ForeverMissed
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This memorial website was created by Dr. Akin Awofolaju in memory of our loved one, His Imperial Majesty Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse11,  85, born on January 1, 1930, and passed away on July 28, 2015. We will remember him forever. One of the 401 Yoruba Deities.


THE GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF OBA OKUNADE SIJUWADE OLUBUSE II- OONI OF IFE

History had it that Olofin Oduduwa had many children who reigned after his death.

One was Oranmiyan from whom Lajamisan was a descendant. One of his children, Lajodogun succeeded him as an Ooni.

Lajodoku is the ancestorial father of Lafogido, Ogboru, Giesi and Oshikola. These are the four ruling houses at Ile Ife.

These descendants have reigned at Ile-Ife for the past four hundred years and they produced last twenty four Ooni's.

 

The Ooni's Biography

Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade was born on the 1st of January, 1930 to a great royal family in the Ogboru house, Ilare, Ile-Ife. The last Ooni of Ife that the Ogboru ruling housepresented (before the incumbent) reigned in Ife for many years as Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I. He was the first Ooni to venture out of his domain. At the invitation of the colonial Governor he visited Lagos in 1903 to give his ruling on whether the Oba Elepe of Epe was entitled to wear a crown which was earlier refused by Oba Akarigbo of Remo. Oba Adelekan was the father of the late “Omo-Oba“ Adereti Sijuwade, the father of Oba Sijuwade Olubuse II- the present Ooni of Ife. His mother was the late Yeyelori, Emilia Ifasesin Sijuwade.

Prince Okunade Sijuwade as he was then called, started his elementary education at Igbein school, Abeokuta, an institution owned by the CMS mission. He lived with his other brother under the care of their father’s good friend Chief G. A. Adedayo and his family. Chief Adebayo was the secretary to the Egba council, under the Asoju Oba. After his elementary school education he proceeded to Abeokuta Grammar school, under the well-known educationist, The Rev. I. O. Ransome Kuti who was the principal of the school.

Early in life, Prince Okunade Sijuwade was conscious of his royal birth, and his carriage, even in school, was of one who was destined to wear the crown.

Once, at Abeokuta Grammar school, the Reverend Ransome Kuti wanted to flog the young Sijuwade for some misdemeanour. As the principal raised his whip, the young prince dared the famous disciplinarian to hit a ‘king’.

This did not of course stop Reverend Kuti from meting out what he considered appropriate punishment to the erring young man who was nonetheless satisfied that he has made his point. He left Abeokuta Grammar school after five years and got transferred to Oduduwa college in Ile-Ife to complete his studies under the Reverend S. A. Adeyefa. On his first day at school, mistaken for one of the new teachers and in no hurry to correct the impression, young Sijuwade took over the class in which he was supposed to be a student. In spite of his royal posturing and youthful pranks, Prince Sijuwade is remembered by many of his classmates as a particularly diligent student and quite mature for his age . Because of his relative access to money the prince was able to acquire many good things of life, especially clothes. He was a trend setter in school. He was one of the few students in Oduduwa college, who were familiar with the life in Lagos at that time, as today, the centre of good life in Nigeria.

On leaving Oduduwa College, the young prince joined his father’s business for about three years after which the elder Sijuwade, convinced that his son had acquired sufficient on-the-job training, decided he should proceed for a course of study overseas. Before he left however, the young man on his own volition decided he needed to have journalistic training.

He joined The Nigerian Tribune where he spent two years, first as a reporter and later as a sales executive. Thereafter, he proceeded to the United Kingdom in the early fifties to undertake a course of training in Business Management.

His training was essentially in Northampton and with the Leventis Group in Manchester in 1957. He also participated in advanced business management training programmes with companies in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Scotland, West Germany and Israel. Armed with the immense experience he acquired in these places he returned to Nigeria a few years later to lunch a career in business.

Prince Sijuwade’s business career was marked by more than average fortune. Endowed with an agile mind, highly motivated and possessed of an iron-will, courage and prodigious industry, the prince was certainly destined for success. And so he drove himself to limits that would seriously test all but the most dogged. Early in his career he decided he could do with no more than four hours sleep and that distance would prevent him from accomplishing his goals. Even today, with the enormous demand on his time in several places, some of them several miles apart he maintains a travelling schedule that even the most peripatetic would consider punitive.

Shortly after Prince Sijuwade returned to Nigeria , he was appointed the Sales Manager of Leventis Motors in Western Nigeria with its headquarters in Ibadan. By 1960, with Nigerian Independence, he became an adviser to the Leventis Group..

.

January 1
Rest in perfect peace Kabiyesi Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubushe 11 also my Grand Dad Oba Adelekan Olubushe 1.
May their soul continue to Rest in peace.
January 1
January 1
Eternal rest continue to grant Kabiyesi, O Lord! - Dr.Engr. Kofo' Aarinola
July 29, 2023
July 29, 2023
May your great soul continue to rest in peace! - Dr. Kofo' Aarinola.
March 12, 2023
March 12, 2023
Emm, life is like a plant. Baba you were a loving and supportive father to my Late father HRM Oyekanmi Mathew Ogedengbe the Obanla IV of Ijeshaland who also left us 30th August 2021. Months before your death, I and my father already book an appointment to see you, but didn't know that the last time to see you alive wouldn't come. My late father called me over the phone. Yetty, Baba is gone. I cried because, I was suppose to see you before making my journey to study. You were more than a father to us. I know you and my late dad are in a better place. You are forever cherished and missed.

Rest in power.

I have written this in memory of my great fathers. Late Ooni of Ife Sijuade Olubuse II and Oyekanmi Mathew Ogedengbe Obanla of Ijeshaland IV.
January 3, 2023
January 3, 2023
When someone so close to us die, often, they took some parts of us with them. Baba will be remembered for his ever warm receptivity, gentlemanly considerate, his ever level headedness with perfect reciprocity. Baba was a river that run deep on many levels. He uniquely had a sort of magnetic presence that electrified everyone he touched.May the fun memories he left us remain eternal. Death cannot kill what never die. May baba gentle soul rest in most perfect peace. Adieu regally king
January 2, 2023
January 2, 2023
Baba,we we will forever be missing you.Apart from being a king of ife,you also love ife to passion . Continue to rest on baami.
Hon Taye
January 1, 2023
January 1, 2023
May your great soul continue to rest in peace, Kabiyesi!
- by Dr. Kofo Aarinola
July 28, 2022
His Divine Imperial Majesty the King, the Great Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse, the Royal Eagle of Nigeria, the Protector of His People (O ran Omo ni ise fi aya ti) the Lion of Africa, a King like no other kings. We are missing you daily, a day has never gone by without the thought of you. We are missing your fatherly protection. But your legacy lives on, I was able to secure a job in my profession because of my last name, instead of the usual normal interview process, it was all about the day Your Majesty landed in the West Indies and how referenced and adored you are up till present. Kabiyesi Baba, may your super giant soul continue to rest in perfect peace. Baba yi ooo.
Regally Signed,
Olubuse III
July 28, 2022
July 31, 2021
July 31, 2021
I am deeply saddened by the loss that you and your family have encountered. My condolences.

You and your family are in my heart and mind. My condolences on the passing of your father.
July 28, 2021
July 28, 2021
Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed, and forever will be loved. Death can't kill what never dies!!!
July 28, 2021
Whoa six years already? July 28, 2015, what a memorable day: the Supreme King of the Western Region of Nigeria, the Great Alayeluwa, King Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse slept and refused to wake up. I thought it was a joke, Kabiyesi left a big vacuum in our lives. Once upon a time, there were two kings in Nigeria: Ooni Olofin Sijuwade Olubuse and the other kings. Baba has been gone for six years, but the memory of Him is perpetual evergreen. Kabiyesi Baba, continue to rest in perfect peace. A King like no other kings, the Protector of His people, (o ran Omo ni ise fi aya ti) the Royal Eagle of Nigeria and the Lion of Africa.
Fondly Remember by:
Prince 'Gbemiga Omisakin Omisore, Olubuse III for and on behalf of:
Her Royal Highness Princess Adetipe Saatu Adelekan Olubuse Royal Dynasty. [First daughter of His Majesty the King, Alayeluwa Oba Adelekan Olubuse I, Ooni of Ife, 1894 - 1910]
July 28, 2020
July 28, 2020
Kabiyesi ooo. Ifes and Yoruba race all over the world will continue to miss you as a revered King who brought prominence to the Stool of Oduduwa. Your strength, tenacity and generosity cannot be overemphasized you were the greatest Oba of our time. respected and reverenced by high and low, rich and poor and also by powerful and powerless .
Since your demise Kabiyesi many waters both good and bad have passed under the bridge and Ife may never be the same again for a long time to come (maybe for a while) God will decide that. The trust you bestowed on your people were seriously betrayed for the sake of money.
We shall always remember you for the good legacy you left behind (Oba to je ti Ilu toro ati eyi to je ti Ilu baje oruko awon mejeji koni pare.)
Baba continue to rest in peace and joy in the bosom of our Lord . Amen
Your Aare of Ife
Muyiwa Omisade
July 28, 2020
Five years ago, but feels like five days ago. In the memory of the Supreme King of the Western Region of Nigeria, the Great Alayeluwa, King Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse: a King that was admired in Nigeria, adored throughout the African soil, and reverenced in Europe, North America, Cuba, West Indies and adjoining Islands. Once upon a time, there were two kings in Nigeria; Ooni Olofin Sijuwade Olubuse and the other kings. Baba was always surrounded by who-is-who in the society; On several occasions, Kabiyesi was consulted by Nigerian government officials before any major decisions were made at the federal and state levels. Baba has been gone for five years, but the memory of Him is perpetual evergreen. Kabiyesi Baba, continue to rest in perfect peace. A King like no other kings, the Protector of His people, (o ran Omo ni ise fi aya ti) the Royal Eagle of Nigeria and the Lion of Africa.
Fondly Remember by
Prince 'Gbemiga Olubuse Omisore for and on behalf of:
Her Royal Highness Princess Adetipe Saatu Adelekan Olubuse Royal Dynasty. [ First daughter of His Majesty the King, Alayeluwa Oba Adelekan Olubuse I, Ooni Of Ife, 1894 - 1910]

Regally Signed,
Olubuse III
November 15, 2019
November 15, 2019
BABA KABIYESI! REST IN THE BOSSOM OF THE LORD.
JIGBINI BI ATE AKUN, ITI OMO OLODUMARE....
July 28, 2018
July 28, 2018
Baba, continue to rest in perfect peace. Your legacy lives on and the sweet memories will forever remain. Ehin Baba daradara to ti dara, ko ni baje. Amin
July 28, 2018
July 28, 2018
Rest in peace Baba you will be forever missed. Omo ooni Olubushe.
By Prince Adeeyo Adefarakan Adelekan
August 8, 2017
August 8, 2017
The Poetic Tribute in Honor of Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, on Friday, July 28,2017 ,at the Prestigious Gathering Christened :Good Legacy Memorial Lecture, organized by Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, Osun State at Agboola Odeyemi Hall,Oba Okunade Sijuwade House,Ile Ife, Nigeria.

Composed and Presented By Mr Akinola Iwilade ,08151407936                                          Title : The Dawn is Dawn ;A Rare History of a Pristine Pearl of Royalty. (first published in 2015)

   Poetic Preamble for the Poem.

  Barely seven hundred and twenty days  ago ,we had a sunset; barely twenty four months ago, we had an end to a glorious era depicting a blend of tradition and institutional modernity; but barely two years ago, we had a prestigious beginning of the biography and documentation of a successful reign of royalty.

  From childhood through adulthood, Ooni Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II resonated in royalty. At ascension on his forefathers throne ,Kabiyesi reinvented royalty to culturally perfected elegance which earned him respect globally not just as the custodian of the Yoruba source of civilization and heritage but also as an issue to be added to the ethnic coloration of our culture as a people.

  Kabiyesi’s managerial skills transcended business and societal circles but extended to his high human management capacity which showed in his very disciplined family units headed by his First son Prince Adetokunbo Sijuwade and the highly honored and revered Oloris in whose doorsteps i see royalty in utmost moderation, humility and decency, yet unbeatable.  

  As he was in life as a king so he has remained in heavenly sojourn as an idol personifying rare iconic royalty and honor for a proud and successful Yoruba race. 



The Poem (The Dawn is Dawn; a Rare History of a Pristine Pearl of Royalty.)

