The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan has revealed how he almost missed being considered suitable for the throne of the Ooni of Ife.
The frontline monarch stated this in a now viral video while addressing a cheering crowd in his palace when he welcomed his new twin boys bored by one of his Oloris into the palace.
He said when the coast was becoming clearer that he would be considered for the throne, he said when he was asked to bring forth his child, he said he replied that his child was abroad.
“They then asked what of your wife because in Ife, it is abomination to make an okobo (eunuch) the Ooni. They said I could not skip that aspect, no matter what.
“Before coming on the throne, I had a wife then but there was an issue between us. So when I was asked to show my wife, I together with my family had to go to the lady for begging. I have never seen that kind of begging in my life. Everybody was involved, including some monarchs and notable people in the society but the lady refused. She claimed that Ife is dangerous, that they only wanted to use her for sacrifice.
“I was confused and frustrated. I said should we now go and rent a wife? We were all confused, the begging was unprecedented. Of course, money was not the problem, God blessed us but money was shamed.”
He said the Ife people insisted that he must bring his wife, that it was repeated that in Ife, they don’t make a eunuch king.
“Then, the throne issue was still not made public by government. So when I went back and reported that the issue of wife was still not sorted yet, they postponed it.
“But as God would have it, when the government made the announcement, that was when the lady said she was considering changing her mind but then, it was too late.”
The Ooni who narrated his experience with women said it was just God that came down to sort him out lest he became a butt of jokes and ridicule.
“In fact, people came to me and said it to my face that I could not impregnate a woman. They said I probably had used my manhood for something else.”
After he attained the throne, he narrated things became terrible when his attempts to have a child with the first marriages he had did not yield anything.
“Ife told me that I must provide ‘omo ori ite’ (a heir). Another problem. But when eventually the ‘omo ori ite’ came, you all know what happed afterwards.
“So I want all of you to make my case a prayer point because God came down and answered my prayers in manifold.”
The Ooni who was narrating his story amidst intermittent songs and cheers from the crowd said he naturally was a shy person and never believed he could have multiple wives.
The monarch also narrated his ordeal when he impregnated a girl at 19 years of age.
He praised his late mother who saved him from ridicule when the girl he impregnated was brought to their house by her parents.
“Then, murder or any other crime was better than impregnating someone especially as a 19 years of age.
“While everyone wanted to make jest of me, my mother called me and took me inside to interrogate me.
“Did you enter or not? She asked and instead of giving a straight answer, I said “periphery”. She said ok, now you have a wife. She went to the lady’s house and told them that her son had claimed ownership of the pregnancy and requested that they should release the girl. Then, I disappeared from home and everyone was looking for me. Then, it was a thing of shame to impregnate someone, it was worse than murder.
“I really thank my parents and my elderly ones. When the child was born, I was then at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, my father came and insisted I must attend the naming. I jumped over the fence and ran away. After waiting for nearly three hours, he left with the instruction that I must meet him in Ife.”
The Ooni said his mother encouraged him to do everything in his capacity to train his child that one day she would be useful.
It would be recalled that the Ooni has gone ahead to marry multiple wives and has welcomed many children including sets of twins.
