Farewell to Ogiame Ikenwoli

As the funeral rite for the 20th Olu of Warri kickoff  today, 10th May, 2021, I wish to on behalf of the government and people of Warri South Council Area express my profound reverence for the departed monarch.  

Our hearts are heavy, laden with pains and grief, as His Majesty, Ogiame Ikenwoli, our highly revered Olu, a distinguished Itsekiri numero uno, an accomplished Nigerian, a seasoned administrator, quintessential unifier, unique personage and exemplary monarch transit to the great beyond. 

The Olu was crowned in 2015 amidst cheers and was widely respected. Ogiame Ikenwoli despite his brief stint on the stool of his forefathers, succeeded in raising the status and reckoning of the Itsekiri people. He is known and perceived as one of the country’s greatest monarchs, dead or alive. A peacemaker of no mean repute, he fiercely and unyieldingly protected itsekiri interests while simultaneously fostered inter-ethnic harmony thus helped the government of the day in engendering peace and tranquility needed for the advancement of the state and the nation. 

Olu Ikenwoli was loyally and devotedly committed to the Nigerian state having built bridges across Edo, Osun, Oyo, Lagos and Sokoto. He admonished his people to be thoroughbred wherever they find themselves. Little wonder that the Itsekiri people have not only comported themselves wherever they are but it is on record that they tend to excel in all they do. 

Ogiame Ikenwoli, to paraphrase Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819 to 1881), is one leader “whom the lust of office did not kill.” A leader “whom the spoils of office could not buy.” A monarch who “possesses opinions and a will." A king “who honor, who resent lie”. A legend that “stood before demagogue and fanned his treacherous flatteries without winking.” 

He was a monarch among monarchs that the Delta state and indeed, Nigeria held in high esteem as a manifestation of his transparency, objectivity, and sagacity. 

To us at the Warri South Local Council, he was our strongest supporter; both in his uncommon faith in our ability and his readiness to offer uncommon advice to sharpen public discourse in our shared commitment to transform our Council area. It gladdens our heart, therefore, that our revered Olu was alive to witness the positive transformation of Warri South under his reign, and for standing with us through thick and thin in the course of making the Warri economy a treasure to behold. Being part of that eloquent history of transformation before his reunion with his ancestors gives us further reassurance that he will occupy a special pride of place in the hereafter. 

We are enveloped with a deep sense of nostalgia that our great Olu, a father, uncle and iconoclastic royal father of exemplary carriage and conduct, who sustained the dignity of the average Itsekiri mind, has joined his ancestors. We are, however, encouraged by the fact that another great son of the Great Warri Kingdom, Omo oba Utieyinoritsetsola Emiko, who is already showing manifest quintessential attributes of his forefathers, will step into the regal big shoes.

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Warri people will miss our iconoclastic royal father of the great Warri Kingdom. Nigerians and Nigeria will miss this great exemplar of a Royal Father, an Olu of distinction and integrity. Adieu until we meet to part no more. 

....Dr. Michael Tidi, eldest child of late Princess Roli Emiko, and Chairman Warri South LGC.

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