Ogiame Atuwatse III, the Olu of Warri, has reaffirmed Dr. Monday Agbeyi as the chairman of OML 150 Consultative Communities Forum in Warri South Local Government of Delta State, with a directive that he should oversee the affairs of the field until the expiration of his tenure.
At a well-attended stakeholders’ meeting at the Ceremonial Hall of the Olu’s Palace, which had in attendance hundreds of elders, leaders, women and youths from the nine OML 150 communities of Ifiekporo, Uwakeno, Omadino, Ewekeara, Ajaosolo, Obodo, Jaluwa, Efueye and Okogbo, the monarch warned against any untoward action that could threaten the peace and development of Iwereland.
Ogiame Atuwatse, who commended the Agbeyi-led leadership of the OML 150 Communities Consultative Forum for its commitment to the development of the oil-producing communities, advised it to build other leaders who will take over from it when its tenure expires.
The Olu of Warri, His Majesty Ogiame Ikenwoli, has called on sons and daughters of Itsekiri nation to unite to ensure the completion of the proposed University of Warri.
The monarch stated this during the inauguration of members of Board of Directors/Advisory council of the varsity in his palace in Warri.
The institution is to be sited in Obitugbo, Warri North council area of Delta state.
Pledging to give full support to the university project, the traditional ruler charged sons and daughters of Iwereland to come together and ensure the completion of the university.
Ogiame Ikenwoli said: “Talk about Warri University did not start today. But at God’s own time the project has taken off.
“Itsekiri should unite to build the university. Those of you inaugurated should do your best to build the university. I am behind you.”
Inaugurating the members of the council, the king urged them never to hesitate to alert him to areas where he can render assistance to fast-track development of the project.
Expressing gratitude to them for accepting the responsibilities, he stated: “I am very happy with the quality of members. It is certain the university will be a huge success”.
It will be noted the Olu is to serve as the Visitor and Chancellor of the university.
The Coordinator of the Planning/Implementation Programmes of the proposed university, Professor Jim Omatseye, has disclosed that the university will take- off with a campus in Koko, headquarters of the council area.
Stating this will be until the permanent site in Obitugbo is ready for use, Omatseye assured the university will bridge the gap for Deltans in university admissions and other related opportunities.
“We have a take off campus to start the university in Koko, headquarters of Warri north local government area.
“Olu will be the Chancellor and the Visitor,” the Prof stated.
THe Olu of Warri, His Majesty Ogiame Ikenwoli, has urged Itsekiri politicians vying for elective offices to be good ambassadors of their homeland.
The Warri monarch spoke at his palace while hosting a senatorial aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Irone Rita Begho.
Ikenwoli said he would give his blessing to anyone seeking offices free of charge.
The monarch described Begho as a competent and worthy aspirant.
He advised her to prepare for other qualified contestants in the race.
Ikenwoli said: “Your curriculum vitae (CV) shows you as competent and capable. All you need is my blessing. I don’t need your money. I’ll give you my blessing.”
Begho, a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court, called for a paradigm shift in the development strategy of Niger Delta, given the region’s enormous human and natural resources.
The aspirant noted that the time had come for a woman to represent the district “after more than 18 years of uninterrupted male domination in Delta South Senatorial District”.
According to her, she is the most qualified for the Senate seat because “the job is one that requires good knowledge of the law-making processes, solid educational exposure, vast national and international contacts and deep love and loyalty to the Itsekiri”.
The residents of Iyemero Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Areas Monday staged a public protest against their monarch, the Olu, Oba Ebenezer Agboola Ogungbemi .
The residents including traditional chiefs, youths and women began their protest with solidarity songs and marched to the headquarters of local council area.
The protesters accused Oba Ogungbemi of misappropriating money meant for the payment of monthly stipends of traditional chiefs and illegal sale of land in the community.
President of the town’s Union, Fatoyinbo Idowu said the monarch ascended the throne through questionable means as he that the monarch was not entitled to Iyemero kingship.
