We won’t dignify Alaafin’s 48-hour ultimatum with an official response, says Ooni’s aide

Moses Olafare, spokesperson for Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, says the monarch will not react to the 48-hour ultimatum from Abimbola Owoade, the Alaafin of Oyo.

The Alaafin had asked Ogunwusi to reverse the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland as conferred on businessman Dotun Sanusi.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Olafare said the Ooni had instructed him not to issue a statement in response to the Alaafin.

He, however, described the Alaafin’s ultimatum as an “empty threat”.

“We cannot dignify the undignifyable with an official response. We leave the matter to be handled in the public court of opinion as it is already being treated,” the post reads.

“Let’s rather focus on narratives that unite us rather than the ones capable of dividing us.

“48 Hours My Foot!”

The Alaafin had disputed the Ooni’s authority to confer the title on Sanusi.

In a statement issued on Monday by Bode Durojaiye, Alaafin’s director of media and publicity, the monarch described the Ooni’s action as a direct challenge to his exclusive right to confer titles that span the entire Yorubaland.

He claimed that the Ooni’s authority is limited to the Oranmiyan LGA, which has since been balkanised into Ife central, Ife north, and Ife south.

The Alaafin demanded the revocation of the title conferred on Sanusi within 48 hours, warning that there would be consequences if his directive is not heeded.

“The conferment of chieftaincy title, which bothers on Yorubaland by the Ooni of Ife, is not only an affront to the revered institution of the Alaafin, who is the Titan of Yorubaland and who holds the exclusive right to confer any chieftaincy title which covers the entire Yorubaland, on anyone,” the statement reads.