Ooni @49: Prof Siyan Oyeweso Pays Tribute To Ooni On His Birthday Anniversary

All Hail HIM Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II and Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka @ 49

Today, I celebrate the 51st Ooni of Ife in the Third Dynasty, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, a Chartered Accountant, a Certified member of the Institute of Directors and a leading member of the Global Real Estate Institute.

Your birth was predicted several years before your conception; hence your mother named you Enitan (a man of history) while your grandfather named you Adeyeye (the crown befits the throne).

You are of illustrious ancestry and heritage and the fifth direct descendant of Ooni Ojaja Orarigba also known as Ayikiti ninu Aran the forty-fourth Ooni of Ile-Ife who reigned between 1878 and 1880. Ooni Ojaja Orarigba-Ayikiti-bi-ogun, a descendant of Ooni Giesi and the progenitor of the Giesi Ruling House, begat Joseph Olaabaju Adefisibe Ogunwusi, who gave birth to your father, Prince John Oluropo Ogunwusi.

Shortly after your coronation in 2015, you embarked on diplomatic engagement with the Alaafin of Oyo, HIM Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III by visiting him in Aafin Oyo, thereby initiating a new era in the contemporary history of the Yoruba race.

The visit, no doubt, helped to reduce tension and friction between the two thrones. You are also acknowledged as an advocate for the empowerment and emancipation of women and young people. You have also proven yourself to be a renowned philanthropist who is committed to humanity and an advocate for the less privileged.

You are especially compassionate to widows and orphans. One of your first projects was building a home to assist orphans. You also ensured that they are catered for.

You have also encouraged many orphans to acquire western education or learn some skills, granted support over the years through the House of Oduduwa Foundation and, most recently, through the Hopes Alive Initiative, impacted positively in the lives of the people of Ife, the Yorubas and Nigerians in general.

Since your enthronement, you have embarked on several local and foreign trips to tie the loose ends and re-establish the cultural significance of the Yoruba race. You are very passionate about the preservation and restoration of the ancient City of Ile-Ife.

You are also a great believer in the restoration of identity for all Yorubas across the world. Your first visit to Brazil in 2018 was part of the International Decade of Afro-descendants, established by UNESCO from 2015 to 2024. At the time, you stressed well that Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world, the second being Brazil, highlighting that many Afro-Brazilians have Yoruba origin.

Your visit had the purpose of rescuing this identity and pride in the descendants of your people. Most recently in March 2023, you visited Quilombola territory in Brazil which brought joy and celebration to the residents of the Quingoma community.

You made the city the first outside Africa to receive a certificate of Yoruba territory when you officially delivered the title to Quilombola territory in Brazil in recognition of them receiving and welcoming the Yoruba people who were enslaved and forcibly removed from Nigeria during the era of Atlantic slave trade.

You have also recorded phenomenal achievements in various sectors of our economy. In less than eight years, you have established a private university, the Ojaja University at Eyenkorin, Kwara State, and re-defined and rebranded Ile-Ife from a traditional town to a preferred destination of tourism and culture. You have impacted positively on infrastructure, landscape and aesthetics of the ancient town.

Ile-Ife now boasts of Ife Grand Resort located on over 1000 acres of land. The Resort also hosts the Ojaja Arena, Adire Oodua Textile Hub, Ojaja Cinema and first-class Hotel Suites. Within a short period of time, you have established Ojaja More in Ile-Ife, Ede, Ibadan, Akure, Lagos and in several other leading Nigerian cities all in the bid to meet the consumption needs of the people.

You are proud holder of several Honorary doctorate degrees, particularly Degree of Law from Igbinedion University, Okada, Benin City, and Honorary Degree of Public Administration from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. In October 2022, you were also conferred with the highly prestigious National Honour Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR) by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

I celebrate you today because you are encouraging archaeologists to continue their amazing work of re-discovering the priceless history buried in the land of Ilé-Ifè, like the ancient city walls, the Luwo terracotta pavement tiles, and matching physical sites to places referred to in oral tradition and oríkì. You are also encouraging archaeologists and historians to engage in fruitful collaborative research with the primary objective of deepening our understanding of the great African Civilization, the Ife past.

The most recent example was the International Conference on Ile-Ife and Yoruba Civilization: The Nexus between Tradition and Modernity, which was held at Ojaja Arena, Ife Grand Resort between October 10 and 13, 2023. I had the priviledge of serving as the Chief Convener of this epochal Conference while the Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Adebayo Simeon Bamire was the Chief Host.

Oriki Kabiyesi Ooni Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja Keji Omo Ojaja fidi ote jale
Ayi kiti Ogun Omo etiri ogun kare o
Leyoo aje okunOoni Ajere aboju jojo
Enitan Ogunwusi Oke leyin Moore
O taye so biigba Omo Ajongbodo Omo osun meru ti kun Omo ibi ola ti nwa
omo Ayikiti Ogun tiri Ogun
Ayikiti Oba Etiri Oba ni Moore
Omo Giesi Degbin koko Omo erin meji alo Omo ologbenla a ridi ire gabo
A riwo obi salejo Paraka ode igbodo Ologbenla a yamo paara koji
Agbedegbede oyinbo Omo Agbagba orire nso bí eyokunyokun Opoto nso biikan were nile mi Omo o soro ko sikisiki bose
Omo osoro fese saworo bade
Kare o Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi ọmọ baba ria

Long live Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II!
Long live the House of Oduduwa!!!!
Long live Ile-Ife!!
Long live the Yoruba race!!!
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!!!

Professor Siyan Oyeweso
Professor of History,
Osun State University, Osogbo
Fellow, Historical Society of Nigeria
Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Letters
17 October, 2023