The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, has implicitly threatened to take Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, to court if the latter does not reverse his decision to confer the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on a businessman, Dotun Sanusi.
There has been no cordial feelings between the two Yoruba monarchs.
Ooni at the weekend in Ibadan awarded the title on Sanusi at the unveiling of 2geda, an indigenous social media and business networking platform, owns by the businessman.
The title conferment on Sanusi has further drove a wedge between them as Alaafin in a statement his media aide, Bode Durojaiye released accused Ogunwusi of overstepping the bounds of his power.
Owoade claimed that the power to bestow chieftaincy titles on people across Southwest resides with him, adding that Ooni only has the right to do so in Ife.
“The attention of the Alaafin of Oyo and the Titan of Yorubaland, Oba Engineer Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, has been drawn to the purported conferment of the chieftaincy title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on a business tycoon, Dotun Sanusi, by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi.
“The Ooni of Ife is behaving as if there is no authority to check and call him to order. Because of that ‘above-the-law’ syndrome of his, he is in the habit of walking on everybody’s back, including the apex court in the country, the Supreme Court, which had ruled on the exclusive preserve of the Alaafin to confer any chieftaincy title that covers the entire Yorubaland.
“The dictum that nobody is above the law of the land is now being put to a crucial test. The Alaafin hereby demands revocation of the so-called Okanlomo of Yorubaland chieftaincy title conferred on Engineer Dotun Sanusi within 48 hours or face the consequences,” the statement read.
It further claimed, “The instrument of office presented to Oba Ogunwusi during his installation specifically limits his traditional area of authority to Oranmiyan Local Government, which has now been split into three local governments, viz: Ife Central, Ife North, and Ife South.”
It also said, “But it seems the Ooni of Ife is misconceiving the Alaafin, Paramount with the Heart of Gold, and his peace initiative as a sign of weakness, hence taking decisions that are not only ultra vires but derogatory to the Titan of Yorubaland.”
