Igboho breaks silence on viral report, denies disrespecting Alaafin during visit to Ooni

By Adeola Badru

Yoruba nation activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has refuted claims that he disrespected the Alaafin of Oyo during his visit at the weekend to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.

Reacting to a viral report sparked by comments he made at the Ooni’s palace on Saturday, Igboho described the interpretation of his words as a misunderstanding, insisting that he could never insult the Alaafin, whom he regarded as a foremost traditional ruler and a father figure.

In a video that circulated widely on Saturday night, he clarified, “My father, the Olugbon, called me and said the Alaafin felt I insulted him when I visited the Ooni. I want to make it clear that I never abused the Alaafin.”

“I can’t and I won’t. The Alaafin is not a small monarch in Yorubaland. I am from Oyo, and the Alaafin is my father.”

Attributing the confusion to cultural practices during the visit, he said while he was at the palace, traditional drummers and praise-singers began to chant his family’s lineage praises, and he simply added his own family’s traditional chant in response.

“When I visited the Ooni, the drummers and singers praised me with my family heritage. I only added to it. I said Ooni is a father of peace.”

“I was surprised when he still welcomed me warmly, celebrated me and prayed for me despite all that had happened before. That was what I was emphasising. I didn’t insult the Alaafin,” he explained.

He went on to point out that this cultural form of self-praise was not new, adding that he had expressed similar praises during a past visit to the Alaafin’s palace.

“I can’t abuse Alaafin. I am his son. Even when I visited him, I greeted myself with the same oriki. That is how we do in our family compound.”

“If my words were misunderstood, I ask for forgiveness. I never meant to insult the Alaafin,” he added.

Reaffirming his deep respect for Yoruba traditional institutions, the activist stressed that he would never utter disparaging words against any monarch, noting that harmony among royal fathers remained one of his key priorities.

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