Naomi Silekunola announces split from Ooni of Ife

Naomi Silekunola has announced her separation from Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, the Ooni of Ife.

The queen took to her Instagram page on Thursday morning to make public the issues that prompted the failure of their marriage of three years.

She also touched on her protracted “struggles” and the monarch’s preferences regarding his public image.

Silekunola urged the public not to refer to her as “queen of Ile-Ife or the wife of the monarch”.

“Let it be known that this decision to move on did not come because his majesty is married to another queen. As many would love to assume, throughout our life as a couple, I was the only married wife to him,” she wrote.

“There were side attractions, but it was never an issue. I never approached him with any revelation of any sort, as many believed he contacted me first and made his proposal known several months later.

“The marriage was not arranged, as many have misconstrued. I never knew the prophetess said to have introduced me to him. He introduced her to me after I agreed to marry him. I was only being polite out of respect for him.

“I have never been pregnant all my life before. Tadenikawo, my son, is my first ever pregnancy with medical reports to back it up. The girl who is said to be my daughter is my niece I did my best to endure and make it work.”

Silekunola stated that she has relinquished her title but should be identified “as the queen of the people and mother of my adorable prince.”

“Instead, His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self. Today I announce the beginning of a new dawn and the close of a chapter,” she added.

“I am no longer a slave to my thoughts of perfection. I, at this moment, announce that I shall no longer be referred to as wife to the Ooni of Ife or as Queen of Ile-Ife but as the queen of the people and mother of my adorable prince.”

 

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Silekunola became Ooni’s wife in late 2018. The pair welcomed Tadenikawo, their first child, in November 2020 and celebrated the little boy’s first birthday last month.