He also accused the monarch of unilaterally withholding the stipends due to the traditional chiefs of the town in the last ten years.
The protesters who had earlier met the council of Obas in Ikole local government threatened to petition the monarch by calling the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should the monarch jettison the appeal of well-meaning sons and daughters of Iyemero Ekiti.
Also, two youth leaders of the town, Odeleye Adeleye accused the monarch of shortchanging the town.
Another youth leader, Francis Olayinka urged Governor Ayo Fayose to remove the Olu for allegedly desecrating the throne.
In a swift reaction, the spokesperson to the monarch, Prince Michael Ogungbemi said the protest is the handiwork of some disgruntled individuals in the community.
He said the monarch is not selling lands in the community and community chiefs have been collecting stipends from the monarch.
The prince urged the subjects to cooperate with the monarch and should not allow themselves to be used to cause chaos in their hometown.
The lingering crisis rocking the town over the removal of the traditional ruler of the town began about two years ago, and every attempt made to settle the feud has not yielded a positive result.
The Nigerian military has said recent fears over likely federal forces offensive in the Niger Delta were unnecessary as there are no such plans.
Chief of Army Staff, General Yusuff Buratai allayed the fears during a courtesy call on the Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty, Ikenwoli, in his palace on Ajamimogha Road, Warri.
The army chief, who had earlier Saturday morning flagged off the special military drill, codenamed ‘Operation Crocodile’s Tears’ in Sapele, said the exercise would focus on training for military personnel and not aimed at witch-hunting or victimising anyone.
“The exercise is a training routine and not designed to witch-hunt anyone. To this end, I urge all law abiding citizens to go about their normal daily activities without fears”, he said
The Olu of Warri, in his reaction, said that Nigeria remained indissoluble, saying his subjects and all Deltas believe in one Nigeria.
It will be recalled that in its logistics build-up to the commencement of the exercise, the military has embarked on a free medical outreach for Sapele communities in Delta State.
Medical personnel from the Nigerian Army Medical Corps were deployed to attend to medical needs of people of the communities free of charge.
Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode and the Olu of Warri, King Godfrey Ikenwoli Emiko, yesterday called for harmonious relationship among ethnic groups in the country.
They spoke when the Olu visited the governor at the State House, Ikeja.
Ambode said the quantum of development which the nation would experience in a harmonious and peaceful environment cannot be underestimated and therefore all hands must be on deck to promote peace.
He recalled that the history of the Yoruba cannot be complete without reference to the Itsekiri and as such, both tribes must jealously guard and improve on the historical relationship.
The governor, who congratulated King Emiko on his successful ascension, said he believes so much in the ability of the monarch to turn around the fortunes of Warri.
The monarch said he was happy to be at the Lagos House because his visit was a home coming for him.
He thanked Ambode for identifying with the people during the mourning period of the late monarch and during his coronation three months ago.
The Olu of Warri, Ikenwoli, at the weekend, constituted the Warri Kingdom’s Advisory Council, selecting an array of Itsekiri noble and intelligentsia, including Prof Itse Sagay (SAN).
The council, consisting of 25 members, also include the Ojomo of Warri, Chief Yahya Pessu, the Ikeri of Warri, Chief Isaac Jemide and the Ogwa-Olusan of Warri, Chief Brown Mene.
Other members are the renowned Itsekiri historian and leader of Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILOT), Pa J.O.S Ayomike, the Akulagba of Warri kingdom and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Ayirimi Emami, Itsekiri Women Leader and Niger Delta activist Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor.
Former Delta State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Charles Ajuyah (SAN) also made the list. The council is expected to fashion out the way forward for the development of Warri Kingdom.
The Olu of Warri, HM Ogiame Ikenwoli, has urged the Interface Committee of the Ogidigben Export Processing Zone (EPZ) to sustain the communal peace at Ugborodo to enhance the takeoff of the $16 billion multi-lateral gas project.
