From Oil Company Executive To Fashion Entrepreneur, Here’s A Look At The 6 Women Ooni Of Ife Married In 2 Months

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi (Ọjájá II) appears to be on the journey to break the record held by the immediate past Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Atanda Adeyemi 111, as the Yoruba monarch who married the highest number of women in this age as he continues to add more women to the growing list of his Queens.

In less than three months, the Ooni has featured prominently in the news mostly for taking new wives, in what appears to have become a weekly routine. Since the beginning of October 2022, hardly a week will pass without the news of the Ooni getting married to a new bride.

The monarch’s choice of suitors has always attracted attention. From his controversial relationship with Omolara Olatunbosun that produced his first child, to his highly publicised divorces since his coronation in 2016, the Ooni has had his fair share of scandals.

It started in 2016 with his first wife, Adebukola Bombata, who he got married to in 2008, eight years before his coronation, but left after his ascension to the throne. After being crowned the Ooni, he married the Edo-born Zainab-Otiti Obanor in 2016, a marriage that lasted for about 17 months before they were separated which led to his marriage with Naomi Silekunola in 2018.

Unlike previous queens who have kept their divorce somewhat private, Queen Naomi announced their separation with a now-deleted statement on her Instagram page in December 2021.

In the past four months, the 48-year-old Ooni’s marital life has been a subject of public conversations and news headlines not only for what looks like a weekly wedding ceremony but also for the class of the women, who all appear to be society figures with impressive credentials. Here’s a look at the six women the Ooni of Ife married in four months.

Olori Mariam Ogunwusi nee Anako

In September 2022, he married his first wife of the septet, Olori Mariam, who hailed from the Ebira ethnic group in Kogi State. Before she became the wife of the Ooni, she worked at Nestoil Limited, Nigeria’s largest indigenous Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Commissioning (EPCC) Company in the Oil and Gas sector.

Nestoil is yet to respond to 234Star’s email for comments

Elizabeth Opeoluwa Akinmuda

Shortly after his wedding to Olori Mariam, Elizabeth was betrothed to him. The queen, who is from Ondo State, was a Scotland-based Electronic Data Processor.

Tobi Phillips

Unlike his previous wives, Tobi Phillips worked for the Ooni for over six years before she eventually became his wife. Before she was married, she was a fashion entrepreneur and model. The graduate of Marine Science at the University of Lagos (Unilag) is also into pageantry as she won the World Miss University Africa (WMUA) beauty pageantry.

Princess Ashley Adegoke

Olori Ashley is not new to royal life as she was born into a ruling family in Ile-Ife, the Lafigido. She is a chartered accountant with a master’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of Greenwich. Currently, the princess owns an NGO, the Ashley Adegoke Foundation.

Princess Ronke Ademiluyi

Before she became Princess Ronke, she was a lawyer who happened to be the great-granddaughter of the late Ooni Ajagun Ademiluyi. The graduate of West London University is also the founder of the African Fashion Week London.

Aside from producing fashion shows in and outside of Africa, she founded a non-profit organisation, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, that supports the education of less privileged young girls in Nigeria and across Africa.

Princess Temitope Adesegun

Princess Temitope is a media personality who was also in politics. Under the Babatunde Raji Fashola administration, she was the personal assistant to the former secretary to the Lagos state government, Princess Aderenle Adeniran Ogunsanya.

The 48-year-old Ooni has also been rumoured to tie the knot with a seventh woman in two months. If this is true, the Ooni would have had ten marriages altogether with two children, a son, Prince Tadenikawo, from Prophetess Naomi and a daughter, Adeola Aanuolouwapo Ogunwusi from Omolara Olatubosun, a woman he had a child with out of wedlock.