Those who stole Olu of Warri’s 410-year old crown can’t carry the burden —Chief Brown Mene, the Ogwa-Olusan of Warri Kingdom

Post-Olu of Warri’s Coronation, EBENEZER ADUROKIYA speaks with one of the custodians of the rich culture, history and tradition of Itsekiri, Chief Brown Mene, the Ogwa-Olusan of Warri Kingdom and a member of the Ojoye-Ojisan (Olu’s Advisory Council) which midwifed the emergence of the new Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III. He speaks on the Olu’s professed Christian faith and its implications to the throne. Excerpts:

 

There are criticisms against the maiden speech of the Olu, particularly his Christian worship songs which he rendered on an African traditional religious stool; what’s your take on this?

I think that whoever takes that position needs a lot, lot, lot more to learn about life and living and therefore tradition and customs practices.

Did you know, for instance, that where I come from they (the Itsekiri people) practised female circumcision? It used to be so. Do you know how long ago it was stopped? Over 400 years ago by an Olu who was a Christian; who said that was out of tune with God’s creation. That it was violence against women and he stopped it. So, many people didn’t know, but all those nationalities who are around us are still struggling to stop it today; but we stopped it long ago.

There are many things in our culture and tradition that are Christian based; because we were exposed to Christianity long ago. And by the way, Christianity is not a Western religion. It is worldwide, global religion; because the whole world is for Christ. So, any tradition that will, as it were, see itself as against God is against itself. But a tradition that recognises the Lord God Almighty and gives due honour to Him is on the way to redemption. Tradition by our own recognition and definition is not against Godliness; tradition is bringing God to bear upon your tradition, uphold in your tradition the things that God will approve of. God is therefore in every tradition.

The first five Olus were not Christians and of course, they brought in practices which included certain things that are not Christian. But there are also some things that are Christian. In fact, since the 6th Olu, the 6th Olu was a Christian and it was his son, when he was a crown Prince, who made the crown with the cross in 1611 and he became crowned in 1625. That was the first time they used that crown; his father was not crowned with that crown though he was a Christian.

There are practices that people will import and do whatever they like and also, as we understand Christainity, God does not force anybody to yield to Him. He will show you his ways and tell you this is the better way to go; if you go, the blessings that are in there, you inherit, but if you refuse to, even though God has warned and you chose another way, He won’t strike down with a hammer; he will leave you to do what you want to. So, there are individuals who have brought different kinds of things into the system. In all of the period we had Christian Olus, there were also some that were mixing it up with all kinds of things that were not really pure. Whatever method that we use to praise God today is not alien to our tradition.

 

Sir, I recall that about a year before the demise of Atuwatse II in 2015, there were protests around the palace over the title ‘Ogiame.’ We were told the Olu wanted to drop the title ‘Ogiame’ because of it’s perceived occultic connotations… What is the true account?

I would not want to comment in details because I was also there. My understanding and which the king actually told everybody was that what he was trying to do they did not understand. When God created man, He gave man dominion over all His creation. And Jesus having come, died and resurrected and seated on the right hand of God in heaven and all believers are seated there with Him and that all principalities and powers are under His feet. And by our traditional beliefs and custom, no metaphysical power can overtake the Olu. All jujus are under the feet of the Olu and every Itsekiri man and woman know this. All metaphysical powers bow to the Olu. And if for some reason one juju arrests an individual, the Olu can declare such a person freed and he’ll be freed and the metaphysical powers will give way. What he was trying to say then was the misunderstanding, the misinterpretation as if he’s the one to serve the god of the sea, No! But this is what they did not understand. To Ogiame, it means he’s king over the waters, yes God has made us kings over things under the waters whether physical or spiritual. The context in which you accept things matters a lot because that’s the meaning it conveys to you and that’s the meaning that determines your response.

 

Was that what probably informed his grandson using his authority as it were to reverse the curse his late grandfather, Olu Erejuwa II placed on the land?

Exactly. He has the authority to do so. So, when you call Ogiame, you’re not implying that there’s a bigger metaphysical power than him, somewhere.

 

Photo of former President Olusegun Obasanjo kneeling before the Olu is still doing the round across the globe. What reactions have the palace got from the gesture?

