Sonnet 36: Adagba (The 36th Ooni)
The elder king who took the crown in age,
But ruled with all the fire of the youth.
He wrote his name upon the history’s page,
With ink of justice and the pen of truth.
He faced the shifts of power in the west,
As newer empires sought to take the lead;
He put the city to a sacred test,
To serve the people’s and the spirit’s need.
Sonnet 37: Ojigidiri (The 37th Ooni)
"The One Who Shakes the Earth," he took the throne,
With a commanding and a regal air.
He made the presence of the Ooni known,
Through every province and through every prayer.
He was a warrior-monarch in his soul,
Who kept the borders of the kingdom tight;
He kept the fragments of the people whole,
Throughout the long and dark and stormy night.
Sonnet 38: Akinmoyero (The 38th Ooni)
The 38th who reigned in turbulent times,
When the horizon glowed with distant war.
He heard the echoes of the temple chimes,
And kept the traditions as they were before.
He welcomed refugees to Ife’s heart,
As empires crumbled on the northern plain;
He made the sanctuary a holy art,
And broke the cycle of the people’s pain.
Sonnet 39: Gbanlare (The 39th Ooni)
A king of mercy in a world of strife,
Who offered bread to those who fled the sword.
He cherished every single human life,
As the anointed of the ancient Lord.
He saw the 19th century begin,
With all its challenges and shifting glass;
He kept the spirit of the land within,
And let the shadows of the conflict pass.
Sonnet 40: Gbegbaaje (The 40th Ooni)
The 40th who closed the ancient door,
Before the modern era truly broke.
He kept the customs of the years before,
And only in the ancestral language spoke.
He was the guardian of the sacred staff,
The witness to a world that was to fade;
He heard the ancestors in spirit laugh,
Beneath the deep and the Iroko shade.
2026 Historical Summary
The 19th Century: This period (Oonis 37-40) was defined by the Fulani Jihads and the fall of the Old Oyo Empire. Ile-Ife served as a spiritual sanctuary for many fleeing the conflict.
The Four Houses: By the reign of Akinmoyero, the four ruling houses (Lafogido, Giesi, Ogboru, Osinkola) were firmly established as the pillars of Ife’s rotational monarchy.
(The sequence will continue from Ooni 41 to 51, covering the Colonial Era, the legendary Adesoji Aderemi, and the current Ooni, oba adeyeye enitan ogunwusi.
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