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| Ooni of Ife: Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse 11 |
The story is simple enough and can bear endless repetition. In the beginning Olodumare created the universe. Then, He decided that Orunmila should complete the work of creation. But Orunmila was a great lover of palm wine. One day, he drank one keg too many and his richly endowed creative hands became wobbly. So wobbly were his hands that instead of creating perfect human beings as directed by Olodumare, he created imperfect humans, among them, the deaf, the blind, the hunched-backed and even albinos (or depending on interpretation, ‘white folks!). In grave disappointment, Olodumare appointed Oduduwa to complete Orunmila's unfinished tasks. And what did Oduduwa do? He descended from heaven in chains and landed in a place called Ile-Ife, where he proceeded to create the first perfect human beings! The survivor of that progenitor of human-kind is none other than the incumbent occupier of the throne of the Source of all humankind, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, the Ooni of Ife!
