QUEEN Silekunola Naomi has ended her marriage with Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.
The marriage between the estranged couple lasted three years.
Announcing the divorce on her social platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, on Thursday, the founder of the En-Heralds Ministry said she would focus on caring for the only son she bore for the monarch, charity and her church.
The divorce came after the monarch revealed that he almost committed suicide after taking an N8 billion loan for a botched high-rise building project years ago.
Similarly, the monarch was in the news for the wrong reason days ago, following attacks from his first love, Omolara.
The Ooni had her first child and daughter, Adeola, when he was 19, through Omolara.
Omolara accused the monarch of abandoning Adeola for years but took to social media to celebrate her when she clocked 28.
But Omolara’s father swiftly defended the monarch, saying the Ooni never wronged his family.
Tadenikawo, the one-year-old product of the Silekunola’s marriage to Ooni, is the monarch’s only son.
The woman said the prince was her first and only child, against what a section of the public assumed, adding that the monarch had a different character at home from what people thought he was.
According to her, while the union lasted, she remained the only wife, but she said there were ‘side attractions’ which were never an issue.
Silekunola said the Ooni contacted her for marriage, against insinuations that a prophetess linked them together or arranged the marriage. She explained that the monarch introduced the prophetess to her after their wedding.
The former queen said she had moved on with her life and would no longer be a slave to her thoughts.
She also said she would no longer be called the palace queen but people’s queen.
She urged aggrieved parties to the union to maintain the peace because of her son.
Part of her message read: “Few impressions I would love to correct. If anyone knows otherwise, they are free to come up with facts. Let it be known that this decision to move on did not come because his majesty is married to another queen. As many would love to assume, throughout our life as a couple, I was the only married wife to him. There were side attractions, but it was never an issue.
“I never approached him with any revelation of any sort, as many believed he contacted me first and made his proposal known several months later. The marriage was not an arranged one, as many have misconstrued. I never knew the prophetess said to have introduced me to him. Instead, he introduced her to me after I agreed to marry him. I was only being polite out of respect for him.
“I have never been pregnant all my life before Tadenikawo; my son is my first ever pregnancy with medical reports to back it up. The girl who is said to be my daughter is my niece. I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle, but I have finally realised I had just one assignment, my son, and when God is done, He is done.
“He chose Saul to be king, and when He was done, He told the prophet Samuel I have moved on. Religion was never an issue between us; please refer to my interview on News Central TV. Instead, His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self.”
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org