•Says only integrity ‘ll change Nigeria’s fortunes

•’Infrastructure deficit in Itsekiri oil-producing communities speaks for itself’

BY CHARLES KUMOLU, DEPUTY EDITOR

From the time of Olu Ginuwa, first Olu of Warri, through the reign of Dom Domingo, Olu Atuwatse I and  seventh Olu of Warri, and others to date, Warri Kingdom occupies a place of prominence in history and contemporary times.

Its  rich cultural heritage and deep history combine to give it alluring optics.

To date, Iwereland, as the kingdom is also known, continues to deepen the necessity of traditional institutions in unique ways.

With an urbane and intellectually grounded king, Ogiame Atuwatse III, the Olu of Warri, whose worldview revolves around having a just society, Iwereland endears many  to its uniqueness.

This tradition of excellence and distinctiveness was recently displayed at the third anniversary coronation ceremony of the Olu of Warri.

The week-long event saw sons and daughters of Iwereland and their friends coming out in their brightest colours to celebrate their king and heritage.

Interestingly, one of the highpoints of the celebrations was the award bestowed on those the monarch, in this exclusive interview, describes as worthy of celebrating.

The Olu explains reasons he created the Royal Iwere Order, RIO, award and Royal Iwere Society, RIS.

He also speaks on the richness, beauty and depth of Itsekiri culture, saying the kingdom deserves more attention from the authorities as an oil-bearing area.

Three colourful years on the throne of your ancestors, how has it been?

In answering that, I would say it is one day at a time. No two days are the same. God gives you strength,  wisdom,  grace and discernment for every single day. Somethings you think you have mastered, in a way, come around to remind you that it is a continuous learning process. We are just approaching each day with an open mind and we have marked three years. We hope that God will continue to see us through the way he has helped us so far.

Since you ascended the throne each coronation anniversary has been marked by colourful festivities and milestones. What is the idea behind that?

It is a thing of joy. And it is a reason for our people to be happy. What gives them pride is to see their king doing well. So when he is celebrating his ascension to the throne, they come out in their brightest colours to celebrate. There is a lot of merry-making, there is a lot of gratitude, and entertainment. It is just really a thing of expression of heartfelt gratitude and merry-making.

Your Majesty, this year’s coronation anniversary is in its own class given the novelties you introduced. You established the Royal Iwere Order, RIO, and Royal Iwere Society, RIS, for eminent sons and daughters of Iwereland who you honoured. Can we know the reasons for these noble groups?

We have so many people who deserve to be recognised or honoured. Historically, the way we have honoured people in our society is by giving them chieftaincy titles.There is a limited number of chiefs you can make in a lifetime. At the same time, you need to protect the traditional titles so that you don’t make bestowment of titles an everyday thing or water it down. So we are looking to protect that while acknowledging that there are many people who are worthy of celebration. For that reason, you create a class and an atmosphere that allows them to be celebrated in large numbers. As we said, we are going to keep it at 10 yearly, otherwise, in your lifetime, you could end up honouring thousands of people. At the same time, we always want moderation to this thing so that everybody would be inspired. Some people are older, some are young. The Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers is almost 90 years old. He has a national honour, but I know how happy he was being honoured with the Royal Iwere Order by his own king. There are other people like him, who are elderly. They felt happy that they were being celebrated. It was an honour to them, and also inspiring for those coming behind them. It showed that they can also do things worthy of emulation.

The uniqueness of Itsekiri culture  reflected in the nomenclature of the awards, RIO and RIS. What influenced the choice of names?

Iwere is the name of the people. Itsekiri is the name of the language. The kingdom was formed and Iwere was corrupted to Warri by the Portuguese because they couldn’t pronounce Iwere. That is why we hold on dear to the name. Going back to the source, the reason the name came about is that it was taken from the leaves that seem to be a sign of good fortune. I said if we want to honour our people and they cannot be made chiefs, let the award be named after our original identity as it were. Obviously, there is the Royal Iwere Society, which is a new society that we came up with. From that society, we are hoping to have flexibility and creativity – an engine room of ingenuity.  Of course, in thinking about it, this award was born. Our Ghìghó Aghòfén is a product of Iwere Royal Society even though it was me and two other people who were members. But it was from that spirit of meeting that

Ghìghó Aghòfén was born. Now, the Royal Iwere Order award has come out from it. And we are expecting so many more beautiful things to come out from that society.

When one considers the uniqueness of these awards, one of the things that come to the mind is the knighthood of the British Empire and other similar royal honours. You didn’t restrict the recipient of the award to sons and daughters of Iwereland only. Why is it so?

