Oba of Lagos Shuns Ooni of Ife

Ooni of Ife while greeting Oba Riwan Akiolu

Oba Rilwan Aremu Akiolu, Oba of Lagos in a recent video, embarrassed the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi at a public function.
In the 25 seconds video which has gone viral, the Ooni of Ife is seen arriving the venue of the event which had the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu II, sitting beside an unidentified Oba.

In the video, the Oni of Ife while greeting other Obas at the event, offered the Oba of Lagos his hands, Oba Akiolu looked away and dismissed him with a wave of the hand.

The embarrassed monarch quietly returned to his seat.

The incident, however, sparked outrage on the social media as many commentators condemned Oba Akiolu, describing his action as unbecoming of a Yoruba monarch.

A Facebook user, Kenny Statesman said,” No No No!!! This is not worthy of Oba of Lagos, seriously I’m extremely disappointed.”

In another post, Deji Afolayan wrote, “… I see no reason why Oba Akiolu should act like that, I really like the Oba of Lagos but his action here is uncalled for.”

One Kayode Henry wrote,” This attitude is unbecoming of a king in Yoruba land. The Ooni of Ife no matter his age is a superior Oba to all other obas…”

One Olushola Agbaje wrote...

"It's out of envy or jealousy that d Eleko of Eko (Oba of Lagos or whatever) displayed that pettiness. He knows d SEAT of Ooni of Ife is highly powerful,natural,superior & traditional than his own 'artificially created seat'. In Yoruba land, d Alaafin of Oyo is d most senior,respected & powerful..Next is Ooni of Ife whose seat is even d most "traditional" in d land. They are both descendants of Oduduwa..!So who is Oba of Lagos NOT to have respected a young & modest Ooni of Ife who is also a "natural" Billionaire than he(Lagos Oba) who became billionaire through political means? Respect to my Oba, Ooni of Ife..4life!"

” If it were to be in the days where culture and tradition still takes its rightful place, all the obas no matter your age should be on their feet whenever the Obaluaye of Ife ( Ooni) comes in . But the respectful king did not even think about that but came to embrace the Oba of Lagos on his seat, but all he could do is this show of shame.”

Abiodun Olojede said,” What an act of arrogance. It is very unfortunate that the Oba of Lagos disgraced himself, not the highly respected Ooni of Ife…”

Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, Ooni of Ife is a Nigerian accountant and the 51st Ooni of Ife. He succeeded the late Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who died on July 28, 2015. The Vanguard Newspaper described him as "an astute entrepreneur driven by turning impossibilities to ‘possibilities’". His reign has been marked by a modern outlook and a number of progressive policies.

Since his coronation, the king has made news for a number of notable actions and pronouncements including the promise not to re-litigate supremacy battles with other Yorùbá kings. On January 17, 2016, Ọọ̀ni Ògúnwùsi broke a 79-year-old antagonism between the thrones of Ifẹ and Ọ̀yọ́ by visiting the Aláàfin, the first of such visits in eight decades by an Ifẹ monarch.