Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, says he has forgiven Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, for lambasting him in a viral video recently.
Ooni’s media aide, Moses Olafare, who conveyed Ooni’s position to the public on Thursday, stated that the monarch is “still solidly behind” Igboho’s move to drive “criminal herdsmen” away from the South-West.
He stated that Oba Ogunwusi kept mum on the allegations by Igboho because it is not in his style to make an official response on any matter constituting threats to the unity and peace of the country, “especially as it affects the descendants of Oduduwa worldwide.”
Recall that Igboho had on Wednesday morning during a virtual ‘Townhall meeting With Yoruba In Diaspora’ accused Ooni of failure to tell President Muhammadu Buhari the truth about the atrocities of the Fulani herdsmen in the South-West when he met him last week at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.
He said that the monarch rather began to tackle him after his return from the meeting with Buhari.
Ooni had after the meeting with President Buhari commended Igboho for speaking for the downtrodden but asked him not to take laws into his hands by allowing constituted authorities, including the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, to take charge and handle the security challenges in the state.
But few hours after lambasting the Ooni, Igboho apologised, saying that he was pained by the issue and his tongue was caught up in the moment.
Ooni’s media aide, however, said the monarch was not bothered by the abusive and derogatory words Igboho used against him.
The statement read, “Sunday Igboho still remains a son to the Ooni. Baba has already forgiven him because he had tendered an apology via a video clip he produced via social media yesterday evening.
“The royal father could not bicker with any of his sons even in the face of quantum of provocations.
“Sunday Igboho thereafter released the video in which he tendered his apology. Even though the way and manner Sunday had behaved was sacrilegious to the Oduduwa throne, he has already apologised and I can confirm that Arole Oodua has forgiven him, because, there is no perfection in humanity. Sunday is a human being like any other normal human being who could misbehave as well. No one is perfect!
“As the father of all, the Arole Oduduwa Olofin Adimula remains his father, who had even identified with him in the past two weeks he had begun with the struggle and he is still solidly behind him for the liberation of the Yoruba from criminal herdsmen who have adamantly terrorised our land. Just that he must watch his back so that people with ulterior motives will not hijack his movement.”
Ooni, however, appealed to all and sundry to “let the sleeping dog lies on the matter because Sunday had been forgiven and life must go on.”