Obalufon Alayemore (

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

: Ọbalùfọ̀n Aláyémọrẹ) was an

Ooni of Ife The Ooni of Ile-Ife (Ọọ̀ni of Ilè-Ifẹ̀) is the traditional ruler of Ile-Ife and the spiritual head of the Yoruba people. The Ooni dynasty existed before the reign of Oduduwa which historians have argued to have been between the 7th-9 ...

, a paramount traditional ruler of

Ile Ife Ile may refer to: * iLe, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino acid * Another ...

, the ancestral home of the

Yorubas The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

. He succeeded his father

Obalufon Ogbogbodirin Obalufon Ogbogbodirin was the 4th Ooni of Ife, a paramount traditional ruler of Ile Ife, the ancestral home of the Yorubas. He succeeded Ooni Ogun and was succeeded by his son, Ooni Obalufon Alayemore Obalufon Alayemore (Yoruba: Ọbalùfọ̀n A ...

who succeeded Obatala. Obalufon Alayemore was succeeded by Ooni Oranmiyan. Obalufon II left the throne briefly for Oranmiyan, who had just returned from establishing kingdoms across the Yoruba land and

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

. He established cities and towns like Ido-Ogun, Ilara, and many more before returning to succeed Oranmiyan becoming the first and only Ooni to be crowned twice. The arts associated with Obalufon are dated based on radiocarbon and thermoluminescence analysis. But historians have argued that the dates could be wrong. Most of the artefacts associated with Obalufon were found in a second burial background, making the test unreliable as soil analyses in the first burial would have yielded useful information. He is described as the grand patron of art as the

Yoruba art The Yoruba of West Africa (Benin, Nigeria and Togo, with migrant communities in parts of Ghana and Sierra Leone) are responsible for one of the finest African art, artistic traditions in Africa, a tradition that remains vital and influential tod ...

tradition reached its peak during his reign.

References

Oonis of Ife Yoruba history Nigerian city founders {{Nigeria-bio-stub