Ooni abandoned my daughter for years, Adeola’s mum claims

The mother of Adeola, daughter of Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, has accused the monarch of abandoning her daughter.

In October, the monarch had celebrated Adeola’s 28th birthday with a touching note wherein he opened up about her birth.

In the post, the Ooni of Ife said having Adeola at the age of 19 was tough but he managed to brace the odds to raise her as a young father.

“It was a huge responsibility for me, and I relied on a leap of faith and determination. The journey with my daughter, Princess Adeola was incredibly filled with uncertainty as a young father, nonetheless, I guided my heart with all diligence and girded my loins for all the challenges,” he had said.

But speaking with PUNCH, Omolara Olatubosun, Adeola’s mum, claimed the monarch was absent during her daughter’s childhood.

According to her, the Ooni of Ife only came to see Adeola shortly after her birth, alleging that he ditched her thereafter.

Olatubosun said she allowed Adeola to live with the monarch when she was 15 after people pleaded with her.

“The first time he saw the child was at the hospital after I had given birth. He came with a letter of apology and spent only about five minutes. He didn’t see her again until four years later,” she said.

“When she was four, he begged me to allow Adeola to be the flower girl at his sister’s wedding, that was the second time he saw her.

“Adeola started visiting him for holidays when she was 13 and only went to live with him when she was 15. That is after his people begged me to allow her stay with them.”

Olatubosun said after the monarch put up his earlier post, she reached out to him to pull it down because “it is a disrespect to all the hard work that I have put into raising my child.”

She, however, said the monarch refused to heed her request, adding that he accused her of “being rude to him”.

Olatubosun said she decided to open up on the matter to let the world know her own side of the story.

“I don’t want to be known with that guy, I don’t want to have anything to do with him. I don’t want drama, he likes drama. He likes the fame, I don’t want the fame,” she added.

“I have sent him private messages to warn him to set the records straight. He knows he is lying; why he’s doing that, I don’t know. I asked why he had to lie because he has been lying since the day I met him.

“I have reached out to him more than once. He was adamant and said I was rude to him. I gave him a 72-hour ultimatum to take the post down if he could not face the world and say the truth. I told him to pull the post down because it is a disrespect to all the hard work that I have put into raising my child.

“When he became a king, I made excuses for him. For the past six, seven years, people have been coming to me asking me to tell his story and I turned all that down because I did not just want my face out there. All I care about is saying the truth and setting the records straight.

“I won’t take away the fact that he sent her abroad for school. He did that; it wasn’t my penny in there. I have been silent because of my daughter, but what sort of role model would I be to her if I don’t set the records straight?

“This is not about a rumour, I am only debunking lies about my life story. I’ve known him for 40 years and I was seven years old when we became friends. Whatever he is doing that is bad, that’s none of my business, but this one is my business.”

The monarch is yet to react to Olatubosun’s claim as of the time of this report.