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Oba Okunade SijuWade (January 1, 1930 - July 28, 2015)
THURSDAY, AUGUSt 13, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH
Ooni of Ife: A businessman, reporter, revered monarch The demise of Ooni of Ife, His Royal Highness Oba Okunade Sijuwade in London on July 28 has left a sour taste not only in the mouth of the people of the ancient Ile-Ife kingdom, but to Nigerians at large. In this report, WALE ELEGBEDE traces the life and times of the highly influential and revered monarch The Ile-Ife myth According to Yoruba belief, the world, empires and human race took off from Ile-Ife, a city in the present Osun State and as such, anyone that occupies the revered seat of Ooni of Ife is regarded as a deity (Onirisa) and must be worshipped. As the story goes, in the beginning, Olodumare (God) created the universe and gave the task of completing the creation work to Orunmila, a deity. But Orunmila got drunk with palm wine one day and his richly endowed creative hands became unsteady, thereby creating imperfect human beings that are blind, deaf, hunched-back, among others. Disenchanted by Orunmila’s action, Olodumare appointed Oduduwa in the stead of Orunmila to complete the unfinished tasks. Upon assumption of the task, Oduduwa descended from heaven in chains and landed in a place called IleIfe, where he proceeded to create the first perfect human beings. The survivor of that progenitor of human-kind is none other than the occupier of the throne of the source of all humankind, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who joined his ancestors on Tuesday July 28, 2015. Since the Oduduwa foray, many years ago, Ile-Ife has been regarded by the Yoruba as the cradle of their race, the land of the gods and the Ooni of Ife is referred to as God’s own representative on earth – Arole Oduduwa, Oluaye, Iku Alase, Orisa Keji – and regarded with awe and reverence. His early life Oba Sijuwade was born into opulence and with silver spoon in his mouth on January 1, 1930 to a great royal family of Prince Adereti and Madam Emilia Ifasesin Sijuwade in the Ogboru house, Ilare, Ile-Ife. Prince Okunade Sijuwade, as he was then called, started his elementary education at Igbein Primary School, Abeokuta, an institution owned by the CMS mission. He lived with his older brother under the
Oba Sijuwade during his coronation in 1980
care of their father’s good friend, Chief G. A. Adedayo and his family. Chief Adebayo was the secretary to the Egba council, under the Asoju Oba. After his elementary school education he then proceeded to Abeokuta Grammar School, under the reknowned educationist, Rev. I. O. Ransome Kuti, who was the principal of the school. ‘Don’t hit a king’ Early in life, Prince Sijuwade was conscious of his royal birth, and his carriage, even in school, as one who was destined to wear the crown. Once, at Abeokuta Grammar School, the Rev. Ransome Kuti wanted to flog the young Sijuwade for some misdemeanour. As the principal raised his whip, the young prince dared the famous disciplinarian to hit a ‘king’. This did not of course stop Rev. Kuti from meting out what he considered appropriate punishment to the erring young man who was nonetheless satisfied that he has made his point. He left Abeokuta Grammar School after five years and got transferred to Oduduwa College in Ile-Ife to complete his studies under Rev. S. A. Adeyefa. Sijuade as a reporter On leaving Oduduwa College, the young prince joined his father’s business for about three years after which the elder Sijuwade, convinced that his son had acquired sufficient on-the-job training, decided he should proceed for a course of study overseas. Before he left however, the young man on his own volition decided he needed to have journalistic training. He joined the Nigerian Tribune where he spent two years, first as a reporter and later as a sales executive. Thereafter, he proceeded to the United Kingdom in the early 50s to undertake a course of training in Business Management. His training was essentially in Northampton and with the Leventis Group in Manchester in 1957. He also
participated in advanced business management training programmes with companies in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Scotland, West Germany and Israel. Armed with the immense experience he acquired in these places, he returned to Nigeria a few years later to lunch a career in business. Stint with Leventis Motors Shortly after Prince Sijuwade returned to Nigeria, he was appointed the Sales Manager of Leventis Motors in Western Nigeria with its headquarters in Ibadan. By 1960, with Nigerian Independence, he became an adviser to the Leventis Group. In 1963, the government of Western Nigeria, now getting increasingly involved in a lot of industrial activities in the country approached the Leventis Group to release the prince for five years to help in the re-organisation of some of their companies. Prince Sijuwade’s first assignment with the government was as Sales Director of National Motors in Lagos. He