Ooni of Ife’s wife is Kabeyesi Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, who serves as the queen of Ile-Ife and the royal mother of the people. Her duties include those of a wife at home and other forms of public functions, and through her, a future Ooni can be born.
The 51st Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has had his name stand out repeatedly, not just as one who wears the crown of Ile-Ife, but also for being famous with women. He has officially been married three times and reportedly has other relationships outside of his marriage. With these come questions such as who is Ooni of Ife’s wife and how his marriages have often come up.
Meet Ooni of Ife’s Wives
He Was Married to Adebukola Bombata When He Became Ooni
After the death of the 50th Ooni Olubuse II, Ooni Adeyeye ascended the throne of Ife in 2015. At the time, he was married to Adebukola Bombata, who was allegedly against his making a move to become the King of Ife.
As such, she would purportedly end their 7 years of marriage after his coronation. Even though Bombata keeps a low profile, there are suggestions that she has since relocated to the United Kingdom.
Ooni of Ife married Zaynab Otiti Obanor in 2016
When the Ooni of Ife settled in as the King of one of the most respected kingdoms in Nigeria, he decided to marry again. The King tied the knot with Zaynab Otiti Obanor from the ancient city of Benin in 2016. When they were married, Olori Zaynab was known for attending several functions in and out of Nigeria.
One of the most notable events she attended was the “Emerging Women’s Forum” in Maryland. One of the primary reasons it reached the limelight was based on her speech where she mentioned that men and women are not equal and each has a role to play.
This would lead to controversy and attacks from different people, including actress Uche Jombo who addressed that the Ooni may not have spelled the difference between gender roles and gender equality. Nonetheless, the marriage could not live to stand the test of time when it opened itself to divorce only a year after it started in 2017.
It remains shadowy why the marriage ended and if there is any child involved. The divorce between Zaynab and King Adeyeye was not the first of the former queen. She reportedly married and divorced twice, and the divorce from the king of the Yoruba people was her third.
Ooni of Ife’s Wife Naomi Silekunola Publicly Ended Their Marriage
A year after he purportedly divorced from his second wife, Ooni of Ife settled to be married to a prophetess, founder of EN Heralds Ministry, model, writer, and motivational speaker, Olori Moronke Naomi Silekunola. They became married after the Ooni contacted her, and although there are allegations that it was through another prophetess that they met, Naomi has denied those claims.
There is, however, another story on how they met. According to some sources, the Ooni of Ife’s wife had met the king with the claims that she received a revelation that he was her husband, and to this effect, the 51st Ooni of Ife married her after two months. Again, the 3rd wife of the king denied the allegation.
Naomi became the most famous among the wives Ooni Adeyeye has been married to. She also bore a son, a prince that is said to be among the most important people in the Yoruba kingdom, as a descendant of Oduduwa and the crown Prince of Ile-Ife. In December 2021, she reached out to social media to claim that her marriage may have reached the deep blue sea and was going through a divorce.
Like the public, Ooni reportedly found out that his wife of 3 years was ending their marriage through social media. Questions started to flow about why the Ooni had not been able to stay in the marriage for the 3rd time. With Naomi, she claimed that Ooni Adeyeye Ojaja II had two different identities – one was what he showed the public, and the other was his true self.
However, the palace image-maker, Moses Olafare, claims that the end of a union should be from both spouses and not one. In addition, he claimed that the palace had no prior knowledge regarding the end of the union. Although there has been a denial from the Ife palace over the separation, other claims reached the media that the royal couple had been reunited in the fall of 2021. Nevertheless, Naomi has not withdrawn the separation message from her Instagram as of the early months of 2022.
Ooni of Ife’s Wife Has To Go Through Cleansing Ritual Before Marriage and After Divorce
Getting married to the Yoruba leader, a woman must undergo some traditional cleansing. One among them entails that she walks on the blood of an animal to enter the palace as the queen of Ile-Ife. In this regard, it is not far-fetched that the queens of King Enitan may have gone through the cleansing.
Although Ooni of Ife’s wife, Prophetess Naomi, claimed religion had never been a barrier in their marriage, she may have gone through the blood matching as queen. In the same vein, it is only normal that the marriage of a monarch can come to an end. It is neither a sign of a curse nor taboo, as the media may have claimed.
However, upon this, the Ooni of Ife’s wife has to present herself for spiritual cleansing to take her monarchical rites from her system before marrying another man. It is reported that failure to go through the cleansing after divorce, the man who sleeps with her may die prematurely.
The Ooni Has Been Through Controversies With Women
There Was a Baby Mama Before Ooni of Ife’s Wife
The Arole Oduduwa, Adeyeye Enitan Ogwunsi, was 19 years old in 1994 when he had his first child, a daughter named princess Adeola Aanuolouwapo Ogunwusi. He had the 29-year-old child with another teenager, Omolara Olatubosun.
The Ooni has been accused by his baby mama Olatubosun that the then 19-year old Adeyeye had only seen their daughter for about 5 minutes after her birth before he vanished. When Adeola was 4, he again showed up and never returned until the daughter was 10.
She further claimed that she raised their daughter alone with the help of her mother and siblings. In his defense, the king from the Giesi dynasty claimed to have a bond with his first child amidst other claims that suggest their relationship has been a rosy one.
The father of Omolara Olatubosun also reached the media to counter his daughter’s claim. According to him, the family of Ogunwusi has been noble and has never done anything wrong to his family. In this regard, he didn’t see why his daughter had to drag the Ile-Ife stool as she did.
The Descendant of Oduduwa Has Been Accused of Having Extramarital Affair
Adeyeye may be one of the most controversial kings of Ife. He has been accused of having another relationship outside of his wife. When he married Prophetess Naomi, a lady, Elizabeth Odunalami, came out through social media to claim that she was promised to become the Ooni of Ife’s wife after the failure of his second marriage.
She further claimed that the king used her name to make business transactions worth millions of dollars. However, there are suggestions that the Yoruba monarch’s name may have been used by criminals through social media to get Elizabeth. Another side of this story is that the page may have just been created to tarnish the image of Ooni Adeyeye.
In conclusion, the Ooni of Ife traditionally has the right to marry as many wives as possible. This is evident in the case of the 48th Ooni, Ademuliyi Ajagun, who had more than 47 wives. Although men often marry fewer women in current times, the Ooni may have additional women as wives.
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