          January 01, 1930,

          A New Dawn Dawn,

          As Nature Fared Well,

          So the Journey Triumphed,

          Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II,

          Custodian of the Source,

          Bridge of the Yoruba race,

          Bridge for National Unity,

          Olojo Ooni,

          Oduduwa Ooni,

          Omo Adereti,

          Omo Ifasesin,

          Omo Olubuse Eri Ogun,

          Olofin Oduduwa,

          Iku Baba Yeye,

          Iku Alase,

          Igbakeji Orisa,

          Orisa gbogbo Oba Yoruba,

          Oba Olori Ade,

          Jingbinni Bi Ate Akun,

          The Imperial Majesty,

          Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II,

          Bi Eba De Ile,

          Ki Eki Ile,

          Bi Eba De Ona,

          Ki Eki Ero Ona,

          Eki Olori Yetunde,

          Eki Obafemi Awolowo,

          Eki Adekunle Ajasin,

          Eki Adekunle Fajuyi,

          Eki Uncle Bola,

          Eki Gbogbo,

          Ife Oye,

          Ti Ojumo Ti N Mo Wa,

          Kabiyesi,

          Omo Ladejokun,

          Ogborun Lokun, Ajiwunmi bi omo,

          Igi Meta Ona Ilare,

          Oni Ilare Nfobi Kan,

          Oloriburuku Nfoju Di,

          Oke Ilare Ko jugun,Aje Lo Ngbeni Gun,

          Arole Oduduwa,

          Odigba o,

          The Dawn is Dawn!
August 15, 2016
August 15, 2016
TRIBUTE, NOT A TRINUTE

From the outset, I can’t call this piece a tribute as it is a little feature of Ooni Sijuwade. But seen with an enlarging lens it has his larger than life written all over it.

This was my stint s the Admin Secretary to the Council of Ife Honorary Chiefs btw 1988/89. I had just been admitted into my Master’s program at OAU. Kabiyesi had just inaugurated the Council comprising all his honorary chiefs with Late Pro Saburi Biobaku as the Chairman and Late Prof Folayan of OAU as the Sec Gen. I was honoured with this post courtesy of Late Chief Omotoso Eluyemi of blessed memory whom I got close to through my NIDSA activities at OAU. The interview was conducted by himself and Prof Folayan at the place. Anyway, I got the job and that would be my first exposition to who was who whom Kabiyesi had selected to be his honorary chiefs and brought together for the purpose of securing their input to the development of Ife.

Althouh I spent a short period on that job but it let me with a lasting memory. One, it showed the love of Kabiyesi for Ife by rallying round captains of industry, luminary academia, retired generals, seasoned technocrats etc to rub minds on what is best for Ife. Most of my time on the job was spent shuttling btw the palace on meeting days, the Sec Gen house at OAU staff quarters, the Chairman’s office on Broad street, Lagos and few of the Chiefs’ houses. We were using the house of Pro Folayan as the temporary Secretariat. But towards the end of my tenure, a small office was created at Ile-Nla.

One visit that got etched in my memory was my visit to Rtd Gen Adeyinka Adebayo’s hose at GRA Ikeja. Having seen this stern old man at a distance in several of the meetings at the palace, I as a bit trepid for having to meet hi at a very close up in his house. After delivering my official message, the old man brought out the generosity and kindness in him by offering me a plate of delicious iyan an egusi with eja gbigbe ati’gbin. On top o this he gave me some money as my obi alejo. Imagine my elated trip back to Ife that day.

About the meeting of the Council, Kabiyesi was always constant as the shining star in presence, coordination and contributions. His chiefs, who were mostly close friends, always had the reewill to state their minds and poke jokes at him which he always parried off with “Allah dey” as a disharming device.

I usually had my seat at the back of the meeting hall to take note of the minutes in conjunction with the Sec Gen. The camaraderie spiced with strong sense of purpose always made the meetings a look forward to for me. It gave me a sense that as highly placed as these chiefs were, a forum could be created for them to unwind as well as discuss the serious matters concerning Ife in an informal setting. Although I didn’t witness execution of any project due to my short tenure there cos of my study, I belie if the tempo of that forum had been maintained something great must have come out of it.

Before I conclude, another incident that has a profound impression on me was at a meeting of the Council. The meeting has started with Kabiyesi flanked by the Chairman an Gen Adebayo. Deep into the meeting, one of the chiefs came late and still deemed it fit to handshake all round. This incurred the wrath of Gen Adebayo who sternly stopped the chief in his track to take his seat as he was disrupting the meeting. The said chief, I wouldn’t know due to what, instantly retired to his empty seat. But as the father of the gathering, Kabiyesi doused the tension by poking jokes at the chief and Gen Adebayo and ended with the usual “Allah dey”.

To conclude, there are many good things Kabiyesi would have done that were not apparent to most of us. Besides, not all of these would have yielded positive returns. But one thing that cannot be detracted from him was his passion for the development of Ife and Yoruba race at large. I am convinced it is this flaming torch that our indefatigable Ooni Ogunwusi has taken on and is seeing to its illuminating Ife, Yoruba land, Nigeria and Africa in general.

Didun ni iranti olododo. Kabiyesi, jingbinni bi ateekun, keep resting in the bosom of your Lord.

Sikiru omo Banjo Jalala
August 1, 2016
August 1, 2016
From Ambassador plenipotentiary Layi
LASEINDE

His Imperial Majesty Oba Alaiyeluwa the former Oni of Ife Okuade Sijuade will surely be missed by all his subjects, friends and all those he came in contact with He bestrode the Nigerian landscape like a colossus and left his footprints in t6he Sands of time He carried on in the tradition of those before. Him such as HRH adesoji Aderemi by showcasing the essentials, beauty, and life-long values of the Yoruba culture where ever Yoruba people maybe in the world May his Royal soul rest in perfect Peace Amen

Ambassador Layi Laseinde
July 30, 2016
July 30, 2016
Baba, it is exactly, a year and two days you left the throne of Oduduwa our progenitor. We indigenes of Ife Oodaye and the entire Yoruba nation are yet to come to term with your depature. You added glamour to the institute of Obaship in Ile-Ife and promoted the Yoruba tradition all over the World. You arose nostagic feelings among Yorubas in diaspora. We will forever miss your ingenuity, boldness and audacity with which you defended the house of Oduduwa till you had your last breath. Odi gba, Odi Owuro, O tun di ojo miran ojo ire. Adieu Okunade Sijuwade Adele, Omo Fasesin, jigbini bi ate akoun.
July 30, 2016
July 30, 2016
Read full text of Obasanjo’s emotional tribute to late monarch

The article is titled “The Oba Sijuwade I knew” and is filled with lofty praise for the monarch who passed away on July 28, 2015, in the United Kingdom but his death was officially announced on Wednesday, August 12, in keeping with tradition.

The tribute reads:

I do appreciate the immense pain that the unfortunate death of the Late Oba Okunade Sijuwade has caused his Oloris, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and the entire people of the Kingdom of Ife in particular and Osun State in general, who must be grieving at the demise of the Oba.

Oba Sijuwade was, undoubtedly, a very eminent citizen and his death will be felt not only by his people but indeed, the entire nation. We can, nevertheless, be consoled from knowing that Oba Sijuwade has gone to rest in the bosom of his Maker and left behind him a good name and worthy legacy. Indeed, ‘Erin wo’.

We have been inspired, over the years, by Oba Sijuwade’s most impressive career as a tested manager of men and resources, a proprietor of repute, and an industrialist of distinction. From the Tribune Group where he had his early experience in the private sector through the Leventis family and therefrom into private entrepreneurship, he truly distinguished himself as a businessman of note.

His attainments, over the years, surely culminated in his unanimous nomination and coronation as the Ooni Olubuse II of Ile-Ife since November 1980. In this capacity, he functioned as Chancellor of the University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State in 1988. It is a measure of his selfless and qualitative service to our dear country that he was honoured with the revered national award of the Commander of the Federal Republic, CFR, by former President Alhaji Shehu Shagari in 1983.

The late Oba Sijuwade was a patriotic and highly respected traditional ruler who had immeasurable love for his people and great faith in a united Nigeria. I remember his firmness in support of Government at all levels when I was President of Nigeria. His staunch support was appreciated and would always be remembered for it. He, accordingly, stood out as a voice of honesty and forthrightness in national affairs. He was at the same time a fervent promoter of mutual tolerance and understanding not only among the diverse people who lived in his domain but also across the country. The toga of acrimony, thuggery and violence which stigmatized the politics and the people of Ife and Modakeke for many years was permanently brought to an end by him with the support of his royal colleagues. Today, there can be no gainsaying that his nearly four-decade reign was marked by unprecedented peace-making and lasting peace and prosperity in Ife and Modadeke.

The late Oba followed the tradition of his great predecessors. He was a great traditional leader, urbane and respected by his subjects. His influence transcended the Kingdom of Ife and, indeed, Osun State. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with traditional rulers across Nigeria and beyond the shore of Nigeria and was very well respected among his counterparts from the South, North and East. He was a unifying force not just in Ife but in the whole of the South Western zone and beyond.

Oba Sijuwade’s journey to meet his ancestors means an irreplaceable loss to his family, his people, Osun State and, indeed, Nigeria. For those of us who knew Oba Sijuwade closely for many years, the good times we shared, the successes we achieved together and the lessons we learned are as consoling as the legacy he left behind. Only about ten days ago he invited me to Ife to share with him his views and feelings on some national and community issues. It was like a parting shot.

Oba Sijuwade may no longer be with us but his legacy endures. He had a vision for his Kingdom and pursued it with every resource available to him. We must not let that vision for the greatness of Ife and the entire Yorubaland depart with him.

As we bid farewell to this great Nigerian, let us rededicate ourselves to the values he cherished and lived by such as love of the country and community as well as the readiness to help the less fortunate at all times.

On behalf of my family and on my own behalf, I extend heartfelt condolences on the final transition of Alaiyeluwa Okunade Sijuwade and pray that the Almighty God grant you all the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

May the soul of the dear departed rest in perfect peace.
July 29, 2016
July 29, 2016
May your soul continue to rest in perfect peace. Mukaila Ayoade
July 28, 2016
July 28, 2016
Kaaaaabiyesi, Onirisa. Jigbini bi ate akun, osumosile sunmoseni
 Thank you for all you did. Your warmth, your kindness, your generosity and indeed your love will forever be remembered.

Baba once wrote (Excerpt from his salutation to Egbe Omo Ife, Dallas, 2005 Fundraising)
 "....All of you have been doing your utmost for the upliftment for that spiritual city once described by our late revered political leader Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the natural capital of the Yoruba empire and you must not be tired of doing more so that the history will write many good things about all of you.
 By special Grace of God and Oduduwa the legend you will always be successful in everything you handle most specially in your professional areas and all of you will grow from strength by the special grace of God and Oranfe.
 God in his masses will continue to be your Guard and Guide and bring you back home with flying colors"

   THAT'S TRUE LOVE.  BABA SUN RE O
July 28, 2016
July 28, 2016
Kabiyesi, mo jokun, mo jekolo, i un ihan ba nje lajule orum ni ki e ma a ba won je. Rest in peace our dear father and King. Your contribution to the development of Ile ife and the entire Yoruba empire and kingship will never be forgotten. The standard you set is being guarded. Once again Baba, rest in peace.
March 30, 2016
March 30, 2016
Jingbinni bi ate akun, memory eternal with Olofin Adimula
February 10, 2016
February 10, 2016
BABA, REST IN BOSSOM OF THE LORD. JIGBINI BI ATE AKUN, ITI OMO OLODUMARE.
September 15, 2015
September 15, 2015
An Eminent King,A bridge Builder,and Elder Stateman,Ooni Okunade Sijuwade,Olubuse II,whose 85years on Earth,Truly touched the lives of his subjects,all Nigerians from all walks of life and entire human race,During your reign,spanning 35years,You have really put the name Ile-Ife on the world map,Ooni Olubuse II is a great Nationalist that will be remembered eternally,having left footprints on the sand of time.Adieu!OUR BELOVED KING!
September 14, 2015
September 14, 2015
Ooni Okunade Sijuwade is undoubtedly one of the greatest kings that have ruled our great city Ile-Ife. His great works will live on. May he continue to rest in peace. Amen.

Here is the Oriki of our great city Ile-Ife. Adapted as you will see below for our great and noble King Ooni Okunade Sijuwade (Olubuse II) .

