TV girl Dolapo Oni and fiance Adegbite Sijuwade are getting married today. And after the remains of her late father in law, the Ooni of Ife Okunade Sijuwade, arrived his palace in Ile Ife late last night, Dolapo shared a loving message about supporting her man to the moon and back.
Palace authorities and notable Ile-Ife personalities insist the Oba is alive, and is hale and hearty, but reliable palace insiders said on Saturday that the body of the paramount ruler left London in a chartered air ambulance on Friday and was taken to the palace under the cover of darkness.
The body, PremiumTimes reports, is now lying in a secluded part of the palace called Ilegbo, a sacred
place where all Oonis commune with their ancestors. Ilegbo is the place where highly-prized rituals take place within the confinement of the palace.
It is also the place where the Are beaded crown, worn annually by the Ooni, is kept.
The Are crown is usually worn through the back because it is forbidden for the Ooni to see the inside of the beaded crown. And when it is worn, the rain must not touch it.
The monarch’s male children and highly ranked priests and chiefs are allowed to access that innermost recess of the palace and sight the Ooni’s remains. The Oba’s female children can’t go in there as tradition does not allow them to sight the Oba at this time.
Those who should know said the traditional chiefs had to declare the annual Oro festival on Friday in expectation of the arrival of the corpse. The commencement of the Oro festival signalled the beginning of the final rites of passage for the departed Ooni.
The Oro is expected to last seven days after which the Ooni would be committed to mother earth at a private ceremony within the palace.
On why the announcement of the Oba’s passing had to be delayed, palace sources told PREMIUMTIMES that it was to allow his wives and family members move their personal belongings from the palace, and for the traditional priests to perform some “compulsory rituals”.
“Members of his family who were with him in London had to hurry back home to remove their personal effects because once his death is declared all their property will belong to the people. They won’t be able to take anything from the palace anymore,” one of our sources said.Palace chiefs and notable personalities from Ile-Ife have consistently denied reports that the revered monarch had passed on, a news item that first broke on Tuesday.
Their visit to the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, on Thursday and a closed-door meeting with the governor heightened anxiety that the Ooni might have actually passed away. They however emerged from the meeting insisting that the Ooni was in good health. On its part, the Osun state government is yet to make any comment on the matter.
Oba Sijuwade’s predecessor, Oba Adesoji Aderemi died on July 3, 1980.
Mr. Sijuwade, crowned Oba on December 6, 1980 is widely believed to have passed away since July 28, 2015.
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