Ife chiefs confirm Ooni’s death; fix burial for Friday

SEGUN ADEYEMI, Ile-Ife

The Ife Traditional Council has formally announced the death of Oba Okunade Sijuwade.

The chiefs, accompanied by the Crown Prince, Tokunbo Sijuwade, announced the demise of the monarch while meeting with Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the Government House in Osogbo on Wednesday.

One of the chiefs, Oba Solomon Omisakin, told the governor that the Ooni had joined his ancestors.

The Crown Prince, Adetokunbo, while speaking, said that the late monarch would be buried on Friday.

He said that the body of the late monarch would be flown in from London on Thursday (yesterday) and buried on Friday at 10am.

Also speaking, Governor Rauf Aregbesola said the “late Ooni represented the Yoruba nation and has done a lot in uplifting the traditional institution in the state”.

Aregbesola, who read the last text message he received from the Ooni at the briefing, said the late monarch informed him of his frail health, adding that he was travelling to London for treatment.

According to him, the text read, “Your Excellency, I am still not feeling good, so I am travelling abroad for medical check up of my body therefore I place your government under God’s guidance”.

He described the death of the Ooni as a great loss to the state and the Yoruba race, stressing, however, that a king could not die in Yorubaland.

Oba Solomon Omisakin, the Obalufe of Iromo and Vice Chairman of the Ife Traditional Council as well as High Chief Joseph Ijaodola, the Lowa of Ile-Ife, both corroborated what Sijuwade said.

They expressed gratitude to the people of Osun and prayed that God would provide another king who would excel as the late Ooni did.

The press briefing was also attended by the Ooni’s daughter, Mrs Aderounmu Fadeyi and members of Ife Traditional Council.

The Lowa of Ife later broke the news traditionally when he came to the main entrance of the palace where he beat the gong and announced the demise of the Ooni to the public.

A movement restriction was announced on Monday by the Awara of Iwara-Ife, Oba Layi Adereti, who declared that the death of Oba Sijuwade would be announced today.

The monarch, who was flown out in an air ambulance, died on July 28, in a London hospital.

The visit of the chiefs to the governor was the second in about 15 days since the media reported the death of the monarch.

The chiefs led by the Lowa of Ife, Oba Joseph Ijaodola, had on July 29th debunked the reports of the death of the monarch.

The following day, they took their rebuttal to the Government House where they briefed the governor and told him before journalists that the monarch was very much alive.

Earlier in the day, the Isoros were seen in some parts of Ile Ife singing dirges, which is one of the precursors leading to the formal announcement of the death of the Ooni.

The Isoros dressed in white clothes and carrying earthen pots embarked on a procession from outside the palace gate to Enuwa Square.