May God empower the new king that will emerge from Giesi ruling house to carry on from where Oba Okunade Sijuwade left and lead Ile-Ife to greater heights. Amen


A kii duro kiwon nife Ooni
A kii bere kiwon nife Ooye
Eni duro kiwon nife Ooni kii tabere
Ai bere kiwon nife Ooni, oju bintin ni won fi nwoni
Kinwin kinwin lonse loju eni
Agbogun mosa nife je
Abawonro mojebi

Sare gbade mo tewo gbade
Ilekun meje naa si konile dodo adimula
Yemoja gbere komi naa ki konile dodo adimula
Omo agogo sewo gbeti
Iku baba yeye alase ikeji orisa
Aterere kaye ajakaye Olofin Oodua
Abori esin bamu bamu
Abidi esin batakun batakun
Toba ni mose adimula o

Olubuse eri ogun, ebiti kimo piri
O sunmole O sunmoni
Olubuse alakete oogun
Dakun dabo mo kan mi loogun
Je nku ti ka ara mi
Orisa kihan Oyibo nbo
Nihan rabeeni nfojudi
Eero o mi re 'lare e mo ya soosi
Otun nile Olubuse

Agogo nla na fi nkoba nile'fe
Olooore re oooo, wa gbade ori re yi dojo ale


Prince Adeyemi Oladepo Alphonso Ogunwusi (grandson of Ayikiti ninu aran (fabric) Orayigba Ojaja (Giesi ruling house).
September 14, 2015
September 14, 2015
Jigbini bi ate ileke osunmosile sumoseni okunmolosun kumolata ...Rest in peace Omo fasesin
September 14, 2015
September 14, 2015
Rest in Peace An Entreprenuer par excellence ,Leader of Leaders ,Fashion Icon of repute .Ooni Arole Oodua.
September 13, 2015
September 13, 2015
Rest in perfect peace my Father, my mentor I was in shock when I heard of your demise. I remember what you used to tell me whenever I visited you, your fatherly advice, love, caring.rest in my mind forever.
We the sons and daughters of Olubushe Royal house of ile ife will all missed you. R.I.P. Kabiyesi.as you are fondly called.
September 13, 2015
September 13, 2015
... Rest in peace my father, my king... Ooni of the world... 'Jigbini bi ate akun'
September 12, 2015
September 12, 2015
May his soul continue to rest in perfect peace and may love continue to reign in the family and community he left behind
September 9, 2015
September 9, 2015
Arole Oodua, King Okunade Sijuwade … A Tribute
By Tola Adeniyi

Obas, the symbol of royalty in Yoruba land do not die. When their time comes to join their
ancestors, they simply move upstairs into the penthouse. And as they say in Yoruba language, Oba pa’poda! Transfiguration. Metamorphosis. While on the
throne, Obas are regarded as second in command to the Gods, and their cognomen
includes fearsome ‘Iku Baba Yeye’; one with power of death over fathers and
mothers! The being above beings that is empowered by divine rights to decree
death over all and any of his subjects!

But the vast lands occupied by the
millions of the Yoruba race spread over West Africa, the Caribbean and the
Americas trace their roots to Ile-Ife, the place believed by the race as the
cradle of mankind and their own beginning. Ife Woda’ye, that is Ife of Creation
and Ife Ooye, which is Ife that survived the deluge are now both entwined in the
ancient city where the obelisk of Oranmiyan looks upwards to the
sky.

Ile-Ife is therefore not just a town like another town, not a city like
another city. It is a most sacred land where the 401 Gods of the Yoruba reside.
It is the home of Oduduwa, the legendary ancestor of the Yoruba race. It was the
city that housed Prophet Orunmila Agbonniregun, Archangel Obatala, and the
Yoruba famed God of war, Ogun, Oshinmole Orisa, oni’le kangun-kangun
Orun!

All the Kings that came after the reign of Oduduwa were/are regarded
as the anointed successor of Oduduwa and the Spiritual and Temporal head of all
Yoruba Kingdoms. The Oonirisa of Ile-Ife is therefore primus inter pares. The
hierarchical order established by the Yoruba kings has its beginning at Ile-Ife,
and it is from there that the concept of an Oba receiving the prostration of
another Oba came from.

It is against this backdrop that the then Prince
Okunade Sijuwade ascended the throne of his forefathers. His grandfather Olubuse
the First was a very prominent and powerful King. Okunade Sijuwade mounted the
throne with a rich pedigree trailing his ascendancy. Cosmopolitan, fashionable,
wealthy with international connections, urbane, articulate and fluent, Prince
Sijuwade was every inch a King before he was crowned.

Since he began another
phase of his journey in the Continuum about three weeks ago a lot has been said
and written of Oba Sijuwade. Many commentators reminded us of his many trips to
all the countries where members of the Yoruba race have spread to. They spoke of
Cuba where Oba Sijuwade was referred to as the King of Africa. The story was
told of how the arrival of King Sijuwade at Havana was greeted with a very heavy
downpour. Cuba was said to have experienced their worst draught in history and
the moment Ooni landed from his aircraft, kissed the land with his forehead, the
heavens opened up. It was celebration galore, and there and then the locals
ascribed great spiritual powers to the revered Monarch.

Similar stories were
told of his journeys to Brazil and Argentina and the huge enthusiasm with which
the Yoruba whose great great grandparents were carted to those distant lands
received his royal presence..

Robust in frame, elegant in carriage and
debonair in poise King Okunade Sijuwade carried himself with so much self
confidence and inimitable dignity. He had a special aura of distinction around
his person. He was one King whose presence could not be ignored or could pass
unnoticed.

What probably stood Ooni Olubuse apart from several of his
contemporaries was his outstanding hospitality. As soon as you were ushered to
his royal presence, palace bottlers were on hand to serve you the coldest
Champagne as first choice, or any other drink preferred. Oba Okunade received
his guests with a disarming smile and prayers. Within seconds guests found
themselves much at home despite the awesomeness of the prevailing
atmosphere.

King Sijuwade added colour, panache and respectability to the
Monarchy. Any visitor to the Royal Court of Ile-Ife would wish to be king!
Okunade transformed the ancient Palace and endowed the hallowed place with
ultra-modern gadgets that made the abode of Oduduwa the envy of several other
Kings from other places.

He invested his huge wealth in upgrading and
refurbishing the palace to reflect his international stature and distinct
taste.

One other feature of Oba Okunade was his excellent human and public
relations. A former journalist and public relations practitioner, Oba Okunade
knew and appreciated the power and presence of the media in governance,
leadership and management. It was in furtherance of this awareness that he
created a Public Affairs Department charged with Public Relations, Media and
Publicity within a year of ascending the throne and assigned one of the most
outstanding personalities in the Media Chief Olorunfunmilola Olorunnisola to
head the outfit. And for decades he assigned one of his British staff to man his
Secretariat.

Oba Okunade Sijuwade ran his government in the most modern way
while of course retaining all the traditional elements in accordance with the
cultural norms of the Kingdom. And to douse tension and acrimony in his Kingdom,
he approved the creation of coronet Obas in areas where the people had expressed
desire to have their own rulers.

A Born-Again Christian, Oba Okunade gave
the greatest regard to all the traditional observances. As he participated in
Christian rituals in the Church he did also carry out the rituals dictated by
his ancestors. As far as he was concerned Caesar and God must be given what
rightly belonged to each of the two.

Those who merely saw King Sijuwade from
afar might not know that Oba Okunade was a personification of humility. He was
such a humble human being that used the third person plural reserved for elders
and seniors to address everybody including those as young as his biological
children. He used ‘eyin’ plural you instead of ‘iwo’ when addressing anybody.
Soft spoken and methodical, Oba Sijuwade chose his words carefully and
wisely.

Very protective of his race Oba Sijuwade was always eager to
intervene in matters that concerned his subjects from any part of Yoruba
Kingdoms. When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was jailed by General Abacha, General
David Medayese Jemibewon and I visited Oba Sijuwade twice in London to use his
vast influence to secure Obasanjo’s release. He put a call there and then to the
British Prime Minister pleading Obasanjo’s cause. He also sought King Ado
Bayero’s intervention.

Some people did not approve what they perceived as
his handling of the Abacha-Diya saga, but whatever view any one might hold, no
one could accuse the Ooni of cowardice or self centeredness.

My wife, a
Princess of Ife, the Yeyesorun of the Kingdom [installed 1989], and my humble
self the Jaagun Oodua Adimula ll [installed 1990] shall miss the fatherly
friendship and kindness the highly cherished King extended to us.

Oba
Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse ll is not dead. We commend his continuous journey to
the protection and favour of Adiitu Olodumare.

•Akogun Tola Adeniyi is holds
the traditional title of Jagun Oodua Adimula ll of Ile-Ife
September 1, 2015
September 1, 2015
Rest in perfect peace Olori Alade. Jigbini bi akun.

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Recent Tributes
January 1
Rest in perfect peace Kabiyesi Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubushe 11 also my Grand Dad Oba Adelekan Olubushe 1.
May their soul continue to Rest in peace.
January 1
January 1
Eternal rest continue to grant Kabiyesi, O Lord! - Dr.Engr. Kofo' Aarinola
Recent stories

