African kings are embodiments of grace, poise and elegance. The narratives of the Western world, which plundered the continent, have not been able to change this fact. Kings of the black race are fons honorum, graceful and gracious in forms and contents.
Every son and daughter of Iwere Kingdom must be happy about the elegance of the new Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III. He was officially crowned the king of the Itsekiri Nation on Saturday, August 21. Not only Iwere subjects and citizens should be happy. All Africans, wherever they are on the surface of the earth, should be happy. Atuwatse III, indeed, demonstrated that nobility is congenital.
A thorough bred royalty, the new Olu of Warri demonstrated that his late father, Ogiame Atuwatse II, brought him up in the proper ways of the nobles. His first speech on the throne is an epitome of the essence of our being as people of the black race. He, in that emotion-laden and cerebral royal speech, set the pace for the healing of the Itsekiri Kingdom. The crises and controversies that trailed his selection and coronation notwithstanding, Atuwatse III said he bore and or, bears nobody any malice.
Brilliant. That is magnanimity in its raw elements. But that is not the beauty of the speech. The 37-year-old monarch took a route that in the last 57 years has remained uncharted. In that exemplar speech, he revisited the injustice meted out to his grandfather, Ogiame Erejuwa II. When a child is holding the hilt of the sword, he asks for the death that killed his father. But this is not so with Atuwatse III. Rather than asking for the head of those who wronged, unjustifiably, his grandfather, Erejuwa II, the new Olu of Warri offered the enemies of the throne unprecedented forgiveness.
He did not stop at that, he, acting on the authority of the ancient throne of Iwere Kingdom, cancelled, reversed and undid the curse, the departed Erejuwa II placed on the Federal Government of Tafawa Balewa, which used federal powers to unjustifiably sack the late monarch. I shall return to the significance of the reversed curse presently.
But now, it is proper to take a historical voyage to the issue of Ogiame Erejuwa II and why the old man, one of the most prosperous Olu of Warri, had to issue that curse. Ogiame Erejuwa II reigned from 1951 to 1964 and from 1966 to 1986 as the 18th Olu of Warri Kingdom. During his reign, he encouraged a lot of Itsekiri people to get involved in trading, having traded with the United African Company (UAC). He rose to the position of provincial cooperatives president and used that influence to attract so many trading facilities for his people and many became prosperous and the economy of the Iwere Nation blossomed under him.
He was such an influential monarch, that in 1952, the then Government of Western Region had to reverse the title of the Olu of Warri from the 1936 pacification title of “Olu of Itsekiri,” to its original name (Olu of Warri). History does not lie; it can only be manipulated by people for self-serving purposes. For the narrators of the story, it was Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who, because of his political affiliation with the Itsekiri people, changed the name of Olu of Itsekiri to Olu of Warri, the facts speak.
The colonial government, in 1936, in an attempt to assuage the fear of domination, expressed by Itsekiri neighbours that Olu of Warri might become the paramount ruler of that region, decided to change the title. The 1952 reversal to Olu of Warri, was therefore a bold attempt by the Awolowo led-government, to correct that anomaly of 1936. That itself led to other conspiracies against the influential Erejuwa II, whom many Itsekiri neighbours believed, used his clout to effect that reversal.
Naturally, Itsekiri leaders felt more inclined to team up with Awolowo’s Action Group (AG), than the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) led by the late Nnamdi Azikiwe. With the political turmoil of the era, NCNC, on its part, formed an alliance with the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) of Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa, the first Prime Minister of independent Nigeria. Matters came to a head, when during the creation of the Midwest Region in 1963, the NCNC labelled Erejuwa II as an “Action Grouper” (AG supporter) and caused the Balewa Federal Government to depose Erejuwa II and banish him to Ogbesse. It took the intervention of the then Military Administrator of the late Major General David Ejoor to restore the monarch in 1966.
When Ogiame Atuwatse III spoke thus: “While not seeking to reopen old wounds, it is pertinent to recall the grave injustice meted out to Olu Erejuwa II. He visited His Royal Majesty, Oba Akenzua II of Benin and recounted his ordeal. In his reaction, a curse was placed on the land by both of them”, at his colourful coronation last Saturday, he was referring to that 1964 deposition of Olu Erejuwa II. With Omo’ Noba N’Edo Akenzua II, another noble monarch that the black race has ever produced, convinced that his brother monarch, Erejuwa II, was not fairly treated, the duo jointly placed a curse on the Federal Government of Tafawa Balewa.
