President of the Yoruba Council Worldwide, Oladotun Hassan, has said the authority of the Ooni of Ife is global and revered across Yorubaland.
Oladotun, who made this clarification on Friday, while responding to questions in an interview on Arise Television, clarified that the Ooni of Ife is the spiritual head of the Yoruba race. “Ooni’s authority is a global authority. That is why we call Ooni, Onirisha,” he said. This is coming on the heel of supremacy tussle between the Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo.
According to Oladotun, Oyo historically owes its existence to Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yoruba civilisation.
The President of the Yoruba Council Worldwide reiterated that every other town in Yoruba were an extension of Ile-Ife, because every prince left Ile-Ife with their crown, with the caveat of never to wage war against Ile-Ife.
He maintained that the authority of Alaafin still holds Ile-Ife as a cradle and source of the Yoruba race, a fact that could not be broken. He, therefore, urged Yoruba leaders to come together in unity, stressing that peace could only be achieved when the Ooni and Alaafin work together harmoniously.
“From the stable of the Ooni of Ife, or Ọọ̀ni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja, the Ooni of Ife, is a referred father, is a spiritual head of the entire Yoruba race.
“By virtue of definition, we can say the Ooni is the president of the Yoruba race, while Alaafin is the prime minister, because they all have concurrent duties to play for the Yoruba race,” he added.
