The paramount ruler of Ife Kingdom, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, (Ọjájá II) has married the former World Miss University Africa, Tobi Phillips as the third wife.
This comes weeks after he got married to his second wife, Olori Elizabeth Opeoluwa Akinmuda and his first wife, Olori Mariam Anako.
The Ooni is also expected to wed his fourth wife, Ashley Adegoke, on 14 October.
Tobi is a graduate of Marine Science from the University of Lagos. She will be taken to the Ooni’s palace and formally welcomed into his home as an Olori, later in the week.
Barely nine months after the exit of Olori Silekunola Naomi from the palace, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, unveiled his new wife, Olori Mariam Anako.
In December, 2021, Queen Naomi Silekunola, announced her divorce from the traditional ruler.
In an Instagram post, the queen said she would no longer be regarded as the wife of the Ooni of Ife.
“His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self,” Naomi revealed in the statement, and then announced her separation from the king.
“I, at this moment, announce that I shall no longer be referred to as wife to the Ooni of Ife or as queen of Ile-Ife, but as the queen of the people and mother of my adorable prince.”
The three-year marriage that produced Tadenikawo, the first and only son of the Ooni, fell apart. But it was not Ogunwusi’s first marriage.
He was married to Adebukola Bambata, and then Zaynab Wuraola Otiti before Silekunola.
Ogunwusi’s matrimonial journey began in 2008 when he married Adebukola Bombata, seven years ahead of his coronation as Ooni of Ife and successor of Oduduwa, the common ancestor of the entire Yoruba race.
However, the marriage was reportedly rocked by Bombata’s inability to give Ogunwusi a son and her fallout with Princess Adeola, Ogunwusi’s daughter from a teenage romance.
Also, Bombata was said to have resented Ogunwusi’s decision to ascend the throne because she never wanted to be in the limelight.
Shortly after the prince became king in 2015, the couple parted ways, and Bombata relocated to the United Kingdom.
In March 2016, Ooni Ogunwusi got married a second time to Zaynab Otiti Obanor, popularly referred to as Olori Wuraola. Otiti was born and raised in Benin, the Edo State capital.
However, the marriage ended with the queen’s application for divorce in August 2017. While the reason for the divorce was never made public, there was a suggestion that she was a victim of domestic violence.
One year later, Ogunwusi married Naomi Silekunola, a 25-year-old prophetess and founder of En-Heralds Ministry, an inter-denominational ministry based in Akure, Ondo State. They went their separate ways last year.
