Ooni’s son weds as controversy trails corpse arrival.

Six days after the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, was rumoured dead, one of his sons, Adegbite, yesterday, held traditional wedding with her media personality beau, Dolapo Oni.

The event, which took place at Landmark Event centre in Victoria Island, was attended by the creme-de- la creme in the society.

However, the monarch was not in attendance but was represented by his Staff of Office, which stood in for him throughout the event.

Since July 28, when Ooni was remoured dead, there have been conflicting reports whether he was alive or not, but till the programme lasted, nothing about him was mentioned.

Till the wedding ended, Ooni's Staff of Office was placed between the prince and his bride just as controversies trailed the arrival of the monarch's corpse in the palace.

The remains of the Ooni of Ife, were reported to have arrived his palace on Friday from London.

Premium Times, an online news medium, reported the arrival of monarch's corpse in the ancient city of Ile-Ife's palace with a denial by the palace authorities and notable personalities from the town that he is alive and hale and hearty.

According to the medium, the body of the paramount ruler left London in a chartered air ambulance on Friday and was taken to the palace under the cover of darkness.

The body, according to paper, is now lying in a secluded part of the palace called Ilegbo, a sacred place where all Oonis commune with their ancestors.

Ilegbo is the place where highly-prized rituals take place within the confinement of the palace.

It is also the place where the Are beaded crown, worn annually by the Ooni, is kept.

The Are crown is usually worn through the back because it is forbidden for the Ooni to see the inside of the beaded crown. And when it is worn, the rain must not touch it.

According to the palace sources, said only the monarch’s male children and highly ranked priests and chiefs are allowed to access that innermost recess of the palace and sight the Ooni’s remains.

“Even the Oba’s female children can’t come here, tradition does not allow them to sight the Oba at this time,” one of our sources said.

Those who should know said the traditional chiefs had to declare the annual Oro festival on Friday in expectation of the arrival of the corpse.

The commencement of the Oro festival, our sources said, signalled the beginning of the final rites of passage for the departed Ooni.

The Oro is expected to last seven days after which the Ooni would be committed to mother earth at a private ceremony within the palace.

Palace sources said the announcement of the Oba’s passing had to be delayed to allow his wives and family members move their personal belongings from the palace, and for the traditional priests to perform some “compulsory rituals”.

“Members of his family who were with him in London had to hurry back home to remove their personal effects because once his death is declared all their property will belong to the people. They won’t be able to take anything from the palace anymore,” one of our sources said.

Palace chiefs and notable personalities from Ile-Ife have consistently denied reports that the revered monarch had passed on, a news item that first broke on Tuesday.

Their visit to the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, on Thursday and a closed-door meeting with the governor heightened anxiety that the Ooni might have actually passed away.

They, however, emerged from the meeting insisting that the Ooni was in good health. On its part, the Osun state government is yet to make any comment on the matter.

Oba Sijuwade’s predecessor, Oba Adesoji Aderemi died on July 3, 1980.

Sijuwade, crowned Oba on December 6, 1980, is widely believed to have passed away since July 28, 2015.

But despite the reported arrival of the remains of the Oba at his palace, the Chief Priest of the town, Oba Olajide Farotimi Faloba, has declared the news as untrue, insisting that the monarch is not dead but hale and hearty in London.

Faloba, who is also the kingmaker for the stool of Ooni of Ife, also argued that were the news credible, people would have been denied access to the palace, while the main gate would have been shut.

Speaking with newsmen on Sunday at the Ile Oduduwa, an ancient grove, which is believed to house the first Ooni of Ile-Ife’s palace, Faloba, who spoke in Yoruba language noted: “I just came from the Ooni’s palace and there was nothing that showed that he (Ooni) is dead.

''If truly such thing happened, there would be restriction to the palace, the palace gate will be shut, market will be closed and some trees in the market will be brought down. These are parts of signs that Ooni has joined his ancestors.”