A viral video has resurfaced online showing the late Ooni of Ife, Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade, asserting that his throne was superior to that of the Alaafin of Oyo and that even the throne of the Oba of Benin ranks higher than the Alaafin’s.
In the video, Oba Sijuwade can be seen explaining to visitors in his palace that colonial authorities, including then-Governor Sir Hugh Clifford, and the Federal Government Gazette of 1904, recognized his claims over the Alaafin.
The late monarch criticized Reverend Samuel Johnson’s book on Yoruba history, describing it as inaccurate and biased toward Oyo royalty.
“The Oba of Benin is superior to Alaafin. I will provide you with all the necessary pictures as proof; you can take them away. You can hear him (late Oba Adeyemi) saying Oranyan, he was wrong. Oranmiyan is the correct pronunciation. He was tricky; there was nothing like that,” Oba Sijuwade said.
He added: “On Samuel Johnson’s book, the Nigeria governor in 1924, when the Prince of Wales was visiting, said Johnson’s book is fake. He said Johnson was an Oyonman who wrote a book to boost the ego of his people. Yes, it is in the archives. I will provide supporting documents. Alaafin is nowhere around Ooni at all. A Federal Government Gazette of February 28, 1903, revealed that when the Governor of Nigeria invited my grandfather, the Ooni, to settle rifts among kings in Lagos, it was because the Ooni was the owner of the crown and the only legal authority to speak on it. Ooni told the governor that none of his predecessors had ever travelled out of their palace.”
Oba Sijuwade also recounted how the governor had to make special arrangements for his travel:
“For every river to be crossed, a black cow must be sacrificed. The governor agreed to buy 1,000 cows. Ooni said he would board a vehicle to Ede town, where the governor’s entourage would pick him up. The governor promised to send his personal armour instead. The gazette even recorded that the Alaafin of Oyo was living outside his palace and would not return until Ooni came back. Have you ever seen Ooni sit behind Alaafin in all the old pictures I’m showing to you?”
The video emerges amid ongoing tensions between the current Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi.
The feud began after Oba Ogunwusi conferred the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on businessman Dotun Sanusi at the launch of the 2geda media platform in Ibadan.
In response, the Alaafin issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the Ooni to revoke the title or face unspecified consequences. Although the deadline has passed, the Ooni has remained silent on the matter.
Through his Director of Media, Bode Durojaye, the Alaafin reiterated his historical and cultural authority over Yoruba land, emphasizing that Oyo rose to prominence through trade and military power, and that the British formally recognized him as the superior head of the Yoruba Nation.
See below;