For a couple of reasons, among Itsekiri people, not everyone can be chiefs. Even though, historically, we have had non-Itsekiri people given titles. Olu Erejuwa in his time honoured Urhobo people with chieftaincy titles. Some Ijaw were also given titles from the palace. Obviously, times have changed,  and you can’t replicate some things that were done in the past. Time, situation and circumstances are different. We now came up with this innovation that is less traditional. And obviously, this is post-Warri Crisis when there was tension among our neighbours. This is time to honour anyone who has done well and calls Warri home. As I said, the name of the town and its origin are Itsekiri. And as the king of that kingdom,  I recognise that it is now a cosmopolitan town. In opening up considerations, non-Itsekiri, of course, there are a lot of them, live in Warri. They are responsible residents and responsibile citizens in Warri,  paying taxes, providing employment, and adding value. For them to call Warri home, as the traditional overlord, I consider them worthy of the award. It doesn’t mean they are my servants,  it is just that they are people who have done well in life, not only in Warri, but the entire nation. The idea is that anybody who lives in this kingdom and has excelled is worthy of such an honour. It is meant to inspire human beings to do better, not just Itsekiri people alone.

You said the recipients are those who have done well, beyond this generalisation, are there specific metrics that were applied in selecting awardees?

As I said earlier, it is about integrity, because in today’s society there are a lot of people who have a semblance of outward success. But when you come closer, you find out things that might make you keep quiet. I think integrity itself is something that would change the fortunes of Nigeria, and it would really show people that things should be done with integrity. If we have integrity in business, in the judiciary, in education,  in politics and if nobody is cheating to excel, we are going to have a society built on a solid foundation as opposed to  manipulating to get to the top. If we keep having manipulations, things may not get better. When the foundation is built on integrity, we would have a better society. Therefore, if you are asking the metrics, we have looked at the people and discovered there is a measure of integrity, hard work, education,  not necessarily formal education because some people struggle to go to school in Nigeria, but that doesn’t mean they are not intelligent or do not have integrity. So what we have done is not to create a sort of caste class that considers only those who are educated worthy.

Going forward, are there specific expectations from these eminent groups of persons?

Not in the traditional sense. Like the national awards, OFR, CFR, MFR, once the President has given you the awards, he doesn’t need to tell you that it is expected that you will be an upstanding member of society. When an honour like that comes from a higher authority, it goes without saying that you are to remain as an example of what is good in society. It is expected that you have a sense of inspiration in the kingdom. We also mentioned it in our remarks. Those who are well-connected can come through the Royal Iwere Society to organise seminars, provide scholarships and organise debates and exhibitions among others. We believe this gives them an avenue to add value to society.

 Warri kingdom under your watch has remained peaceful without any controversy or crisis. What can you attribute to this?

It can be attributed to God. Above all, there is also consideration for the common man. Our motto is righteousness and justice. Where there is righteousness and justice, you will have peace. There would always be those who want to dissent. We would always have them. But where the majority feel there is truth, there is righteousness, there is equity in the way things are done, there would be peace. I think what causes those agitations and unrest is the fear of being cheated,  deceived and not getting justice. So they go about it the unfortunate way. We try to minimise that with the wisdom God gives us everyday.

There is also harmony between the kingdom and other neighbouring ethnic nationalities. How have you been able manage the intricacies and sustain peaceful coexistence?

To be fair, we always go by the law. There is law, there is edict. This kingdom existed long before Nigeria came into existence. Federal and state governments recognise that there is Warri Kingdom. Times have changed, things have evolved a bit.  As gazetted, there is Olu of Warri Kingdom, and you cannot have another Warri Kingdom. We simply stand on the law. I understand where you are going, the Catholic Pope is also the Bishop of Rome. The Itsekiri monarch is also the Olu of Warri.

Itsekiriland is known to produce the highest quantity of oil in Delta State and is one of the major producers in the  country. But there are concerns about neglect and marginalization. Are you working with federal and state authorities to address the issue?

Whenever we are able to speak to those in power be it the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, or related authorities, we point out that the figures are there to prove that we are not just making that claim. These oil wells are located in our land. For people who are producing so much, when you simply go and see what is on the ground, not in the urban areas, but in the rural areas where oil exploration takes place, the infrastructure deficit speaks for itself. We bring to their attention that those who are literally producing the golden eggs, much care and consideration should be extended to their lives and  environment.

You are an urbane and modern monarch  of a kingdom that occupies a place of pride and prominence in history and contemporary times, how have you been able to combine modernity and tradition?

It still goes back to my initial answer. God provides grace and strength for each day. I was a man, husband and father before I became a king. That I am a king doesn’t mean everything I was before I was crowned is thrown away. God still gives me the grace to balance it because these are foundational things. And I  pay attention to each of those things. As a man, I pay attention to my peace,  as a husband I look after my wife, as a father,  I pay attention to my children and of course, as a king, I look after my subjects and pay attention to my responsibilities seriously. There are still 24 hours in one day, and I will make the best of my time. Above all, God helps.