Multiple media outlets are reporting that The Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, has died.The monarch, who was said to have been flown out of the country since last Friday, reportedly died on Tuesday in a London hospital. He was 85. Oba Sijuwade was the 50th monarch of Ile-Ife. He climbed unto the throne on Dec, 6th, 1980 and presided over the Ife territory, in Southwest Nigeria but his influence went far beyond.
Sijuwade was born on January 1st, 1930 in Ile-Ife to the Ogboru ruling house, grandson of the Ooni Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I. He studied at Abeokuta Grammar School and Oduduwa College in Ile-Ife. He worked for three years in his father's business, then for two years with the Nigerian Tribune, before attending Northampton College in the United Kingdom to study business management. By the age of 30 he was a manager in Leventis, a Greek-Nigerian conglomerate. In 1963 he became Sales Director of the state-owned National Motor in Lagos. After spotting a business opportunity during a 1964 visit to the Soviet Union, he formed a company to distribute Soviet-built vehicles and equipment in Nigeria, which became the nucleus of a widespread business empire. He also invested in real estate in his home town of Ile Ife. By the time Sijuwade was crowned Ooni in 1980 he had become a wealthy man.
May his soul rest in peace!
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