The Warri Traditional Council yesterday ended a two-week controversy over the demise of the Itsekiri monarch, the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, announcing that the Itsekiri king was no more.
The announcement of the demise the monarch was made by Chief Tesigiweno Yaya Pesu, the eldest traditional chief and a member of the Olu Traditional Council, the advisory body to the stool which comprises the king-makers.
The grand ceremony took place at the island of Ode Itsekiri, better known as Big Warri, which is the ancestral home of the Itsekiri ethnic nationality and attended by practically all Itsekiri men, women and youths.
A huge bar of white chalk was smashed on the ground to symbolise the passing away of the Olu of Warri amid other traditional rites at the over two-hours long ceremony. Intermittently, the sound of cannon boomed to mark different points in the process of traditional rites leading to the public announcement of the death of the Itsekiri royal father.
Seventeen cannon shots were fired during the ceremony, which ended with the announcement of the Olu-designate at about 12.15pm. A successor to the throne was also announced by the traditional council in the person of Prince Godfrey Ikenwoli Emiko, younger sibling of the deceased king. Sixty-one year old Prince Emiko is a graduate of Business Administration from the University of Benin.
As Chief Thomas Ereyitomi, the Akatigbe Ayiola of Warri and Chief Francis Omatseye, the Ediagbe of Warri, ushered the Olu-designate into the arena with thousands of anxious peering eyes, the crowds chorused “Eeeee....Iwooooo!”
The atmosphere was more of rejoicing rather than mourning as thousands of Itsekiri sons and daughters who congregated at Big Warri could not hide their happiness that a successor to the throne was chosen peacefully and without any iota of rancour.
Speaking with newsmen after the ceremony, Chief Pesu said, “You can see the mammoth crowd of acceptance; it is evidence of acceptance of the new king. The significance of the rites I performed is to tell the Itsekiri people the passing of the king. And, when a king passes away, a new king is installed immediately. So, that is the way we announce the passing of our monarch.
Throwing more light on the succession process that produced the next Olu, Secretary, Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, Mr. Edward Ekpoko, noted that first son of the late Olu of Warri, Prince Shola and his younger brother were disqualified by the fact that their mother was neither of Itsekiri nor Benin extraction.
He revealed that the Itsekiri tradition prescribes that the mother of any succession to the stool of Olu of Warri must have a mother who is Itsekiri or hails from Benin Kingdom.
However, a three-month official mourning period was also declared by the Warri Traditional Council to be observed throughout the Itsekiri kingdom. During the period of mourning, no public ceremonies like marriages and burial or funeral is permitted among all Itsekiri people world-wide.
Itsekiri men and women are also expected to tie their traditional cloth or wrapper upside-down to signify the royal mourning in the land, with only titled chiefs exempted. However, a black-and-white apron is tied around the waist by every Itsekiri chief; the black colour symbolises mourning while the white symbolises the continuity of the royalty.
Moreover, by Itsekiri tradition for crowning of a king, only a prince born while his father was on the throne of his ancestors is qualified to be considered by the king makers. A prince born before his father ascended the throne is not eligible to contest or be considered as a new Olu of Warri.
The 90-day or three months of mourning of Atuwatse II will climax with the coronation of Prince Godfrey Emiko. The highpoint of yesterday’s ceremony was the ferrying of the successor to Atuwatse II from Ode Itsekiri to Warri amid tight security by the police and military personnel.
The Olu of Warri reportedly passed away on Friday, September 4, 2015 after being taken to a Lagos hospital following complications from an alleged domestic accident, though he was known to have had some health challenges since about two years ago.
Atuwatse II was the 19th in the succession of monarchs in Iwere (that is Warri) Kingdom. At birth in 1945 he was christened Godwin Toritseju Emiko, he was a prince destined for the royal diadem, being the second son of Olu Erejuwa II of Iwere Kingdom (Itsekiri Kingdom of Warri).
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