The Warri monarch, who addressed the committee at a closed-door meeting in his palace at Ajamimogha, Warri, also urged members of the Association of Itsekiri Performing Artists (AIPA) to support the revival of Itsekiri culture and tradition.
Speaking with our reporter on the outcome of the meeting, the Secretary of EPZ’s interface committee, Dr. Ayo Ayomike, said the monarch advised the committee as he would his children.
Ayomike said: “We are happy we came to pay homage and bare our hearts before him. His body language is that of father advising his sons. He said there’s need for us to imbibe brotherly disposition and maintain the peace so that the project can berth and bring development to the community.”
On the crisis that followed the siting of the project at Ugborodo, Ayomike said: “We have put whatever happened in the past behind us. If you are a follower of the events, you would remember that Pa J. O. S. Ayomike was at the community to seal the end of all the disputes we’ve had in the past.
“We have put what happened behind us and we are now united as one – as brothers and sisters working to ensure that what belongs to the community comes to the community and peace is maintained.”
Activities marking the coronation of His Majesty Ogiame Ikenwoli as the 20th Olu of Warri Kingdom in Delta State yesterday ended with an interdenominational service at the church auditorium in the monarch’s palace (Aghofen).
Ikenwoli arrived in the church at 10:10am, accompanied by his wife, Olori Mary (May) Ikenwoli, his three children – Oyewoli, Omamuli and Omatsuli – members of the royal family and Warri Traditional Council.
The monarch was dressed in his full traditional attire, comprising an ox-blood inner robe underneath a cream cape.
He wore a matching dark-red pair of Italian leather shoes and three sets of giant-size beads on each wrist.
His head was adorned with the over 400-year-old diamond crown.
The service started at 9:45am with praise and worship renditions by the choirs of Church of God Mission, Christ African Church, Christ Apostolic Church and Foursquare Gospel Church, among others.
The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, stressed the need for Christians to always thank God.
He said: “Thanksgiving must not be about what God has done for you but also what He will do.”
In the sermon, which was spiced with quotations and readings from the Holy Bible as well as inferences from the lives of great men and women in the holy book, the CAN President urged the Itsekiri and other Nigerians to “begin to give thanks for what you have not seen”.
Reading from Jonah 2:9, Oritsejafor said: “Thanksgiving is a catalyst that changes
The service climaxed with HM Ikenwoli leading his family, Warri chiefs, friends and well-wishers, including the former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and his wife, Nere; Daniel Reyenieju; the member, representing Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and members of the traditional council, for the thanksgiving.
Venerable Best Agbolaya prayed God to give the monarch the wisdom to lead the ancient city.
It was one of those times when tradition muzzled a people and prevented them from expressing their emotions and grief, at least publicly. An overcast of gloom had pervaded Iwere (Warri) Kingdom in Delta State, as the rumour gathered momentum that the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II had joined his ancestors. It started in the early week of September, but the people could not mourn one of the gravest tragedies of the last three decades because their tradition forbids them from acknowledging the news until the whole hog of rites had been completed.
•A cross section of chiefs and Itsekiri people
Olu Ogiame Atuwatse II was the centripetal force that moved and glued the Itsekiri nation. He was the pride of the Itsekiri, a group that prides itself as ‘one people under one monarch’. They occupy, but are not restricted, to the three Warri local government areas of Delta State. The Itsekiri tribes are found in communities, such as Ugbolokposo in Uvwie Local Government Area, in Ologbo and other villages and hamlets in Edo State and they all revere their Olu as a deity that is second only to God.
But the death of Atuwatse II remained a rumour until last Saturday, when the Ojomo of Warri Kingdom, Chief Yaya Pessu, who acted the role of Ologbotsere, symbolically broke the pot of white chalk to announce his death. The rite freed the people from the burden of secrecy and era of topsy-turvydom.
The much revered monarch was last sighted by this reporter at his palace, when the state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, consulted with him before the constitution of the board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission. Three Itsekiri indigenes – Mr Godwin Ebosa, Chief Thomas Ereyitomi and Mr Victor Woods – made the board.