The reaction was positive. We’re deeply touched because for one thing he’s not an Itsekiri man but he knows the tradition, he knows the level of that throne. He did that to the institution of the Olu of Warri. And we deeply appreciate him for that.

 

What effect will that have on the entire Itsekiri nation, I mean what’s the significance?

Like I said, the people were touched deeply. Because for someone to do such, even though he didn’t have to, someone who was an ex-president but he did it voluntarily. It’s a positive for him too, as more people will respect him.

 

Suspended Ologbotsere, Ayirimi Emami, once said the current Olu was rejected by the Oracle in 2015, giving that as one of his grouses?

You see Ayirimi was not telling you what he knew because he was in no position to know what actually transpired. I was in the Olu Advisory Council as of then and he wasn’t. The new Olu was never presented to us as a candidate at all let alone rejecting him. How would you reject somebody who has not been presented? It is the final candidate the ruling house brings to the chiefs that we work on. And if the chiefs have a reason to reject any candidate, it will objectively done in the clear view of everyone. He was never brought to the fore in 2015 neither was he rejected. We don’t interfere how the family brings up its candidate. The family never brought him then and as chiefs we have no right to ask for any particular candidate to be brought forward.

 

This so-called edict aspect of an Olu-designate’s mother must be Itsekiri or Edo, has it not been distorted and may boomerang in the future by the coming of the present Olu?

Do you know who wrote that? Do you know if it was an edict or a declaration? What’s is written there black and white is “whose mother is Itsekiri or Edo (not Benin) origin. Do you know any Itsekiri person who knows the story of Itsekiri and will tell you that there is no iota or trace of Yoruba in Itsekiri origin? None! Those who formed the Itsekiri nationalities include Yoruba groups, Nupe groups, Igala groups, former Dahomey groups, they all came at different times. But when they came, the base they met was first, Yoruba group and they started developing the language which is why you have little difference between Yoruba language and Itsekiri language. Of all the languages in the whole world, the nearest to us is Yoruba. It’s because Yoruba is at the base of the Itsekiri language and nationality. By the time Benin came, the language had already been developed fully which is why in the main body of the Itsekiri language you don’t find Benin in it. It’s only in chieftaincy affairs and royal where you have Edo language and terminologies because the institution was brought from there.

And when they came they didn’t come to replicate Edo, the Yoruba group that came didn’t come to replicate Yoruba, just like others. They all came and were assimilated into Itsekiri. And when you talk of Edo origin, you cannot also shove away Yoruba from it. So those who wrote it could be considered superflous since Yoruba is inherent in Itsekiri and also in Edo. Why should that be a problem? This thing was first written in 1931 when we were in the process of having the 17th Olu ahead of 1936 and the colonial government needed to have something written down in their name. Every Itsekiri person who knows his worth knows that you cannot isolate Itsekiri from Yoruba and that should never be a problem. Why wasn’t it a problem in 1936, 1952, 1987, so why now? It is because people who are mischievous in content and intent wanted to nit-pick that. That’s what happened. It’s a non-issue.

 

Was the suspended Ologbotsere matter discussed at the meeting whether to bring him back or has he made any effort so far to reconcile and what is going on about the missing crowns?

There are some things that ordinarily if they were well-handled, we wouldn’t have needed to come to the public domain. This is really strictly our own internal business. However, it is unfortunate that he who is wrong, when he fails to be penitent, it becomes difficult even for you to take remedial reconciliating footsteps. That’s what we have on our hands at the moment. Before the coronation, some people led him (Ologbotsere) and a few others to the then Omooba (Olu-designate) and the advice he gave to him personally was “you have offended the generality of the Itsekiri people. Because you can see the mood of anger, frustration and then the relief had come when remedial steps started to be taken. And people have been saying they don’t want to see you anymore, you need to apologise to the nation. Write and publish an apology to say ‘you’re sorry,’ the way you acted, you didn’t know this was going to be the result. It has come out of your hands, out of your control and you need to be forgiven. When you do that, tension will come down.” The crown and the accessories were stolen, the Olu told him he’s not accusing him of stealing the artifacts, but that he had a network of people he could talk to, to ensure that they were returned. “Do these two things and people’s tension will come down and they will be able to take another look at you.”

