Prince Ogunwusi, seems to be the most likely candidate to mount the throne after the late Ooni Sijuwade.
Since the mortal plague, death, afflicted the imperial kingdom of Ile-Ife, Osun State, to claim the pride and power of the people, His Imperial Majesty Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, the 50th Ooni of Ife, the ancient city has been cast in a bind of sort. Besides having to duel with an increasingly meddlesome and fast domineering new media, the Royal Traditional Council (RTC) has had to contend with the intrigues, subtle and wild machinations of contenders to the crown.
No sooner did Ile-Ife commit the remains of Oba Sijuwade to mother earth than princes from the eligible ruling families began to indicate interest in the royal stool, with each candidate making a strong case for himself.
As the race to succeed the late Ooni intensifies, all the eligible princes in the ancient town have disclosed their intentions to succeed the late Ooni of Ife. However, from all indications, of all the contenders, Prince Adetunji Adeyemi Ogunwusi, 48, seems to be the most likely candidate to mount the throne after the late Ooni Sijuwade.
While many pundits attribute the likelihood of his emergence as the next Ooni to his established renown, business savvy and depth of character, many more argue that the Ogunwusi scion is favoured by historical and royal provisions.
Notwithstanding the claims, counter-claims and permutations concerning his candidacy for the crown, Prince Ogunwusi exudes unusual candour and character absent in several contenders to the throne. For instance, while his rivals lust and fixate on the likely benefits to be enjoyed from mounting the coveted throne, Prince Ogunwusi sees royalty as ‘Service to Humanity.’ The Prince believes that royalty is both spiritual and physical empowerment of monarchs authorised to ensure provision of adequate welfare for their people and protection of their Socio-cultural heritage and not a position of exploitation or self-enrichment whatsoever.
The respect and dignity that comes with royalty, according to him, should be earned. “Kingship is power and ability to serve the community at large. A monarch’s ability to rule is not based only on one’s divine right of succession, but also on one’s ability to shoulder the responsibility that comes with being divinely appointed. A monarch should possess the ability to lead his subjects wisely, placing the welfare of his kingdom above his personal desire. It is also paramount that one appreciates the collective guide of the kingmakers and other stakeholders in upholding the cultural beliefs of his kingdom,” he said.
The Prince’s socio-economic and cultural development blueprint for Ile-Ife
While his rivals engage in wanton popularity contest and bicker over their right to the throne, Prince Ogunwusi charts a purposeful developmental agenda for Ile-Ife. “My main thrust of returning Ile-Ife to its pre-eminence is based on my desire to redevelop the historic city into becoming the regional centre for commerce and promote its cultural heritage. Ile-Ife in the past accommodated and welcome visitors and traders alike with warmth and open arms for the economic benefit of the indigenes. So, this would be the driving ideology for all my infrastructural, economic policy and developmental strategies,” he said.
According to the Prince, his decision to vie for the throne of his forebears is premised on his ambition to further re-unite the Yoruba and promote the race’s cultural heritage. “My desire is to re-ignite the interest of our youths in the development of Yoruba land and redefine the richness in our cultural beliefs. Taking a cue from what I have done all my life which is wealth creation, my six-point agenda derived from the letters of the word “WEALTH” include: W = Wealth creation; E = Education; A = Agricultural Development; L = Leveraging ; T = Tourism and Trade and H = Human Capital Development,” he said.
Prince Ogunwusi seeks to work with organisations like Ife Indigenes in Diaspora organisation (IIDORG) to strengthen business, travel and investment opportunities in the kingdom. “This will be achieved by harnessing and developing local content and talents for business growth and development of the land. Our people are known for art and craft, pottery, and artifact development. We intend to promote indigenous industries by sourcing and developing markets for the products. Our overall wealth creation ideals shall be achieved by vigorously pursuing other agendas,” he disclosed.
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