Art in Ancient Ife, Birthplace of the Yoruba

September 2, 2015

Art in Ancient Ife, Birthplace of the Yoruba

Art in Ancient Ife, Birthplace of the Yoruba Suzanne Preston Blier Artists the world over shape knowledge and material into works of unique historical importance. The artists of ancient Ife, ancestral home to the Yoruba and mythic birthplace of gods and humans, clearly were interested in creating works that could be read. Breaking the symbolic code that lies behind the unique meanings of Ife’s ancient sculptures, however, has vexed scholars working on this material for over a century. While much remains to be learned, thanks to a better understanding of the larger corpus of ancient Ife arts and the history of this important southwestern Nigerian center, key aspects of this code can now be discerned. In this article I explore how these arts both inform and are enriched by early Ife history and the leaders who shaped it.1 In addition to core questions of art iconography and symbolism, I also address the potent social, political, religious, and historical import of these works and what they reveal about Ife (Ile-Ife) as an early cosmopolitan center My analysis moves away from the recent framing of ancient Ife art from the vantage of Yoruba cultural practices collected in Nigeria more broadly, and/or the indiscriminate use of regional and modern Yoruba proverbs, poems, or language idioms to inform this city’s unique 700-year-old sculptural oeuvre.2 Instead I focus on historical and other considerations in metropolitan Ife itself. This shift is an important one because Ife’s history, language, and art forms are notably different than those in the wider Yoruba region and later eras. My approach also differs from recent studies that either ahistorically superimpose contemporary cultural conventions on the reading of ancient works or unilinearly posit art development models concerning form or material differences that lack grounding in Ife archaeological evidence. My aim instead is to reengage these remarkable ancient works alongside diverse evidence on this center’s past and the time frame specific to when these sculptures were made. In this way I bring art and history into direct engagement with each other, enriching both within this process. One of the most important events in ancient Ife history with respect to both the early arts and later era religious and political traditions here was a devastating civil war pitting one group, the supporters of Obatala (referencing today at once a god, a deity pantheon, and the region’s autochthonous populations) against affiliates of Odudua (an opposing deity, religious pantheon, and newly arriving dynastic group). The Ikedu oral history text addressing Ife’s history (an annotated kings list transposed from the early Ife dialect; Akinjogbin n.d.) indicates that it was during the reign of Ife’s 46th king—what appears to be two rulers prior to the famous King Obalufon II (Ekenwa? Fig. 1)—that this violent civil war broke out. This conflict weakened the city enough so that there was little resistance when a military force under the conqueror Oranmiyan (Fig. 2) arrived in this historic city. The dispute likely was framed in part around issues of control of Ife’s rich manufacturing resources (glass beads, among these). Conceivably it was one of Ife’s feuding polities that invited this outsider force to come to Ife to help rectify the situation for their side. As Akinjogbin explains (1992:98), Oranmiyan and his calvary, after gaining control of Ife “… stemmed the … uprising by siding with the weaker … of the disunited pre-Oduduwa groups .… [driving Obalufon II] into exile at Ilara3 and became the Ooni.” Eventually, the deposed King Obalufon II with the help of a large segment of Ife’s population was able to defeat this military leader and the latter’s supporters. In Ife today, Odudua is identified in ways that complement Oranmiyan. As Akintitan explains (p.c.):4 “It was Odudua who was the last to come to Ife, a man who arrived as a warrior, and took advantage of the situation to vol. 45, no. 4 Winter 2012 african arts | 71 impose himself on Ife people.” King Obalufon II, who came to rule twice at Ife, is positioned in local king lists both at the end of the first (Obatala) dynasty and at the beginning of the second (Odudua) dynasty. He is also credited with bringing peace (a negotiated truce) to the once feuding parties. Political History and Art at Ancient Ife What or whom do these early arts depict? Many of the ancient Ife sculptures are identified today with individuals who lived in the era in which Ife King Obalufon II was on the throne and/ or participated in the civil war associated with his reign. This and other evidence suggests that Obalufon II was a key sponsor or patron of these ancient arts, an idea consistent with this king’s modern identity as patron deity of bronze casting, textiles, regalia, peace, and wellbeing. It also is possible that a majority of the ancient Ife arts were created in conjunction with the famous truce that Obalufon II is said to have brokered once he returned to power between the embattled Ife citizens as he brought peace to this long embattled city (Adediran 1992:91; Akintitan p.c.). As part of his plan to reunite the feuding parties, Obalufon II also is credited with the creation of a new city plan with a large, high-walled palace at its center. Around the perimeters, the compounds of key chiefs from the once feuding lineages were positioned. King Obalufon II seems at the same time to have pressed for the erection of new temples in the city and the refurbishment of older ones, these serving in part to honor the leading chiefs on both sides of the dispute. Ife’s ancient art works likely functioned as related temple furnishings. One particularly art-rich shrine complex that may have come into new prominence as part of Obalufon II’s truce is that honoring the ancient hunter Ore, a deity whose name also features in one of Obalufon’s praise names. Ore is identified both as an important autochthonous Ife resident and as an opponent to “Odudua.” A number of remarkable granite figures in the Ore Grove were the focus of ceremonies into the mid-twentieth century. One of these works called Olofefura (Fig. 4) is believed to represent the deified Ore (Dennett 1910:21; Talbot 1926 2:339; Allison 1968:13).5 Features of the sculpture suggest a dwarf or sufferer of a congenital disorder in keeping with the identity of many first (Obatala) dynasty shrine figures with body anomalies or disease. Regalia details also offer clues. A three-strand choker encircles Olofefura’s neck; three bracelet coils embellish the wrist; three tassels hang from the left hip knot. These features link this work—and Ore—to the earth, autochthony, and to the Ogboni association, a group promoted by Obalufon II in part to preserve the rights of autochthonous residents. The left hip knot shown on the wrapper of this work, as well as that of the taller, more elegant Ore Grove priest or servant figure (Fig. 5), also recalls one of Ife’s little-known origin myths within the Obatala priestly family (Akintitan p.c.). According to this myth, Obatala hid the ase (vital force) necessary for Earth’s solidity within this knot, requiring his younger brother Odudua, after his theft of materials from Obatala, to wait for the latter’s help in completing the task. Consistent with this, Ogboni members are said to tie their cloth wrappers on the left hip in memory of Obatala’s use of this knot to safeguard the requisite ase (Owakinyin p.c.). Iron inserts in the coiffure of the taller Ore figure complement those secured in the surface of the Oranmiyan staff (Fig. 2), indicating that this sculpture—like many ancient Ife works of stone—were made in the same era, e.g. the early fourteenth century (see below). An additional noteworthy feature of these figures, and others, is the importance of body proportion ratios. Among the Yoruba today, the body is seen to comprise three principal parts: head, trunk, and legs (Ajibade n.d.:3). Many Ife sculptural examples (see Fig. 4; compare also Figs. 15–16) emphasize a larger-thanlife size scale of the head (orí) in relationship to the rest of the body (a roughly 1:4 ratio). Yoruba scholars have seen this headprivileging ratio as reinforcing the importance of this body part as a symbol of ego and destiny (orí), personality (wú), essential nature (ìwà), and authority (àse) (Abimbola 1975:390ff, Abiodun 1994, Abiodun et. al 1991:12ff).6 Or as Ogunremi suggests (1998:113), such features highlight: “The wealth or poverty of the nation … [as] equated with the ‘head’ (orí) of the ruler of a particular locality.” Both here and in ancient Ife art more generally, however, there is striking variability in related body proportions. Such ratios range from roughly 1:4 for the Ore grove deity figure (Fig. 4), the complete copper alloy king figure (Fig. 15), the couple from Ita 1 Mask Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper. Height: 33 cm Retained in the palace since the time of its manufacture (through the early twentieth century) where it was identified as King Obalufon Alaiyemore (Obalufon II). Nigeria National Museums, Lagos Mus. reg. no. 38.1.2. Photo: Karin Willis, courtesy of the National Commission of Monuments and Museums, Nigeria and The Museum for African Art, New York 72 | african arts Winter 2012 vol. 45, no.4 Yemoo (Fig. 8), and many of the terracotta sculptures, to roughly 1:6 for the taller stone Ore grove figures (Fig. 5) and the copper seated figure from Tada (Fig. 11). Why these proportional differences exist in Ife art is not clear, but issues of class and/or status appear to be key. Whereas sculptures of Ife royals and gods often show 1:4 ratios, most nonroyals show proportions much closer to life. In ancient Ife art, the higher the status, the greater likelihood that body proportions will differ from nature in ways that greatly enhance the size of the head. This not only highlights the head as a prominent status and authority marker, but also points to the primacy of social difference in visual rendering. While many Ife (and Yoruba) scholars have focused on how the head is privileged in relationship to the body, what also is important, and to date overlooked, is that the belly is equally important. The full, plump torsos (chest and stomachs) of Ife figures depicting rulers and deities complement modern Yoruba beliefs about health and well being on the one hand, and wealth and power on the other. Related ideas are suggested by the modern Yoruba term odù (“full”) which, when applied to an individual, means both “he has blessing in abundance” and “fortune shines on him”(Idowu 1962:33). A full belly is vital to royals and deities not only as a reference to qualities of wellbeing but also as markers of state and religious fullness. In his extended discussion of the concept of odù, the indigenous Ife religious scholar Idowu notes (1962:33) that the same term also indicates a “very large and deep pot (container)” and by extension anything that is of “sizable worth” and/or “superior quality.” This word features centrally in the name for the high god, Ol-odù-marè. According to Idowu (1962:34) the latter use of the term signifies “He is One who is superlative,” odù here invoking his very extraordinariness. Because large ceramic vessels called odù were employed in ancient Ife contexts as containers for highly valued goods such as beads and art (including the Ita Yemoo king figure, Fig. 16), this idiom offers an interesting modern complement and descriptor for early Ife sculptural portrayals of gods and kings as containers holding many benefits. A complementary feature of many ancient Ife works is that of composure or inner calm (àìkominún, “tranquility of the mind” in modern Yoruba; Abraham 1958:388). This notable quality finds potential expression through the complete repose shown in their faces of early Ife art (Figs. 1, 15, 16), a quality that increases the sense of monumentality and power in these remarkable works. The ancient Ife arts from Ife’s Ore shrine, which appear to have been carved as a single sculptural group, include a stone vessel with crocodiles on its sides (Fig. 6). On its lid a frog (or toad) is shown in the jaws of a snake. The latter motif references the contestation between Obatala and Odudua for the center’s control (Akintitan p.c.; Adelekan p.c.). According Akintitan (p.c.), this design addresses the less-than-straight manner in which Odudua asserted control over Ife, since poisonous snakes are (this page, l–r) 4 Sculpture of Ore (Olofefura; Olofefunra) Ore Grove, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Granite; Height: 80 cm Nigeria National Museums, Ife. Mus. reg.no. IF 63.1.6. Photo: courtesy Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow 5 Sculpture of Ore’s servant or priest Ore Grove, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Granite; Height: 1.03m Nigeria. National Museums, Lagos. Mus. reg. no. 136/61 E. Re-registered as IF 57.1.7. Photo: Suzanne Preston Blier, 2008 (opposite) 8 Royal couple shown with interlocked feet and arms Ita Yemoo site, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper alloy; Height: 286mm Nigeria National Museums, Ife. Registration no. 57.1.1. Photo: Suzanne Preston Blier 2004 vol. 45, no. 4 Winter 2012 african arts | 73 thought not to consume frogs (and toads). The crocodile, like several other animal figurations from this grove, honor Ore’s hunting and fishing prowess. Carved crocodiles, giant eggs, a mudfish (African lung fish), and an elephant tusk reference the watery realm that dominated primordial Ife. A granite slab from this same site shows evenly placed holes (Fig. 7). This work served perhaps as a real or metaphoric measuring device for Ife’s changing water levels, in keeping both with frequent flooding here (referenced in local accounts about Obalufon II’s wife Queen Moremi) as well as Ife origin myths in which the Earth is said to have been formed only after Odudua sprinkled dirt upon the water’s surface (Idowu 1962, Blier 2004). One especially striking art-rich Ife site that also seems to have been identified with Obalufon II and his famous political truce is Ita Yemoo, the term yemoo serving as the title for firstdynasty Ife queens. This temple complex lies near the site where the annual Edi festival terminates. The Edi ritual is dedicated to Obalufon II’s wife, Moremi, who also at one time was married to Obalufon II’s adversary, the conqueror Oranmiyan. One of the most striking works from Ita Yemoo is a copper alloy casting of a king and queen (Fig. 8) with interlocked arms and legs. The male royal wears a simian skull on his hip, a symbol of Obatala (monkeys evoking the region’s early occupants) and this deity’s identity with Ife’s autochthonous residents and first dynasty line. The female points toward the ground, gesturing toward Odudua as both second dynasty founder and later Yoruba earth god.7 This royal couple appears to reference in this way not only the painful Ife dynastic struggle between competing Ife families and chiefs, but also the political and religious marriage promoted by Obalufon II between the these groups as part of his truce. Interestingly, a steatite head recovered by Frobenius at Offa (Moremi’s hometown north of Ife) wears a similar queen’s crown. Offa is adjacent to Esie where a group of similar steatite figures were found.8 These Esie works conceivably also were identified with Moremi, the local heroine who became Ife’s queen. A second copper alloy figure of a queen from the Ita Yemoo site is a tiny sculpture showing a recumbent crowned female circumscribing a vessel set atop a throne. She holds a scepter in one hand; the other grasps the throne’s curving handle (Fig. 9). Her seat depicts a miniature of the quartz and granite stools identified in the modern era primarily with Ife’s autochthonous (Obatala-linked) priests. The scepter that she holds is similar to