On Thursday, December 23rd, a statement first seen by Gatekeepers News revealed the decision of Queen of the People, Evang. Silekunola Naomi to end her 3-year old marriage with the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II.
The news had spread around the country, and the statement by Queen Naomi was posted on her Facebook and Instagram pages. The Queen’s decision to end her marriage with one of the most powerful kings in Africa has generated reactions across the country and, by extension, the continent.
In a twist to the development, which has made the rounds and was seen by all, a statement from the Palace claims there is a possibility of the Queen’s social media accounts being hacked. Fact checks by Gatekeepers News have, however, proven that this is untrue, as the Queen is yet to come out to deny releasing the statements on her Facebook and Instagram pages.
An official reaction to the claim, credited to the Director of Media and Strategy of the Ooni’s Palace, Moses Olafare, said the “announcement of separation is subject to the agreement of both parties.” He also denied that the Palace was aware of the Queen of the People’s decision to discontinue her marriage to the king.
Olafare suggested possibilities of the account not belonging to the Queen in a statement that shows he hardly followed the Queen of the People’s account and the buzz generated from the statements.
“So, if by this morning, the queen went to social media to write that she is no longer in marriage with Ooni, we will look into it to see whether or not the Instagram page truly belongs to her and to know the reason behind it,” he reportedly told PUNCH.
Contrary to the Palace’s denial of a clear statement on social media accounts that are still active, and the words still very much available, more efforts should be dissipated towards working on the reasons stated by the Queen of the People.
Some of these reasons were subtly stated and may be subject to interpretation by the reader, while others were clear and direct.
The Queen of the People, in her statement posted on Facebook and Instagram, mentioned the presence of “side attractions which were never an issue.”
“Few impressions I would love to correct. If anyone knows otherwise, they are free to come up with facts. Let it be known that this decision to move on did not come because his majesty is married to another queen. As many would love to assume, throughout our life as a couple, I was the only married wife to him. There were side attractions, but it was never an issue, ” she said in the statement. The context, sound and directness of this statement don’t in any way suggest the account of a person whose handles were hacked.
Other issues stated by the Queen in her statements were; rumours of an arranged marriage; having a child before her marriage to the Ooni of Ife; and an image the Ooni of Ife wants her to fit into.
The Queen, in her statement, wrote, “I never approached him with any revelation of any sort, as many believed he contacted me first and made his proposal known several months later.
“The marriage was not an arranged one, as many have misconstrued. I never knew the prophetess said to have introduced me to him. Instead, he introduced her to me after I agreed to marry him. I was only being polite out of respect for him.
“I have never been pregnant all my life before Tadenikawo; my son is my first ever pregnancy with medical reports to back it up
The girl who is said to be my daughter is my niece
“I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle, but I have finally realised I had just one assignment, my son, and when God is done, He is done. He chose Saul to be king, and when He was done, He told the prophet Samuel I have moved on. Religion was never an issue between us; please refer to my interview on News Central TV. Instead, ‘His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self.’
The Palace has the duty of focusing more on the points raised by the Queen of the People and less on making mincemeat of the sensibilities of the millions of Nigerians and Africans who have had and still have access to the statement.
Until the Queen comes out to retract or deny the statement on her social media and inform Nigerians that her accounts were hacked, the Palace can’t be seen as telling the truth, which makes reports of a possible hacking FAKE.
