Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade was born on the 1st of January, 1930 to a great royal family in the Ogboru house, Ilare, Ile-Ife. The last Ooni of Ife that the Ogboru ruling house presented (before the incumbent) reigned in Ife for many years as Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I. He was the first Ooni to venture out of his domain. At the invitation of the colonial Governor he visited Lagos in 1903 to give his ruling on whether the Oba Elepe of Epe was entitled to wear a crown which was earlier refused by Oba Akarigbo of Remo. Oba Adelekan was the father of the late “Omo-Oba“ Adereti Sijuwade, the father of Oba Sijuwade Olubuse II- the present Ooni of Ife. His mother was the late Yeyelori, Emilia Ifasesin Sijuwade.
Prince Okunade Sijuwade as he was then called, started his elementary education at Igbein school, Abeokuta, an institution owned by the CMS mission. He lived with his other brother under the care of their father’s good friend Chief G. A. Adedayo and his family. Chief Adebayo was the secretary to the Egba council, under the Asoju Oba. After his elementary school education he proceeded to Abeokuta Grammar school, under the well-known educationist, The Rev. I. O. Ransome Kuti who was the principal of the school.
Early in life, Prince Okunade Sijuwade was conscious of his royal birth, and his carriage, even in school, was of one who was destined to wear the crown.
Once, at Abeokuta Grammar school, the Reverend Ransome Kuti wanted to flog the young Sijuwade for some misdemeanour. As the principal raised his whip, the young prince dared the famous disciplinarian to hit a ‘king’.
This did not of course stop Reverend Kuti from meting out what he considered appropriate punishment to the erring young man who was nonetheless satisfied that he has made his point. He left Abeokuta Grammar school after five years and got transferred to Oduduwa college in Ile-Ife to complete his studies under the Reverend S. A. Adeyefa. On his first day at school, mistaken for one of the new teachers and in no hurry to correct the impression, young Sijuwade took over the class in which he was supposed to be a student. In spite of his royal posturing and youthful pranks, Prince Sijuwade is remembered by many of his classmates as a particularly diligent student and quite mature for his age . Because of his relative access to money the prince was able to acquire many good things of life, especially clothes. He was a trend setter in school. He was one of the few students in Oduduwa college, who were familiar with the life in Lagos at that time, as today, the centre of good life in Nigeria.
On leaving Oduduwa College, the young prince joined his father’s business for about three years after which the elder Sijuwade, convinced that his son had acquired sufficient on-the-job training, decided he should proceed for a course of study overseas. Before he left however, the young man on his own volition decided he needed to have journalistic training.
He joined The Nigerian Tribune where he spent two years, first as a reporter and later as a sales executive. Thereafter, he proceeded to the United Kingdom in the early fifties to undertake a course of training in Business Management.
His training was essentially in Northampton and with the Leventis Group in Manchester in 1957. He also participated in advanced business management training programmes with companies in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Scotland, West Germany and Israel. Armed with the immense experience he acquired in these places he returned to Nigeria a few years later to lunch a career in business.
Prince Sijuwade’s business career was marked by more than average fortune. Endowed with an agile mind, highly motivated and possessed of an iron-will, courage and prodigious industry, the prince was certainly destined for success. And so he drove himself to limits that would seriously test all but the most dogged. Early in his career he decided he could do with no more than four hours sleep and that distance would prevent him from accomplishing his goals. Even today, with the enormous demand on his time in several places, some of them several miles apart he maintains a travelling schedule that even the most peripatetic would consider punitive.
Shortly after Prince Sijuwade returned to Nigeria , he was appointed the Sales Manager of Leventis Motors in Western Nigeria with its headquarters in Ibadan. By 1960, with Nigerian Independence, he became an adviser to the Leventis Group.

Story Story

In summary: His Biography.

elijah2u:
Story Story

once upon a time, there lived a...