another work from Ita Yemoo depicting a man with unusual (for Ife) diagonal cheek mark (Willett 2004:M26a), a pattern similar to markings worn by northern Yoruba residents from Offa among other areas. The recumbent queen’s unusual composition appears to reference the transfer of power at Ife from the first dynasty rulership group to the new (second) dynasty line of kings, here symbolized through a queen, what appears to be Queen Moremi, the wife of Obalufon II. Another striking Ita Yemoo sculpture, a Janus staff mount (Fig. 10) shares similar symbolism. The work depicts two gagged human heads positioned back-to-back, one with vertical line facial marks, the other plain-faced, suggesting the union of two dynasties (see below). This scepter likely was used as a club and evokes both the punishment that befell supporters of either dynastic group committing serious crimes and the unity of the two factions in state rituals involving human offerings, among these coronations. This scepter mount’s weight and heightened arsenic content reinforces this identity. A larger Janus scepter mount from this same site depicts on one side a youthful head and on the other a very elderly man, consistent with two different dynasty portrayals, and the complementary royal unification/division themes. A large Ife copper figure of a seated male was recovered at Tada (Fig. 11), an important Niger River crossing point situated some 200 km northeast of Ife. This sculpture is linked in important ways not only to King Obalufon II, but also to Ife trade, regional economic vitality, and the key role of this ruler in promoting Ogboni (called Imole in Ife), the association dedicated to both autochthonous rights and trade. The work is stylistically very similar to the Obalufon mask (Fig. 1). Both are made of pure copper and were probably cast by members of the same workshop. Although the forearms and hands of the seated figure are now missing, enough remains to suggest that they may have been positioned in front of the body in a way resembling the well-known Ogboni association gestural motif of left hand fisted above right (Fig. 12). This same gesture is referenced in the smaller standing figure (also cast of pure copper) from this same Tada shrine (Fig. 13). Obalufon descendant Olojudo reaffirmed (p.c.) the gestural identity of the standing Tada figure. As I have argued elsewhere (1985) Yoruba works of copper are associated primarily with Ogboni and Obalufon, consistent with the latter ruler’s association with bronze casting and economic wellbeing. Another notable Ogboni reference in these two copper works from Tada is the diamond-patterned wrapper (Morton Williams 1960:369, Aronson 1992) tied at the left hip with a knot. How the ancient Ife seated sculpture (and other works) found their way to this Tada shrine has been a subject of consider- 74 | african arts Winter 2012 vol. 45, no.4 able scholarly debate. I concur with Thurstan Shaw in his view (1973:237) that these sculptures most likely were brought to this critical river-crossing point because of the site’s identity with Niger River trade. As Shaw notes (1973:237) these works seem to be linked to Yoruba commercial engagement along the Niger River “… marking perhaps important toll or control points of that trade.” Specifically, the seated Tada figure offers important evidence of Ife’s early control of this critical Niger River crossing point. Copper alloy castings of an elephant and two ostriches (animals identified with valuable regional trade goods) which were found on this same Tada site likely reference the importance of ivory and exotic feathers in the era’s long distance trade. The goddess Olokun (Fig. 14) who spans both the first and second dynasty religious pantheons, is closely identified with promoting related commerce. Contesting Dynasties: Politics of the Body Two copper alloy castings depicting royals (Figs. 15–16) offer important insight into early Ife society, politics, and history. One is the half-figure of a male from Ife’s Wunmonije site, where a corpus of life-size copper alloy heads (Figs. 27–28) was unearthed. The other sculpture is the notably similar full-length standing figure from the Ife site of Ita Yemoo, the locale where the royal couple (Fig. 8), tiny enthroned queen sculpture (Fig. 9), and metal scepter (Fig. 10) were created.9 Based on style and similarities in form, the two works clearly were fashioned around the same time, conceivably during Obalufon II’s reign. Their crowns are different from the tall, conical, veiled are crowns worn by Ife monarchs today. The latter crown a form also seen on the tiny Ife figure of a king found in Benin (Fig. 17).10 Based on both their cap-form head coverings and the horn each holds in the left hand, the figures have been identified as portraying rulers in battle (Odewale p.c.).11 Not only are the rulers’ caps reminiscent of the smaller crowns (arinla) worn by Yoruba rulers in battle, suggests Odewale (p.c.), but historically, antelope horns similar to those carried in their left hands were used in battle. These horns were filled with powerful ase (authority/ force/command), substances that could turn the course of war in one’s favor. When so filled, the horns assured that the king’s words would come to pass, a key attribute of Yoruba statecraft. The two appear to be competitors (e.g. competing lineages) vying for the Ife throne, references to the ruling heads of Ife’s first (Obatala) and second (Odudua) dynasties shown here in ritual battle. While these two royal sculptures are very similar in style and iconography, there are notable differences, including the treatment of the rulers’ faces—one showing vertical line marks, the other lacking facial lines. There are also notable distinctions in headdress details, specifically the diadem shapes and cap tiers. The diadem of the Wunmojie king with striated facial marks (Fig. 15) displays a rosette pattern surmounted by a pointed plume, this motif resting atop a concentric circle. The headdress diadem on the plain-faced (unstriated) Ita Yemoo king figure instead consists of a simple concentric circle surmounted by a pointed plume. The rosette diadem of the king with facial striations seems to carry somewhat higher rank, for his diadem is set above the disk-form, as if to mark superior position. Moreover, the cap of the king with vertical facial markings integrates four tiers of beads while the plain-faced king’s cap shows only three. 9 Bowl depicting a recumbent scepter-holding queen atop a looping handle throne Ita Yemoo Site, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper alloy; Height: 121 mm Nigeria National Museums, Lagos. no. L.92.58. Photo: courtesy Frank Willett Collection. Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow 11 Seated figure Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper. Height: 53.7 cm Found on a shrine in Tada, on the Niger River, 192 km. northeast of Ife. Nigeria National Museums, Lagos: 79. R. 18. Photo: Karin Willis, courtesy of the National Commission of Monuments and Museums, Nigeria and The Museum for African Art, New York 12 Possible original gesture of seated figure from Tada (Fig. 11). Drawing: Suzanne Preston Blier vol. 45, no. 4 Winter 2012 african arts | 75 These differences both in crown diadem shapes and bead rows suggest that, among other things, the king bearing the vertical line facial marks and rosette-form diadem (the Wunmonije site ruler) carries a rank that is both different from and in some ways higher than that of the plain-faced royal. There also are striking distinctions in facial marking and regalia details of these two king figures, differences that offer additional insight into the meaning and identity of these and other works from this center. Similar rosette and concentric circle diadem distinctions can be seen in many ancient Ife works. The Aroye vessel (Fig. 18), which displays rosette motifs and a monstrous human head referencing ancient Ife earth spirits (erunmole, imole; Odewale p.c.), may have functioned as a divination vessel linked to Obatala, a form today in Ife that employs a water-filled pot. The copper alloy head of first dynasty Ife goddess Olokun (Fig. 14) also incorporates a rosette with sixteen petals. Ife chiefs and priests today sometimes wear beaded pendants (peke) that incorporate similar eight-petal flower forms or rosettes. These individuals include a range of primarily Obatala (first dynasty) affiliates: Obalale (the priest of Obatala), Obalase (the Oluorogbo priest), Obalara (the Obalufon priest), and Chief Woye Asire (the priest of Ife springs and markets.12 Rosette-form diadems such as these also can be seen on ancient Ife terracotta animals identified with Obatala, among these the elephant (Fig. 20) and duiker antelope heads from the Lafogido site. These rosettes suggest the importance of plants (flowers), and the primacy of ancient land ownership and gods to the Obatala group. Concentric circle-form diadems, in contrast, seem to reference political agency as linked in part to the new Odudua dynasty (Akintitan p.c., Adelekan p.c.). In part for this reason, a concentric circle is incorporated into the iron gate at the front of the modern Ife palace. Agbaje-Williams notes (1991:11) that the burial spots of important chiefs sometimes are marked with stone circles as well. Concentric circle form diadems are displayed on the terracotta sculptures of ram and hippopotamus heads from Ife’s Lafogido site. Both animals seem to be connected to the Odudua line and the associated sky deity pantheon of Sango among others (Idowu 1962:94, 142; Matory 1994:96). If, as Ekpo Eyo suggests (1977:114; see also Eyo 1974) the group of Lafogido site animal sculptures were conceived as royal emblems, their distinctive crown diadems suggest that these works, like the two king figures, were intended to represent two different dynasties and/or the gods associated with them. The king figure with vertical facial markings and a rosette-form diadem instantiates the first dynasty or Obatala rulership line. The plain-faced ruler with concentric circle diadem evokes the second or Odudua royal line. Number symbolism in diadem and other forms is important in these and other ancient Ife art works serving to mark grade and status. According to Ife Obatala Chief Adelekan (p.c), eightpetal rosettes are associated with higher Obatala grades. That the Wunmonije king figure wears an eight-petal rosette (Fig. 15) while the Aroye vessel (Fig. 18) and Olokun head (Fig. 14) incorporate sixteen-petal forms is based on power difference. Eight is the highest number accorded humans, suggests Chief Adelekan, whereas sixteen is used for gods.13 13 Standing figure with top braid coiffure and Ogboni association gesture, 14th–15th century ce Copper; Height: 56.5 cm Found on the same Tada shrine as Figure 11. Nigeria National Museum, Enugu. Drawing: Suzanne Preston Blier Facial Marking Distinctions: Ife as a Cosmopolitan Center One of the most striking differences in the two royal figures and other Ife arts can be seen in the variant facial markings. Scholars have put forward several explanations for these facial pattern disparities in Ife and early regional arts. Among the earliest were William Fagg and Frank Willett (1960:31), who identified vertical line facial marks with royal crown veils and the “shadows” cast onto the face by associated strings of beads.14 This is highly unlikely, however, since many ancient works depicting women and nonroyals without crowns display the same vertical facial patterns. Moreover, of the two copper-alloy king figures (Figs. 15–16), only one shows vertical marks, and they both wear a kind of cap (oro) that does not include a beaded veil. Modern woodcarvings of Ife royals wearing traditional veiled crowns also do not show vertical line facial marks. Due to related inconsistencies, Willett would later retract his original shade-line theory and Fagg would not again discuss this in his later scholarship. As suggested above, the presence and lack of vertical facial marks on the two Ife king figures further reinforces the identity of these rulers as leaders of the two competing dynasties.15 An array of early and later artistic evidence supports this. Among these is a Lower Niger style vessel (Fig. 21) collected near Benin that displays a human face with vertical markings beneath the head of an elephant, an animal that in Ife is closely identified with Obatala and the first dynasty. This elephant head has its complement in the Lafogido site terracotta elephant head with a rosette-form diadem (Fig. 20), a site where a terracotta head 76 | african arts Winter 2012 vol. 45, no.4 with vertical facial marks also was buried (Eyo 1974). Nineteenth and early twentieth century royal masks of the Igala (a Yorubalinked group) associated with the ancient Akpoto dynasty (who are ancestors of the current Igala rulers), display similar thin vertical line facial markings referencing the early royals of this group (Sargent 1988:32; Boston 1968:172) (Fig. 22). The ancient Ife terracotta head that represents Obalufon I (Osangangan Obamakin, the father of Obalufon II) displays vertical marks (Fig. 23) consistent with the king’s first-dynasty associations. Vertical line facial marks such as these appear to reference Ife royals (as well as other elites) and ideas of autochthony more generally.16 The fact that some 50 percent of the ancient Ife terracotta heads and figures show vertical line facial markings suggests how important this group still was in the early second dynasty era when these works were commissioned. The second largest grouping of Ife terracotta works—around 35 percent—show no facial markings at all, in keeping with modern Ife traditions forbidding facial marking for members of Ife resident families. Ife oral tradition maintains that facial marking practices were at one point outlawed. Accordingly, late nineteenth to early twentieth century art and cultural practices display a strong aversion to facial marks of any type. Most likely it was Ife King Obalufon II who helped promote this change after his return to power as part of his plan for a more lasting truce. This change, and the need sometimes to cover one’s historical family and dynastic identity for reasons of political expediency, is also suggested by two masks, one of terracotta and one of copper, both identified with Obaufon II. One of these (Fig. 1) is plain-faced and the other (Fig. 24) has prominent vertical markings. Consistent with Obalufon II’s role in bringing to Ife, and serving as a key early art patron, his association with masking forms that shield (cover) the identities of the once-competing Ife groups is noteworthy. Like a majority of ancient Ife sculptures with and without facial marks, these works appear to date to the same period, underscoring the fact that different groups were living together at Ife at this time. Like the Wunmonije king figure (Fig. 15), the bronze head associated with the goddess Olokun (Fig. 14) also has vertical facial marks and a rosette-decorated crown. Olokun, the ancient Ife finance minister and later commerce, bead, and sea god, is said to date to Ife’s first dynasty. The copper alloy head now in the British Museum, with both vertical facial marks and a concentric circle diadem, appears to reference a chief in one of Ife’s autochthonous lineages (e.g. a number of first dynasty elite) who lived in Ife in the early second dynasty era before the ban on facial marking took effect. 14 Head with crown Olokun grove site, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper alloy; Height: 343 mm Nigeria National Museums, Ife. Photo: Karin Willis, courtesy of the National Commission of Monuments and Museums, Nigeria and The Museum for African Art, New York 15 Figure of a king Wunmonije site, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper alloy. Height: 370 mm. National Museums, Lagos. Museum registration no. 13, then 79.R.9. Renumbered 38.1.1. Photo: Karin Willis, courtesy of the National Commission of Monuments and Museums, Nigeria and The Museum for African Art, New York 16 Figure of a king Ita Yemoo site. Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper alloy. Height: 473 mm. National Museums, Lagos. Registry no. 79.R.12 and L.86.58. Photo: Karin Willis, courtesy of the National Commission of Monuments and Museums, Nigeria and The Museum for African Art, New York vol. 45, no. 4 Winter 2012 african arts | 77 Several Ife heads show thick vertical facial lines. These marks seem to depict individuals participating in rituals in which blister beetles or leaves (from the bùjé plant) were employed to mark the face with short-term patterns on the skin (Willett 1967:Fig. 23). These temporary “marks” may have served as references to first dynasty elites or their descendants during certain Ife rituals (Owomoyela n.d. n.p.; Willett 1967:Figs. 13–14, pl. 23; see also discussion in Fagg and Willett 1960:31, Drewal 1989:238–39 n. 65). Interestingly, sculptures depicting these thick lines characteristically show flared nostrils and furled brows, suggesting the pain that accompanied facial blistering practices such as these. Several Florescence Era Ife terracotta heads (roughly 5 percent of the whole) display three elliptical “cat whisker” facial marks at the corners of the mouth (Fig. 25) similar to those associated with more recent northeastern Yagba Yoruba, a group who later came under Nupe rule.17 In one such sculpture, the marks extend into the cheeks in a manner consistent with later Yoruba abaja facial markings, indicating an historic connection between the two.18 According to Andrew Apter (p.c.), a group of Yagba Yoruba occupy an Ife ward where the Iyagba dialect is still sometimes spoken. Most historic Yagba communities are found in the Ekiti Yoruba region where early iron working sites have been found (Obayemi 1992:73, 74).19 It is possible that Ife’s Yagba population was involved in complementary iron-working and smelting activities at this center. This tradition also offers interesting insight into Benin figures holding blacksmith tools with three similar facial marks, works said to depict messengers from Ife. A rather unusual Janus figure from ancient Ife shows a man with diagonal facial markings similar to those of historic and modern Igbo Nri titleholders, suggesting the role a similar group may have played in early Ife as well. Today it is Chief Obawinrin, head of Ife’s Iwinrin lineage, who represents Ife’s historic Igbo population during the annual Ife Edi festival. Associated rites are in part dedicated to Obalufon II’s wife, Queen Moremi, who 17 Figure of Ife king Found in Benin palace, c. early 14th century ce Copper alloy. Height: 124 mm Nigeria. National Museums, Benin. Museum reg. no. 17. Photo: courtesy Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow 18 Vessel with monstrous face and sixteen rosette patterns around the surface, some with mica centers Aroye compound, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Terracotta; Height:178 mm Unregistered when photographed Photo: courtesy Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow is credited with stopping local Igbo (Ugbo) groups attacking Ife in the era in which she lived.20 Today Igbo residents also live in nearby regions south of Ife, among these communities such as Ijale (Abimbola p.c., Lawal p.c., Awolalu 1979:26).21 These Ifearea Igbo populations appear to be distant relatives of autochthonous Igbo families, many of whom were forced out of the city by members of the new Odudua dynasty.22 Sculptures from Ife’s Iwinrin Grove, an Ife site closely linked to Ife’s “Igbo” population, characteristically show vertical line facial markings consistent with works linked to first dynasty Ife history and autochthony. Another 5 percent of Ife sculptures portray Edo (Benin) style facial marks (forehead keloids) or patterns today characteristic of northeastern Yoruba/Nupe communities (a diagonal cheek line and/or vertical forehead line). The remaining 5 percent of the extant Ife terracotta works show unusual “mixed” facial patterns (generally “cat whisker” motifs along with other forms). These marks may reference intermarriages (social or political) at Ife in the early years of the new dynasty. The notable variety of these facial patterns in ancient Ife art makes clear the center’s importance as a cosmopolitan city sought out by people arriving from various regional centers. Features of Ife cosmopolitanism revealed in part through these variant facial markings are consistent with Ife’s identity as a center of manufacturing and trade. Similar issues are raised in Ife origin myths that identify this city as the home (birthplace) of humans of multiple races and ethnicities. A Corpus of Remarkable Copper Heads Personifying Local Ife Chiefs A striking group of life-size copper and copper alloy heads (Figs. 27–28) was unearthed in the 1930s at the Wunmonije site behind the Ife palace along with the above-discussed king figure (Fig. 15).23 In addition to the original corpus of fifteen life-size heads from this site, a clearly related 4.25 inch high fragment of a copper alloy head consisting of a portion of a face showing a 78 | african arts Winter 2012 vol. 45, no.4 nose and part of a mouth also was collected at an estate in AdoEkiti and has been described as “identical with those from Wunmonije” (Werner and Willett 1975: facing p. 142). These sixteen life-size heads appear to have been created as part of the truce that Obalufon II established between the embattled Ife residents. One of the heads (Fig. 27) indeed is so similar to the Obalufon mask as to depict the same individual.24 Frank Willett, who published photographs of many of the life-size metal heads in his monograph on Ife, suggests (1967:26–28) that these works had important royal mortuary functions in which each was displayed with a crown and robes of office, in the course of ceremonies following each ruler’s death.25 Willett proposes further that the heads were commissioned as memorial sculptures (ako) consistent with a later era Ife and Yoruba tradition of carved wooden ako effigy figures used in commemorating deceased hunters. This theory, which identifies the corpus of life-size cast heads as effigies of successive rulers of the Ife city state, however, is premised on an idea (now largely discredited; see also Lawal 2005:503ff.) that the works were made by artists over a several-hundred-year period (the reigns of sixteen monarchs). This theory is problematic not only because the styles and material features of the heads are consistent, but also because the heads were found together (divided into two groups) and share a remarkably similar condition apart from blows that some of them received during their discovery. The shared condition indicates that they were interred for a similar length of time and under similar circumstances. The formal similarities in these heads have led most scholars, myself included (Blier 1985), to argue that the works were created in a short period of time and by fewer than a handful of artists.26 With respect to style, as Thurstan Shaw notes (1978:134), “… they are of a piece and look like the work of one generation, even perhaps a single great artist.” These heads, I posited in this same article, were cast in part to serve as sacred crown supports and used during coronation rituals for a group of powerful Ife chiefs who head the various core first and second dynasty lineages in the city.27 These rites appear also to have been associated with Obalufon since related priests have a role in Ife coronations still today. The site where the heads were found today is identified as Obalufon II’s burial site (Eyo 1976:n.p.). Ife Chief Obalara (Obalufon II’s descendant and priest) crowns each new monarch at a Obalufon shrine (Igbo Obalara) near the Obatala temple a short distance from here (Verger 1957:439, Fabunmi 1969:10, Eluyemi 1977:41). Today, when a descendant of King Obalufon wishes to commission shrine arts in conjunction with his worship, two copper alloy heads, one plain faced, the other with vertical line facial markings, are created (Oluyemi p.c.) (Fig. 30). Some of these ancient Ife life-size heads have plain faces. Others show vertical lines. These facial marking variables support the likely use of these heads in coronations and other rites associated with the powerful early Ife first- and second-dynasty-linked chiefs who were brought together as part of Obalufon II’s truce. The grouping of these heads, which in many ways also resemble the Obalufon mask (Fig. 1), together reference (and honor) the leaders of key families (now seen as orisa or gods) who had participated in this conflict. Obalufon II also created a new city plan as part of this truce, one in which the homesteads of these lineage leaders were relocated to sites circumscribing the center of Ife and its palace (Blier 2012). In the eighteenth–nineteenth centuries, when the city came under attack, the heads appear to have been buried for safe keeping near their original shrine locale after many centuries of use and their location eventually forgotten. There are several ways that the heads could have been displayed in early Ife ritual contexts, among these earthen stepform altars and tall supports similar to one photographed with heads in Benin in the late nineteenth century (Fig. 29). The latter staff would account for the presence of holes near the bases of these works. Wooden mounts such as those known today here as ako were fashioned to commemorate Ife elephant hunters. These also could have been used for display purposes. A perhaps related Ijebu-Ode known as okute and discussed by Ogunba (1964:251) features roughly 4-foot wooden staffs with a symbolic human head. These pole-like forms were secured in the ground and “dressed” during annual rites commemorating early (first dynasty) rulers of the region. 21 Benin (Lower Niger Style) vessel details, 17th– 19th century ce Copper alloy; Height 5.5 mm Two sides of copper alloy vessel with two heads surmounted by regalia motifs. The face with vertical line facial marks is surmounted by an elephant. Ling-Roth 1900: Figs. 64–65 vol. 45, no. 4 Winter 2012 african arts | 79 22 Mask with vertical line marks Igala, 19th–20th century Wood; Height: 35 cm Nigeria National Museums, Kaduna. After Eyo 1977:194 Drawing: Suzanne Preston Blier 23 Head with vertical line facial marks Osangangan Obamakin Shrine, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Terracotta; Height: 140 mm Said to represent Osangangan Obamakin. Mus. reg. no. 30. Renumbered 49.1.18. Photo: courtesy Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow A striking terracotta vessel (Fig. 30) buried at the center of an elaborate potsherd pavement at Obalara’s Land, an Ife site long affiliated with the Obalufon family, also offers clues important to early display contexts of these heads. This vessel incorporates the depiction of a shrine featuring a naturalistic head with vertical line striations flanked by two cone-shaped motifs described by Garlake (1974:145) as crowns. The scene seems to portray an Obalufon altar with different types of crowns and a an array of Obalufon and Ogboni ritual symbols that find use in coronations, among these edan Ogboni, consistent with the use of the Ife life-size heads in chiefly and royal enthronements overseen by the center’s Obalufon priesthood. In a community outside of Ife, I learned of an important tradition that offers additional insight into this corpus of ancient Ife life size heads. In the local Obalufon shrine are found sixteen copper alloy heads. While I was unable to see these works, in the course of several interviews with the elderly temple chief, I learned a considerable amount about them. He described them as erunmole (imole, earth spirits).28 This identity underscores the likely association of the heads as sacred icons honoring ongoing offices and/ or titles (Abiodun 1974:138) rather than simple portraits (i.e. references to a specific person) (Underwood 1967:nos. 9, 11, 12). Consistent with this, each of the sixteen copper alloy heads located in this rural Obalufon temple is said by the priest to have been identified with a “powerful” individual from Ife’s distant past who was subsequently deified, among these Oramfe (the thunder god), Obatala (god of the autochthonous residents), Oluorogbo (the early messenger deity), Obalufon (King Obalufon II), Oranmiyan (Obalufon’s adversary, the military conqueror), Obameri (an ancient warrior associated with both dynasties), and Ore (the autochthonous Ife hunter). These names harken back to important early personages and gods in the era of Obalufon II and the Ife civil war when the Ife life-size metal heads were made.29 The descendants and priests of these ancient heroes still play a role in the ritual life of this center. As explained to me by the priest of this temple: “These imole are sixteen in number, all sixteen heads are kings [Oba, here meaning also deified chiefs], the sixteen kings of erunmole.” The Ogboni association, of which this rural priest also was a member, similarly comprise here sixteen core members (titled officers). Lisa Aronson (1992:57) notes for the Yoruba center of Ijebu-Odu that nearly 90 percent of the chiefs in this center are members of Ogboni. There are other connections between the tradition of Obalufon metal heads honoring historic leaders and Ogboni arts. Not only are a majority of modern Yoruba copper alloy sculptures identified with both Ogboni and Obalufon, but the “sticks” (staffs) said to be secured to the modern Obalufon heads during display (Oluyemi p.c.), a ritual and aesthetic continuum extending back to the ancient Ife Florescence Era. *As with the two Ife king figures (Figs. 15–16), differences in the ancient Ife life-size heads’ facial markings and other features offer additional insight to their identity and meaning. Half of these sixteen life-size metal heads display vertical line marks that I have identified with autochthonous (first dynasty) elites; the others have plain faces complementing the new dynasty’s denunciation of facial marking. As explained to me by the priest at the rural Obalufon temple where the grouping of copper alloy heads were housed: “there were sixteen crowns in the olden days, eight tribal and eight nontribal.” In using the term “tribal” here, he is referring to Ife’s autochthonous residents. Like the new city plan created by Obalufon II as part of his truce, these heads give primacy to the display and sharing of power by lineage heads of both dynasties. Other features of these works also are important. A majority of the plain-faced heads, but not the striated ones, include holes around the beard line probably for the attachment of an artificial beard of beads or hair. In the twentieth century, beards in Yoruba art often identify important leaders, priests, and others by signaling senior age status and rank.30 Because all the plainfaced heads include beard holes, but only a few with facial markings do, the plain-faced works seem to be linked to power and/ or status different than that of the heads with vertical facial lines. The non-bearded heads conceivably reference ritual status and sacral power consistent with Obatala lineages today; the bearded 80 | african arts Winter 2012 vol. 45, no.4 heads instead seem to convey ideas of lineage leadership and political status consistent with the center’s new rulership line.31 Interestingly, four of the eight heads with facial lines are—like the Obalufon mask (Fig. 1) and the two of the Tada figures (Figs. 11, 13)—cast of nearly pure copper (96.8–99.7 percent), a feat that artists of ancient Greece and Rome, the Italian Renaissance, and Chinese bronze casters never achieved. The pure copper heads in this way differ materially from the stylistically similar heads that incorporate sizable amounts of alloys along with the copper (the associated copper content ranging from 