NewsRelationship
Uneasy Quiet at Ile-Ife as Queen Naomi Ends Marriage to the Ooni, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi
By Tony Enoch
The deteriorating relationship between the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, and his sultry wife, Queen Silekunola Naomi, an acclaimed evangelist, that has been hitherto discussed in hushed tones, boiled over on Thursday as the embattled Queen announced that the union had broken beyond redemption.
Queen Naomi, Thursday, took to her verified Instagram handle and Facebook page, to announce that the three-year-old marriage had ended.
The distraught Queen said that despite her best efforts to make the marriage work, she could no longer cope with the dual personality of the paramount Yoruba ruler. She alleged that the Ooni’s public image is a sharp contrast to “his true self”.
“I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle,” the light-complexioned Queen lamented, “but I have finally realised I had just one assignment, my son, and when God is done, He is done. He chose Saul to be king, and when He was done, He told the prophet Samuel I have moved on. Religion was never an issue between us; please refer to my interview on News Central TV. Instead, His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self.”
Queen Naomi then added everything and declared that: “Today I announce the beginning of a new dawn and the close of a chapter. Today, I am a mother to God’s unique gift. I am no longer a slave to my thoughts of perfection. I, at this moment, announce that I shall no longer be referred to as wife to the Ooni of Ife or as Queen of Ile-Ife but as the Queen of the people and mother of my adorable Prince.”
Side Attractions
Although she acknowledged that the Ooni had some ‘side attractions’, that was never an issue between them.
“As many would love to assume,” the embittered Queen continued, “throughout our life as a couple, I was the only married wife to him. There were side attractions, but it was never an issue.
“I never approached him with any revelation of any sort, as many believed he contacted me first and made his proposal known several months later.
“The marriage was not an arranged one, as many have misconstrued. I never knew the prophetess said to have introduced me to him. Instead, he introduced her to me after I agreed to marry him. I was only being polite out of respect for him.
“I have never been pregnant all my life before Tadenikawo; my son is my first ever pregnancy with medical reports to back it up. The girl who is said to be my daughter is my niece.”
The Crest recalls that the Ooni, who fathered a child, a daughter, while in secondary school in Ibadan, has not been quite successful in marriage. For instance, his marriage to Edo State-born Zaynab-Otiti Obanor, which was contracted on the throne on March 16, 2016, lasted only 17 months. It crashed in 2017.
He married Silekunola Naomi in 2018 and the marriage produced a son, Tadenikawo.
As stated, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, the 51st Ooni of Ife who turned 47 last October, also had a daughter with then Miss. Omolara Olatubosun, as a teenager, with whom he sired Princess Adeola Ogunwusi.
However, the Ooni has been enmeshed in serious controversy between him and Olatubosun over who was responsible for the upbringing of the girl.
Mum was the word from the palace, Thursday, as the Press Secretary to the Ooni, Moses Olafare, rebuffed our reporter’s calls.
