There are some things even death cannot hide

For over a hundred years, Pa. Higson Jofotan Oritsemeyiwa Oporokun, who was the Òlarè-Aja of Jakpa and the Òlarè-Èbi of the Ologbotsere Descendants walked among us, not merely as an elder, but as a living archive, a reservoir of wisdom, a custodian of history and a moving encyclopedia of our people.

He had seen generations come and go. He understood the weight of history, and when he spoke, he spoke from a depth of experience that many could never comprehend.

His “crime” was simple: he stood by what he genuinely believed to be the truth. He warned because he saw things from the vantage point of age, experience and history. He advised because he did not want things to go south.

But instead of listening, some chose hostility, they ganged up against an old wisdom bank, they resisted the very man whose experience should have been sought and respected.

You rejected Papa while he was alive.

Now he is gone, and suddenly, those who could not accommodate him in life are emerging around his final journey, attempting to position themselves at the very centre of arrangements surrounding his burial.

Please, let's not deceive ourselves, you cannot take the corner stage, not to talk of the centre stage, in the final arrangement for a man whose voice and presence you could not tolerate while he was alive.

You cannot suddenly become the chief custodian of a legacy you spent his lifetime resisting.

You cannot manufacture intimacy in death that was absent in life.

A burial ceremony is not a political theatre. It is not an opportunity for image laundering. It is not a platform to score cheap relevance or rewrite yesterday.

Let those who genuinely stood with Papa be allowed to stand where their relationship with him places them.

There must be a measure of decency in everything.

If you were not at the forefront when Pa. Higson Jofotan Oritsemeyiwa Oporokun wisdom was needed, do not attempt to force your way to the forefront now that the man can no longer speak for himself.

If you did not appreciate Papa's value when he was alive, do not attempt to appropriate his value now that he is gone.

The front row of a man's funeral should not become a reward for those who opposed him in life.

Our ancestors understood something that modern hypocrisy seems to have forgotten; you do not wait for an elder to cross the river before suddenly claiming that you were his closest companion.

The dead may be silent, but history is not.

You may try to control the programme, 

you may try to influence the arrangements,

you may try to occupy the most visible position, but you cannot control the truth of history.

And let this be clearly understood:

PAPA'S FINAL JOURNEY MUST NOT BE HIJACKED.

It must be about honouring, preserving Papa's dignity, respecting his family and allowing those who genuinely knew, loved and stood by him to have their rightful place.

Papa's final journey is not about opportunism,

not about political positioning,

not about settling old scores,

and certainly not about people suddenly appearing from the shadows to claim the centre stage.

There is a difference between attending a funeral and owning the narrative of a man's life, please know the difference.

 Pa. Higson Jofotan Oritsemeyiwa Oporokun has taken his final bow, his voice has fallen silent, but his history remains.

And history will remember who stood with him, who stood against him, and who only came around when the drums of his burial began to sound.

May Papa rest peacefully, and may his final journey be conducted with the dignity, truth and honour that his extraordinary life deserves.

You may come to the funeral. You may mourn. You may pay your respects. But you cannot rewrite your place in Papa's life, and you certainly cannot force yourself from the corner into the centre stage of his final journey.

Hon. Romeo Ogedegbe, an Ologbotsere Descendant, writes from Warri

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