January 02, (THEWILL) – The dissolution of the three-year marriage between the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, and his estranged wife, Olori Silekunola Naomi, has continued to generate controversy. Although the Ooni’s palace has refuted claims that there is trouble in Ooni’s paradise, they insist that the queen’s social media page was hacked, which led to the release of the separation message posted there. However, beyond their denial, Naomi’s mother has been allegedly fingered as the cause of her marital woes. Her overbearing and unruly behavior in the palace allegedly crashed her daughter’s marriage. Since she moved into the palace after her daughter’s marriage to the king, she has been at loggerheads with palace staff and some of the other queens. While the Ooni wasn’t too happy about the situation, Olori Naomi allegedly always took sides with her mum.
The queen’s mother also allegedly had a reputation for constantly demanding money from the Ooni. The Ooni would always oblige her but her last request was allegedly turned down, a gesture that did not go down well with the queen and led to a major faceoff between the royal couple after which she threatened to move out of the palace. Queen Naomi allegedly carried out her threat by packing her things and leaving the palace, explaining her absence at the Ooni’s sixth coronation anniversary.
Queen Naomi’s elder brother, Gbenro, also played a major part in the collapse of the marriage. He allegedly misappropriated funds given to him by the traditional ruler to build a luxurious housing and property resort in Akure, Ondo state. The Ooni had allegedly contracted Gbenro, who was allegedly idle with nothing tangible to do, to oversee the project. He reportedly started on a good note but kept requesting more funds, which was allegedly squandered on personal issues.
Not long after, it was discovered that most of the structures could not stand the test of time as some were already collapsing. The Ooni disengaged his in-law and replaced him with another person. However, Gbenro, who was not satisfied with the decision of the royal father, allegedly engaged the services of thugs to disrupt workers at the site and constitute a nuisance.
He was allegedly reported to Queen Naomi who blamed the Ooni for replacing him instead of reprimanding her brother. A meeting was scheduled in the palace to address the issue, but Gbenro’s unruly behavior abruptly ended the discussion. The development further widened the gulf between the queen and the king.
However, there are indications that things will return to normal for the couple following a reconciliatory meeting brokered by elders of Ile Ife and Ondo, where Olori Naomi’s mother allegedly apologised for her wrongdoings.
