The paramount ruler of the Yoruba race, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, (Ojaja II), recently hosted select journalists to a private session in Lagos, where he unveiled his grand plans for his 50th birthday celebration, among other topical issues. ROTIMI IGE was there and presents excerpts…
You are the ruler of one of the earliest tribes in the world. You will be turning 50 in a few months. Is there any other thing that you aspire to become?
We all come to this world for a certain reason and for me, to the glory of God, there is nothing I will ever aspire to become again in life. I have gotten to my peak and the utmost thing to do is to create a legacy for myself and be impactful to mankind. For me, clocking 50 is beyond celebration. It is beyond the normal routine of what is expected from everybody. For this, I want to showcase 50 iconic projects as I turn 50. Those 50 iconic projects are very impactful projects that cut across every sector and are also very impactful to human endeavours.
Many people don’t really know what I do. Even before I became the Ooni of Ife in the last nine years, God has used me to set up very strong and formidable projects all over the world. I want to showcase that to the world, for the world to see that truly, you can be on the throne and still impact lives.
The projects cut across so many strata of race, ethnic and even religious beliefs. When I do the unveiling, people will have a better understanding about who I am.
Many people see me in different light.s It’s like half cup full and half cup empty but I have been very focused. One of the projects that God has actually used me to do is the revolution in the fashion industry. I see myself as a team player, especially when it comes to promoting our home made goods in the area of textile.
For example, my queen, Olori Aderonke, who has been industrious and very resourceful at anything she does, has been able to anchor the Africa Fashion Week very well. Also is the emergence and manufacturing of Adire textile. We have a hub and with it, we have been able to do a lot. The hub has been able to showcase a lot of good things that can come out of our dear country Nigeria.
Truly, we need to believe in our country. We are not very serious in Nigeria. The only due we owe as a nation is patriotism. If we are very patriotic, we will realise that we will go very far. It is better we know that patriotism is what will take this nation out of the current doldrums. To me, the textile hub is a project I believe in so much. The Adire Odua followed the passion of Olori Aderonke which is African Fashion Week London. I can tell the world that it is actually what brought us together about 12 years ago.
We pretty much started it together. It wasn’t my idea, I only support her. I can say it boastfully and with all humility, that I have been the only consistent supporter. So from day one, I know that every year, I must do something. That has made us stronger together as friends, aassociates and now as husband and wife. I am very proud of what she does because I like surrounding myself with very resourceful people. She is one of the best and greatest minds that is so resourceful that I have ever come across. I am looking for a day to celebrate her but that will be topic for another day.
What I did was to partner with her to become a formidable force to be impactful. So, out of the 50 projects that I want to showcase, one of it is the Adire Odua textile. We have been able to spread it across the world, to so many western countries. The Adire Ooni is 100 percent made in Nigeria. The only two components that are not here is maybe the importation of dye but we have our own material too which is indigo. We are doing further research on how to bring out an industry that will be making dye because we still import those items. Aside that, every other thing about Adire Odua is 90 to 95 per cent locally made.
I keep asking our people why we keep talking about dollar. Dollar is not our legal tender here but it going up every time. We are not a serious country. Some people here in Nigeria, even the water they use in bathing is dollar based. I am serious, some very wealthy Nigerians bring water from out of the country. They say the water must have some level of alkaline and all. As small as toothpicks, some people import it. It s really a big issue as a nation.
Everyday that I wake up, whatever I do, especially what I put on, I ask myself if it is justifying ‘proudly Nigerian’. If everybody can be doing that, including you the media people, the demand for dollar will go down. The day every Nigerian will say enough is enough to imported goods and focus on what we can produce in Nigeria, that is when we will become a better nation. That is what is bringing the topic of African Fashion Week in London, Nigeria, Brazil etc. We are also taking African fashion week to the Caribbean and all over. We are telling people that it is a brand that came out of Nigeria that is an international now. We have seen big brands that come from other countries, which brands have we grown from this our nation? How are we impacting the country by developing employment for the youth. In the past 20 years we have grown over 60 million in population.
So for me, I will showcase 50 projects that God has actually used me to pioneer. We will show how it has helped people in the areas of the health sector, entertainment, manufacturing, education etc. Many people don’t know that I have a university called ‘Ojaja University’. I am putting together one of the best hospitals in the world here in Nigeria. A hospital where we will handle real emergencies without issues. The hospital has the best of everything. We will align with some foundations that can help when patients cannot meet up with demands of their treatment. It’s a place patients will be treated first before every other bureaucracy. It’s located in Lekki Phase One.
It’s one of the projects that I am going to showcase for my 50th anniversary. I didn’t even know how I achieved 50 projects. That’s the highlight of my 50th birthday. For me, it’s beyond being a king. For me, it’s service to humanity and God almighty will uphold it all.
So we can call you the philanthropist king?
If you wish to, yes.
When is the actual date for your birthday?
My birthday is October 17. Culturally, a king of my status shouldn’t normally celebrate birthdays, but because I am tying its significance to the projects to benefit humanity, I am celebrating it with the whole world.
Like they usually say, do you feel 50?
No, I don’t. I am very restless. To me, it’s all about numbers. Normally on this throne, I am not supposed to celebrate my birthday but because of the youth advocacy things I do, I I should cancel my age and celebrate only the days that I am on the throne. This is because I am a father to all, whether you are old or young. For me I want to use it to pass a legacy message to the younger people to show them that you can achieve things at a particular time. Always ask yourself, how impactful are you in whatever you do.
