predecessor, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who passed away in 2015, Oba Ogunwusi addressed the criticisms aimed at him regarding his liberal social engagements and interactions with young Nigerian celebrities.
PT: How can we harness historical knowledge?
Ooni: It has been a very significant concern for me. What is fundamentally wrong with a black man? Not only a Yoruba man, all of us. I tell people and many people don’t understand, that there is a strong link between the Yorubas and the Igbos. Let me use those two races. They are very ancient races. It’s been proven that these two races are the oldest in the world. But when I try to establish the link between Yorubas and the Igbos, a lot of people take it as a controversial thing. But let’s break it down. It’s true. We are the same. In my palace, to date, I still have a house of Igbo (pronounced as Igbo in ‘Igbo people’). Where the Ooni lives is called Ile-Igbo. Igbo, to the Yorubas and Ife, is a new dawn; it’s Igbo. And when you sleep, they say, O digbo’ore, O digbo’ore. ‘Igbo’ means Ile-Igbo. That means you will begin afresh. Well, the Igbos probably might not know. I don’t know. They have their meaning.
Sometimes, the Igbos say they are from the Jewish side. I wonder. No. The Jews came from you (Igbo). Because you cannot plant kola nuts in Israel, it will not grow. Why are you so particular about Kola nuts? We are the only ones that grow kola nuts, we Yorubas. It does not grow anywhere else. It grows only in Yoruba land. So, where did Igbo get it when they were celebrating it? How? They cannot do without it. They even say the only language kola nut understands is Igbo.
So, where were they getting it from? If there was no linkage with their brothers in Yoruba land. So, we can even use that common connecting factor, the kola nut. Let’s start to research kola nuts. The Western people have tried to take kola nut seeds to plant it. It would grow to a level, it would die. It would grow to a level, it would die. It can never grow anywhere other than Yoruba land and has a spiritual undertone. So, to know our history better, let us pick things about nature that connect us. I just mentioned one.
PT: Tell us more about the kola nut analogy.
Ooni: Let us research kola nuts. Why is it that the Igbos are so particular about it? They fight wars in Igbo land because of kola nut. They will tell you to bring this specific kola nut. Bring this, get that. They fight wars so much. Yes. The only thing that grows in their place is the garden egg. They can grow that one very well. But that kola nut, they should come and tell me where it’s been grown in Igbo land. No, they buy it from Yoruba land.
All their ancestors, how were they taking it from Yoruba land? So, at some point, we were one big happy family. And by our history, we know how it all spread worldwide. We need to teach history. Like you said, what are we doing on this throne? Things like this – advocacy. Could we please connect those infrastructures first? Convenience. Infrastructure is all about convenience. If we don’t have a robust and enabling infrastructure, we will have issues which we are trying to avoid.
Once we have a connecting infrastructure that can enhance things like that, we can get people to come and start a citadel of history, heritage, and culture. We can get a lot of people to do that and support. So, for us, for me, never, I’m not going to keep it within myself. I will continue encouraging platforms like yours to let the world know that many things connect us more than what divides us.