His Imperial Majesty Ooni Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II is every inch a great monarch. He has got the fame and the frame; the touch and the taste as well as the mien and the means of an outstanding monarch. He has also got the awe and the aura; the affluence and the influence.
His presence commands attention. His words compel compliance. He is a king to whom other kings kowtow.
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His style
Oba Sijuwade ascended the throne when there was a serious contention for supremacy among Yoruba obas. So, he chose to be different from the rest by taking on the title of Oluaye, King of the Universe. With that, a message was dispatched to others that he was not in their class. He, however, dropped the title in 2009 after becoming a Christian and a member of the Foursquare Gospel Church.
Apart from taking the Oluaye title, he also styled himself His Imperial Majesty. Other first class monarchs in the country go by the title, His Royal Highness. With this, the Ooni, again set himself apart.
But perhaps the most significant point of departure from other traditional rulers was his mode of dressing. Unlike other kings who are robed in agbada and soro or dansiki and kembe, Oba Sijuwade chose to distinguish himself by getting an iconic and inimitable design for himself. His apparels became part of his signature. In his case, the attire partly made the king.
His convoy of Obas
Oba Sijuwade also pioneered the culture of a paramount king moving in convoy of other kings. Yoruba Obas are Kabiyesi because their actions are not subjected to questioning by their subjects. Therefore, they are naturally autocratic, aristocratic and patronising. They hardly allow anyone who can take the shine off them around them. So, in the days of yore, they went about with an entourage of lesser mortals. But Ooni Sijuwade changed that. He chose to move about in company with other Kabiyesis, many of them paramount rulers. Not only did this elevate the other Kabiyesis in the estimation of people, it also increased the honour of Oba Sijuwade himself. He empowered the Obas and encouraged them to empower others.
His cars
Oba Okunade Sijuwade’s love for cars is legendary. The rarer a car is, the higher his love for it; the costlier it is, the more he wants it; the grander it is, the more he desires it and the more exotic it is, the more he craves it. He loves Bentley a great deal but his preference is Rolls Royce, the latest edition of which he never fails to acquire.
Ooni is a show stopper. Whenever he arrives at the venue of an event, no matter who gets there before him the show will have to stop for a while; not because he wants it so but because the audience cannot fail to take note of the vehicle that conveys him to the venue. His luxurious vehicles put to shame the official vehicles of governors and even president.
Perhaps Ooni’s love for exotic vehicles dates back to his days as the Sales Director at National Motors before establishing his own chains of companies that deal in sales of vehicles. He must have developed special taste for special cars while marketing cars to others.

Custodian of tradition
Despite being an avowed Christian, who identifies with The Foursquare Gospel Church, Oba Sijuwade is a lover of tradition. He never fails to perform his function as a natural ruler. His commitment to upholding the culture and tradition of the people always came to the fore during the celebration of Olojo, the most important festival in Ile Ife.
Ahead of the celebration, Ooni would go into seclusion during which he communed with the 401 deities in the city, supplicating for the entire Yoruba race and the nation at large. After the completion of his days in seclusion, the monarch, together with the Osogun of Ifeland, would stay awake all night for supplication. This is known as Ilagun. In the morning, women from the Ooni’s maternal and paternal families would sweep the palace, symbolically ridding it of all forms of evil. The Oba would later appear in the popular Aare beaded crown believed to have been worn by Oduduwa the progenitor of the Yoruba race. With the crown, said to be very heavy, he would lead a procession of priests and traditional chiefs to Ogun shrine to perform sacrifices.
From the shrine, the people would move to Okemogun shrine, where series of rites would be performed. This would be followed by drumming and dancing before the procession continued to Oketage Hill where the Chief Priest would carry out divination for the Oba.
Lover of Peace
For decades, the people of Ile Ife and Modakeke, though neighbours, had lived as enemies. The conflict between the two communities escalated into full-blown war in the 1990s. The war resulted in thousands of lives being lost, many houses burnt and many farmlands destroyed. The cause of the problem was the desire of the Modakekes to have their traditional ruler, the Ogunsua, elevated to the status of an Oba and the unwillingness of the Ifes to allow this. The crisis ended when the Ooni agreed that the Ogunsua should be allowed to become an Oba.
By that decision, Oba Sijuwade saved Ile Ife from unnecessary bloodshed and wanton destruction of properties.
It has been said that Oba Okunade Sijuwade took this position because of the promise he made at his coronation in 1980 to work for the peace of the land.
In his coronation speech, he had said, “I re-dedicate my life to the service of lfe, of Oyo State, of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and of all Yoruba speaking people all over the world. This torch is handed on to me by a Hand That I Know. I shall hold it high in service to the people. I shall not let it fall. Its light shall not fail. May the gods of our fathers bless you all.”
Reverence for Awolowo
Oba Okunade Sijuwade is seen by many as a member of the Awolowo larger family. He related with the Awolowos as a blood relation. He revered Baba and adored Mama. Hence, after his coronation he named Mama HID Awolowo, the Yeye Oba, the King’s Mother, of Ile Ife. He was later to elevate her to Yeye Odua, showing that Mama’s relevance transcendsa town but extends to the whole of Yoruba race.
In an interview the Ooni recently granted Professor Wale Adebanwi, the Kabiyesi said he would not have agreed to becoming the Ooni if not for the intervention of Papa Awolowo. He said it was as if the revered former Premier compelled him to accept the offer of becoming the king. Such was the reverence he had for the family.