The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the title Okanlomo of Yorubaland recently conferred on businessman Dotun Sanusi, popularly known as Ilaji.
In a statement signed by his Director of Media and Publicity, Bode Durojaiye, the Alaafin described the Ooni’s action as a violation of tradition and an affront to his authority. He insisted that the exclusive right to bestow titles covering the entirety of Yorubaland rests solely with the Alaafin, as affirmed by a Supreme Court judgment.
“The conferment of such a title is the exclusive preserve of the Alaafin. By bestowing it, the Ooni has exceeded his jurisdiction and disregarded the authority of the Supreme Court,” the statement read.
The Alaafin further argued that Oba Ogunwusi’s instrument of office restricts his traditional powers to the former Oranmiyan Local Government—now subdivided into Ife Central, Ife North, and Ife South—making the conferment on Sanusi “unlawful, derogatory, and null and void.”
Warning of “dire consequences” if the title is not revoked within 48 hours, the monarch cautioned that his consistent peace efforts should not be mistaken for weakness.
He added:
“The Ooni of Ife is behaving as though no authority can call him to order. This disregard extends even to the Supreme Court, which has clearly ruled that only the Alaafin holds the prerogative to confer chieftaincy titles covering the whole of Yorubaland. The dictum that no one is above the law is now being tested.”
The development has further highlighted long-standing tensions between the two foremost Yoruba monarchs over traditional authority and jurisdiction within Yorubaland.