subsequently headed the management of the company with numerous Nigerian and expatriate staff under him. He formed a company -WAATECOalong with three friends. The company later became the sole distributor of Soviet-made vehicles, tractors and engineering equipment in Nigeria with at least 50 Russians on its staff and a dozen branches all over Nigeria. This small beginning marked the start of trade with the Soviet Union in Nigeria, and for Prince Sijuwade the birth of a business empire that was to include at least 50 companies. While he was setting up his own company, he continued his efforts to help reorganise the government-owned National Motors and by 1965 the company began making profit. The political turmoil in the country following the coup of January 1966 and the counter-coup of July the same year brought his good friend Major General Robert Adebayo (then Colonel) to office as Governor of the Western Region. Sensitive to the possibility of having a disagreement with his friend over a public issue, he decided that it was best to resign his appointment as an employee of the Government of Western Nigeria. He subsequently left the service of the government and went fully into business on his own. Within 10 years, his activities stretched far and wide, and to keep in touch with the various commercial capitals of the world he moved the headquarters of his operations to the United Kingdom in 1973. Now he was truly where he wanted to be in the business world; the world was, as it were, his oyster. With his business now firmly established internationally he decided to establish a stronger footing in his home town, Ile-Ife by building an housing estate and hotel, Motel Royal. Urban, relaxed and self-confident, Prince Sijuwade had a wealth of experience from which to draw and was at home in boardrooms both in Nigeria and in leading capitals in the world. He had a large international circle of friends, contacts and business associates. It was often dispassionate, well informed and judicious, precisely the qualities required of a traditional ruler in a pluralistic so-
ciety like ours. As a businessman, Prince Sijuwade maintained a diverse social, political, ethnic and ideological group of friends in Nigeria and abroad. He genuinely enjoys playing host and is equally at home in small groups as in large gatherings. He enjoys traveling and has visited most countries of the world. He relaxes by swimming, horse-riding, table-tennis and having intellectual discussions with small groups. The devastating death of his wife There have been various experiences in the life of Oba Sijuwade that have been trying. A major force in the life of Oba Sijuwade was the beloved Yeyeluwa of Ife, Olori Oyetunde Sijuwade – a remarkable woman, always cheerful and hospitable. She was for many years of blissful relationship provided a stable, enviable matrimonial haven. Thus when she answered the celestial call in August 1986 it was a major blow. His Imperial Majesty bore adversity with dignity and composure in keeping with age-long Yoruba tradition that the Oba never mourns. He was in fact the one who consoled and pacified mourners. His lineage The late Ooni’s father, Prince Adereti, a wealthy cocoa merchant, who once had a thriving business in today’s Iju and Alagbado in Lagos/Ogun states, and who died at 54 on May 11, 1949, never became Ooni. But it was his grandfather, Ooni Adenekan Olubuse I, who reigned as the 47th Ooni between 1894 and 1910, ahead of Ooni Ademiluyi and Ooni (Sir) Adesoji Aderemi (in that order) and became, from all accounts, the first modern Ooni of Ife. For many analysts, the late Ooni inherited a great deal of flamboyance from his grandfather. For instance, Ooni Olubuse I was the first Ooni to have ever travelled out of Ile-Ife. The trip was so significant that it was the subject of a 1903 Colonial Government Gazette of the same year. It was believed that Ooni Olubuse was invited by the then Governor of Lagos, Sir W. MacGregor, to adjudicate in a festering dispute between the then Akarigbo of Remo and the Elepe of Epe in Sagamu as to whether the Elepe was entitled, by right, to the wearing of a beaded crown, as Oba. According to the gazette, that unprecedented journey to Lagos, caused a stir in all of Yorubaland, because, as a mark of respect to the Ooni, all Obas and princes, momentarily vacated their thrones throughout the period of the Ooni’s sojourn in Lagos. When the Ooni finally arrived in Lagos, transported in his hammock, under a flutter of colourful, giant, royal umbrellas, with his retinue of courtiers in toe, he was a sight to behold. And when he finally gave his verdict, presumably, through an interpreter, he had his back to the colonial Governor, since no mortal, not even the representative of the English monarch, could behold his face. His coronation The coronation of Ooni Olubuse II on Saturday, December 6, 1980 was different from previous coronation of an Ooni because it took place in independent Nigeria. The immediate preceding one, that of His Royal Highness, Ooni Adesoji