Days later, Niger Delta Report learnt that the monarch had joined his ancestors after a domestic accident. His death took place at a private hospital in Lagos where he was flown to for medical attention. Prior to the sad event, the monarch had been slowed for years by a protracted ailment.
• The palace
Despite the report, prominent Itsekiri leaders, traditional titleholders and members of the royal family in of the kingdom (Otolus) kept mum. Some of the palace chiefs who are close to this reporter suddenly stopped taking his call, ostensibly to wade off inquiries about the monarch’s death.
The Iwere Integrity Group, in a terse statement denied the report but left open many possible interpretations. The statement was signed by over 30 members and the chairman and secretary, Mr Moses Fregene and Robinson Ariyo.
Barely a day before the Ode-Itsekiri announcement, this reporter spoke with Prince Ebiyemi Emiko, one of those considered as possible successor. The trained journalist also feigned ignorance. Prince ‘Yemi said he wasn’t aware of the death of his brother or that one of the most exalted traditional stool in the land was vacant.
By that time, Chief Yaya Pessu, the highest ranking and oldest member of the Olu Advisory Council, had sent out invitation for a National Assembly of the Itsekiri people. There was anxiety and uneasy calm in the kingdom. Telephone lines of prominent Itsekiri leaders and members of the JOS Ayomike-led Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, rang incessantly as people called for information and news on latest developments.
•Becroft waiting at Ode-Itsekiri
It was under this specter of tradition-induced silence and tension that the Itsekiri nation gathered at their ancestral home of Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri) in Warri South Local Government Area on Saturday. The atmosphere at the Aghofen (Palace) in Ode-Itsekiri was tense. About all the Ojoyes (noble titleholders) were present; they were led by the Chief Pessu and Chief Isaac Jemide, the Otsodi of Warri Kingdom – the duo are the only surviving members of the Olu Advisory Council.
The only dignitary missing was Chief Gabriel Mabiaku, the Iyasere, who died weeks earlier and the most important personage in the kingdom. Olu Atuwatse II was visibly missing and his shadow loomed over the overcrowded galleria; it spread through the roads and walkway from his palace to the waterside and darkened the horizon.
Those who went to the arena hoping, against hope, that the man whose numerous titles include Ogbowuru Afomasin would somehow materialise, had their hopes dashed when Chief Pessu and other chiefs trudge in their traditional white chiefly robes and red cummerbunds. But this time, they also had the symbolic black sash over the red and the usual spring in their gaits was missing.
They came from far and wide, from various clans and lineage of the famous tribe. Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, led Igba and there were chiefs Hayman, Walter Omadeli, Mene Brown, Nelson Utienyinone, Emmanuel Jones, Edward Olley and E A Tetseola, among others.
At the dais where Pessu and Jemide other chiefs sat, an immaculate white chair stood empty; its void symbolised the absence of the highest authority in Iwere (Itsekiri) land.
Even younger men like Mr Temi Kingsway-Eyoyibo and Oregbemi Onamoren- Beecroft, who besieged Ode-Itsekiri decked in his kemeje (traditional male attire), knew that something was amiss. The reality that they were about to hear a bad news about the monarch they loved and respected began to dawn.
“I felt proud being an Itsekiri and in my ancestral home, but at the same time, I dreaded what was coming. Ogiame Atuwatse II was our father, he was our baba and the one whose pronouncement settles all arguments,” Onamoren-Beecroft told our reporter; his voice was laden with emotion.
A few minutes later, after singing the Ara Olorire (Itsekiri National Anthem) and other formalities, the Chief Priest, Chief Pessu, who bore earthen pots of efun (native chalk) raised one over his head and smashed it unto the ground. The poignant rite was accompanied by cries of Ale je efun, which literarily means ‘the ground has eaten the native chalk’, and ‘Ata tse’ (the anchor is broken) signifying that Olu was no more.
