Ooni of Ife marries new wife as Kogi-born bride is ushered into palace in Ile-Ife

OONI of Ife Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has formally married a new wife after his new bride Mariam Anako was ushered into the monarch's palace  in Ile-Ife after conducting brief traditional rites at the entrance to the premises.

In an elaborate ceremony yesterday evening, Olori Anako, who hails from Kogi State was led into the inner court of the palace to meet her husband and other guests waiting to receive her. Among those who received here were the ooni's elder brother, Sooko Adegboyega Ogunwusi and the monarch’s other siblings.

During the ceremony, Olori Anako’s relatives from Ebiraland in Kogi State and from Ilorin in Kwara State also took turns to greet the ooni. This new wife comes the palace about 10 months after Naomi Silekunola, the last wife of the monarch left him, having departed on Thursday, December 23, 2021, ending a marriage that produced a son, Tadenikawo, and lasted about three years.

Olori Naomi  also renounced the title of a queen, saying she tried to make the three-year union work but the ooni’s public identity is at variance with his true self. After the split between 47-year-old ooni and Naomi, many Yoruba monarchs and elders including the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, tried to reconcile the estranged couple but the peace talks did not yield results.

Before being coronated king, the Ooni was previously married to Adebukola Bombata in 2008 but the marriage collapsed. As a monarch, the ooni married Edo-born Zaynab-Otiti Obanor in 2016 but the union lasted for 17 months before their separation.

He later married Silekunola in 2018 and the marriage produced a son before the divorce announcement in December. As a teenager, the ooni had a daughter with Omolara Olatubosun, giving birth to Princess Adeola Ogunwusi.

Aside from the Ooni, other traditional rulers who had experienced divorce known to the public include the Oluwo of Iwoland Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, whose marriage to his Jamaican wife, Chanel Chin, crashed in December 2019. Also, Anuoluwapo Adeyemi, one of the wives of the late Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi, parted ways with him in November 2020.

Olori Mariam Ajibola Anako was working as an oil and gas executive with NestOil up until her marriage to the ooni. She lost her dad at a young age and was raised in the home of former inspector -general of police Mohammed Dikko.