Ifa priest Ifayemi Elebuibon has urged the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo to end their rivalry and focus on peace, stressing their shared history and Ife’s primacy.
Renowned Ifa priest, Ifayemi Elebuibon, has called for calm amid the escalating tension between the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade.
In an interview with Agbaletu, Elebuibon stressed the intertwined history of the two kingdoms, noting that Oranmiyan, founder of Oyo, hailed from Ile-Ife. “There is no way you can tell the history of Oyo without tracing it to Ife, and there is no way you can tell the history of Ife without mentioning Oyo,” he said.
He cautioned against unnecessary rivalry, adding: “Someone became a king not up to a year, not up to six months, is it trouble he ought to be causing?” Drawing on the Ifa system, Elebuibon declared Ife as the cradle of Yoruba civilization, affirming the Ooni’s distinct supremacy.
The dispute stems from the Alaafin’s objection to the Ooni conferring a pan-Yoruba chieftaincy title, a warning the Ooni’s camp dismissed as “empty.”