The camp of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has brushed aside a 48-hour ultimatum issued by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, describing it as baseless and irrelevant.
The Alaafin had reportedly demanded that the Ooni withdraw the chieftaincy title of Oluomo of Yorubaland, recently conferred on a business magnate, within two days.
Responding in a statement monitored on Tuesday, the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the threat, branding it “an empty ultimatum from a dead empire.”
Olafare said the Ooni was far more concerned with tangible development projects and job creation for Yoruba youths than engaging in what he called “outdated supremacy battles.”
“Ooni is busy creating opportunities for young people, while others are chasing a futile supremacy contest that has long expired,” he said. “The so-called ultimatum will lapse without consequence.”
He further pointed to the upcoming launch of Ojaja Smart City in Ibadan, which he described as the largest development of its kind in Africa, as evidence of the Ooni’s focus on economic progress rather than “wasting time on illegitimate titles.”
“Where does the Ooni have time for supremacy hullabaloo? Issuing a 48-hour ultimatum over a title that carries no legitimacy is meaningless,” Olafare added.
The fiery exchange underscores simmering tensions within Yoruba traditional leadership, pitting the Ooni’s emphasis on modern development and youth empowerment against what his camp dismisses as “superficial disputes” over chieftaincy titles.