Following the news of separation between the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and his Queen, Silekunola Naomi, an Ifa priest, Araba Yemi Elebuibon has disclosed that separation between monarchs and their wives is not a sign of spiritual curse.
He attributed such an act to a lack of proper understanding between the couple and sometimes immaturity from one of the parties involved.
The Liberation News reported that Naomi announced her separation from the monarch on Thursday.
In a statement posted on her verified Instagram handle and Facebook page on Thursday, she said announced an end to the three-year marriage.
According to her, she tried to make the union work but said the monarch’s public identity is at variance with “his true self”.
The fair-skinned ex-queen wrote, “I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle, 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.”
The evangelist then declared, “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.”
Responding to some allegations, Silekunola said that her “decision to move on did not come because his majesty is married to another queen”.
She further explained, “As many would love to assume, 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 Ooni previously suffered a marital breakdown in 2017 when he split from Edo-born Zaynab-Otiti Obanor, whom he married as a monarch on March 16, 2016. Obanor’s marriage to the king lasted for 17 months before the separation.
He later married Silekunola in 2018 and the marriage produced a son, Tadenikawo.
Meanwhile, there are insinuations on social media that the Queen cannot remarry after divorcing the monarch.
Responding to this, the High Chief Priest, such a queen can remarry but must undergo a cleansing process to free her from the marital rites of the monarch.
“It is nothing spiritual but mere misunderstanding and lack of maturity between the couple.
“A wife that will stay long in matrimony needs to persevere, it is not a curse or spiritual attack.
“It is not a taboo for a queen to walk away from marriage particularly if it is no longer healthy but tradition requires that we be patient.
“No one can just marry her like that until she is cleansed of her marital rites with the monarch and she will not just go straight into another marriage until she is divulged of monarchical rites in her system.”