• Breaking of the pot of chalk
The rite was followed by murmurs of ‘eh oooh’, gnashing of teeth and shaking of heads as the import of the ceremony seeped through the sea of people. Some cried, others were too dazed to react. The time was 11:50am. Canon shots rent the air, the boom reaching as far as neighbouring communities like Ubeji, Ugbuwangue and the others communities in the kingdom and the Oil City of Warri metropolis.
But barely 25 minutes later – at 12:15pm, the crowd was animated and in jubilant mood.
Chief Pessu, after consulting with Jemide and other Ojoyes, announced that the late monarch would be succeed by his younger brother, Prince Ikenwoli Godfrey Gbesimi Emiko (aka Abiloye). And the ‘eh oooh’ and sorrow swiftly turned to shouts of joy. There was no doubt that the choice was a very popular one.
It was reminiscent of a similar rite nearly three decades ago, when Chief Ogbeyiwa Newe Rewane, announced the death of Olu Erejuwa II, who reigned from 1936 to 1987. But the euphoria and rapturous response that greeted Saturday’s announcement of Prince Ikenwoli contrasted with the announcement of then Prince Toritseju Emiko as Olu-designate in 1987, because a section, perhaps the large slice, of the kingdom preferred Prince Ikenwoli, who was also his late father’s choice.
The response that greeted the emergence of Prince Ikenwoli, indicated that 28 years after missing out on the throne, he was still a very popular choice. His emergence was the first time in centuries that an Itsekiri monarch would be succeeded by his brother, but there was no dissent.
Prince Tsola Emiko, the first son of the late monarch, as was earlier reported by The Nation, was disqualified on the account of his maternal lineage. The 1979 gazette on the monarchy was unambiquous: only princes born of Itsekiri or Edo mothers can ascend the throne. Prince Tsola’s mother is a Yoruba.
The announcement brought consolation to the grief-stricken nation. Men, women and youths erupted in singing and dancing as their new monarch surfaced to take the vacant white chair surrounded by regally dressed chiefs.
Shouts of ‘eeeeeeeeee iwoooooooo, eeeeeeeeeee iwoooooooo’, rented the air as the 60-year-old University of Benin graduate was led before thousands of singing and dancing Itsekiri men and women.
Decked in a sky blue damask kemeje and a matching wrapper, the Olu-designate emerged. He carried himself with the same grace and dignity that he had maintained nearly 30 years after he missed the stool.
The Olu of Warri-designate
Edged on all sides by younger Ojoyes including chiefs Ayirimi Emami, Thomas Ereyitomi and Francis Omatseye, among others, the man who would be addressed as Olu of Warri in a few months, was sat on the white chair at the centre of the room.
The day’s job was done and Olu-designate had completed the first stage of a long walk to the throne of his father.
But the rite is far from finished; he still has to participate in the burial rites and ceremonies of his older brother and predecessor. The final rite of passage will culminate in the ‘Iken Rites’, at the Royal Cemetery in Ijala, one of the five most important communities in the Warri Kingdom.
The 1979 Gazette of the defunct Bendel State, which is the law regulating succession to the title of the Olu of Warri, states that the Omoba’s failure to perform and complete the burial rites and ceremonies is bar to his installation, irrespective of the event of last Saturday.
The gazette, made under Section 8 of the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict, 1979, also specified that after interring the late Olu, Omoba Ikenwoli would proceed on “Ideniken” where he remains for a period of three lunar months.
The period is used to complete the burial rites and ceremonies for Atuwatse II. A very knowledgeable members of the kingdom also informed NDR, that the Ideniken is also an orientation and induction course for the next Olu.
“Prince Ikenwoli has been prepared for the role he is to assume a very long time ago; he is an Abiloye, the Itsekiri’s crown prince of sort. Apart from his formal education, he was schooled in the Itsekiri culture and tradition and that is why there were murmurs when he was overlooked in 1979. But that is not enough; he has merely passed a stage and there is now the last and final stage that will put him head and shoulder above his subjects – the Ideniken,” our source added.
