By Ola Ajayi

Ibadan—AS the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi visited the ancient Oyo town for the second time since he ascended throne, he and Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, have agreed to always promote unity and peace among Yoruba people and the traditional institutions in the zone.

This emerged yesterday at the award of Extraordinary Ambassador of Peace organised by Methodist Church Nigeria, Diocese of Oyo.

At the award ceremony, which was entitled, ‘Honour to whom is due’, Oba Adeyemi, who commended the Ooni for his peace moves assured that the peace process that had begun between them would be further strengthened to bring speedy progress and development to the zone.

File: Ooni of Ife‎, Oba Ogunwusi, on Sunday, became the first Ooni to visit Oyo town since 1937. He visited the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, to grace his 45th coronation anniversary thanksgiving, held at the Methodist Church, Apaara, Oyo State.

The two prominent monarchs and the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo were among those honoured.
Chief Obasanjo was represented by his wife, Iyabo.

Others included Lere Paimo; a popular figure in theatre and home videos, Rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Prof. Olatunde Fawsley and many others.

According to Oba Adeyemi; “The peace process that I and the Ooni began will definitely yield good result. We are on a mission to unite all Yoruba race and Ooni’s interest is a welcome development. Without peace and tolerance, we cannot establish lasting unity among our people.”

The influential monarch shed light on why there were strained relationships between him and other successive governors in the state.

“I have no problems with governors in Oyo State, what I was against is the act of relegating the position of royal fathers which is against our tradition,” the monarch clarified.

In his own comments, Oba Ogunwusi sponse, Ooni said, “I am here in the presence of the people of Oyo and God our creator who knows everything. Today is a day of joy when Yoruba race comes together to celebrate its own leaders.

It is also a day of joy because I am celebrating with our king the Alaafin of Oyo.”

“When I visited him in January 2016, we began a peace process that will unite the Yoruba race. We are witnessing a new dawn among the Yoruba people. We need peace and unity in the land.”

Prelate of Methodist Church in Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Makinde, said, “Alaafin passed through Methodist, Catholic and Anglican churches while growing up. He is equally versed in Quran. In Nigeria today, notable people married from the opposite religion just like I married the daughter of an Imam. This is called tolerance. If we tolerate ourselves, Nigeria will be free from all the social and security challenges.”