The efficacy of that curse is better left for experts in metaphysics to determine. Needless to say that history has the records of how that government ended and how well the Nigerian nation has thrived, ever since. And for 57 years, as rightly put by Atuwatse III, “It is not recorded that Olu Erejuwa II reversed the curse on the land, neither is it recorded that Oba Akenzua II did the same. Most probably, the issue was never revisited”. All religions, Western or African, attach importance to curses and blessings.
In African metaphysics, curses are not necessarily effective immediately they are issued. My people say: “curses and abominations are swallowed in tiny bits like needles. They become effective when they are enough for the blacksmith to make a hoe”. The Yoruba nation, believe, till date, that the pronouncements of Alaafin Aole, after Afonja, the then Are Ona Kakanfo, betrayed him, remain the albatross of the nation. Shooting three arrows to three different directions, Aole, the then Alaafin issued the following: “my curse be on you for your disloyalty and disobedience, so let your children disobey you. If you send them on errand, let them never return to bring you word again.
“To all the points I shot my arrows will ye be carried as slaves. My curse will carry you to the sea and beyond the sea, slaves will rule over you and you their master will become slaves”. And he broke the pot he was holding, while issuing the curse, saying: “my words are irreversible”. We are all living witnesses to how settled the Yoruba Nation is today. I need not say more. This is why it became very significant for all Iwere people that their new Olu of Warri declared: “As a firm believer of the intricate interconnection between the spiritual and the manifestation in the physical, I am a firm believer that the matter needs to be addressed. As the spiritual, cultural, political, and traditional ruler of this land, I, Ogiame Atuwatse III, the 21st Olu of Warri, the first son of Olu Atuwatse II, the grandson of, and direct descendant of Olu Erejuwa II who was offended on this throne, hereby reverse the curse placed over this land”. No other person could have done that. Itsekiri nation has every reason to appreciate what Atuwatse III did on Saturday. The entire Nigerian nation, also needs to say a big amen (May it be so) to the Ogiame’s blessings. “In its place, I release forgiveness and healing to the Federal Government of Nigeria whose might was used to propagate that offence; and I decree unprecedented and an uncommon peace, prosperity, progress, and development upon this land. I bring down the government of heaven unto this land, and I direct it to flow as a course that can neither be sabotaged, slowed, nor stopped. It goes out as a strong ripple effect emanating from this kingdom to the rest of the Niger Delta, to the rest of the Nigerian nation, and even to the African continent”. Nothing can be more potent than that. This is nobility in its undiluted form. It is important to note that this is the first pronouncement of Ogiame Atuwatse III, 90 days after his seclusion, where he communed with the terrestrial and celestial powers.
We can only wish that never will we have cause to punish the innocent in our land again. Atuwatse III has demonstrated why our monarchs are “Alase, ekeji Orisa” (The sovereign that is second only to the deity). Whatever they say here on earth, is confirmed in the heavenly places. The new Olu of Warri himself affirmed this as “a firm believer of the intricate interconnection between the spiritual and the manifestation in the physical”. You can only dispute, that at your own peril. My people say “t’oba ni ase” (Kings pronouncements are powerful). African kings carry so much power because their nations surrender all powers and authorities, seen and unseen, to them.
That is why they are worshiped, revered and respected. In most cases, they are worshiped like the deities they are. Little wonder then that the 84-year old former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, had to, while paying homage to the newly installed Olu of Warri on Sunday, kneel down completely, in obeisance to the new monarch. African philosophy is rich in proverbs. “The one who shows disrespect to the king is killed by the king”, says one of them. Obasanjo, no doubt, externalises the virtues espoused in the Yoruba concept of ‘Omoluabi.”
The concept harps on good character and sterling upbringing as basic ingredients that confer nobility on individuals. That veneration by Obasanjo drives home the sovereignty of Ogiame Atuwatse III over all Itsekiri people as well as their brothers and sisters across other lands and tribes. Between Obasanjo and Ogiame Atuwatse III are 47 years. But that fact of Gregorian date-keeping failed to deter the old General from giving respect to whom respect is due. From being a military Head of State to a two-term civilian president, Obasanjo has seen it all. In all that, he recognises the place of history, tradition, customs and norms of the African race.
His Special Assistant on Media, Mr Kehinde Akinyemi, while explaining why Obasanjo knelt before Ogiame Atuwatse III, said that Obasanjo did not kneel before the monarch, but before the ancient Iwere Kingdom. He described Obasanjo as “Baba of Africa”, who had paid homage to all exalted traditional seats. He said. “He went to Warri this morning to pay homage to the new king. It is a traditional institution; he (Ogiame Atuwatse III) is not the one sitting down, it is the institution that is on the throne”. True talk. Tradition sits on the throne. May Ogiame Atuwatse III sit long on the throne of his forefathers. May his words ever hold true, never falling to arid land. Iseeee!
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