Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has received back-to-back Dear John letters on Instagram from his two last Oloris.
The first was on August 27, 2017 when Olori Wuraola ended weeks of deafening silence to confirm that her 17-month-old marriage to the monarch was over.
Reverting to her maiden name, Zaynab Otiti Obanor, the Edo indigene rebuked those who accused her of infidelity and infertility.
“What I can confirm, is that the Ooni and I are no more,” she declared.
Pledging to continue her advocacy for women and other victims of abuse, the ex-queen charged all those who have written and said uncomplimentary things about her to get a life.
“We’ve seen this movie before. Women being dragged in the press and blamed for everything under the sun. This behaviour is unacceptable. I urge those involved to be mindful of their actions for the eyes of our Almighty God are always watching,” she continued.
In spite of her irreconcilable difference with the Ife monarch, Obanor submitted that “the throne is sacred” and that attempts to “tarnish the name of a queen in defence or on behalf of a silent King make all involved look terrible.”
Obanor got married to Oba Ogunwusi in March 2016 in a union said to have been arraigned by the oracle.
The marriage, which did not produce any child, was described as a sham, plagued by suspicion, infidelity and ghost of past relationships.
In October 2018, the Ooni married another woman, this time Prophetess Naomi Morenike Oluwaseyi, and named her Olori Silekunola.
Three years and a son after, precisely on Thursday, December 23, the queen served the public a notice that she was leaving the marriage because the Ooni’s public identity was allegedly at variance with “his true self”.
“I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle, but I have finally realised I had just one assignment, my son, and when God is done, He is done. He chose Saul to be king, and when He was done, He told the prophet Samuel I have moved on. Religion was never an issue between us; please refer to my interview on News Central TV. Instead, His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self,” the evangelist wrote.
She said that her announcement on Instagram marked the “beginning of a new dawn” for her and she was no longer a “slave” to her “thoughts of perfection.”
“I, at this moment, announce that I shall no longer be referred to as wife to the Ooni of Ife or as Queen of Ile-Ife but as the Queen of the people and mother of my adorable Prince,” she said.
Silekunola added that she was not leaving the 47-year-old monarch because of other women, adding “I was the only married wife to him.”
