Ooni stool gets heated

Following the demise of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade II, the
Ife king makers have started making necessary preparations for the
selection of a new Ooni.

The ruling house whose turn is to produce the next Ooni, according to
the  1980 Chieftaincy Declaration is the Giesi royal family.

According to reports after the death of the head of kingmakers, chief
Solomon Omisakin, the role has now been shifted to the Lowa to head
the team in selecting a credible and qualified prince among the two
candidates presented by the rulling house.

The names put forward by the house are prince Taye Ogunleye, a
reputable lawyer by profession and Enitan Ogunwusi a bussiness man.

It would be recalled that it was reported in one of the national
dailies of September 21 that prince Enitan Ogunwusi is being
investigated for alleged forgery and other related offences.

Based on the alleged forgery case against Ogunwusi, members of an
Ile-Ife based group, The Craddle Youths are imploring the king makers
to be watchful of whom they will choose in other not to give Ife land
a bad name.

Report from one of the kingmakers that does not want his name in print
said that they have decided that all ruling houses should present
three candidates each in case a more qualified candidate is seen in
another ruling house.

Co-ordinator of The Craddle Youths, Mr. Kunle Elusayo  stated that the
stool of Ooni is beyond what a candidate with alleged criminality can
fill.

He also made it known that the whole world is watching beyond Ile-Ife
of who is going to fill the vacant stool.

In a meeting held last week Sunday in which the Elder's forum , the
Elites, religious leaders and so on were in attendance, they made it
clear to the kingmakers that they weren't in support of the
kingmaker's choice of candidates because of his case with Economic and
Financial Crime Commission.

They advised that king makers should be careful not to incur a bad
name on the stool of Ooni.

This was made known through a press release signed by groups that
attended the meeting that held at the palace.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) wing of Ile-Ife had since
pulled out of the released following the allegations that the release
wasn't what transpired at the meeting that held at the palace on
sunday.

Elusayo said, "We also heard some group alleging the leaders of CAN of
receiving N20million to back-out of such agreement.

"Having heard this,we embarked on an opinion poll around Eleyele
community and Moore community concerning the kingmaker's choice. The
poll made us realised that since prince Enitan Ogunwusi is having a
case with the EFCC, that the rulling house finds prince Taye Ogunleye
the other candidate as a qualified candidate before his name was put
forward as claimed in one of the national dailies, that is name should
be announced because he is a reputable lawyer with integrity and a
lecturer at the Faculty of law Obafemi Awolowo University and he's
also based in Ife. He had travelled across the breath of this country
and he's also exposed to the international community."

The youths pleaded with the king makers to appoint the people's choice
as the new Ooni.