*Ignore Olugbo’s anti-Moremi comment, Soyinka tells Ooni

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has urged the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, to ignore anybody, who called Moremi Ajasoro  a traitor.  He explained such view didn’t eliminate anything from the fact of who Moremi was.

Though Soyinka didn’t mention anybody’s name, observers noted that the social critic was discussing Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan, who’d controversially described the late Moremi as a traitor that has been not worth celebrating couple of days following the Ooni inaugurated a statue in her honour.

Moremi Ajasoro

The Nobel laureate spoke at a guide launch that has been among the activities lined around mark the one year coronation anniversary of the monarch in Ile Ife on Wednesday.

He said, “There is controversy about the origin of someone whom we know as the origin of Yoruba race, kingdom, black race and humanity. The controversy may continue for long but the reality is that Kabiesi, the Ooni of Ife above all, Ile Ife is the cradle of humanity.

“We know what we know; we know what we accept and believe and that remains the fact. I have just gone to see the statue of Moremi and the controversy on Moremi. I learnt that some people said that Moremi, the heroine, is a traitor. That does not touch any part of reality of what Moremi is or was. And I don’t want you (Ooni) to spend any time or energy at all responding to counter or alternative theories. It is not necessary.”

Soyinka, who added that the influence of the Ooni and Ile Ife as the  cradle of mankind transcended this region, said the Ife monarch was recognised and referred above other Obas outside the shores of Nigeria.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Soyinka, who were among dignitaries that graced the book presentation, also hailed Oba Ogunwusi for making spirited efforts to unite the Yoruba race.