68.8–79.8percent).32 A majority of the latter are without vertical facial lines. The five nearly-pure copper heads additionally contain no detected zinc, a mineral that in the copper alloy heads ranges from 9.3–13.9 percent.33 Since half of the nearly- pure copper striated heads (two of the four) have beard holes, this small subset of works may have been intentionally differentiated in order to identify chiefs of both sacred and political status. One of these pure copper heads additionally displays red and black lines around the eyes (Fig. 28). This feature is said by Adedinni (p.c.) to identify a “most powerful person,” someone who is also a powerful imole (sacral power). To Obatala diviner Akintitan (p.c.), these eye surrounding lines reference someone who “can really see,” i.e., a person with unique access to the supernatural power that imbues one with spiritually charged insight. Metal differences in these heads also carry important color differences that were significant to the ancient Ife patrons and artists. The pure copper works would have been redder, while those made from copper alloys were more yellow. The redder, nearly pure copper heads may have been linked to ideas of heightened potency or danger. And since casting pure copper is technically far more difficult than casting copper with alloy mixtures, the former heads also display greater skill, challenge, and risk on the part of the artist, attributes no doubt important to the meanings of these heads as well. This material feature, in short, also gives them special iconic power. The use of nearly pure copper in these works suggests not only how knowledgeable Ife artists were in the materials and technologies of casting, but also how willing they were to take related risks to achieve specific visual and symbolic ends in these works. Dating Ancient Ife Art How do the diverse forms and meanings of Ife’s early arts inform dating and other related questions? Dating ancient Ife art has posed many challenges to scholars, largely because many of these artifacts come from secondary sites, rather than from contexts that can be dated scientifically to the period when the works were made and first used (e.g. primary sites). While developing a chronology of Ife art has proven difficult, several schema have been published in recent decades. Following the late Eko Eyo, some Ife scholars have utilized the term “Pavement Era” (and concomitantly “Pre-Pavement” and “Post-Pavement” periods) to distinguish those art works that are linked to the period of Ife’s famous potsherd pavements. However, because these pavements are still seen (and used) in abundance in the center today, and in some cases reveal several different construction periods, the term “Pavement Era” is problematic. Ife historian Akinjogbin instead takes up (1992:96) local temporal terms to discuss Ife chronology. Without attributing dates, he notes that one such local term, Osangangan Obamakin, in some situations designates Ife King Obalufon I (the father of Obalufon II) and in others the early (first) dynasty with which he was affiliated ....”34 Drewal ([1989:46] 2009:79) has attempted a temporal ordering of ancient Ife sculpture based on differences in media (stone vs. terracotta or metal) and/or assumed “expressive” qualities, but this has been dismissed by archaeologists due to contradictory evidence from related sites.35 Yoruba archaeologist Akin Ogundiran (2001:27–28, 2003) provides a more scientifically grounded chronology for Ife and the broader area.36 His overview of artifact remains and other sources contributes to my own Ife chronology, one that combines 24 Mask with vertical line facial markings Obalufon temple site (Obalara’s Compound), Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Terracotta. Height: 32 cm Obafemi-Awolowo University. Exc. no. OC2. Photo: courtesy Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow 25 Head with “cat whisker” marks Olokun Walode site, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Terracotta; Height: 127 mm Nigeria National Museums, Ife. Mus. reg. no. 67/16 S. Renumbered IF 67.1.5. Photo: courtesy Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow vol. 45, no. 4 Winter 2012 african arts | 81 27 Life-size head without facial markings, beard line holes Wunmonije Site, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper alloy; Height: 290 mm National Museums, Ife. Museum registration, no. 9. Renumbered 38.1.9. Photo: Karin Willis, courtesy of the National Commission of Monuments and Museums, Nigeria and The Museum for African Art, New York 28 Life-size head with thin vertical line facial marks, no beard line holes, pigment lines around the eyes Wunmonije Compound site, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, c. early 14th century ce Copper; Height: 299 mm; Weight: 6.8 kg Nigeria National Museums, Ife. Museum registration no. 6. Photo: Karin Willis, courtesy of the National Commission of Monuments and Museums, Nigeria and The Museum for African Art, New York 29 Benin. Cast metal heads atop iron “tree.” Benin, Nigeria Von Luschan 1897:Pl.515 archaeological with stylistic, oral historical, and other data. For some periods, however, I employ different terms and distinguishing features than does Professor Ogundiran. Most significantly, I have simplified this chronology into three main periods (with subgroupings) using the term Florescence (cultural “flowering”) for the period of Ife’s major artistic and cultural innovation, along with periods prior to (pre-Florescence) and following (post-Florescence) this era. An early Ife date of c. 350 bce. purportedly based on radiocarbon (Folster in Ozanne 1969:32), cited by both Ogundiran (2002, p.c.) and Drewal (2009:80), has been rejected by Frank Willett (2004) and others for lack of supporting scientific evidence. I concur with this assessment.37 The main art-producing era of early Ife, what I define as the Florescence Period (Ogundiran’s Classical Period) is distinguished by both roulette- and cord-decorated ceramics. Within a relatively short time span in this period, what I identify as Ife’s High Florescence, most of the early arts appear to have been made. One can date this period to c. 1250–1350 ce based on a range of factors, including the thermoluminescence tests of key metal works and the likely reign era of Obalufon II as delimited in Ife oral histories and king lists. It is this era that appears to mark the beginning of the “Odudua” or second dynasty of Ife. Associated with this High Florescence era are arts not only in “bronze” (Fig. 1) and stone (Fig. 2), but also terracotta (Fig. 24). The above time frame is consistent with the dating for Ife and its arts by Peter Garlake (1977:72), based on his excavations at the Obalara’s Land and Woye Asiri sites, both of which are closely linked to King Obalufon II whose descendant and current priest is Chief Obalara. From work Garlake undertook at the Obalara Land site, he would publish five radiocarbon dates reflecting three likely phases. The first is an initial occupation period of circa the twelfth century ce. The second phase constitutes a c. fourteenth century occupation period identified with the laying of the pavements, the creation of an array of sculptures, along with the site’s eventual fourteenth–fifteenth century abandonment. The third and final phase at the Obalara Land site consists of Post-Florescence era finds subsequent to the main site occupation and abandonment.38 Garlake’s recalibrated radicarbon dates (1974:146) for the Ita Yemoo site layer of terracotta sculptures excavated by Willett indicate a period potentially coeval with the radiocarbon dates of the Obalara’s Land sculptures (1312–1420 ce). As Garlake observes for this important and diverse group of terracottas (1974:146): “… on the dating evidence presently available, it seems that Obalara’s Land was occupied at the same time as Ita Yemoo although it is likely, but not certain, that Ita Yemoo was first occupied at an earlier date than Obalara’s Land.” The likely period of overlap between these two sites is 82 | african arts Winter 2012 vol. 45, no.4 1310–1350 ce, or what I posit as the High Florescence Era. Thermoluminescence dates for the clay cores extracted from two of the Wunmonije site life-size heads indicate a similar period of 1221–1369 ce (Willett 1997:28). This period also is consistent with the likely reign era of Ife King Obalufon II. This dating additionally conforms with this king’s identity as the ruler who introduced bronze casting at Ife. A majority of Ife’s ancient arts thus were created in a relatively short time period, within a single generation of artists, in the early fourteenth century. An in-depth analysis of ancient Ife sculptural style by art historian Barbara Blackmun (n.d. in Willett 1994) reveals that works from a variety of Ife sites show discernable clusters of similarity consistent with artists working within the same broader time frame. Significantly, Garlake also furnishes evidence (1974, 1977) that Ife’s High Florescence Era came to a relatively quick end, a change accompanied by a notable shift in pottery decoration forms, specifically from roulette to cord impressions (see also Shaw 1978:155). Possible outside confirmation for this Ife early fourteenth century High Florescence Era is found in a well-known (but unexplored for the Yoruba) written source, namely Ibn Battûta’s 1325–1354 travel account. Here we read (1958:409–10) that southwest of the Mâlli (Mali) kingdom lies a country called Yoûfi [Ife?]39 that is one of the “most considerable countries of the Soudan [governed by a] …souverain [who] is one of the greatest kings.”40 Battûta’s description of Yoûfi as a country that “No white man can enter … because the negros will kill him before he arrives” appears to reference the ritual primacy long associated with Ife, in keeping with its important manufacturing and mercantile interests, among these advanced technologies of glass bead manufacturing, iron smelting and forging, and textile-production. Blue-green segi beads41 from Ife have been found as far west as Mali, Mauritania, and modern Ghana, suggesting that Battuta may well have learned of this center in the course of his travels in Mali. There also appears to be a reference to Ife on a 1375 Spanish trade map known as the Catalan Atlas. This can be seen in the name Rey de Organa, i.e. King of Organa (Obayemi 1980:92), associated with a locale in the central Saharan region. While the geography is problematic, as was often the case in maps from this era, the name Organa resonates with the title of early Ife rulers, i.e. Ogane (Oghene, Ogene; Akinjogbin n.d.). The same title is found in a late fifteenth-century account by the Portuguese seafarer Joao Afonso de Aveiro (in Ryder 1969:31), documenting Benin traditions about an inland kingdom that played a role in local enthronement rituals. While the identity of this inland ruler also is debated, Ife seems to be the most likely referent (see Thornton 1988, among others). 30 On vessel from Obalara’s Land, Ile-Ife, Nigeria Terracotta Detail of shrine showing head with vertical line facial marks, flanked by two conical forms Photo: courtesy Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow Ancient Ife art works, as we have seen, are works not only of great visual power, striking beauty, and rare technical accomplishment, but also objects that speak to core issues of history and politics in this early center. As such these sculptures offer unique and critical insight into the social fabric of the city. Looking at the complex visual codes of these remarkable objects through details of body form and proportion, gesture, facial marking, material properties, regalia form, animal symbolism, site locations, oral history, mapping and traveler accounts, as well as modern day Ife beliefs and rituals about this center and its arts allows us to see these ancient Ife works as a vital part of the city’s early history. The artists of these works clearly were interested in the sculptural meanings being known, and through an in-depth analysis of the variant symbolic formula at play, we now have a much better understanding of both this important early city and its arts. Suzanne Preston Blier is Notes This article is drawn in part from a forthcoming book on Ife art, Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Identity and Politics at Ife, c. 1300 ce (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming) framed in part around questions of art and risk at this ancient center (Blier 2012). I wish to thank the Center of African Studies at Harvard University for travel support and partial image funding and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study where much of the writing took place. I also wish to thank Allen Roberts for his thoughtful comments on an earlier version of this article along with the many scholars who read parts of the larger text, and have discussed related questions with me over the last decade. Among these are Wande Abimbola, Rowland Abiodon, Biodun Adediran, Andrew Apter, Barbara Blackmun, Ekpo Eyo, Barry Hallen, Bassi Irele, Babatunde Lawal, Akin Ogundiran, Ikem Okoye, Nike Okundaiye, Randy Matory, Peter Morton-Williams, Adisa Ogunfolakin, Jacob Olupona, Prita Meier, Peter Probst, Nicolas Robertson, J.D.Y. Peel, John Picton, Peter Probst, Michael Rowlands, Christina Strava, and Robert Farris Thompson. I also want to thank the many Nigerian museum officials who afforded me the opportunity to examine objects in their collections, among these, Mayo Adediran, Edita Okunke and Bode Adesina. I also owe a debt to various institutions that allowed me to publish related photographs, the National Commission on Monuments and Museums (specifically Directors Joseph Eborieme and Abdallah Yusuf Usman), the Museum vol. 45, no. 4 Winter 2012 african arts | 83 for African Art (Carol Braide and Lisa Binder) and the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery (Graham Nisbet). Finally I owe a special debt to his Royal Highness, Oba Aderemi Adeniyi-Adedapo, the Olojudo-Alayemore, the King of Ido Osun and a descendant of Ife King Obaluron II as well as His Imperial Highness, Aláyélùwà Oba Okunadé Síjúwadé, Olúbúşe II, The Ooni of Ife 1 In addition to scouring archives in Europe and the US, I also undertook a number of short focused field research trips to Ife from 2002 to 2008. Prior to this I had lived and worked for two years in a Yoruba community (Savé in Benin Republic) while in the Peace Corps. My earlier Yoruba experiences are addressed in several articles (Blier 1988, 2001, 2011b). My research on various aspects of early Ife art are taken up in a diversity of publications (Blier 1982, 2004, 2010, 2011a, 2012a–b, forthcoming). Scholars who have undertaken research within the metropolitan Ife area on these ancient arts have included, most importantly, Leo Frobenius, William Bascom, Frank Willett, Ekpo Eyo, Peter Garlake, Dierk Lange, and Babatude Lawal. Yoruba scholars David Doris and Moyo Okedeji have done research at Ife on more recent art traditions. Other scholars also have published on early Ife artistic traditions, among these, Robert Farris Thompson who has explored historic crown traditions and other forms (1970, 1971). Henry Drewal (1973, 1989, 2009) draws largely on research in the Yoruba center of Ketu while he was a PhD student at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College program as well as later work in the Ijebu area with research partner Margaret Thompson Drewal for his Ife writings for his Ife writings (2009 [1989, 1998]). Edith Platte, the late specialist in Hausa cultural practices, integrates her insights of German traveler Leo Frobenius in her analysis (2010) of an object in the British Museum. Jacob Olupona’s recent book (2011) on Ife religion provides insight on this culture. Alisa LaGamma has brought ancient Ife art into a broader discussion (2011) of African leadership. In many ways, Leo Frobenius&rsqu

