Olubuse II

Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade CFR (1 January 1930 – 28 July 2015) was the fiftieth traditional ruler or Ooni of Ife from 1980 to his death in 2015, taking the regnal name Olubuse II.

He was the traditional ruler of the Yoruba Kingdom of Ile-Ife a traditional Yoruba state based in the town of Ife in Osun State, Nigeria.

Oba Okunade Sijuwade was born in 1930 to the ruling House of Sijuwade which is a fraction of the Ogboru ruling house, Ilare, Ile-Ife.

While his father was Omo-Oba Adereti Sijuade (1895- May 11, 1949) and his mother was, Yeyeolori Emilia Ifasesin Sijuwade (nee Osukoti Adugbolu), from the town of Akure.

Shortly after becoming the 50th Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade founded Sijuwade Group, which he was the chairman of.

The conglomerate operates in several sectors including oil and gas, infrastructure, real estate, industrials, and hospitality.

The company holds partnerships with several multinational companies such as Centrica, Equinor (formerly Statoil), CCC, Eser and RCC (Reynolds Construction Company) and has executed over $2 billion worth of contracts and projects in Nigeria.

In 1963 he became Sales Director of the state-owned National Motors in Lagos.

After spotting a business opportunity during a 1964 visit to the Soviet Union, he formed WAATECO a company to distribute Soviet-built vehicles and equipment in Nigeria, which became the nucleus of a widespread business empire.

He also invested in real estate in his hometown of Ile Ife.

In 1967 a crisis had been resolved when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was chosen as the leader of the Yoruba.

In 1976 the Governor of Oyo State, General David Jemibewon, had decreed that the Ooni of Ife would be the permanent chairman of the State Council of Obas and Chiefs.

Other Obas led by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi said the position should rotate.

He was crowned on 6 December 1980 in a ceremony attended by the Emir of Kano, Oba of Benin, Amayanabo of Opobo and Olu of Warri, as well as by representatives of the Queen of England.

By the time Sijuwade was crowned Ooni in 1980 he had become a wealthy man.

When Sijuwade became Ooni of Ife in December 1980 he inherited an ongoing dispute over supremacy between the obas of Yorubaland.

His paternal grandfather was Ooni Adelekan Sijuwade - Olubuse I the 46th Ooni of Ife who ruled from 1984-1910.

The dispute calmed down when Osun State was carved out of Oyo State in August 1991, but ill will persisted.

He was a Christian and in November 2009 he attended the annual general meeting of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria accompanied by 17 other traditional rulers.

He declared that he was a full member of the church and said all the monarchs who accompanied him would now become members.

At his birthday celebration two months later, the Primate of the Anglican Communion described Sijuwade as "a humble monarch, who has the fear of God at heart”.

Oba Okunade Sijuwade or Prince Okunade Sijuwade as he was then called started his elementary education at Igbedin School, Abeokuta from where he proceeded to Abeokuta Grammar School under the governance of the well-known educationalist Reverend I O Ransome-Kuti, who was the principal of the school.

Upon leaving Abeokuta Grammar School, Oba Okunade Sijuwade transferred to Oduduwa College in Ile-Ife before attending Northampton Technical College in the United Kingdom to study business management.

He worked for three years in his father's business, then for two years with the Nigerian Tribune, first as a reporter then a sales executive before going to university.

By the age of 30 he was a manager in A.G Leventis, a Greek-Nigerian conglomerate.

In January 2009 Sijuwade was quoted as saying that Oba Adeyemi was ruling a dead empire (the Oyo Empire, which collapsed in 1793).

Adeyemi responded by citing "absurdities" in Sijuwade's statements and saying the Ooni "is not in tune with his own history".

Towards the end of 2009 a more local dispute between the Ooni, the Awujale of Ijebuland and the Alake of Egbaland was finally resolved.

Sijuwade traced the dispute back to a falling out between Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola during the Nigerian First Republic, which had led to a division between the traditional rulers.

He noted that the traditional rulers were an important unifying force in the country during the illness of President Umaru Yar'Adua.

In February 2009, Sijuwade helped mediate in a dispute over land ownership between the communities of Ife and Modakeke, resolved in part through the elevation of the Ogunsua of Modakeke as an Oba.

The new Oba, Francis Adedoyin, would be under the headship of Oba Okunade Sijuwade.

Oba Okunade Sijuwade had 4 wives and 20 children in total.

His wives were:

According to Forbes Oba Okunade Sijuwade is the third Richest King in Africa.

He also owns several residentials properties in Nigeria and the United Kingdom including Chester Terrace, Grosvenor Square, and a country home in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

In the 80’s, shortly after Oba Okunade Sijuwade became the Ooni of Ife, he visited President Rajiv Gandhi of India and King Fahd Al Saud of Saudi Arabia at the invitation of both countries to foster friendly relations between them and Nigeria.

Few years later as Ooni, he visited Japan to meet Emperor Akihito along with Emir Ado Bayero of Kano.

Adeyemi, Permanent Chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, was conspicuously absent from a meeting of Yoruba leaders in April 2010.

In 2016, Oba Okunade Sijuwade was named in the Panama Papers.