12/23/2025
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SUPREME LEADER OF YORUBA RACE WORLDWIDE OONIRISA
Your Royal Majesty,
Ooni Enitan Adeyeye Ojaja,
Arole Oodua,
Custodian of Oodua at Home and Abroad,
May this letter find Your Majesty in good health and high spirit.
I write as a concerned son of Oodua and a believer in the restoration of order, dignity and historical clarity for our people. There is a moment before us — a moment to reaffirm the ancestral architecture of Yoruba leadership so that it serves unity, discipline and the common good. With humility and conviction I urge Your Majesty to consider instituting the office of Aare Ona Kankanfo of Oodua — a re-establishment of a recognized, centralized martial and moral authority for the race — and to give that office a holder who commands respect across modern Yoruba lands and the diaspora.
Why install an Aare Ona Kankanfo of Oodua now?
- Restore balance of authority: Historically, Alaafin, Ooni and other great stools exercised complementary roles — spiritual, political and military. Today’s fragmentation and competing claims have blurred those lines. A recognized Aare Ona Kankanfo appointed under the aegis of the Ooni would restore a constitutional martial/dignitary office accountable to the cultural sovereign of the race, preventing unbridled regional aggrandizement and reinforcing unity.
- Provide a single rallying symbol: The Yoruba race needs a dignified, non-partisan military-cultural emblem who can speak and act for the defense of our people, traditions and rights across internal boundaries and in the global arena.
- Check excesses, not humiliate: The office is designed to discipline and stabilize — to restrain egos that threaten common interests by offering a respected alternative seat of martial leadership grounded in Oodua’s spiritual authority.
- Reassure neighbors and the diaspora: A transparent, Ooni-sanctioned process will signal maturity and the capacity of our institutions to adapt without descending into factionalism.
Why I suggest Sunday Adeyemo Igboho as a viable candidate
- Pan-Yoruba recognition: He has demonstrated visibility and a readiness to stand for Yoruba autonomy and security that many across the land recognize.
- Symbolic potency: Appointing a leader who is already a focal point of popular sentiment would give the office immediate legitimacy and deterrent power.
- Tempering through institution: Elevating such a figure into an institution under the Ooni’s custodianship would transform populist energy into accountable leadership, with checks and responsibilities that serve the whole race rather than narrow agendas.
On the role of Ooni (Oonirisa) as Supreme leader of the race
- Origin and spiritual headship: The Ooni traces lineage to Oduduwa, the progenitor of Oodua. As Custodian of Ile Ife — the cradle of our civilization — the Ooni embodies the spiritual and cultural authority of the entire race. That authority gives the Ooni the moral right and duty to mediate, to install and to legitimize institutions that preserve our heritage and unity.
- Arbiter of tradition: Where military or political titles risk partisan capture, the Ooni’s position is uniquely placed to harmonize claims, adjudicate disputes and enshrine practices that protect the race’s long-term interests.
- Global custodian: As the recognized symbol of Yoruba civilization abroad, the Ooni can convene diaspora voices, traditional rulers and modern stakeholders to build consensual institutions such as an Aare Ona Kankanfo.
On Alaafin’s historical movement and place
- Warrior origins and migration: Alaafin — meaning “owner of the palace” — has roots in the heroic, military-focused segment of Oduduwa’s descendants. Alaafin dynasties grew from warriors who left Ile Ife to found and command Oyo, exercising martial authority as they expanded influence across the region.
- Return and reconfiguration: Many accounts show lineage movement between Ife and Oyo: princes and commanders who left Ile Ife to carve new polities ultimately maintained spiritual and genealogical ties with the mother city, sometimes returning or reaffirming bonds. This history makes Alaafin a son of Oodua whose political power must still be read in the light of Ife’s spiritual primacy.
- Complementary roles: Historically, Alaafin provided political-military leadership within the Oyo sphere, while Ife (the Ooni) preserved the mythic-religious center. Reasserting those complementary roles — rather than allowing any single throne to claim supremacies beyond its remit — will stabilize Yoruba polity.
A respectful path forward
- Convene a traditional summit: I propose Your Majesty call a convocation of paramount rulers (Alaafin, Obas, Iyalodes, chiefs), elders, and respected community leaders to agree principles for re-establishing the Aare office, its powers, limits and mode of appointment.
- Define checks and duties: The office should have clear ceremonial, defensive and moral responsibilities but remain accountable to the Ooni’s custodianship and a council of elders to prevent abuse.
- Use the process to heal: Ensure transparency, wide consultation and an oath-taking ritual that emphasizes unity, rights protection and non-partisanship.
In closing
Your Majesty, Oodua’s greatness lies in our institutions, rituals and capacity to adapt without losing dignity. Instituting an Aare Ona Kankanfo under your custodianship — filled by a figure who commands wide respect, such as the proposed candidate — can restore proper balance, check divisive ambitions, and renew Yoruba solidarity at home and abroad.
I submit this plea with deference and with the hope that Your Majesty’s wisdom will guide our people toward renewed unity, order and the preservation of our shared heritage.
Respectfully,
Roland
