In Nigeria, kings are seen as the custodians of culture and tradition. This earns them wide respect, even beyond their own kingdoms. 

However, the revered positions of these traditional rulers have not prevented rivalries over history, territory, and prestige from erupting into the open, stripping away the mystique of the throne and exposing bitter struggles for supremacy. When such disputes spill into the public eye, they spark intrigue, controversy, and heated debates about who is truly supreme. 

Over the years, several kings have clashed in ways that made headlines and unsettled people who revere the traditional institution. BSide revisits five prominent instances where Nigeria’s traditional rulers took their battles beyond the palace walls:

1. Alaafin Owoade vs Ooni Ogunwusi

The latest supremacy battle arose from the ancient thrones of the Ooni of Ife and Alaafin of Oyo. It was the continuation of a long-running struggle that transcends current occupants of the thrones.

On Monday, the Alaafin of Oyo, Abimbola Owoade, demanded that the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, revoke the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland conferred on businessman Dotun Sanusi within 48 hours.

In a statement by the Alaafin’s Director of Media and Publicity, Bode Durojaiye, the Oyo monarch warned that there would be consequences if his directive was not heeded. Alaafin Owoade insisted that the Ooni’s authority is limited to the former Oranmiyan Local Government Area, which has since been divided into Ife Central, Ife North, and Ife South.

Responding on Tuesday, the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the ultimatum, saying the monarch would not dignify Alaafin’s “undignifiable” 48-hour deadline with a response. He went further, describing the threat as an “empty threat” and concluding the statement with a pointed remark: “48 Hours My Foot!”

After the Alaafin’s 48-hour ultimatum elapsed on Thursday, his spokesperson said the Oyo monarch is the “veritable custodian of Yoruba culture and tradition,” a direct shot at the Ooni of Ife, who has also claimed to be the leader of Yorubaland. Alaafin Owoade dismissed reports of a supremacy battle with the Ooni, saying his authority is rooted in centuries-old Yoruba history and spiritual traditions.

The first-class ruler of Oyo town ascended the throne in April 2025, nearly three years after the 45th Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, passed away on April 22, 2022. On the other hand, Ooni Ogunwusi was crowned in December 2015, a few months after his predecessor, Ooni Okunade Sijuwade, joined his ancestors.

2. Alaafin Adeyemi vs Ooni Sijuwade

Like their immediate successors, Alaafin Adeyemi and Ooni Sijuwade were in a supremacy battle during their reigns. While both traditional rulers were reportedly not best of friends, the bad blood between them spilt over into the public in March 1991 when they fought openly over questions of authority and chieftaincy titles. Their clash was based on the conferment of a chieftaincy title on then Chairman of the now-defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), Tom Ikimi.

A Newswatch report from that period, accessed by BSide via Archivi.ng, reveals the depth of rivalry between the two monarchs, centred largely on the issue of precedence in Yorubaland. The quarrel began when Alaafin Adeyemi petitioned the Military Governor of Oyo State, Abdul Kareem Adisa, arguing that Ooni Sijuwade had no authority to confer the title of Akinrogun of Yorubaland on Ikimi. He insisted the title was originally a “military title of the Egba nation in pre-colonial days” and therefore outside the Ooni’s jurisdiction.

Ooni Sijuwade, responding during the ceremony, threatened to dethrone Alaafin Adeyemi to prove that the Ooni’s authority superseded that of Oyo. “The crown on the head of Oyo’s ruler, which qualifies him to be a traditional monarch, was given to him by the Ooni of Ife,” Sijuwade declared. But the Alaafin did not take the declaration lying down, firing back with equal force: “Certainly, 1,000 Onis put together cannot dethrone the Alaafin,” he retorted in a 10-page statement issued on March 12, 1991. Just like Alaafin Owoade in the present day, Alaafin Adeyemi suggested that the Ooni had no claim to being the leader of Yorubaland.

3. Alake of Egbaland vs Olota of Ota

In June 2019, two of the prominent monarchs in Ogun State—Alake of Egbaland, Michael Adedotun Gbadebo, and the Olota of Ota in Aworiland, Adeyemi Abdulkabir Obalanlege—traded verbal tirades over claims and counterclaims of sovereignty over several disputed towns. The bone of contention revolved around who gets the historical, customary, and legal royal authority over the Awori towns of Sango-Ota, Atan-Ota, Ijoko-Ota, Abúlé Ore-Ota, Adekoyeni-Ota, and the Gbalefa-Ota peninsula.

The Alake, claiming paramountcy over these towns and other Awori areas, installed new kings to head the towns, drawing the ire of the Olota, who claimed that he was the royal authority in charge of the area. While the Alake claimed to be the rightful authority over the contested townships due to the 1942 Egba conquest of Ota, the Olota rejected that assertion, saying the Awori preceded the Egba in the area by more than two centuries.

The conflict between both traditional rulers harkened back to a wider historical dispute between the Awori and the Egba over which side had supremacy.

4. Oluwo of Iwo vs Ooni of Ife

The battles of Ooni Ogunwusi transcend the throne of the Alaafin. He has been in a yearslong tussle with the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, who has not been shy to attack the former in public. A few months after his inauguration as the Oluwo, Oba Akanbi pitched his tent with the late Oba Adeyemi, proclaiming his superiority over the Yoruba race, a not-so-subtle jab at the Ooni, which he repeated in June 2025.

In 2018, the Oluwo, at a council of traditional rulers, alleged that the Ooni’s bodyguard, in what seemed to be an errand message, pushed him at the public gathering of first-class traditional rulers in Rivers. But the Ooni’s palace described the allegation as untrue. In an escalation of hostilities, a viral video in October 2024 showed Ooni Ogunwusi alleging that he was chased away like a child when he visited the Oluwo in his palace. “When I visited Oluwo, he chased me out like a child,” he said. However, the Oluwo denied the Ooni’s claim, saying he had never been to his palace.

The most recent of the Oluwo’s controversial battles with the Ooni was the allegation that Ooni Ogunwusi was plotting his removal after he had helped to get the Ile-Ife monarch on the throne. “The same person I helped to the throne has been planning evil against me,” the Oluwo claimed, heightening tensions between both monarchs.

5. Oba of Benin and Awujale of Ijebu vs Alake of Egbaland

In 2016, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Gbadebo, said the Oba of Benin was the third in the ranking of the five principal kings in Yorubaland, while the Awujale of Ijebuland occupied the last position. But the Palace of the Oba of Benin, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, was not pleased with Alake’s statement. The Esogban of Benin and third in command in the Oba of Benin’s palace, Chief David Edebiri, said the Alake of Egbaland “goofed” when he said the Oba of Benin was third in the hierarchy of Obas.

He explained that the Ooni of Ife was a son of the Oba of Benin, adding that the stool of the Oba of Benin could not be compared with that of any Yoruba king. “We are not in Yorubaland. To be frank, it is because many of them are not willing to come up with the truth, the word Oba is alien to Yoruba monarchy; it is not part of their title from time immemorial,” the Benin chief said.

In his response to Alake, the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, who passed away in July 2025, rejected the ranking as false and a misrepresentation of facts, claiming that the Alake was a junior chief in Egba forest under the Alaafin and that the Egba monarch is also of the same status as some Ijebu obas, such as the Ebumawe of Ago-Iwoye, who are under his (Awujale’s) jurisdiction.

However, the Alake of Egbaland stood by his ranking, saying it “was supported by documentary evidence.” The Alake had put himself fourth in the ranking, a place above the Awujale.