Her Majesty, Queen Silekunola Naomi, has announced that she has separated from the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II.
In a recent statement posted on her official Instagram handle and Facebook page, she announced that the three-year marriage has ended.
According to her, she tried to make the marriage work but said Ooni’s public identity is at variance with “his true self”.
She wrote: “I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle, but I have finally realised I had just one assignment, my son, and when God is done, He is done. He chose Saul to be king, and when He was done, He told the prophet Samuel I have moved on. Religion was never an issue between us; please refer to my interview on News Central TV. Instead, His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self.
“Today I announce the beginning of a new dawn and the close of a chapter. Today, I am a mother to God’s unique gift. I am no longer a slave to my thoughts of perfection. I, at this moment, announce that I shall no longer be referred to as wife to the Ooni of Ife or as Queen of Ile-Ife but as the Queen of the people and mother of my adorable Prince.”
While responding to some allegations, Silekunola said that her “decision to move on did not come because his majesty is married to another queen”.
She explained: “As many would love to assume, throughout our life as a couple, I was the only married wife to him. There were side attractions, but it was never an issue.
“I never approached him with any revelation of any sort, as many believed he contacted me first and made his proposal known several months later.
“The marriage was not an arranged one, as many have misconstrued. I never knew the prophetess said to have introduced me to him. Instead, he introduced her to me after I agreed to marry him. I was only being polite out of respect for him.
“I have never been pregnant all my life before Tadenikawo; my son is my first ever pregnancy with medical reports to back it up. The girl who is said to be my daughter is my niece.”
The Ooni had previously encountered a marital breakdown in 2017 when he split from Zaynab-Otiti Obanor, whom the King married as a monarch on March 16, 2016. The marriage lasted for 17 months before the divorce.
He later married Silekunola in 2018 and the marriage is blessed with a son, Tadenikawo.
The monarch also had a daughter with Omolara Olatubosun as a teenager. Olatubosun gave birth to Princess Adeola Ogunwusi but recently, there have been counter-claims between Ooni and Olatubosun over who was responsible for their daughter’s upbringing.
