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The new Ooni of Ife, Oba Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, is set to take the staff of office today.
Newspeakonline has been talking to people who knew the new king long before he became whom he is today.
His former lecturer, Mr. Femi Ismail Oyetunji, a senior principal lecturer at the Accountancy department of the Polytechnic, Ibadan, is one of them.
Excerpts:
What kind of a person was Ooni Ogunwusi as a student under you?
The new Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi was my student from 1996 to 1997 when he came for his Higher National Diploma (HND) degree in Accountancy. I knew him to be a very brilliant student and the reason was that he did his Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN) Accounting Technician Scheme (ATS)programme within record time. He was able to practically finish all the examinations in a year and as a result of that, he used that qualification to get admission for his HND programme. It has been our practice in this department to monitor the progress of our ex-students in their professional journey. To the glory of God, we were able to confirm that he became a member of ICAN in 2000, less than four years after his graduation. We are happy in the department and the entire school community when we heard the news of his appointment as the Ooni. We have been praying for him ever since that God grants him long life and peaceful reign.
Was he displaying any royalty trait during his days in the department?
It was a long time ago. But when I discuss about him with some of his classmates then, they confirm to me that the way he talked and his comportment as a student reflected royalty. As a lecturer, there is little I can say about that since we only meet our students in class most time. His colleagues are the ones that can be definite.
How did you feel when the news filtered in?
Let me confess that I didn’t know initially that he was my student. It was one of his mates that told me when I posted about him on Facebook. I was dazed. So, I started broadcasting the news to the entire members of the school community; I told them that the new Ooni was our student in the Accountancy department and before we knew what was happening, the news had reached the management. In fact, the management were getting in touch with us that we should oblige them details about him. I am proud to be one of the existing lecturers who taught the new Ooni.
What would you like to tell the new Ooni?
First of all, I want to congratulate him sincerely from the bottom of my heart that a very young personality like him has emerged as new Ooni. I hope and pray that his time will make a very big difference economically and socially in Ile-Ife community, and Yoruba nation at large. I know from his wealth of experience that he is going to make a very big difference.