Ooni of Ife’s Wife: All You Need To Know

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi is the 51st and current monarch of the Yoruba Kingdom of Ile-Ife. He assumed the position in 2015 succeeding the deceased Oba Okunade Sijuade. The 47 years old monarch had previously been married to Queen Adebukunola Bombata Ogunwusi and later Olori Wuraola Zaynab Otiti-Obanor, but both of these marriages hit the rocks as they ended over irreconcilable differences. However, the Ooni of Ife sought for and found love again with Morenike Naomi Oluwaseyi, an evangelist of renown in the city of Akure, Ondo State. After the marriage to the Ooni of Ife on October 17, 2018, she assumed the position of the First wife of the monarch which invariably bestows on her the title of Queen of Ife and the Yeyeluwa Oodua of the Yoruba Land.

Ooni of Ife's Wife

This is an expose on all you need to know about the wife of the Ooni of Ife, Olori Naomi Silekunola Ogunwusi:

  • Early Life and Childhood

Born as Morenike Naomi Oluwaseyi to Mr. Kehinde Oluwaseyi and Pastor Grace on October 12, 1993. Naomi is a native of Akure in Ondo State. She is the third child of seven.  She obtained her nursery and primary school education at Omotola Nursery and Primary School and proceeded to obtain her post-primary education at the Akure Academy in Ondo State. Subsequently, she enrolled at the Adekunle Ajasin University in Ondo State to pursue a degree in Social Studies. In 2011, at the age of 18, She did not go through with her university education as she ceased being a student of the State-owned Adekunle Ajasin University following her decision to become an evangelist.

  • Period of Evangelical Ministry

After her withdrawal from the Adekunle Ajasin University, she decided to fulfill her dream and desire of being an evangelist. Her period of evangelical ministry kicked off in 2011. With the support of her mother who resigned from private practice to support her daughter’s yearning for evangelical ministry. The ministry gained full momentum almost immediately as by October 2011, Naomi had become a full-time evangelist seeking to squarely face the ministry of evangelism.

As a full-time evangelist, Naomi with the help of her mother Pastor Funmilayo Grace Kehinde, established EN-Heralds, an inclusive ministry based in Akure, Ondo State. Naomi devoted and dedicated her full time primarily to preaching and spreading the teaching of Christ. She actively engaged in gospel declarations at public gatherings such as crusades to invite radical reorientation and repentance from her audience. Her zeal for the evangelical ministry led her to develop passionate heralds as herself who she identified and developed to join in the ministry of revealing Jesus to those who do not know him. EN-Heralds, the interdenominational ministry co-founded by Naomi and her mum served as the vehicle that perpetuated her catalytic ministry in Akure, Ondo State, and environs, in cultivating wholehearted commitments from other heralds and converts.

  • Marriage with the Monarch

About seventeen months after the marriage of the Ooni of Ife and Olori Zaynab Otiti-Obanor ended due to irreconcilable differences, the monarch and the then 25 years old Naomi Silekunola Oluwaseyi traditionally got married at the residence of her parents at Ijiako Estate in Ijapo area of Akure, Ondo State. The traditional marriage was not an open affair to all and sundry save for family members from both families.

After the traditional marriage has been done, the titles of Queen of Ife and the Yeyeluwa Oodua of Yoruba Land were conferred on Olori Naomi Silekunola Ogunwusi, after completion of the necessary traditional rights at the Ile-Ife Palace in Ile-Ife, Osun State. She is recognized officially as the First wife of the Ooni of Ife.

At the moment of writing, the Ooni of Ife and Olori Naomi Silekunola Ogunwusi have been married for thirty-eight months. The couple welcomed their first child together on November 18, 2020.

The couple and their son reside within the Ile-Ife Palace, which is also referred to as Ile Oodua, located on Enuwa Square, off Adeyemi Road, Ile Ife, Osun State. The palace is the official residence of the Ooni of Ife as the progenitor of the Yoruba race, Oduduwa originated from Ile-Ife.

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