Tell us about your personal style…
It is the call of the throne that is making dress like I do now. Dressing in all -white indicates, purity, spirituality, clarity and a very strong connection to my spirit head. On my own, I have added some panache and refinement to it. For me, when you look at me from head to toe everyday, everything I wear is 80 to 90 percent made in Nigeria. I am a also cobbler. When I was a kid, I went to learn shoe-making. I still make my shoes till date. I design all my shoes till date.
You do the drawing or sketch of your shoes?
I do the drawing. I choose the materials for the shoe. My regalia is Aso-oke from Ilorin. I know my suppliers and I don’t pay them in dollars. I pay them in naira. The embroidery in the Aso-oke is made by the same manufacturer. The satin part of my regalia is made in Aba. My beads are from Ife. We are known for coral beads in Ife, so they are made in my community. I go as far as Ekiti, Benin, Ibadan to get my beads done.
I don’t wear wristwatches because time belongs to God. I don’t relate to time like that. There is value in time. For me, every second counts, so why should I be looking at it every second.
The beads on my hands are made in Nigeria. I have been very consistent with them. I just try to add a little bit of style and modesty. The shorter necklace is bronze technology. It is very spiritual. The gold I wear is from my community and Ilesha. I am happy that the Nigerian government have started doing partitional mining. They buy gold from miners to use for transaction. So, we are heading somewhere. Before, they used to send it outside the country. I have been shouting about this for a long time that we can make these things transactional. Instead of us to be looking for dollars, we have gold here. Let the Nigerian government continue to buy it in naira and value or store it in dollars. If federal government had paid attention to this, we would have been the greatest bullion collector of gold in the world. Nigerian gold is the best in the world but a lot of people don’t know. My crown has cowries there. Olori Aderonke have tried to style me in Adire but I told her I need it in white, so she is still researching. I wear the Adire if there is need to add it to my attire. I implore all of us to be conscious of our nation. The new national anthem is much stronger. Be patriotic. Buy made in Nigeria goods.
Do you miss your former fashion and style, like your jeans and t-shirts?
Of course, I miss it because it’s a means for me to keep simple. I uphold the spirituality of the Yoruba people and so I don’t have the privilege that some other kings have. I miss it so much but it is what is. I have to wear white all the time and I cannot even switch off light. Everything must be white.
People try to compare you to the former Ooni of Ife, saying that the former Ooni did not shake hands with certain people or be in certain places or parties, what do you think about it?
At some point, I used to bother about what people say but I don’t bother any longer. I focus on what I want to achieve now. Maybe when I present the 50 projects I have soon, many people will know that I don’t have energy to bother about such things. I keep my eyes on the ball, very focused so that I can get things done.
Comparing me with my predecessor, there was no social media then. My predecessor was my father of blessed memory. During his time, there was no social media but he was a very powerful socialite. Even, he socialised more than I do but there was no social media then, only television and newspapers. There is a mysticism around throne of Ooni, very strong but these days, if you don’t blend tradition with modernity, you are going to lose out. The mystery is there, if you want to scare people away, then how do you want development for the youth?
How do we relate with our people? We need to grow a lot of people in this country. The mysticism is there, I don’t dilute it but I manage the two and that is what I stand for. I said it that I want to blend tradition and modernity when I ascended the throne. I woke up today and saw that on social media, people saying that I went to Davido’s wedding party and also that people were shaking my hand.
I laughed because it is just news. We all know news is news depending on how you want to spin it. I want to spin any bad news they say about me to good things. People like to talk about me a lot but they know little about me. That has helped me shield some of the achievements that I will be unveiling soon.
Ife has a very good museum, among other assets. What are your plans to make it a tourists haven?
We have a lot of heritage monumental assets, but the problem is the bad roads. We have been appealing to government to help up construct more roads. Thank God they have done Lagos-Ibadan express road. The Ibadan to Ife road is another advocacy campaign that we are making.
So, if I seat in the palace, waiting for people to come to Ife via that bad road, before you get to me, you would have lost like two to three tires. Will the person want to come after that experience?
Yes, it is important to sit in the palace, but if you want to achieve something, then you must move. Once the road is done, Ife has a robust heritage to explore.
As the king, what extent of authority does your staff hold?
The staff hold a great power. We the Yoruba people are very lucky because our heritage is the single largest ethnic race in the world. Even China, which has the largest population in the world are very different. But Yorubas are linked. You may be practising Islam or Christianity, our names are links to our heritage and all our ancestors. No other race in the world has it. So all the way to Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Bahamas and most African countries, we have that link as a race. The staff is the extent of authority, beyond even the government. It is the heritage, tradition and culture. Its something to be held on to that is critical.
You represent the Yoruba race, what can be done for people to begin to draw attention to Ife as the source?
We will get there. It is one of the things I am working on as the king on the throne. I am working on getting the connecting infrastructure right, then we start to build capacity. Some of our very powerful festivals in Ife attracts millions of people. We have 12 major festivals that are like blockbusters.
Everyday in Ife, we have things to do, except one day. So in 365 days in a year, we have more than 300 activities to do in Ife. We still have about 12 to 14 festivals that are very massive and powerful. Many people do not know that about 500 to 600 years in the world, there was nothing like calendar or January to December. For us the new year starts after the festival of Ifa. We use nature to count the year. Every 27 to 28 days, there will be full moon. Once there is a full moon. It is a complete one month.
It is 13 times that we have full moon in one year. So every thirteenth full moon is a new year and it starts around May ending and June. That is the new year for the Nigerian belief of the Yoruba people. It is tied to nature. That is the time you start to prepare for your harvest. Then you now pray to God to have a bountiful harvest between September and October, after the second maximum rainfall. That is where the advent of thanksgiving came. The Gregorian calendar is man made just like the new year we all celebrate in December.
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