He left the place, thankful at first, but later denied ever being told that. He said he was never told to do that. Even if you were never told to do that and if you have your own senses, should anybody teach you to do that? And if somebody has told you that, should you think about it twice? Worse still, to deny ever being told and that was his position. What next did he do? He then went to court to challenge the process because he kept saying that unless he would say with his own mouth that the transition has happened, it has not happened. How can you say that to a people? A generality of whom do not joke with their Olu as an institution; if you touch their Olu, you touch their own core; they will fight you to the end. You know this, how dare you take this kind of stand? He went to court to try and stop the process and, of course, we know that going to court on a matter such as this, the court will also listen to fact and we were very confident that when the facts are laid down, there’s no way he would get his way.

And as we expected, the court could not stop the process. But they continued. The other prince, whom he was instigating, and who instigated and is suspected to be involved in the stealing of the crown, because he was here in the palace, when he got missing, the crown also got missing. You now dressed him up like Olu-designate and there was no way he could be proclaimed to the nation as the Olu-designate, yet you dressed him up and put him on social media as the Olu-designate saying that you were going to use the missing crown to crown him on the 19th of August.

How does this leave room for somebody to be easily forgiven and reconciled? It doesn’t leave room at all. And the generality of people are even saying “don’t ever bring him near,” and that is understandable. But if he were penitent, it would have been a different thing, altogether. But unfortunately, up till today, he doesn’t sound penitent; he doesn’t appear penitent; he is not taking any penitent move. Even God will not forgive one who refused to repent, you must repent before you’re forgiven. He who fails to repent can never find forgiveness. I’m praying for him that somehow, God will help him to have a penitent heart to see where he has gone wrong so that he will take the steps that will make people to forgive him.

 

Isn’t that act of stealing the crown and dressing up the wrong Olu-designate itself sacrilegious and could attract penalties?

Dressing the prince as Olu-designate is sacrilegious; that’s why we are praying for them. Because when you do this, the way that I put it, you offend Heaven, the Earth and the Nation. You see, That crown was made in 1611 A.D, 410 years ago; and it has been in use since then. It was made with the cross of Jesus Christ on top of it. Those things that they have taken, they’re all part of the order of Christ that is associated with the monarchy since then. That someone would have the effrontery to carry it away and intend to use it, we don’t know how or where they’ll handle the burden they are carrying and God will ask them. I know God will ask them that’s why I pray for them that they should repent before it is too late.

 

Has such sacrilege ever happened in the history of the kingdom?

No! Such incident has never been recorded in history. The crown has never gone missing since it was made 410 years ago. In fact, nobody dared touch it except the king himself or the one who is crowning him and that is the only time he can touch it and after that, he can’t touch it, again. It’s only the king that can touch it because it is sacred. And for someone to think that this is something he could toy with, what kind of a person is he? What sense of traditional value does he have?

 

If the missing crowns and other artifacts were to be found and brought back to the palace, will it take some ritual sacrifice to get them restored?

It’s value is not lost so it is not a question of doing something to restore the value. But those who are not supposed to have access to it and to handle it, have a burden; the burden is on them. How they will divest themselves of that, only God knows. And then something that the king said during his first speech on the throne on Saturday; he said what some people had done sacrilegiously, somehow there’s some good from it. Because the first six Olus were crowned with Coral Beads, but from the 17th to the 20th Olu, 16 of them – were crowned with silver crown. However, this opportunity has made the 21st Olu to be crowned with a golden crown.

 

What’s the symbolic significance attached to this golden crown?

The symbolism of it is continue progression. They had thought that they would withhold the progression of the advancement of the Warri Kingdom, but the way things have turned out, it is a progression. In my lifetime, this is the first coronation I have watched; there’s none as glorious as this one!

I have witnessed three, there’s none to be compared to this. CNN has expressed positive opinion about it; even Clarence House, which is the official abode of Prince Charles; also in America, they’ve all turned and looked because of the Olu’s address. We didn’t ask for it to be so, but it was so.

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