Kabiesi, the Ooni of Ife.



“The reality is that Kabiesi, the Ooni of Ife, is above all kings.

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 don’t want you (Ooni) to spend any time or energy at all responding to counter or alternative theories.  

It is not necessary.

The influence of the Ooni and Ile Ife, as the cradle of mankind

transcended this region. Ife monarch is recognized and reverenced above

other kings outside the shores of Nigeria.

If you walk on the street of Cuba or Brazil, somebody will tap you on your shoulder

because they know you are black, they say ‘who are you?’

And you say ‘I am Osun, Ogun, Sango’.

At the end, they will ask you how is the Ooni?

It means the Yoruba race and culture are beyond this environment.”

- Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize Emeritus.