September 1, 2015

OPENING ADDRESS OF THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE(MARCH 14-16, 2008) : SACRED KNOWLEDGE, SACRED POWER AND PERFORMANCE: IFA DIVINATION IN WEST AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

BY

ALAYELUWA OBA OKUNADE SIJUWADE OLUBUSE II OONI OF IFE, CFR, DSC, D. LITT., DCL

1 HIS EXCELLENCY PRINCE OLAGUNSOYE OYINLOLA, GOVERNOR OF OSUN STATE         2 - KABIYESIS     - OBA ADEKUNLE AROMOLARAN OWA OBOKUN OF ILESA   - OBA LAW AL MUNIRUDEEN ADESOLA TIMI OF EDE   - OBA JAMES ADEDOKUN ADEGOKE APETU OF IPETUMODU   - OBA ABOLARIN ADEDOKUN OMONIYI ORANGUN OF OKE ILE   - OBA ADEDAPO ADEREMI OLOJUDO OF IDO OSUN   - OBA ADEDIRAN AKANBI ADEYEMI OWAMlRAN OF ESA OKE   - OBA AKINROPO SIKIRU OLALEKE AGBOWU OF OGBAAGBA   - OBA OWOLOLA HEZEKIAH ADENIYI ADIMULA OF IFEWARA   - OBA OYENIYI ABIDOYE EZEKIEL OLUMORO OF MORO   - OBA OLAGUNSOYE SlYANBOLA OLADAPO ALIE OF ILIE       3 THE YEYELUWA OF THE SOURCE         4 THE PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY         5 AWISE-AGBAYE PROFFESSOR WANDE ABIMBOLA AND HIS PARTNER         6 DISTINGUISHED PROFFESSORS MOST ESPECIALLY     - PROFFESSOR OLUPONA J. K.     - PROFFESSOR OLU ANIA     - PROFFESSOR FOLA OSOTIMEHIN OF UNESCO     - PROFFESSOR SOLA AKINRINADE     - PROFFESSOR BADE AJUWON         7 DISTINGUISHED GUESTS MOST ESPECIALLY     CHIEF AND MRS MOBOLAH ST. MATHEW DANIEL     CHIEF & CHIEF (MRS) G. O. K. AJAYI     CHIEF T.A. DISU     MR. SAGOE     CHIEF SOYOMBO         8 BARONS OF INDUSTRIES AND FINANCIAL WIZARDS         9 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN        

INU MI DUN PUPO PUPO LA TI WA NIHIN YI LON!. IDI NIYI TI MO FI FI ILE A TI ONA MI SILE WA SI IPADE YI PELU AWON OBA ALAYE ILE YORUBA ATI GOMINA IPINLE OSUN OMO OBA OLAGUNSOYE OYINLOLA. AWON OBA IPINLE OSUN MEWAA LO BA MI WA. ORUKO WON NI YI:

MO KI OJOGBON JACOB OLUPONA ENI TI 0 SE EETO IPADE YII. KO NIl RE O O. MO KI GBOGBO AWON AGBA ALAKOOSO ILE IWE GIGA JULO HARVARD. MO KI GBOGBO EYIN OJOGBON TI O WA SI IHIN LONII LATI WA SE APERO LORI IFA.

ALAAFIA ATI AYO NI E 0 BAA ILE YIN LAGBARA OODUA, OKOO YIN KO NI SUBU.

NOA LO KOOKO WO OKO OJU 0MI, SOLOMON LO KOOKO WO OKO OFURUFU ­OKO YIN KO NI DANU- LA GBARA ELEDUMARE.

NI ILE-IFE NI IFA TI BERE NI NNKAN BI EGBERUN ODUN MEWAA SEYIN. IFA, ENI TI AN PE NI ORUNMILA, JE OLUBADAMORAN PATAKI FUN ODUDUWA OLOFIN AKOKO.

ESE IFA KAN NINU ODU ODI MEJI SO BAYII PE:

ODI O
AGBALAGBA IFE
AWO WON NILE OLOFIN
A DIFA FUN OLOFIN 
AGBODIWONIRAN
EROO IPO
ERO OFA 
E WAA BA WA LAIKU KANGIRI 
AIKU KANGIRI

LA A BA NI LESE OBA ORISA

IRO NI WON PA
IF A KO LEE PARUN

EKE NI WON SE
IF A KO LEE PARUN

EKE NI WON SE
IFA KO LEE PA RUN

ATELEWO LA BA ILA

A O MENI O KO O

IRO NI WON PA
IFA 0 LEE PARUN

ELEYII KO NIl JE OPIN IRU IPADE BAYII TI A 0 MAA SE LORI IFA ATI NNKAN ISEDALE ILE YORUBA. MO KE SI ILE-IWE GIGA JULO HARVARD KI WON 0 BA OJOGBON AGBA WANDE ABIMBOLA, AWISE AGBAYE, A TI AWON OMO LEYIN RE SISE PO NIPA IMO IJINLE IFA ATI IWADII NNKAN ENIYAN DUDU MIIRAN.

KI E MO SI SE GBAGBE AWON ENIYAN DUDU YOOKU AWON OMO IYA WA TI N BE KAAKIRI AMERICA, CUBA, HAITI, ARGENTINA, JAMAICA, BRAZIL, TRINIDAD AND TOBEGO, VENEZUELA ATI IBOMlRAN NI AGBAYE.

ERIN ATI AYO NI A O FI PADE. O DIGBA.

 

The Coronation Speech of Oba Okunade Sijuwade

September 1, 2015
The Coronation Speech of Oba Okunade Sijuwade

 

From Ile-Ife according to the Yorubas, the world took off; from Ile-Ife, empires and kingdoms were founded. Oduduwa sent out his sons to found and rule over these empires and kingdoms. The relationship of the rulers of such empires and kingdoms to Ife in the distant past is unclear. Eventually, it came to be recognized that although they had political power over these kingdoms and empires, spiritual power was believed to reside in Ile-Ife, it was this spiritual power that made it possible for them to rule successfully over their kingdoms and empires.

Since Oduduwa, many years ago, Ile-Ife has been regarded by the Yorubas as the cradle of their race, the land of the gods and the Ooni of Ife is reffered to as God’s own representative on earth – Arole Oduduwa, Oluaye, Iku Alase, Orisa Keji – and regarded with awe and reverence.

The coronation of Ooni Olubuse II on Saturday, 6 th December , 180 like that of the 49 preceeding Oonis is believed to have been specifically chosen and ordained by the gods. However, this coronation was different from previous coronation of an Ooni to take place in independent Nigeria. The immediate preceding one, that of His Royal Highness, Ooni Adesoji Aderemi, fifty years before, took place in a colonised Nigeria.

At the time of coronation of Ooni Olubuse II in 1980. Nigeria was not only an independent country, but a relatively prosperous one as well, with a sizeable, well-educated middle class. All these factors combined to make his coronation one of the grandest and most well attended in the history of Ife and indeed in Yorubaland. Besides, the personality of this Ooni, something of a homme du monde, attracted quite a ceremony. Never before had such a colourful array of personalities from various parts of the world converged in Ile-Ife to honour an individual; but then this was no ordinary individual.

In his life-time, Ooni Adesoji Aderemi KBE, it was generally acknowledged, was a giant in every respect. He affected his society at every level and certainly left a vacuum that could not be filled by any but a giant n his own right and so when it was announced that Ooni Adesoji Aderemi departed these earthly shores was much curiosity well beyond the boundaries of Yorubaland as to who would succeed this unique son of Oduduwa, the first Ooni in modern Yoruba history to successfully combine his crucial tradition role as Ooni with secular political functions, in an emerging and highly fractious nation-state...

The traditional rulers added colour to the ceremony with their costumes and entourages; their presence was also a demonstration of solidarity and evidence, (if any was still needed) that the gods had indeed given their approval to the day’s event. The roll call of traditional rulers included the Owa Obokun of Ijeshaland, the Amayanabo of Opobo, the Emir of Kano, the Olu of Warri, the Oba of Lagos, the Oba of Benin, the Shoun of Ogbomoso, Ataoja of Osogbo, the Awujale of Ijebuland, the Elejigbo of Ejigbo, and the Alake of Egbaland.

Unanimous choice of the kingmakers, the Ooni-elect arrived Ile-Ife to great cheers from the people.

 

The arrival of chief Obafemi Awolowo, the acclaimed political leader of the Yorubas brought particularly loud ovation from the crowd of scores of thousands. Chief Awolowo was of course accompanied by his wife, Chief (Mrs.) Hannah Awolowo who as part of the epoch making installation was conferred with the title “Yeye Oba”.

Many other giants in the Nigerian political scene were also present – former and incumbent governors of the Western states, civilian and military (Chief Bola Ige, the day’s host, Alhaji Lateef Jakande of Lagos, - Major General Adeyinka Adebayo, Brigadier Oluwole Rotimi and Major General David Jemibewon). The queen of England sent personal representatives and nearly every diplomatic mission in Nigeria was represented.

With the stage set and the square filled beyond capacity nothing remained but for the day’s programme to commence. Just then a long and obviously regal procession was seen to slowly make its way from the palace towards the Square. As the procession got closer, the 50 th Ooni of Ife was seen in the middle accompanied by his brother Obas from all over the country.

It was a colourful royal procession. The Ooni was regally attired for this great occasion. He was wearing a rich robe whose design suggested that this modern Ooni was determined to establish a unique sartorial style. The beaded crown on his head glowed and reflected the light of the sun on this bright and sunny Saturday in December. He carried a tall staff, not unlike that of Biblical Moses. Everyone seemed to want to catch a glimpse of the latest in the royal line of the Dynasty established by Oduduwa.

Ooni Sijuwade took measured but elegant steps to the grand stand amid a standing ovation and shouts of “Kabiyesi, Kabiyesi”. Everyone remained standing until the Ooni got to his throne and the ceremony formally began with the playing of the National Anthem – another indication of how the society had changed since the last coronation. As another concession to modern society, the primate of the African Church of Nigeria, The Most Revd. J. A. Ademulegun said the opening prayers
 

 

Installation and Coronation of the 50th Ooni of Ife ...'cont'd

The speech concluded, the Governor paused momentarily then commenced the presentation of the staff of office:

"Whereas a vacancy occurred in the ruling house chieftaincy of Ooni of Ife in the area of authority of Oranmiyan Local Government on the 2nd of July, 1980 and whereas in accordance with the provisions of section II oj the chiefs law chapter 19 and the approved and registered declaration of the cus tomary law regulating the selection of a person to be the leader oj the ruling house chieftaincy of Ooni of Ife.

The kingmakers on the 7th day oj August 1980 declared Prince Okunade Sljuwade appointed as the Ooni oj Ife, which appointment -was subsequently duly notified. Now therefore, I, Bola Ige, the governor of Oyo State of Nigeria hereby declare in exercise of the power conferred by subsection one of section sixteen oj the chiefs law chapter nineteen and by virtue of all other powers enabling in that behalf the appointment of Prince Okunade Syuwade as the Ooni of Ife in area of authority of the Oranmiyan local government by the governor in council on the 17th day oj September 1980, given under my hand and the public seal of Oyo State of Nigeria this 3rd day of December 1980." ­

As His Royal Highness rose in his majesty to deliver his address, the crowd grew ecstatic. The applause was unending. When it quietened, Kabiyesi's voice rang out in greetings and salutations welcoming all and sundry to the ancient city. He alluded to the last coronation fifty years back and paid glowing tribute to the memory of his predecessor, the revered Oba Adesoji Aderemi KBE.

He then proceeded to thank the kingmakers, chiefs, state officials and all connected with the evet. He ended on a very strong note, rededicating himself "to the service of Ife, of the State, of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and all of Yoruba Speaking people all over the world".

"This torch" he said "is handed on to me by a hand that I know. I shall hold it high in service to the people. I shall not let it fall. Its light shall not fail... And thus the new Ooni ascended the throne and a new era bega.

 

Finally returnig to the palace well after dark.

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