The Gods Are Not To Blame… See the Ooni Of Ife’s First Wife, Olori Adebukola When The Going Was Good

Wherever she might be at the moment, Olori Bukola Ogunwusi, the legal wife of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, must be smirking and sniggering at the turn of events in the hallowed Ooni’s palace. Though not in the eye-for-an-eye business, Bukola is no cheek-turner when circumstances tilt her way. Olori Bukola and the Ooni got married in 2007. In the halcyon days of youth, they were a happy, comfortable family. 

Indeed, before monarchy, there was money; as the Ooni was heavily into real estate which had placed him on an enviable pedestal of prosperity. Then came the divination that gangling ‘Yeye’, as his friends call him, would be enthroned as the next occupier of the exalted seat of Ooni. That was the beginning of the end of their union.

In their early years together, the couple had their madcap moments. One day, at a truce meeting, Bukola allegedly slapped her husband in the presence of his father and a sprinkling of family members. Even though ‘Yeye’ was not yet a king, many of his acquaintances and childhood friends address him as ‘Obalola’ (the presumptive king), no less his father who, more than anyone else, knew the kind of son he birthed. From that point on, Bukola’s days were numbered. A couple of years down the line, ‘Yeye’ became Ooni. And Bukola was served her comeuppance a la carte.

According to sources, the Ooni’s three sisters; Princess Folashade, Princess Adesola and Princess Adebimpe who celebrated her 40th birthday recently, particularly swore that nothing would make Bukola enjoy the monarchical privileges and powers accruable to a relative much more a wife. Thecapitalng sources maintain that the princesses threw many ladies in the way of their brother in hope that he would find one desirable and deserving of the title of an Ooni’s wife. None met his exotic taste; until he met the smouldering beauty, Sonia Otiti, who he rechristened Olori Wuraola weeks after they met and decided to get married. But she was not without her own baggage.

A popular socialite, the new Olori, at the time she consecrated her union with the Ooni, was married to a wealthy Lebanese businessman. Prior to meeting the Ooni also, she had been the darling of many big uncles who pampered her like a quintessential paramour. Despite entreaties from several quarters to the Ooni to reconsider his decision to settle down with Olori Wuraola, he stood his ground and had his way. They were supposed to live happily ever after but it is not all the time that life imitates art.

Olori Wuraola is an Edo State indigene and might be forgiven for not understanding that the whip used on the senior wife remains in the ledge for the new bride. In the last two weeks, blogosphere has been abuzz and awash with reports that the Ooni and his new bride had become estranged. In fact, sources claim that the Olori had moved out of the palace and was hibernating in Eko hotel, reason she had not been seen at public events with the revered king. There have been rebuttals in the media with threats to sue certain media houses and bloggers for what they claim is a fake report, but the status quo remains. Olori Wuraola has not returned to her matrimonial home.

For Bukola who had quietly returned to London having seen firsthand that there was no place for her in the expansive palace, the reports must be heart-warming. What might even make it more profound is that the Ooni’s sisters who championed her husband getting another wife are not having it smooth-sailing in their own unions. Princesses Adesola and Adebimpe are divorced. Their husbands were aides to the Ooni. As you read, Adebimpe’s estranged husband still works in the Ile-Ife palace. Only Folashade, the first daughter is currently married. Incidentally, her husband, Jide Fadairo, manages Inagbe Grand Resorts, the luxury relaxation and holiday destination, owned by the Ooni. Before he started working for his much younger brother-in-law, Fadairo was a popular businessman who introduced the luxury car rental business, Executive Coach and Town Cars. Life happens.