The Burdens Today’s Oloris Can’t Carry

Like every person; kings and presidents live in plurality. They have secret, private and public lives. In this my little piece, I will liken the behaviour of a man as an embodiment of his spirit, his soul and body as explained by the Bible.

One can also see it from the common biblical verse of the God the father, God the Son and God the holy spirit. It does not mean that there are three Gods but one God who manifests in three ways.

And because a man was made in the image of God, he was expected to reflect God before his fall in the Garden of Eden. He did until his fall.

Having read the Instagram post of Olori Silekunola Naomi of her detachment as the Queen of Ooni of Ife, Oba Babatunde Ogunwusi, I picked some statements, which showed that the mother of Prince Tadenikawo had lacked the stamina to bear the royal burdens.

She said, “His majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him to be but there is another one, which is his true self.”

All men are animals in the dark, they moan while with their wives, irrespective of their status in public life.

If this is one of the reasons why Naomi had announced her divorce, then she has no excuse. I’m happy that Naomi quoted King Saul, to show she is versed in the Bible. She should be reminded of King David too so as to see various images of public figures.

I will commend the stance of Queen Naomi if at the end of this drama, it is revealed that she quits because a king always beat her. This will be enough reason for quitting the palace.

Ooni is a king in the public, a deity in the secret and a husband and father in the private. I guess he is not a monster in the bedroom.

Naomi should read deeply about King David whose public rating was so high even when he had killed Uriah and married Bathsheba. David’s public life attracted many followers but his secret was known to God. I don’t know, may be it is the culture of the Jews or not, I have not read that any of the Saul’s or David’s wives quit the marriages when their secrets were revealed.

And perhps, royal divorce or celebrities divorce is now a modern culture due to intolerance and lack of traditional knowledge of either of the spouses or both.

The second reason I can deduce from Naomi’s piece for quitting Ooni’s palace is that she needs freedom, which as a queen she has not been able to have. She said, I smiled through the struggle”. Only a slave smiles under torture. And one of the things that can make a queen to live the life of a slave in the palace is the arrival of a new Queen.

Naomi’s statement that her son, Tadenikawo is now her only assignment shows that the king has not been close to her lately in the private. The king ought to be part of her assignments.

It was rumoured that Ooni Ogunwusi married an accountant after Naomi, which did not go down well with the family of Queen Naomi. As a matter of fact, Queen Naomi’s mother stayed in Ooni’s palace against tradition.

“But that has been settled because mama had left the palace but Queen Naomi is not happy about the situation,” a source said.

Another reason the Queen quoted in her post was about her niece, which the royal friends had been insinuating to be a biological child of the olori. She denied having a child before meeting Ooni and that her only pregnancy led to the birth of Tadenikawo.

She also disagreed that she left on religious bases. For me, all these are not enough excuses. Ooni also has a daughter out of marriage. Queen Naomi should be reminded that the first wife of King David, Abigael was snatched from her real husband.

Ooni’s stool is “Atari Ajanaku”. There is always a price for any Glory and for women who love royalty, they must be ready to pay the price.

It is expected that Ooni’s images inside and outside must be different. He is a king outside, he is a deity in the secret and a husband in the private.

Kunle Awosiyan is a journalist and social commentator, writes from Lagos