For Olori Wuraola who is the former wife of the Ooni Of Ife, Oba
Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the coast seems clear now for her to remarry
if she wishes.
The March 2016 wedding in Benin
Why? The customary bride price paid by the revered monarch has been
returned fully from the elders of Queen Zynab’s Family in Benin City,
Nigeria.
According to a source in Benin, the Ooni was initially reluctant to
collect the bride price, but was persuaded by the Elders as a way of
closing the controversial marriage and separation.
“She’s free now, she’s free…,” the Ooni was quoted to have exclaimed afterwards.
The Elders had sued for amicable settlement instead of a rough
separation. Both families appeared relieved about this final foreclosure
of the marriage that lasted less than two years.
It will be recalled that earlier in August, an online magazine, The Boss
exclusively reported the break of the marriage between the revered
kingdoms of Ife and Benin, where the paramount ruler of Ife Kingdom, and
first among the list of Yoruba Obas, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi took
Queen Zynab to wife.The March 2016 wedding in Benin
The marriage which was contracted in March 2016 in elaborate ceremonies
held in Benin and Ife hit the rocks over alleged infidelity.
According to a reliable source, it was imperative that the bride price
be returned even as it is just a token, adding that it holds significant
value and meaningful according to tradition.
“When a bride price is returned, the man no longer have ties or right
over the woman in question, and they can only see themselves afterwards
as friends if they so desire,” the source said.
The March 2016 wedding in Benin
Recall that after the declaration of Olori Wuraola that she was done
with the king, a Yoruba popular Ifa traditionalist, playwright, actor
and author, Yemi Elebuibon opined on the consequence of a queen
separating from a king.
While noting that Ooni would not be the first Yoruba Oba to be
separated from his wife, Elebuibon stressed that marriage breakup is not
very common among Yoruba Obas.
He said, “The wife of the Oba will be asked to consult Ifa and Ifa will
give directions on how she will make the necessary atonement for her
cleansing. In Yoruba tradition, a woman who has been married to a king
cannot lay with any other man even if the marriage breaks up. But when
the right atonements have been made, there won’t be problem.”
On the kind of problems which an Oba’s ex-wife might encounter if she
refuses to undergo the traditional cleansing rites, Elebuibon said: “For
the woman, she might not really have a problem but for any man who
sleeps with a queen or marries an ex-queen without the appropriate
cleansing, the man may die prematurely, he may be struck with sickness
or there might be retrogression in his life.”
He explained that if an ex-queen wants to remarry, she will have to do
the cleansing with her new husband. Both of them have to take part in
the atonement procedures so that they won’t have any future problem.
Source: Kemi Ashefon
