When Ooni Of Ife Dazzled At 10th Coronation Anniversary Celebrating Yoruba Heritage

By Cyril Ehis

Ooni of Ife 10th anniversary marked by the ÀṢÉ10 festival, global dignitaries and Ojaja University’s launch

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja 11) marked his 10th Coronation Anniversary in December 2025 with a grand, week-long Pan-African festival, ÀṢÉ10, celebrating Yoruba heritage with cultural displays, film premieres, art, and traditional events.

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The ceremony attracted global leaders and dignitaries like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, who got a honourary title.

The celebrations included the launching of Ojaja University’s Ile-Ife campus and honoring community members, solidifying the Ooni’s role as a cultural bridge and modern traditional leader promoting peace and unity between Africa and the diaspora.

Delivering the anniversary lecture on behalf of the Board of Trustees and Governing Council of Ojaja University, the Pro-Chan­cellor & Chairman, Prof. Lere Baale, paid glowing tribute to the Ooni’s decade of transforma­tional reign describing him as “an enigma, a reconciler, a global royal diplomat, and a cultural re­naissance leader whose influence has elevated Yoruba civilisation onto the world stage.

“These 10 years reflect divine preservation, uncommon cour­age, and a monarch who leads with truth, compassion, and visionary purpose,” Prof. Baale noted.

Baale also described the occasion as “a prophecy fulfilled and a hundred-year legacy for Afri­can youth.”

He emphasised that the university stands as a cultural embassy and cradle of Yoruba civilisation; a hub for technolo­gy, innovation, Artificial Intelli­gence, culture, and enterprise; a centre where Africa can “tell its story through its world-class scholarship”; a platform to ad­vance African systems of knowl­edge, including IFA Divination, which the University is prepar­ing to institutionalise into degree programmes.

The lecture celebrated Afri­ca’s intellectual heritage, spot­lighting figures like Imhotep, the continent’s earliest known polymath, who designed the first pyramid and laid the foundations for modern science, pharmacy, architecture, medicine, and en­gineering.

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“Ojaja University will ensure that Africa’s intellectual history too often misrepresent­ed is restored to its rightful place,” Prof. Baale affirmed.