Okun People Beg Ooni of Ife: "We Are Yoruba, We Want to Come Back Home – Save Us from Chains of Slavery"
The people of Okunland in the western part of Kogi State have called on the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, to help them beg President Bola Tinubu to bring them back to the South-Western region to be with their Yoruba brothers and sisters. Okunland encompasses six local government areas: Kabba-Bunu, Ijumu, Yagba East, Yagba West, Mopa-Muro, and parts of Lokoja.
According to their paramount ruler and Chairman of the Okun Area Traditional Council, Oba Dr. Solomon Dele Owoniyi, who visited the Ooni at his Ife Palace, "We are renewing our sworn oath of 100% allegiance to you, our father, the Ooni of Ife, who is Arole of Oduduwa. We never agreed to be in North-Central. Please, help us return home and save us from these chains of slavery. We are tired of being second-class Yorubas."
The plea highlights the long-standing agitation of the Okun people, who identify as Yoruba but remain administratively part of Kogi State in the North-Central zone.