The Yoruba Heritage Forum has warned the Alaafin of Oyo against distorting history in a supremacy row with the Ooni of Ife.
The Yoruba Heritage Forum has warned the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, against attempts to distort history or reignite dormant rivalries with the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.
The group reacted to reports that the Alaafin allegedly gave the Ooni an ultimatum over his conferment of a chieftaincy title on businessman Chief Dotun Sanusi. In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Olufemi Aduwo, the Forum described the move as “legally baseless and historically unsustainable,” stressing that no valid court judgment vests supremacy in the Alaafin.
“Any reliance on such a phantom judgment constitutes a grave error and distortion of Yoruba history,” Aduwo said, citing Samuel Johnson’s History of the Yorubas and colonial records that recognise Ife as the cradle of Yoruba civilisation.
He warned that “the Alaafin is firmly advised to desist from issuing childish threats,” adding that Yoruba unity must not be undermined by supremacy disputes.