• Says cultural practices vital to growth, development
• Traders, artisans in Ile-Ife accuse Ooni’s aides of extortion over festival
Ahead of this year’s Olojo festival, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has begun a seven-day seclusion rite in Ile-Ife, Osun State, where he offered prayers for the nation’s peace, progress and unity.
The monarch also admonished relevant stakeholders, particularly traditional rulers across the length and breadth of the Oduduwa race worldwide, to embrace unity as the only veritable tool for enhancing the socio-economic growth of the South-West region.
This was contained in a statement, yesterday, by Oba Ogunwusi’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare.
Ooni, who spoke before going into seclusion, prayed for Nigerians across all regions to experience divine blessings, healing, and national recovery.
He, however, charged political leaders to act responsibly and govern with fairness, justice, and compassion, noting that no society thrives when its leaders ignore the cries of the masses.
In another development, Artisans, Peasants and Traders Association of Nigeria (APTAN) has called on the federal and Osun State governments, as well as the police, to intervene over alleged constant harassments and extortion of members by purported representatives of the Palace over their refusal to pay the Olojo festival levy.
A statement by the Coordinator and Secretary of APTAN, Ile-Ife branch, Saidi Adegoke and Monsur Jimoh, respectively, said the incident, which occurred at the Ojatuntun Otisese weekly Market on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, witnessed some men claiming to represent the palace of the Ooni of Ife storming the market and forcefully seizing goods belonging to APTAN members.
The seized items, according to them, included clothes, hundreds of litres of vegetable oil and several other items from innocent poor traders.
APTAN insisted that the act also stands in violation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Adegoke, therefore, described forcing Muslims to pay levies that contradict their faith as unacceptable, saying these men and their sponsors are breaching the very foundation of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.
APTAN Coordinator, who similarly called for the intervention of the President of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, the Sultan of Sokoto, however, asserted that APTAN and its members hold Oba Ogunwusi in the highest esteem, saying they believe strongly that the Ooni was not aware of these nefarious acts.
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