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18 Africa telegraph 25 October - 09 November 2020

Wives of the late King of Ife West Africa News

not allowed to re-marry By Buki Ojo

Ile Ife, Nigeria - The wives of the late Ife tradition, since the Ooni is not con- the society.” The late Oba Okunade Siju- Yetunde, died a few years before Oba
Ooni of Ife are banned from re-marrying sidered dead but to have transited to a wade left wives and concubines ranging Sijuwade’s death in 2015.
according to a palace chief. higher realm. from age 40 to 60. His first wife, Olori

The late King Okunade Sijuwade, (1 Jan- The chief, maintaining that the Ooni still
uary 1930 – 28 July 2015) was the fiftieth lives, said it is forbidden for wives left be-
king, also known as the Ooni of Ife, from hind by the king to re-marry.
1980 to his death in 2015. The Ooni is
often seen as the head of the Yoruba eth- He said, “The rule is general and applies
nic group, a clan that has over 47 million to all Ooni that has passed on and not
people worldwide, from West Africa to peculiar to the wives of Oba Sijuwade,
Brazil. The Ooni is based in Ife, a town the immediate past Ooni. There may not
in Osun State, Nigeria. be a clearly defined repercussion against
the tradition, but it is advisable that the
According to a local news report, a order is obeyed at all times and for all
palace chief, who preferred not to be generations.”
named, said the order was prescribed by
“The best that can
happen to the Oloris
(King’s wives) left
behind by any late
Ooni is for them to
remain single. Alter-
natively, they could
be inherited by the
reigning Ooni.”

The palace chief
added that it does
not matter whether
the wives are young
or old. “What matters
Late Ooni’s wives banned from re-marrying is that the tradition The late Ooni of Ife,
must be sustained in Oba Okunade Sijuwade
the overall interest of

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