- Read Ooni’s Earlier Statement Denying Unleashing ‘The Gods’ Against ‘Enemies’
The Southwest of Nigeria is presently experiencing something unsual – the perceived enmity between two powerful monarchs, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu and the youthful Ooni of Ile Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi took another dimension on Tuesday when a section of the Igan Iduganran Palace, on Lagos Island caught fire.
Naturally, the people of the region have since been sharing the sentiment that the fire incident may have been triggered off by ‘the gods’ who resented Oba Akiolu’s act of snubbing the Ooni publicly recently.
It was learnt that the fire at Oba Akiolu’s palace started from an air conditioner in an apartment inside the palace, destroying furniture and other household items in the room.
Newsmen were told that the incident started around 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday with smokes billowing to the sky, which attracted a crowd to the area.
A senior emergency official, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident, saying the fire had been put out.
The Ooni, when some online publications quoted his Palace that he had decided to ‘invoke the wrath of his ancestors on Oba Akiolu’ had quickly dissociated himself from the rumour last week.
In a statement from the Office of his Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare said the rumour which was supposed to have emanated from one Tunde Awoyeni, did not have the input of the Ile Ife monarch.
For record purposes, we here reproduce the statement from the Ooni’s Palace. Enjoy:
“The Palace of the Ooni is using this medium to dissociate the Ooni of Ife from the statement credited to Mr Tunde Awoyemi and we have said it repeatedly that we have no official reaction to the issue of Oba Akiolu.
“Kabiyesi Ogunwusi is committed to his peace and unity agenda, which he has embarked on since he ascended the throne of his forefathers. We refrain from reacting officially, with a view to avoiding fanning any ember of discord as Oba Akiolu remains a respected monarch and the Ooni had established a very robust and healthy relationship with him before his installation as the Ooni of Ife.
“While the Ooni would continue to sustain the relationship with Oba Akiolu, we want to state categorically that the remark credited to Tunde Awoyemi was not authorised by Ooni and should be disregarded by all Nigerians both at home and in diaspora.”
Packaged by Alice Egbedele with additional reports from punchng.com
