Oba Sijuwade, prominent Nigerian monarch dies

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 12:46 am

Oba Okunade Sijuwade: passes on

The Ooni of Ife in western Nigeria, Oba Okunade Sijuwade is dead. He was 85.

He died in London, at the Saint Mary’s Hospital, a favorite destination of Nigeria’s rich and powerful seeking medical care abroad.

There has been no official announcement of his demise by the government of Osun state.

Sijuwade became the king of the ancient Yoruba town in 1980, taking cognomen, Olubuse II.

He was born on January 1, 1930 in Ile-Ife to the Ogboru Ruling House. He was the grandson of Ooni Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I.

As a Yoruba Oba, the Ooni was not generally loved by his kinsmen, especially outside his kingdom, because of his business interests and his role after the annulment of the 1993 June 12 election won by Chief Moshood Abiola.

The Ooni was believed to have traded support for the cause of a fellow Yoruba high chief for business patronage from the military junta led by Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.

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One Comment

ode says:

July 30, 2015 at 8:40 am

He left a legacy not worthy – the Ife-Ibadan Road – done so badly right under his nose! The old lane was better than the new one done by RCC in which he was said to have a big stake (you know what that means)! A few weeks back I travelled on that road with his convoy ahead of me. Interesting to note that his Rolls Royce would always come to a near stop when potholes are approached – very many of them deadly ones responsible for fatal accidents in the last thirty years and for which he will answer before God if he failed to repent before he breathed his last! End of an era for self and not for God and country.Certainly not good enough!